A Gestural Representation of the Process of Composing Chinese Temples

Abstract
Concentrating on the process of design rather than on just the final design artifact, this research illustrates a computing-based design environment that can represent the process of composing Chinese temple facades. Temple compositions are constructed by generating tessellated vocabulary elements, relating vocabulary elements in a topological mosaic, and integrating the mosaic into temple facades. Assuming this compositional machinery, this article examines the design environment, which includes presentation of the machinery to the designer, techniques by which a designer interacts with the machinery, and methods to depict the process of interaction and render process as an aesthetic experience. A gestural language provides the means to interact with the machinery as well as to create the marks that record the process of interaction. The gestural language furnishes the designer with mechanisms for experiencing and representing the compositional process, realizing and reflecting upon process, and sharing process with other members of a design studio, it enables compositional process to be represented in temporal framework that reflects the designer's sense of presence. invoking gestures to comopose temple elements, engaging in gestural conversations to explore the compositional process, representing scenes of temple compositions, and eventually forming a basis for the preservation of design craft.

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