Defference vs Difference to Context

8/4/2019 Defference vs Difference to Context

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Deference to ContextQi Zhu

[email protected]

Figuring the relationship between a building and its context is profoundly influenced by the

construed concept of self and his or her roles and functions within a society. The modern concept of self

in the western culture, as conferred in various writings of the English mathematician and philosopher

Alfred North Whitehead, emphasized on the effort of each individual in his or her process of creating a

different selftherefore to attain the intensification of experience. In contrary, the classic Chinese

Confucian and Taoist thinking is composed through the deferentialrelationships among individuals. One

is responsible to find his or her position within a society by deferring to the other individuals through

ritual practice and more dramatically through no-action, or no-creativity.

Such a conceptual shift in the two cultures: difference and deference, is used in this paper as the

theoretical framework of applying a comparative analysis in how to think about context. The concept of

difference more easily leads to out-of-context while the deference to in context. The traditional Chinese

garden gates built during the Ming and Qing dynasties (14th

18th

centuries), focusing on building

deferential relationships with other architectural elements, engender an aesthetic coherence and

intrinsic harmony.

By contrasting Eastern and Western cultural development ofselfand by analyzing each cultures

corresponding architectural developments, the paper concludes with a proposition of combining the

Western innovative approach of creating difference with the Eastern opposing gestures of creating

deference. Thus the final architecture innovation could be a self-less piece and displays unique yet

harmonious relationship with the others.

A Different Self
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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The modern understanding of self in the western culturenormally begins with Descartes (1596-

1650)s mind and body separation. The body sensory organs represent the material aspect, or the

physical nature of the self. In contrast, the mind is the non-physical

substance. The mind, having the capacity of unifying reason and

experience, gives us thoughts, intelligence and self-consciousness. In

his study of optics, Descartes illustrated how the outside inputs are

passed on by the sensory organs the eyes. Yet the image of the

object is an upside-down copy on the retina. The misrepresented

sensory information has to be corrected by the mind to internally

make sense of the data. Similarly, self-understanding is achieved

through reasoning. Francis Bacon (1521-1626), the English

philosopher, supplements Descartes project. Self is taken as an

assertive agent; reasoning is the path to attain the affirmation of the

subjective proposition. Yet, David Hume (1711-1776), the Scottish philosopher and historian, made a

stark contrast with Descartes and found that passions of pride and envy, love and hate are the source of

self- awareness and meaning of individuality. Reason is just the slave of passions.1

Whether it is

reasoning or feeling, those contemplations about self are aimed at answering, what is the ontological

selfthat guides such self-reflections and actions? However at the level of lived experience, most self-

reflections and actions always eschew from any singular designation about the ontological I, because

the self sometimes is tormented by one desire and acts under one reason, yet at other times, by other

1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hume


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passions and contradictory acts. The question ofwhat am I? in everyday life is often shifted to the

question of what do I become?2

In such a shift, the idea of self-as-process emerges.

The concept of self-as-process was expounded in the philosophies influenced by Henri Bergson and

Whitehead. There are no defining or permanent self rather the self is constituted by its becoming, both

in the sense that individual selves come into being and pass away, and in the sense that the

development of a person comprises the multiple momentary selves through time, and each momentary

self is a process of becoming on its own. The concept of self-as-process turns away from the substance

views of selfhood.

According to Whitehead, each temporary occasion along the life-process is a transitory drop of

experience and forms a temporary self. The constituting pieces of transitory occasions are loosely tied

together through the relevant experience of the previous occasions and prior self. On this reading of the

self, there is no war of reason against the passions, but a complex set of interactions between

competing sets of beliefs and desires. In such a way, the self is de-centered from the one static being

into a number of potential ways ofdynamic becoming.

Each drop of experience, as a process of becoming, is termed by Whitehead as concrescence of an

occasion. The process of concrescence is constituted by three principle stages in the growth of an

occasion of experience: initial datum, in-betweenprocess, and final aimofsatisfaction.

In David Halls analysis of Whiteheadians theory on culture, these three stages are explained in

detail. In a simplified way, the datum in the concrescence of an occasion provides the initial physical

feeling of the occasion. Influenced by preceding experiences, the initial physical feeling is indeterminate

in regard to this particular occasion of experience. Theprocess ofbecoming is the growth of the

2D Hall, D., Roger T. Ames (1998). Thinking from the Han Self, Truth, and Transcendence in Chinese and

Western Culture. Albany, State University of New York. P. 14.


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experiences and is grounded on the reception and transformation of the initial datum. During the

growth of experiences, the self conceptualizes the initial datum the vague physical feeling - towards a

less ambiguous conceptual feeling. The physical and conceptual feelings interact to increase the

definitions of the occasion and to clarify the inherited vagueness in accordance to the aim of

satisfaction. Such a process resembles how the chaos is progressively transformed into an orderly

pattern. The final determinate aim of an actual occasion is satisfaction: i.e., the intensification of the

experience.3

Whitehead delved further and stressed that the real possibility of the attainment of the aim of

satisfaction or the intensification of experience is hinged on what the circumstance provides and by how

free a self could be. As stated above, the growth of experience involves the interaction of the physical

feeling of the occasion (derived from the initial datum) and the conceptual feeling (derived during the

process of reproducing the physical feeling). If at the final stage of the concrescence, the conceptual

feeling is reverted from the initial one, and if the reverted feeling has experienced a heightened

intensity through aversion, then the process becomes the focus of noveltyin the occasion. A greater

satisfaction is attained when the occasion is able to modify (reverse) its initial conceptual feeling from

the final one through introducing novelty.

Whitehead also raised another important concept: creativity. As for Whitehead, the universe is a

creative advance into novelty (Process and Reality).4Whiteheads concept of creativity is a source of

concrete intuition that leads the temporal passage into novelty. As an intuition, creativity adventures

into making differences that derives from the observation of the intrinsic incompleteness or wanting of

each occasion. In this way, each occasion not only is a self-forming process, also an aesthetic event

3Hall, D. L. (1973). The Civilization of Experience A Whiteheadian Theory of Culture. New York, Pordham

University Press., P. 37.4

Ibid., P. 38.


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within the process.5

The metaphysical assumption is that, self-creative aesthetic events are the primary

realities of which the world is made. For whitehead, the self-as-process is an aesthetic, rather than a

functional journey, advancing into novelty through creativity.

Under such a conceptual umbrella, self-as-process steers away from the static individual to the

processive multiple becomings and possible selves. The potentials of individuals and their experiences

are magnified by creativity, a novel aversion from the initial to the final concepts. The collective

individuals form a cultural pattern that also adventures along the process of producing novel

differences. Under such a theoretical framework where self-differences and cultural difference thrive,

not only self is different from the others through creativity, the self in this temporal and spatial occasion

is different from the selfin previous occasions through the act of creating novelty.

Difference in Architecture

Probing the self as phenomenological becoming rather than ontological being has parallels in the

theoretical development on architectural design and building practices. The searching of typology in

architectural theories seems to have resonated with the hunting for the essential being of a building

that muted from changes. Quartremere de Quincy defines an architectural type in his historical

dictionary by contrasting it with the concept of model. Model as the word suggests, provides an image

of something to be copied or imitated. All is exact and defined in the model. Yet, in contrast, type

serves as a rule for the model. The instances being categorized within the same type might not resemble

each other. Giulio Carlo Argan in his article Typology and Transformation tells us: type is never

formulated a prioribut always deduced from a series of instances. For example, the building type as

circular temple is deduced from the result of the confrontation and fusion of all circular temples. Such

5Ibid., P. 37.


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a type directly depends on the existence of a series of circular temple buildings, having between them

an obvious formal analogy (as circular form) and functional analogy (as temple).6

Due to the industrial revolution in the second half of the 19th century, an emerging need of housing

large-scale industrial productions requires a different type of buildings. Consequently, attempts were

made to set up typologies based on the physical functions of the building alone, such as typical plans for

industrial buildings, hospitals, hotels, schools, and banks etc. Typology is further dwindled from the

coupled relationship of formal and functional analogies to a functional analogy alone. The functionalist

concept of architectural type and the associated pragmatic program arises which seeks to fix

relationships between spaces and their uses.7

In reverse of such deductions with the resurrection of the

formal aspect of architectural typology, Giulio Carlo Argan stressed that in the western architecture

history, typology is tied more to buildings formal configuration, than to its pragmatic functions. The

ideological content of forms has a constant base. The formal configuration of the circular temple is not

intended to satisfy contingent, practical requirements; rather it is meant to deal with more profound

problems reflecting the ideology of the given society at a particular time.

Such formal typologies always fall into three main sub-categories: the first concerned with a

complete configuration of buildings, the second with major structural elements, and the third with

decorative elements. Examples of the first subcategory are centrally or longitudinally planned buildings,

of the second, flat or domes roofs; and of the third, orders of columns, ornamental details, etc. Such

subcategories follow the succession of the architects working process (plan, structural system and

surface treatment) and that it is intended to provide a typological guide for the architect to follow in the

6Argan, G. C. (1996). On the Typology of Architecture (1963). Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture An

Anthology of Architectural Theory 1965-1995. k. Nesbitt. Princeton, NJ, Princeton Architectural Press: Pp. 240

248, Pp. 243-2447

Rahim, A. (2009). Uniformity and Variability in Architectural Practice. Research and Design the Architecture

of Variation. L. Spuybroek. London, Thames and Hudson: Pp. 40 48, P. 42.


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process of conceiving a building. So that the working out of every architectural project has this

typological aspect; whether it is that the architect consciously follows the type or wants to depart

from it.8

Whether a building is categorized either into a functional or/and formal typology, the conceived

type is directly liasoned to an idealized form that is assumed to be constant. Type connotes the identity

of a building its use and form to be read from its appearance.9

Even the design practice has an

archetype as mentioned above. The theory of architectural typology investigates the static ontological

being of buildings and design practices. Yet recently, contrary voices are heard regarding buildings and

design practices as a process ofbecoming through the act of creative discoveries along the design and

building process. It resonates with the theory on culture outlined in Whiteheadians writings. In

architecture, there are neither formal nor functional constancies, rather change, variations and

novelty in time persistently define then re-define both the building and the design practice.

Contemporary Architectural Practice, a leading

architectural firm located in New York, pioneered in

taking building design as a process and striving for

creating variations. Ali Rahim in CAP gives some

insightful comments on how his practice achieved the

aim of creating varied forms in architecture. Ali Rahim

explains: Architects who use analytical methods

typically work from the top down: they formulate an overall design concept and then refine the design

8Argan, G. C. (1996). On the Typology of Architecture (1963). Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture An

Anthology of Architectural Theory 1965-1995. k. Nesbitt. Princeton, NJ, Princeton Architectural Press: Pp. 240

248, P. 244.9

Rahim, A. (2009). Uniformity and Variability in Architectural Practice. Research and Design the Architecture

of Variation. L. Spuybroek. London, Thames and Hudson: Pp. 40 48, P. 42.

Figure 1


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at successively more detailed levels (this resembles Argans comment on the typology of architectural

practice mentioned above.). Contemporary Architectural Practice uses temporaltechniques and begins

with the individual parts of a system, linking these elements together for form larger components until a

complete assemblage emerges. This approach is called the bottom-up approach. Each step in the

process reshapes and redirects the next. Hence, new associations and outcomes may arise that were not

anticipated. Designers then evaluate these bottom-up procedures analytically, to determine whether

the aims of the project are fulfilled or to ensure its construction efficiency. Bottom-up methods

supplement rather than supplant analysis. However, the emphasis shifts from trying to analyze or

represent that which is already known the preconceived design concept- to discovering relationships

and techniques that are not yet known and that may emerge through feedback.10

Thus the form and function of the whole building is not the outcome of adding together blocks of

program. CAP especially challenges the formal typologies. Aided with digital technologies, CAP uses

dynamic systems as means to generate form and to address the issue of functions.11

Dynamic systems

are controlled using numerically controlled parameters. Ali Rahim states, The numerical controls shift

the relationships virtually, and the virtual is what guides relationships and motion in a dynamical system.

Once the numerical controls that determine the velocity, direction and motion range are determined,

they are infiltrated with the knowledge of the project, program and type, as well as specific aesthetic

10Rahim, A. (2009). Uniformity and Variability in Architectural Practice. Research and Design the Architecture

of Variation. L. Spuybroek. London, Thames and Hudson: Pp. 40 48, P. 43.11

The term dynamicsystem is borrowed from mathematical concept. In such a system, a trajectory is fixed

by a rule which is only valid describes the time dependence of a point in geometrical space. The fixed rule

describes the state of the system at a short interval in the future. Given an initial position or point, it is possible to

determine all future points by repeating the algorithms, each iteration advancing time by a small step. The

collection of the points yielded is known as a trajectory.


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range that we are interested in. The parameters of the system are guided by us, the designers, and as

we shift them they change and respond dynamically, in much the same way as a campfire.12

Situating buildings and design practices in the process of change and becoming, the potentials

infused along the process always abolish the fixed preconceived types. There are more and more

representations of the buildings, not just an image of the building, rather a series of images intending to

capture the becoming of the buildings.

Thus, the above is an analysis of the self-as-process and building (design)-as-process in the western

culture. Under such a conceptual framework, the designer- the creative self - is the forceful agent

imposing the assertive power over the process ofbecoming so as to create novel difference. Such an

assertive self-aim at the intensities of experiencing, runs against the goal of the self-defined in the

traditional Chinese culture. The subsequent sections, however, will examine the concept of culture and

self in the Chinese tradition. Behind many of the similarities, there is a fundamental alteration from

creating difference to creating deference. Deference involves a yielding grounded in the recognition of a

particular circumstance. Deferential acts require that one put oneself in another ones place, and to

forget his own creative power so as to repose himself to be harmonious with the others.

Wen hua and the Chinese concept of culture

In Chinese, the word for culture-wenhua() -juxtaposes two characters wenand hua. The

original pictograph ofwen represents an individual patterned with a criss-cross tattoo on his body.13

12Rahim, A. (2009). Uniformity and Variability in Architectural Practice. Research and Design the Architecture

of Variation. L. Spuybroek. London, Thames and Hudson: Pp. 40 48, P. 42.13

Falkenhausen, L. v. (1996). "The Concept of Wen in the Ancient Chinese Ancestral Cult." Chinese Literature :

Essays, Articles, Reviews 18(December): Pp. 1-22., P.1.


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Quoting Herrlee F. Creel, The character wenappears to have originally had the sense of 'striped' or

'adorned,' and it may be by extension from this that wen came to mean 'accomplished,'

'accomplishments,' and even 'civilization': all of those adornments of life that distinguish the civilized

man from the untutored barbarian."14

This pattern wen, was formed through the interactions of myriad

entities in the world.15

The celestial pattern is the wen of heaven (through the interactions of the

celestial bodies, (tianwen). The patterns constituted by the individual persons through their

interactions are the pattern of human beings (). Yet wen is not a permanent pattern, just like the

celestial pattern keeps evolving, so does the pattern of the human society. Wen constantly transforms,

or in the process ofhua (, change).Hua, whose original pictograph possibly represents an individual

in two opposing postures, denotes the idea of metamorphosis from one form to becoming its antipode.

This transformation process is different from another Chinese concept of change (bian)-an abrupt

mutation. Hua denotes a gradual and continuous process of change yet with dramatic effects. The most

famous story of such a gradual yet striking transformation was told in the fables ofZhuangziof the

grand Kun fish that transforms into the massive Peng bird in the chapterXiaoyaoyou (Easyand

FreeWandering) in the book ofZhuangzi.16

Birds and fishes are totally different category of living

creatures, yet there is a metamorphosed process that can transform the two diametrically opposed

forms.

14

Falkenhausen, L. v. (1996). "The Concept of Wen in the Ancient Chinese Ancestral Cult." Chinese Literature :Essays, Articles, Reviews 18(December): Pp. 1-22., P.1.

15?

16Here is Burton Watson's translation of this story: In the northern darkness there is a f ish and his name is

Kun. The Kun is so huge I don't know how many thousand li he measures. He changes and becomes a bird whose

name is Peng. The back of the Peng measures I don't know how many thousand li across and, when he rises up and

flies off, his wings are like clouds all over the sky. When the sea begins to move, the bird sets off for the southern

darkness, which is the Lake of Heaven... When the Peng journeys to the southern darkness, the waters are roiled

for three thousand li. He beats the whirlwind and rises.


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Wenhua, the two characters was first combined together in the Book of Change.17

Its basic meaning

is pattern (wen) can efficaciously transform (hua). Nowadays, wenhua generally means culture. The

epistemology of the word wenhua reveals the idea that culture is first aprocess of forming pattern

(wen); and secondly a transformation efficacy of the pattern. Similar to Whiteheadians theory, each

individual forms a component of the cultural pattern. Yet, the relationship among the individuals and

the principal aim of each occasion of experience pose a contrast to the Western theory. In the

traditional Chinese society, as analyzed by David Hall, each individual attentively strives for being

deferent,rather than different from each other.18

Each one attempts to achieve deferential relationship to the other. A persons virtue is hinged

on him yielding his own needs or desires to achieve a certain harmony in a larger society. Contemporary

commentary in this traditional value is termedas selflessness in the sense of self-abnegation is a

traditional Chinese ideal.19

Donald Munro in his book The Concept of Man in Early Chinaargues that,

Selflessness is one of the oldest values in China, present in various forms in Taoism and

Buddhism, but especially in Confucianism. The selfless person is always willing to subordinate his own

interests, or that of some small group to which he belongs, to the interest of a larger social group.20

In such an understanding of self, self is contextual. In the Confucian model, self is not defined

though the assertive agent I rather is the receptive agent me. The behavior or actions of me has to

be deferential, appropriate according to others needs and rules that are required by the circumstances.

17

.18

Hall, D., Roger T. Ames (1998). Thinking from the Han Self, Truth, and Transcendence in Chinese and

Western Culture. Albany, State University of New York. P. 40.19

Ibid., P. 40.20

Ibid., P. 24.


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In Confucianism, deference operates within ritual patterns ( li), or correctly performing ones ritual

duties. Appropriateness brought people to recognize and fulfill their responsibilities toward others.

Rites, for the Confucians, were the most effective means of cultivating morality among its members.

Confuciuss follower Xunzi of the 3rd century BC further underlines the effectiveness of the rites (li) in

making the pattern of/for transformation (wenhua). For Xunzi the rites provide the rules or principles for

the correct behaviors like that of the plumb line or a compass.21

Just as music shapes peoples emotions

and creates feelings of solidarity, so ritual shapes peoples understandings of duty and leads to order.22

With the guidance of rites, ones emotions and behavior are all naturally appropriate to the

circumstances. Xunzi states that the effects of performing rites go beyond an individual person to the

larger community. Once people in a community are all behaving according to the rule of deference set

up by the ancient rites, the community naturally is a well-ordered entity. Such a well-ordered society is

reflected in the orderly pattern conducted in the communitys wine-drinking ceremonies.Thus for

Confucians, peoples gestures, behavior and languages, as they relate each other through deference, the

self is wen or patterned, then adorned and accomplished. The society formed in such a way would

possess an aesthetic beauty or harmony.

By contrast, the Daoism expresses its deferential activity through a dramatic notion of no-

knowledge, no-action, and no-desire. If in the Confucianism, wen, the decorated pattern is praised,

for Zhuangzi, the pattern of plainness, undecorated is advocated. The book, Zhuangzi, refuted the ability

of Confucian rites in putting society into a harmonious order promoted by Xunzi, claiming that in reality,

21the line is acme of straightness, the scale is the acme of fairness, the carpenters square and compass are

the acme of squareness and roundness, and rites are the highest acme of the correct human behavior. This being

so, those who do not model themselves after ritual and are not satisfied with ritual principles are called people

who lack of method and standards. Those who model themselves after ritual and find satisfaction in ritual

principles are said to be gentlemen who have methods and standards Watson translation of Xunzi, also refer to

Xunzi (1999). Xunzi -Library of Chinese Classics, Hu Nan Chu Ban She. Vol 2, P. 614.22

(Ebrey P. 28).


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although a wine-drinking ceremony normally starts with ritualistic and proper order, it always ends up in

chaos. The ritually formed body is not in harmony with the natural tendency of the body; rather, the

body needs to be liberated to allow it to be relieved from any social norms.

Freeing the body from the rules imposed by Confucian rites

can be seen in the story about the eccentric scholar Liu Ling, one

of the seven sages of the Bamboo Grove of the 3rd

century. When

Liu Ling sits naked in his hut, people see his weird action and laugh

at him. Liu objects, saying, I used sky and earth as my house, my

house is my clothes, why then do you enter here into my

pants?23 Liu also seemingly acts defiantly against the rigorous behavior pattern set up by the Confucian

rites, but his actions with his naked-body reveal the idea of letting the body be itself. Such an extreme

deferential action through taking no-action thus grasps the true natural and harmonious state of the

self with its surroundings.

The architecture for deference: using the traditional Chinese garden doors as an

example

The deferential relationships of the individuals in forming the cultural pattern also are mirrored in

the design and disposition of gates in traditional Chinese gardens. Those gates, as an architectural

element, stands at the boundary between two scenes, simultaneously connecting and separating the

the scenes. An interesting aspect of the traditional Chinese garden gate is that, as a deferential

architectural element, its own presence is weakened to enhance the scenes that are essential to the

gardens.

23Yuan Jixi, Liu chao mei xue, (Beijing, 1989), P. 148.


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In the 17th

century treatise, The Craft of Gardens, regarding the construction of garden doors, Ji

Cheng advises,

The style of molding around the opening of a doorway should be chosen

according to the current fashion. Not only can a doorway give a new look to a dwelling house, it can

make a garden look more elegant too. The fine work has to be done by a mason specialist, but the

general arrangement needs to be directed by a person of discrimination Absolutely avoid carvings on

the door-jambs; the wall around a doorway should be polished smooth; everywhere the door should

lead one to the open spaces and in all directions draw one close to the scenery. If these matters were

not handed down to posterity I fear they might be lost forever so I have assembled

the following design.24

An analysis of Ji Chengs account shows that the style of the garden doors needs

to be simple and devoid of any extravagant or gaudy carvings (Figure 3). Special

masons could only craft these seemingly simple and fine doors. The technique

nowadays for building a variety of such garden doors uses a full-size wooden

template called the yaba kuang (,literally the muted frame). First, the yaba kuang is made intothe desired shape of the door opening. Then it is inserted into the pre-designated location within the

wall. Afterwards, wall bricks are laid around it to firmly set the template in place. The next procedure

mortars the facing brick tiles onto the outer surfaces of the yaba kuang. Some of the facing brick tiles

are custom made to flawlessly wrap the edges of the yaba kuang so that the appearance of the door

opening is clean and elegant (Figure 4).25

Because of the careful detailing, the gates can naturally

immerge into the garden scenes. The minimal presence of the physical form of the garden doors is

24Ji Cheng, The Craft of Gardens, P. 83.

25Tian Yongfu,Zhongguo yuan lin jian zhu shi gong ji shu, (Beijing, 2002), P. 186.

Figure 2

Figure 3


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analogous with the technique of weaken the creativity of the self in order to be deferential and

harmonious with the others.

Many other similar examples exist in Ming and Qing dynasty gardens. The garden gates are built

unpretentiously to artfully leverage their capacities of

organizing scenes and directing movements. Figure 5 shows

the moon gate in the Canglan ting garden in Suzhou. The

masonry door jamb is built with the thin rim of finely

crafted, curved brick blocks, which are joined seamlessly to

form a partial circle. Near the bottom, the door jamb is

curved inward and smoothly enveloped into the masonry

walls. To complete the shape of the circle, the piece of brick

block for the threshold is concave. The austere yet beautiful curvilinear door opening frames the view of

an elaborately carved window on the opposite wall. The curves on the door and the opposite window

opening disclose an internal harmony between the door and the approaching view.

For the garden doors in the next two examples (Figure 6), the door jambs are omitted all together,

making them naked openings. By artfully varying the sizes and shapes of the door openings in

accordance with the arrangement of the garden scenes beyond, the perception of space is expanded.

The opening on the left-most image in Figure 6 uses its plain outlook and vase-like shape to strike a

contrast with the rock formations behind which is filled with light, shadow, energy, and movement. The

gourd-shape garden door opening on the right-most image in the figure artistically gives a glimpse of the

Figure 4


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approaching scene luring the person to venture into the opening by creating from afar an illusion of

spatial and scenic depth. It instills a wondrous curiosity about the characteristics of the framed scene.26

Figure 6

The strategic door positions and variation in door shapes are attained through creative deference to

the other elements and factors within the design and building circumstances.

Conclusion: the architecture of difference and deference

Thus, culture both in the Whiteheadian and the Chinese theory expresses a momentary pattern of a

society which continuously transform. The pattern represents the organization of the thoughts and

actions of the individuals within that society. For Whitehead, the momentary cultural pattern is

constituted from the effort of each individual in his or her process of creating a different self. In

contrary, the cultural pattern understood in Confucian and Taoist thinking represents the deferential

26David Engel, Creating a Chinese Garden, (London, 1986), P. 8.


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relationships established among the individuals through ritual practice and more dramatically no-

action, or no-creativity.

In parallel, the difference and deference in architecture are analyzed above. The building projects by

CAP, aiming at creating variations and differences are full of expressive diversities and technological

innovations. The Chinese garden gates, however, focusing on building deferential relationships with

other architectural elements, engenders a aesthetic coherence and intrinsic harmony.

Nowadays, when comparing a different culture often gains more insight to the culture of ones own.

Is it possible to do so architecturally? Can the designers mobilize their creativity in creating different yet

deferent architecture? InAnalects,The Master said, As for the person with virtue, in wanting to

establish himself he establishes others; in wanting to succeed himself he helps others to succeed.27

Can

the relationship among the architectural elements or among one building to the others be designed in

such a way?

As for the designing building with virtue, in wanting to establish its own presence, the building

establishes others (i.e., the environmental factors) through the creativity of the designer; in wanting to

succeed its own erections, the building helps others to succeed through the creativity of the designer.

27Quoted from Hall, D., Roger T. Ames (1998). Thinking from the Han Self, Truth, and Transcendence in Chinese

and Western Culture. Albany, State University of New York. P. 259.

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