In contemporary architectural discourse, the concept of space is ubiquitous, yet its historical genesis and theoretical underpinnings in Gottfried Semper's seminal theoretical work remain under explored. This study investigates the reception and integration of Semper’s architectural theory into modern discourse, tracing its trajectory from August Schmarsow, to Nikolaus Pevsner, to Sigfried Giedion. While Semper’s “cladding theory” had initially been understood in terms of both its relation to physical properties and structural and functional values, leading to an expansion of cladding as a new genre of art, i.e. arts and crafts, Semper’s “architectural theory” instead explained cladding theory in terms of space. In disseminating Semper’s theoretical work, Schmarsow was especially important as he himself played an increasingly prominent role in expanding the boundaries of modernist architectural theory and practice from the beginning of the 20th century on.

The purpose of this study is to analyse Herzog & de Meuron's surface, which represents contemporary architectural trends toward surface. Semper's Bekleidung theory and the important architectural theories about surface were compared according to the conceptual opposition between representation and re-presentation, which is borrowed from Kastern Harris, and again Martin Heidegger. Representation means a sort of translation into a different medium. It doesn't preserve the material identity of what it represent. Re-presentation, however, celebrates the material employed. The tension between representation and re-presentation have activated the architectural history Contemporary architects have emphasized re-presentation at the expense of representation. This trends relate with digital technology, which demands surface or skin independent from depth or interior. Buildings that deserve to be called works of architecture invite us to attend to material in a different way Re-presenting its materials, the work of architecture reveals its being. Such revelation requires that materials work in a way that invites us to step back from our usual involvement with things. It's the poetics of re-presentation, which is emboded in the Herzog & de Meuron's architectural works.

The theory of tectonic appeared in the midst of 19th century as German architects adopted new materials and structural technology, invented by creative engineers, into architectural design. This does not merely mean a technical problem but concern the redefinition of architecture in term of an aesthetic, cultural, and ontological identity. Furthermore it alluded to a desire on the part of architectural theorists to actualize artistic and spiritual goals out of new constructional necessities. Because of their complex discourse that assumed the possibility of communication between philosophical and technical aspects, between ideal and real concerns, tectonics becomes until now the most important issue in architecture. The concept of tectonic was intensively investigated by Gottfried Semper's and Karl Bötticher architectural writings. They contributed to clarify the principle aspects of tectonic within architectural, philosophical, and anthropological discourses of 19th century. Gottfried Semper stressed an understanding of how architecture took on physical form in earliest human culture. He placed great importance on the artistic expression of materials. But unlike Semper who argued the cladding of the structural frame by decorative wall system, Karl Botticher required maximum visibility of structural frame. This represents the different positions between Gottfried Semper and Karl Botticher