{"id":9219,"date":"2019-06-19T12:19:18","date_gmt":"2019-06-19T12:19:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unit-21.com\/?p=9219"},"modified":"2020-07-05T22:14:28","modified_gmt":"2020-07-05T22:14:28","slug":"ziyuan-olliver-zhu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unit-21.com\/?p=9219","title":{"rendered":"Ziyuan (Oliver) Zhu"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

High City, New Acropolis | Athens, Greece | Unit 21 | 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click to see Design Realisation<\/a><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

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Literal transparency and adjacency in the architecture of government building often equated with figurative transparency, openness, accessibility and greater democracy. This is evident in buildings, such as The Casa del Fascio (Como, Italy) and The Reichstag.
The project took inspiration from the public and political building in ancient Athens, such as Acropolis and Pnyx. Acropolis, literally means \u2018high city\u2019 in Greeks, locates on the sacred rock which separated the Acropolis from the city. The quality allows acropolis to contain visual dialogue with all locations in Athens and has become a beacon of celebration. The Pnyx was the official meeting place of the Athenian democratic assembly. Its location is chosen to be outside of the city, and have a direct vision of the Agora, was the commercial and social centre of the city. Both of these public buildings, with many other landmarks in Athens, located on one of the hills in Athens and contains visual dialogue with the city. Through their response to the topography of the urban landscape, their existence becomes alive speculation of the relationship between the city and its citizen. They create a unique democracy system through the landscape.
The project aims to design a debate and referendum centre located on one of the hills in Athens for public participation in political discussion. The project discusses how the geometry negotiates the intimate and the whole city, which becomes a metaphor for politics, and how a democratic system can be created through a complex landscape that is generated from this digital design process.<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
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The project started with the exploration of visual effect and the concept of fa\u00e7ade of truth. The project looked at how the debate, especially the Mytilenian debate occurred in Athens in 427 bc was used a way to reach a rational decision and restore democracy.
\nThe project linked with Aristotle\u2019s research of the discourse. Aristotle believes the art of discourse of separated into three branches, logic, rhetoric and dialectic. Through a partnership of rhetoric and dialectic discourse, we can create a system of persuasion based on knowledge instead of upon manipulation and omission.
\nUsing the existing fa\u00e7ade of ancient Athenian assembly chamber as the source to construct the fa\u00e7ade of truth, through many iterations, the project translates the concept of rhetoric discourse into architectural element of self-expression and translates the concept dialectic discourse into architectural element of negotiation. Through a partnership of self-expression and negotiation elements, the building is then able to promote the idea of \u2018don\u2019t know\u2019 and \u2018change of mind\u2019.<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
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