Architecture is something that can connect our past,present and future

Toyo Ito

In this brief,we started our project from Doorn manifesto ,robinhood garden and h.o.f. to The
shard,which clearly drew a linear connection from the past to the present time. In the course of
studying,I got a chance to know different face of this profession,especially the Torre David,which
allow me to rethink what is the role a architect should play in this society.Should architect just see
themselves a small part of this enormous economy system? Can architecture really function as a
catalyst to push this almost dying society a little bit forward? Can architecture bridge the splitting
society ? In a sense,all of these question indeed changed my understanding of this profession but
also makes me confused. However,I do find some interest in those project and studying. After
discovering some correlation between those project,I started to have a sense that our community is
just on the edge of changing,in different fields and different aspect.
Maybe just like S.Giedion described in his book,time space architecture,the emerging of new
tradition actually lies in the connection between different field. Facing a whole new situation,we
definitely have to change something to challenge this profession and our society,maybe by means
of shaping a new understanding of space,like we used to be,or maybe by reevaluating our
position,as an architect or even a citizen.
What is the identity of our contemporary? I bearing this question in my mind throughout the
whole brief,and trying to see it as a access to dialogue with everything I sensed in my daily life,and
dialogue with all the fundamental value and understanding,in order to connect our present and past
and to speculate our emerging future. Although,we still dont have a very clear framework at the
moment,I still see it as a healthy sign,since it maybe means we have much more possibility in the
future. Consequently, I believe I will keep all these question and sense in my mind and my
following study,till the next discovery and question coming.

Team X : Ian Huang