Thinking about what space is

What is space? Space is subject to extremes of perceptual subjectivity. It is unlimited but only measurable by boundaries. That is, space will become significant once it is defined by an individual's perception.
Space is best understood by touch. It is literally inside our bodies, with which we constantly compare our surroundings within it. Space is understood in the gut (the inner essential part) before being measured by brain. Thus, space is subject to illusion. In other words, space is imaginary.

Recalled From Sensing Things

A sensory experience has the power of recollecting our life, present or past. We recall past experiences by seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling things that surround us. Personally, I am easily stirred by things related to lemons. The taste and smell of lemons arouse my feeling for a certain part of my life.

Whenever a lemony aroma wafts through the air, I always conjure up an image of a lemon tree. In my backyard stands a lemon tree with glossy leaves, balmy flowers, and tangy fruits. Above the tree, the sun shines on the fruits so the scent of lemons lifts. Around the tree, a swarm of bees gather the nectar from the golden threads of lemon flowers. Under the tree, morning dew glazes a red wheelbarrow; the shovel digs out the earthy smell of the tree’s roots. The fragrance of the fresh lemons fills the whole yard until it creeps into the living room, the bed rooms, the dining room, and the kitchen－everywhere indoors.

The lemon tree serves as a fruit supplier and an indispensable companion for me. The tree looks different in different seasons. It grows yellow and bald in autumn; it turns green and lush in spring and summer. I, particularly, love that tree when summertime, the season of lemon harvest, arrives. With a pruning shear, I am always excited about nipping the golden fruits from the tree. Because of this full-bearing lemon tree, a smell of blending, of baking, even of burning lemons always breeze from my kitchen. Most of the time, I love desserts made of lemons like crunchy shortbread tartlets, polka-dotted with poppy seeds; lemon pound cakes enlivened with a splash of fresh ginger; and puffs of lemon mousse, sandwiched between wafers－I love that soft and melting texture so much! The lemon tree gives me not only pleasure of taste but also it keeps me company. I enjoy myself drawing and painting in the shade: the leaves of the tree move slightly in the wind against the sunlight. And the moving light mixes the colors on my work. The vacillation between the leaves and the light sometimes inspires me to create a fresh piece by tracing along the dotted light sprinkles.

The lemon tree is born from the soil; of course, it will eventually be summoned back to the earth. The tree has already been there for more than ten years. It feeds me with its fruits and accompanies me with its shade. Unfortunately, this tree, a victim of a colony of termites, is going to be chopped down in this coming November. On some day this November, I will have to wave goodbye to my dear plant－Lemmie, the tree. From that day on, NO MORE will I smell its lovely smell and taste its pulpy taste! I miss having that lemon tree as my constant companion.

Whenever I come across sensing the lemony senses, mostly taste and smell, I always think of that lemon tree standing in my backyard: Every time I smell the lemony aroma, I think of it; every time I taste cuisine spiced with lemons, I think of it; every time, perhaps, I hear a sawing sound, I think of it sadly.

House at Regensburg

"Sustainability" becomes the catchword of responsible builders. The architectural profession for the first time started to think seriously about low-energy building after the oil crisis of the early 1970s. The result was a rash of experimental houses, lots of them were in rustic style to declare their "alternative", anti-industrial ideology.

The house at Regensburg is a logical design owing more to science than to sentiment. Its pure prism form and rational plan make it almost machine-like. The triangular shape is designed to collect solar energy which can be used to heat the house.

1. Winter day

2. Winter night

3. Summer day

4. Summer night

The Sphinxes

The Netherlands is a geographically low-lying country prone to floods. Therefore, the housing often negotiates with the site, mostly the water area. In fact, there are over 10,000 floating houses situated on water in the Netherlands and is expected to increase to 20,000 by the year 2020.

The Sphinxes, constructed on the lakefront, comprises five buildings and each building contains fourteen apartments. Moreover, the Sphinxes incorporates the parking for the residents in the concrete bases of the buildings. The taper blocks help to catch the sun at the backside with slanting terraces and the lake view at the front side with French windows.

Mountain House

Mountain house is used as for weekend retreat. The house is approached across an entry court built of stone from the site, the Appalachian foothills. The entry court’s edges are defined by the garage, the master bedroom, and a large screened porch. The relationship of the house to the landscape bases on the idea of blending in and of blurring the boundaries between inside and out. The concrete walls and wooden decks shape outdoor rooms that extend beyond the living room into the landscape.

   

Micro-Compact Home

The micro-compact house is a lightweight dwelling for one or two people for short-stay living; hence, it is ideal for business travelers' rooms, holiday lodges, or other short-term residential or academic uses.

The micro-compact cubes have been taken into use for many projects. One of the projects is a student village, with sponsorship from telecommunications company O2 Germany, is currently inhabited by the students of Technical University Munich in Germany.

The layout of the cubes is inspired by the traditional Japanese tea houses. What's so special about this compact house is its flexibility. For instance, the upper level sleeping bunk (for two) can be folded out of the way, while below, the sunken dinning area can also double as a second sleeping space (also for two) after putting away the table.

Casa Los Andes

With bright colors, the house is like a piece of toy representing both childlike innocence and a high degree of sophistication. The most playful and dramatic part of the house is its piano-shaped and pink entrance hall, pierced with randomly placed tiny square windows as well as a round window and an oval skylight.

the colored volumes are like pieces of glamorous jewelry on an already stunning outfit: red fireplaces and a yellow spiral staircase connecting the library to the master bedroom.

For the interior space, the living room is also pleasurable in shape. Its curved wall, made of frameless glass, allows the partition between inside and garden almost to dissolve visually. In all, the house is highly accomplished version of fantasy and sophistication.

Seadrift Lagoon House

The house on Seadrift Lagoon in California takes on a pair of related metaphors: It is a boat, adrift on an ocean; it is also a shell, protecting inhabitants from the cold-beach climate. The use of redwood siding has been elaborated like a ship－the deck prow and the sail-shaped window in the living room reinforce the sense of connection to a sea voyage.
The Seadrift Lagoon house is a single-story house with a kitchen, baths, paired bedrooms, living, and dining space. The house exercises minimalism. That is, the house creates the image of extreme simplicity by combining the visual and functional purposes together. For instance, the windows imitate cabin windows and also offer glimpses of nearby mountains and water. (both visually and functionally)

Personalities: rustic, simple, metaphorical, adventurous

left to right The roof lifts at the corner to let light in.

The deck is shaped like the prow of a ship.

Food Pollution

Food Pollution

Generally speaking, pollutions are conceived as contaminations, which threaten the environment: pollutions of air, soil, noise, water, and other sources, engaged in breaking the equilibrium of nature. However, what if there is a pollution excluded from those stereotypes? The contemporary event of tainted milk powders in mainland China has brought about the attention to food contamination worldwide. As we know, the environmental pollutions might not affect people directly; by contrast, food poisoning can harm human beings while eating and drinking. For instance, people who have been drinking the tainted milk are at the risk of getting kidney stones. According to the New York Times, more than 54,000 Chinese babies are sick at toxic milk and have received the hospital treatment. Thus, we should express our concerns to the safety of food products.

There are mainly three factors, which may affect levels of contamination of the food products: environmental conditions, manufacturing processes, and transport conditions. The environment for food-making is important. The environmental factors, such as water and land quality, determine whether food is contaminated or not. Let's say, a fish farm cannot keep its fish in the place with polluted water. Moreover, the sophisticated manufacturing process relies on production techniques. For example, a dairy factory needs to "pasteurize" its raw material, milk, to destroy the bacteria by heating the liquid. Last, transport creates the potential hazard of food pollution since the products make contact to outside world during the delivering. That is, the food products might get tainted from the contaminated transportation or places.

Food contaminations happen every day all over the world: The United Nations agency receives about 200 reports of tainted food products each month in its 193 member states. Hence, Government officials must give the high priority to the regulation of food handling for the food industry. Many developed countries have high level of political commitment on food safety.
For example, in Britain, the Food Standard Agency, responsible for food safety, announces its news about polluted food and decisions on food policy in open meetings accessible to the public. In other words, consumers or businessmen can react to this process in action by questioning the board directly. Unlike developed countries, developing countries need to strengthen their regulatory frameworks, for their food safety systems might be outdated. Like mainland China, the case of the tainted baby formula, made by Sanlu Group, has been reported to the local government from December, 2007. But the central government is informed about this report eight month later after the local government has "taken over" it. Therefore, government should treat food regulation seriously and should take it as a public interest, not political benefits.

"You are what you eat", a slogan for dietary habits, is no more singled out just for the nutrition of food we take but also for the safety in relation to food.

prewriting 1

Generally speaking, pollutions can be categorized into three types: air pollution, noise pollution, and water pollution. But what if there is a pollution that is excluded from those steretypes? Well, there is a food pollution that strikes most people around the world recentlly: tainted milk powders from mainland China. As we know, the environmental pollutions might not affect people directly; by contrast, food pollution can cause direct harm to human beings. For instance, people who have been driking the tainted milk might in the high risk of getting kidney stones. According to the New York Times, there are more than 54,000 children drinking the tainted milk in mainland China. Thus, to prevent the food pollution, caused by the uncrupulous businessmen, goverment should be careful about supervising the food manufacturers.