This article examines the development of Dutch modern architecture from the perspective of the changing role of form in architectural creation. The fields of ‘building’ and ‘design’ were not inherently connected. The relationship between the two was installed and intensified in the first decennia of the 20th century. But at a certain moment specialization took place even if architects often still occupied themselves with daily objects. This laid the seeds for the transformation of the role of form in architectural creation. After the second world war the emphasis was placed on the reconstruction of the cities that were damaged by the war and on the housing for the masses. Formal issues were hardly of any great importance. Only in the nineties the attitude changed and form as a result of design (rather than building) became again a major issue for architects who relied on the capabilities of the engineer in order to realize their projects. The general question is: to which degree design has taken over architectural creation and architecture has become the result of design? One things is clear: lines of continuity and discontinuity colour the course of Dutch architecture.

Experts in the field of architecture and landscape design have reached a broad consensus that the Chinese literati garden is a type of built environment that seamlessly integrates architecture and landscape with exceptional cultural, artistic, and historical values. However, previous site-based studies have often leaned towards either a subjective description of the experience or a technical analysis of the space. Both approaches may result in oversimplified interpretations of the Chinese literati garden, failing to adequately capture its fundamental spatial-experiential structure. This paper aims to address this challenge through the lens of phenomenology. Specifically, it examines an essential spatial-experiential structure—the FS-FW structure—embedded within the Chinese literati garden. The term FS-FW structure, as meticulously established in this paper, refers to the spatial-experiential structure formed by the relationship between one's experience within a single “focusing space” (a space built for visitors to linger and mindfully appreciate their surroundings) and that within its “focused world” (a phenomenal world of surroundings generated during visitors' stay in the focusing space). Using the Master of the Nets Garden as a case study, this paper investigates how the FS-FW structure shapes one's experiences within a literati garden and explores several important mechanisms related to it. A variety of methods are employed throughout, with GIS-based spatial-visual analysis being particularly significant. The case study leads to a series of original results, including some significant mechanisms, that explain how Chinese literati gardens shape visitors' experiences. This paper concludes that the FS-FW structure is a key factor responsible for shaping a continuous, rich, and clearly formulated experience within the Chinese literati garden.

This thesis starts with a worrisome observation tied to various phenomena across modern built environments: humans today are experiencing a weakened relatedness to and reduced intimacy with the world around them. In stark contrast to the general trend, however, most Chinese literati gardens maintain their traditional rich conditions, enabling their visitors to experience a unique, high-quality experience of relatedness to and intimacy with the world, which may serve as an antidote to the existing disruptive modern condition. What lessons can be learned from the Chinese literati gardens to address this weakened intimacy of relatedness in modern built environments? Motivated by this question, this thesis takes the Heideggerian notion of Nearness as its foundation. Through a contextually relevant interpretation of the meaning of Nearness in Heideggerian discourse, it first establishes a theoretical framework through which to assess how the experience of Nearness—the ontological relatedness to and intimacy with the world— generally occurs within built environments. Next, taking the Master of the Nets Garden as a case study, it reveals the various embedded spatial-experiential settings and complex mechanisms that continuously facilitate rich, strong, and multi-dimensional experiences of Nearness. Finally, it reflects on some of the key relevant issues, including what benefits and enlightenments the findings of this thesis could bring to current architectural practices. Overall, by exploring this essential aspect of the literati garden, the thesis equips contemporary spatial practitioners with the theoretical and practical tools necessary to recapture the high-quality experiences of Nearness within their works in the modern era.

Starting from the theoretical thinking of ‘Spatial Narration’ and ‘Programming’, this paper investigates the meaning of ‘Programming’ in ‘Spatial Narration’. Viewing ‘Programming’ as a core mean of spatial narration, this paper explores its representation and significance in architectural projects designed by OMA. Its performance includes reprogramming of the horizontal and vertical spatial order and temporal sequence in experience, as well as the juxtaposition of multiple temporal and functional contexts. Through careful programming in design process, OMA embeds a critical sense of identity and a sense of place with rich temporal and spatial experience in its architecture.

As the most commonly used spatial vocabulary in Chinese traditional architecture,
courtyard has been the experiential paradigm of Chinese habitation with long term accumulation of collective memory. However, amalgamated dwelling seems to be the mere choice to rapidly satisfy the rigid demand for mass social housing under contemporary resource and environment pressure. Based on previous studies on the vocabulary and syntax of Chinese traditional courtyard, this research explores the possibility of representing courtyard vocabulary in the contemporary amalgamated dwelling. By applying the design-based approach, it aims at exploring the strategy of transforming the traditional vocabulary and syntax into the achievable spatial structure within contemporary amalgamated dwelling and then discussing the significance of courtyard inhabitation mode in terms of fitting potential social relationships in modern China.