FLORENCE ITALY UNIVERSITY EXTENSION
Third Year Design Studio.
Completed studies at Kent State’s Campus in Florence, Italy.
Yin Yang is a concept of dualism in ancient Chinese philosophy, describing how seemingly opposite
or contrary forces may actually be complementary, inter- connected, and interdependent in the
natural world, and how they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another.
The light-shadow relation in sketch implies that Yin and Yang are opposite but consistently united.
Light (Yang) and shadow (Yin) seem opposite, but light needs shadow to have it defined while shadow
needs light to have it empha- sized; either of the two can define itself without the other, and
they must join together to present the appearance of the object.
The design concept does not refer to any supposed form or symbolic meaning of the building, but
provides a pragmatic approach of design. Existing circums- tances have been addressed greatly. The
ultimate building form is not determi- ned at the very beginning. Building form is not the purpose
of the design, but acts as the consequence resulting from the way of dealing with actual prob-
lems throughout the design process.