Boundaries, Rules, and Restrictions that Define Architecture

I have been reading two essays this Thanksgiving weekend, between shopping in the outlet mall and watching football games. The reading mode is so different from grad school years as I am much more relaxed and not in a hurry to write any thesis.
One essay is Bernard Tschumi's "The Pleasure of Architecture" from his book "Architecture and Disjunction", the other is Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis's Introduction of their book "Opportunistic Architecture". Tschumi's writing is poetic and inspiring, yet obscure at times; LTL's writing is as enjoyable to read as their lucic and crisp drawings. Both essays reveal some core concepts in the authors' design philosophy, and there is one common point between the two essays - to go beyond the dichotomy between market complicity and "critical resistance" and play with the boundaries/rules/restrictions that define architecture.

Here is a paragraph from Tschumi's article -
"The architecture of pleashure lies where concept and experience of space abruptly coincide, where architectural fragments collide and merge in delight, where the culture of architecture is endlessly deconstructed and all rules are transgressed. No metaphorical paradise here, but discomfort and the unbalancing of expectations. Such architecture questions academic (and popular) assumptions, disturbs acquired tastes and fond architectural memories. Typologies, morphologies, spatial compressions, logical constructions - all dissolve. Such architecture is perverse because its real significance lies outside utility or purpose and ultimately is not even necessarily aimed at giving pleasure."

While Tschumi's text is very vague in refering to breaking established structures and often tries to distance himself from social responsibilities, LTL shows a willingness to directly engage the social/urban problems, and use the social/urban conditions as a catalyst for their research and design. (in this case, their open ended non-linear research/inquiry IS their design.) Also LTL's essay is on a more operative level as it frequently uses their projects as case studies to illustrate how they analize the limits and use them as opportunities in their design process.

By engaging the project specific limits and taking advantage of multivalent forces, LTL is able to produce projects that are not only unique but also rich in meanings. LTL operates on multiple and often seemingly incompatible levels, this is a mode of production opposite of the "singular totolizing esthetic ideologies" or "individual expressions". This approach is much more flexible and nuanced and hence is able to absorb different energies into their work.

This issue-based pragmatic design approach - observing, analizing, diagraming, and open ended inquiries - often can arrive at unexpected and poetic design solutions. This is also similar to the strategy outlined by the CEO of IDEO - being an anthropologist is the first step in the design process.