Loo Wai Kuan | The Journey so far

ProJeCt o1

HoMeLess LiVing. the issue of homelessness can be seen in every major cities around the world. they reside in abandoned subway tunnels or just around the corner of the streets. But being homeless does not equals to being useless or jobless. some of these people are actually sophisticated people and just needed help to get their lives back on track.

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“Don’t try to drive the homeless into a place we find suitable. Help them survive in a place they find suitable”.

CooP soUP

LoCAted At PetALing street, KUALA LUMPUr.

Coop soup is a project designed to help the homeless people to regain their ability to survive among the community. some of these people have gone used to sleeping on rough surfaces and tough enviroment. designing a safe and

comfortable shelter is not always the better choice,

sometimes the homeless people need a transitional period, a period where they can adjust their life away from the streets, away from the harshness and adapt to the normal way of living.

LiVing in tHe stAr. star has always been a symbol of dream. People look at the stars and wish for their dreams to come true. the homeless is no different. they once had a dream but their dream was infected by the reality and took everything out of them.

Lying on the hammock during the night, looking at the starry night trigger their emotion. it is their little innisfree where they feel peaceful after the harsh reality. they remember their dream, and dream make people believe again.

LiVing in tHe MAZe. the homeless is living in a maze. they are lost in their lives. they tried to look for a way out, but without help, they are trapped. Homeless people have time in their hands, staying at the bus stop give them a chance to observe the people.

They see their past in the people.�I used to have the same hairstyle as that kid�. They collect every little clues of their memories from observing each people. the clue can lead them out of the maze and rediscover themselves.

LiVing in tHe WAVe. the flow of time can be best compare with the water in the river, it only flows in one direction and it will never turns back. the homeless have a lot of time that they do not know what to do with it. their world began to stop since long time ago. they have lost their sense of time. Looking at the river remind them that the time is still running. But will they be overwhelmed by the wave of time once they let go of the barrier that had stopped the time in their heart�

MoVeABLe Pods some of the pods can be elevated or push forward to create public space or individual space depending on the situation.

groUnd FLoor

First FLoor

tHe trAnsitionALL the journey back to the community will not be easy. it takes time and determination. the homeless as a journey man, came to salvage his life back on track and redeem himself as a human being.

soU FUJiMoto tHeorY oF tWo eMBrYnoiC stAtes oF LiVing, tHe CAVe And tHe nest. tHe nest is A WeLL deFined, reAdY For Use sPACe, WHiCH CAred For its residents. WHereLse, tHe CAVe is An oPen And rAW sPACe tHAt residents CAn BUiLd on BAsed on tHeir oWn needs.

the tunnel can be used as a temperory shelter for the homeless. it can also be used as a window for the public to see the life inside the Coop soup.

the ground floor is a space that is designed similar to the city streets, where the homeless can sleep wherever they see fit, with the intention of letting the homeless feel comfortable and make changes according to their own pace.

HeLPing one AnotHer is A HUMAn nAtUre

ProJeCt o2

FArMing X reFUgee

Farming herbs can be used as an attraction to attract the residents to visit the refugee centre. the housewives in the residential area or chefs that have a need for herbs will visit the centre to look for fresh herbs for ingredients. this can help build publicity for the centre spread awareness regarding the issues of refugee. Architecture can be used an a medium for both parties to co- exist in a single space and promote interactions.

LeArning to sUrViVe An education system that is similar to our school system. the refugees will go through a few stages of learning before they are actually let off to the community and survive on their own. refugees will learn about basic national languages and cultures and in the later stage, farming skills to be able to work.

A research lab where herbs and seeds can be stored for researh and observation to produce better quality of herbs.

inForMAtion sHAring information sharing platform aims to collect and share the issues of refugee cases. the issue can be anything related to refugee, from their hardship living in new enviroment to the reasons they left their home countries. Creating an opened platform for refugee to share their stories could enhance the collaboration between refugees, activists, professionals and politicans, As a result, tangible and effective answers could be given to create a better system to help the refugees. the platform also aims to spread awareness of the refugee issues by having discussion topics among the public to help them understand the situation better.

ProJeCt o3

VALiAnt

interACtiVe Kids LiBrArY, PerPUstAKAAn 1 WiLAYAH LeMBAH PAntAi

the concept of this interactive library is to make finding information and knowledge an interesting exploration. Many of the adults have been found unable to answer the most simple question about our country and the most common knowledge. this is due to the fact that our people do not have the habit and urgency to read and seek information. one of the reason of lack of reading among the people is that looking for book to read is deem dull and boring.

A habit is best to be praticed since young. We need to instill the inportance of seeking information starting from children as young as 4 years old so that seeking knowledge or reading will become second nature to them.

tHe ConCePt the idea of the library's design was inspired by the phrase Here Be drAgon�, which was used by ancient people when they put dragons or mythical creatures in their map as unexplored territory. the dragon of the library will be translated as knowledge that the children has yet to seek. to encourage the children to seek for these "dragons", we need to create a reason for them to explore the library. everytime the children come in through the main entrance, they need to go through a big tunnel that channel to different areas of the library. the floor will illuminates clues for the chilren to decide what types of reading materials or informations they are interested in and the lights will lead them to their desired location to seek knowledge that they chose. the design also inpired to encourage the children to be more valiant to explore different aspect of informations in their life by designing the tunnel for them to explore and to be able to make decisions for themselves.

the reading area for story telling session and also for the children to enjoy their books.

the fact room where the library user can search informations through the pod.

time travle zone where the children can go back in time to study about history. Children can choose which time zone they are interested in and the screen will display a walkthough where the user can control where they want to go.

A stage is prepared for performance show for the public to enjoy.