representation

art is representation. that is, representation of ideas.

architecture is also representation.

architecture as representation takes two forms. one, representation of ideas that are architectural, or manifest architectural intent, or are about things we imagine as architecture. and two, the work that constitutes architecture is composed solely of that which represents the work. a building as built represents the architecture that is later made into a building. an architectural representation -- a drawing, a section, a plan, a perspective, a rendering, a movie, a narrative, a model , etc. -- are not only indicative of an architectural idea but they emobody the idea itself and thus constitute the idea both prior to the actual construction of a physical object and after the physical object is made. representation, as art, as architecture, is our sole contact with the immaterial condition of ideation that expresses something, whether of two dimensions, three, four or more. representation is all that we have. even ourselves, our bodies, and how we communicate, our facial expressions, hand gestures, habits and the trail we leave through our work and relationships, are all representations of the self, something essentially invisible were it not for these other things. of course, there is an interesting problem that arises when we factor in the digital sphere. there are nonreal objects that are virtual but their virtuality is their existence as being real. this underscores the dominating importance of representation -- for these nonreal objects could be in some cases constructed in the real, physical world. hence, that which is finalized or assumed to be finalized within the digital or another medium, but can be re-presented within the physical, or for that matter, in any other means of cognition or interpretation, any other media, is an object of representation. representation is not only the vessel that carries a projection of something to somewhere else, but representation is both what is moved and the vessel that moves it. this text is both the meaning tha is embedded within it, as well as a representation of the meaning. it is an object within itself but also a representation of that object. put another way, we can use Marshall McLuhan's famous phrase, "the medium is message." representation is surface and content, medium and the message.