Perry Kulper introduces Stanislaus Fung after a series of announcements commenting on SCI-Arc’s then recent move into the Santa Fe Depot building. Kulper describes Fung’s expertise in landscape design, Chinese gardens and Australian architectural history. Fung states his presentation will be based on the images used in two recent publications rather than close readings and translations of historic texts.
Fung presents a series of aerial photographs, which are of interest in that not showing the perspective of the passerby, and showing both historic elements and contemporary contextualization. Fung argues that tourist guide books, often a mishmash of past and present, serve to connect past and present in a stimulating way.
Fung argues that tourist guide books, by lacking hierarchy, compel the reader piece the city together in an individual way. He discusses the incorporation of individual memory and cultural experience. Fung goes on to discuss the difficulties in understanding China and Chinese building practice, in that image and media are the main source of information rather than personal experience. Chinese buildings often lack the tectonic considerations of buildings in other parts of the world. The external visual articulation becomes the only differentiating factor.
