Axis of Time and Emotion - Repression & Expression

AY2022/2023 Master of Architecture Programme NUS Project Title: Axis of Time and Emotion - Repression & Expression By: Eldon Ng Studio: Professor Ho Puay Peng & Ar. Tan Kay Ngee Studio Title: Heritage in Motion - Tradition Re-presented It is not uncommon to hear the term “Construction of Self” within the collectivist and group-centered country of Japan. The social mechanism that contributes this behavior is expressed through shaming of deviant individuals, Anthropologist Takie Lebra expresses the effortless identification of violation by deviants due to the readily recognized cultural norms. Given the cultural and ritualistic emphasis within the societal’s behavior, we find ourselves locked in a city of conformity and order. We find a society fixated on “soto-omote” which translates to the ritualistic situations that demands a compliant behaviour. Enforcing the “Expressed Self” to the back (Uchi-Ura). The expression of emotions in Japan is hence understood as a societal duty rather than an individual need, locking away the inward expression of an individual; resulting in psychological disorder within the self. The Japanese term that is often associated to the deeper inward expression of the self is “Hon-Ne” (本音) which also literally translates to “true sound”. Examples of these emotions are those that exposes the individual’s sensitive, intimate and vulnerable aspects of the self. As such, the Japanese not only created a spectacle expression of the “Performed-Self” (soto/omote) but wtih the repression of “Hon-Ne”, resist any possibilities for outliers and evolution of societal behavior. Marriage - Divorce, Death - Birth. The ward office acknowledges this. Within this single formless environment, the symbolic objectivation of these significant moments in our lives occurs. Professor Ho once jokingly said, “Marriage could perhaps be a highlight or a mark in our lives.” Indeed it could be, a blessing or a stain. Yet within the ward office, we find ourselves in little of an environment that could fall short of being within an Apple Store. The project finds great interest in the duality found within the site, the expression of love and emotions found along the river, and the blandness of the ward office. If both emotions and spaces are expressed through layers, be it “Tatemae/Hon ne” and “Oku”, how could these dualities be brought into the site and the program of the ‘ward office’? https://issuu.com/nyk0737/docs/option_writ...