Daily Photos - Suzhou Trip 5/12/08-14/12/08

This photo was taken at the top of Tiger Hill, on one of the last days in Suzhou. By this time, there was a great group dynamic, as we had all spent a week living, eating and photographing together.


One day we ordered KFC delivered to our hotel rooms, and everybody ate together out on the corridor floor. We occupied almost the entire fourth level of the hotel in Suzhou, so students would often leave their room doors open and wander between the different rooms. We even started a practice where each student would stick photos of themselves on their door so people could identify who stayed where.


When we started making collages, we would usually lay out all our photos on our beds and search for inspiration. This process was later refined and took about 1/8 the time it took originally. Making the collages turned out to be quite fun, as people would often group together in rooms and help each other. Chris Malouf and James Martin singing Disney theme songs as they worked had to be the most interesting approach though.


The very motherly Lyna Lao was constantly buying us food. Here she had just bought a packet of nuts, and we are all trying our best to get the outer shell off (which was harder than it looks).


I found this area of Suzhou to be really interesting. It seemed to be a halfway point between the 'old town' areas and the 'new town' areas.


The group lunches that we had were a great way for students from all different years to meet. In this photo there are students from 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th year architecture. I think everybody left this trip having made friends from other years they never would have met otherwise.


This photo was taken in one of the first gardens we visited, called the Master of Nets garden. Everybody always came together for group photos.


One night a group of us decided to play bowling in the corridors, using coconuts and water bottles. It is amazing how a simple game brought everyone together.


Helen Lai (4th year) teaching Chris Malouf (1st year) how to use chopsticks. Many of the older Chinese students were really helpful to some of the younger students, including myself, teaching us about Chinese customs, or helping to translate things for us.


This is a shot of the backstreets of Suzhou. Some of the buildings are hundreds of years old, with no running water. I found it fascinating that these areas existed within 100 metres of a busy shopping district.

Final Reflections

Architectural communications has been one of my favourite courses so far in architecture. Each workshop that I took (architecture in motion, atlas of colour, architectural drawing) has been so different and unique, and I feel I have learnt new sets of skills from each one. Architecture in Motion helped me to develop skills in non-verbal communication, stylistic drawing, sequencing images and film-making. Atlas of Colour allowed me to try my hand at various forms of visual communication, including painting, collage, and assembling of materials into a book. Finally, Architectural Drawing helped me to refine my technical skills in precision and linework for presentation drawings.

However, what I have found most interesting was not how different each course has been, but how one can pick up on common threads running throughout. Architecture is not simply an object: it encompasses feelings, emotions, experiences, ideas and concepts. Architecture In Motion taught me to understand architecture as a device that can transport you to another state both mentally and physically. Atlas of Colour taught me that architectural gestures can speak to subconscious ideals of beauty and harmony. Architectural Drawing taught me to see buildings not simply as objects, but as vessels for ideas and thoughts. I see all of these ideas as relating to a deep, intangible notion of the beauty and essence of great architecture, and I will strive to bring these ideals into all that I design from now on.

Drawing Workshop

This drawing workshop was really useful to me personally, as I have often had trouble with the technical aspects of architectural drawings. So far, I have generally been far more successful with loose sketching and rendering, than I have with technical drawings, so I chose this course as a way to improve on this area. I feel of all the communications courses I took, this is the one where I have made the biggest improvement. An understanding of page composition, line weight, technical precision, and drawing technique has enabled me to create final presentation drawings that I am very proud of. I am really excited for the next Design Studio submission, as I feel I will be able to easily transfer these skills we were taught into the presentation drawings that we have to submit for our final project.

Final Images for submission:


In this course we were pushed to examine a building, and construct presentation drawings that revealed your own personal understanding of said building. In the graphic composition, I tried to represent both the strong verticality and simplicity of the external shape of the building. For the 3D perspective drawing, I drew three images: the first, an angled perspective of the building; the second, I drew all the negative spaces of the building from the same perspective; and in the third, I exploded these negative ‘boxes’ to give a better view. I believe the building plays on notions of positive and negative space, with a simple overall shape that has been cut and dissected, creating an ultimately complex form. It was my intention to convey the interesting horizontal and vertical spaces within the building, through these drawings.


I chose to spread the drawings out as with as much white space as possible, to create a greater impact for what black lines I did put on the page. I also found that using artline pens on trace paper leaves a bold, beautiful and almost glistening effect. I would really love to use this style again in Design Studio.

Draft Images:



Previous Exercises:
Plan, section, elevation of cup and saucer

Rendering of Botta house (placing building within a different landscape)

Colour Theory Workshop

Of all the architectural communications courses I took, Atlas of Colour was easily the most demanding. From week one, we were consistently pushed to create interesting and personal artworks or exercises that demonstrated the colour theory we were learning in class. I believe it was this constant push to try new things, experimenting with different mediums, colour combinations and techniques, which resulted in an ultimately satisfying ‘Atlas of Colour’. Each week we were taught theory on colour (how different colours work together, how to create active and passive colour schemes). This was all completely new to me, and I found it fascinating. At the same time, we were taught new techniques to apply this knowledge (use of watercolours, inks, collage). I had never used watercolour paints before, but I found it to be a captivating medium to work with. For this reason, I chose to branch out and experiment as much as possible with watercolour, using it for a number of different exercises. Even in the short span of a few weeks, I think you can see an improvement in my paintings. This is a new skill I feel will be extremely useful over my architectural career, as I have already started to do watercolour paintings regularly in my own time, both as concept sketches in design studio, and for personal interest.




I found the practice of constructing a physical book to be fun, challenging and rewarding. I was very happy with my final Atlas, and the way it was navigated. I chose to split the book into two halves along either side of the accordion fold. One half housed the colour theory notes we learnt, whilst the other displayed the exercises we had done in class and at home. Because I felt there was such a strong link between the theory and the exercises, I decided to physically link the two sides. I cut circles in the pages, which allows the reader to glimpse the colour exercises through these holes, whilst reading the colour theory notes. In this way, both sides can be read simultaneously, and in comparison with one another, rather than the more boring approach of reading one side, then reading the other, without understanding a link between the two. Within the actual book construction, I kept to a simple colour scheme, using only a light cream paper with deep red lining, and a red ‘thread’ that starts on the title page and continues throughout the book, leaping through the holes, and leading the reader on a ‘journey’ through the colour atlas.





We were asked to make a ‘tunnel book’ on the end of our Atlas. I felt this was a way to demonstrate an understanding of what we had learnt in the preceding weeks (colour schemes, composition, physical construction). Again, I kept the colour scheme simple, using only different shades of red. As inspiration for the tunnel, we looked at an art installation that featured veils of glass stained with colour. Rather than literally trying to recreate the boxes of colour from this installation, I took the idea of layered colours, and developed it in my own way, to create a swirling tunnel of shaded reds.






Colour 'mountain' (colour wheel according to intensity of hue)

Photoshopped window inspired by 49 veils (the one in my book looks really different to this, but every time I upload it, it seems to reverse the colours. I actually don't mind the look of it like this though)

Watercolour Rendering of CCTV Tower - Rem Koolhaas

Watercolour map of Rem Koolhaas's face

Collaged plan of Seattle Public Library - Rem Koolhaas

Collaged Elevation of Seattle Public Library - Rem Koolhaas


watercolour rendering of 49 veils (personal interpretation)

quick sketch I did whilst at the 49 veils (I didn't have colour pens, or even a lead pencil, so I had to make do with black ink)

Study of Precedent Book - S,M,L,XL by Rem Koolhaas