NH Portfolio 2006-2017

Nuriana Hashim

Seepage33 for more info .

What

This portfolio contains explorations related to: Architecture. Urban design. and probably.. Graphic design?

Contact

Nuriana Mohamad Hashim

BSc. Architecture, University of Malaya (2011)

MSc. Urban Design and City Planning, University College London (2016)

H/p no. 00 60 13 257 0218

E-mail nurianahashim@gmail.com

How

How to read this portfolio?

Page 2-3: Design time line. The works included in this booklet will have a ‘page xx’ indicated next to it.

2010

What do these symbols mean?

2011

University/ Research University/ Studio Travel-logue Work

At the top of each page...

PROJECT: TITLE

Timeline of selected works

Rajagopurams: Two Dravidian Temples Dissertation

Centre for the People Library

J. Doraisamy: at Night

Design Thesis: Psychiatric Rehabilitation Centre Design Thesis Proposal

Partial Views: Tainan, Taiwan Research Methodology

Redevelopment: Razak Mansion Serviced Apartments

48

23

35

21

28

49

Jalan Doraisamy Affordable Housing

The Mosquito Garden Pavilion

Essay

& Culture Centre

Graffiti Pod Parasite Architecture

D21: Walltopia

D21: Partyrooms 1-3

Themed Interior Design

D21: Merchandise

Themed Interior Design

Place-making: Hammermith (London) Urban Design Proposal

D21: Partyrooms 4-6

Circular Metabolism in Markets: Poplar, London Sustainable Design Strategies

District 21: IOI City Mall, Putrajaya Family Entertainment Park Design Development & Implementation

Themed Interior Design

Themed Interior Design

moderate local temperature

Motivation

local flood mitigation improve biodiversity value supporting wildlife opportunity to grow food locally

Given the collective size of private domestic gardens, 24% of Greater London (Smith, 2010), London’s gardens have a potential to contribute to the city’s green infrastructure especially in improving its biodiversity value. This is not, however, without an equal amount of constraints.

Problem statement

From 1999-2010, an area of vegetated garden land the size of 2.5 Hyde Parks was lost each year to paving, development on garden land and conversion to parking (Smith, 2010). Whereas mainstream awareness of gardening for wildlife do not necessarily reflect behavior towards its management, this is as much a question of social architecture for behavior betterment as it is of spatial design.

Approach

Key References

Resulting proposal..

MAjor rESEArCH ProjECT

Bartlett School of Planning University College London

Supervisor: Matthias Wunderlich

Project’s full title: Seven roles of Domestic Gardens as the City’s Green Infrastructure: A design exercise in London

DOMEsTIC GaRDENs: SEvEN RoLES 2016

How can design of domestic gardens play their role, en masse, as green nodes that link to London’s green infrastructure? This project proposal addresses the problem aforementioned by first inquiring into the following: (i) What are the

1. Beck, D. and Cowan, C. (1996). Spiral dynamics. Cambridge, Mass., USA: Blackwell Business.

2. Holmgren, D. (2011). Permaculture: principles and pathways beyond sustainability. East Meon: Permanent Publications.

3. Jacke, D. and Toensmeier, E. (2005). Ecological vision and theory for temperate climate permaculture. White River Junction, Vt: Chelsea Green.

health for mind, body and soul

closest contact with nature

potentials of London’s domestic gardens given their collective sizes? (ii) How do gardens mature to effectively contribute to its microclimate, context and ultimately the nearest green infrastructure? (iii) How can design assist busy Londoners in gardening at home? (iv) And; how to motivate community gardening ritual in newly installed or improved existing gardens?

...is a housing design exercise on a site in West Hendon, Brent, with gardens that can play its seven roles as mini-versions of the city’s green infrastructure. The seven roles mature in space and time to create a sense of place conducive for selfmanagement of domestic gardens. To test this, two components are integrated: first, physical intervention in the form of a layout informed by findings in literature review, case studies, conceptual toolkit and site analysis; second, management framework that is a combination of community development for gardening and ecological growth of the proposed layouts.

4. Smith, C. (2010): London: Garden City? Investigating the changing anatomy of London’s private domestic garden land, London Wildlife trust.

(i)

seven roles

of domestic gardens as linkage between housing and green infrastructure

(iii)

maintenance requirements building blocks

designer’s interpretation of how potentials, constraints, social logic can fulfill the ‘seven roles’

energy efficient zoning [Holmgren,2011]

proposal

(iv) (ii)

community development temporal pattern

social architecture and social practices x Spiral Dynamics [Beck&Cowen, 1996]

urban wild green infrastructure urban housing physical intervention ecological succession [Jackeand Toensmeier,2005]

sense of place social identity + ecological maturity

(Edgeware road)

living spaces for urban wild. Garden patches that require less intense maintenance are connected to form a wildlife corridor that link Brent Reservoir with neighboring trees

(Brent reservoir)

NoTE: Housing block layout modified based on Barratt London’s approved proposal on site

V2

V1

Residents from upper floors acquire land on ground floor for gardening

It may take about 50-80 years for some trees to grow to this size = one human generation

Trodden pathways on meadow depend on resident’s movement pattern

Red spots = fruit bearing trees 50 0 100 150 200m

Randomness of private gardens: who knows what type of gardens residents prefer: Kitchen garden? Wildlife garden? Rock garden? Zen garden?

strips

P1 Tree roots restricted by concrete dividers

Patches

Tree roots less restricted

Patches + free ground space

Tree roots fairly restricted

Free ground space

Trees can grow as big as possible

P2

P4

P3

urban wild green infrastructure

urban housing

Mw. FG Ms.

G Hd. s W P R

V2

marsh

V1 pond (open water) open water flooded reedbed upland high marsh low marsh mud plain open water

Parking lots made with permeable materials allowing native plants to propagate Underpass for ground dependent mammal mobility

COnt’d Portfolio of selected design works 6

The scheme is a mosaic of the following habitats that invite different types of biodiversity, and human-wild relationships: (G) Gardens; (Mw.) Meadows; (Hd.) Porous hard surfaces for vehicles; (S) Scrub or planted shrubberies; (FG) Edible forest gardens; (W) Woodlands; (P) Ponds; (Ma.) Marsh; and (R) Reed beds.

Micro-forest gardens with seating

visitor center with movable seating Expanded metal decks above marsh/ reed bed planting

COnt’d Portfolio of selected design works 7

Community growing patches

Public plaza can be used for community celebrations or festivals

V3

Nuriana

The board itself consists of 3 zones before the final goal. It also consists of random advances into the next zone, depending on where you land on the roll of the dice, as well as ‘delays’ where you can also go back several zones or spaces. Finally, there will be an outcome on the card for a correct and incorrect answer. The team will be allowed to advance or be forced to go back spaces, or even zones.

SUSTAInABLE DESIGn STrATEGIES

Bartlett School of Planning University College London

Coordinator and tutor: Dr. Pablo Sendra

Group 8: Cheng Lin

Dylan Kerai

Nuriana

Wendy Sun

COLLaBORaTIVE BOaRD GaME: PoPLAR DAY oUT 2016

This design workshop was based on Dr. Pablo Sendra’s lecture on Collaborative Urbanism, where students were invited to design a board game in groups in which no one is an individual winner. Instead, players must collaborate to achieve the game’s ultimate goal.

There are 4 sets of cards for each of the 4 characters, which are colour coded accordingly and laid out onto the board, and the relevant card is picked up by the relevant character. The card will have an illustration relevant to Poplar, and the character will have to draw/describe the illustration in a limited amount of time and/or words.

Portfolio of selected design works

Based on population densities of housing neighborhoods around Chrisp Street Market, Poplar, London, improved pedestrian linkages are designed to facilitate selftransportation of domestic waste.

SUSTAInABLE DESIGn STrATEGIES

Bartlett School of Planning University College London

Coordinator and tutor: Dr. Pablo Sendra

Group 8: Cheng Lin (Wet waste)

Dylan Kerai (Research and project viability)

Nuriana (Dry waste)

Wendy Sun (Linkages)

CIRCULAR METABoLISM IN MARKETS 2016

DEPoSIT

Circular metabolism at neighborhood level

Our motivation: Circular metabolism of future cities (Lehmann, 2011), Graham and Thrift’s theory of un-blackboxing the process of infrastructure (2007), and community of Kamikatsu, Japan known as the zero-waste town.

In this proposal, the waste produced by neighborhoods surrounding the Chrisp Street Market, Poplar, London, will be immediately visible in the market itself: because community have the power to now manage, sort, store domestic waste into a material library which will be used by community or artisan workshops above the market.

The wet waste concept hopes to develop with boxes placed conveniently in edible gardens around the catchment areas

The first 5 years simply seeks to obtain regularity and consistency, whereby people get used to the scheme as it becomes a normal part of their lives to travel to the market and recycle their waste.

Designed elements

[Wendy Sun]

[Cheng Lin]

[Nuriana]

PLACE-MAKInG In UrBAn DESIGn

Bartlett School of Planning University College London

Coordinator: Prof. Matthew Carmona

Group B1: Anoosha Kaagarfaard

Cristobal Asenjo

Jose Vivanco

Nuriana Hashim

In line with London’s Plan to re-route the A4 as underground tunnel-ways, we propose the complete redirection of vehicular traffic around Hammersmith transport hub. Except for public buses, shuttle services and commercial goods vehicles, . This move would improve pedestrian walkability and galvanize the area’s city-scape by the following mini-projects as annotated in our masterplan. This design portfolio will only extract the mini project ‘Flyover viewpoints’, in the following page.

Here we propose to take down the mid portion of the Hammersmith Fly over and improve the transport hub’s north-south connectivity (see masterplan). Now, with the retained portions of the viaduct we see opportunities for interventions that can link the ramp and its

underside. The best programme to associate with these aims: an active entertainment park which accommodates activities such as bouldering, wall climbing, ropes course, playgrounds.

The sections above show how the proposed activities itself provide variety of vertical connections, in contrast to staircases and pedestrian ramps.

The orange tubes shown within sections are really holes that we have punched through the concrete slabs. Of course the sizes of these openings must be so that it doesn’t coincide with critical beams

Boulders & wall climbing

Spider web & fireman pole

Ropes course

Play ground

Ropes course

Ropes course

Spider web & fireman pole

Boulders & wall climbing

Upper parks

Gastronomic finger

So many ways to connect the ramp and its underside.

DESIGn DEVELoPMEnT & ImPlementAtIon for: Stretchmarks Asia Sdn. Bhd. (2013 - 2014)

PRojECT: DISTRICT 21 IOI City Mall, Putrajaya

Direction and implementation: Patrick Andrey (Park concept) Jeremy Peet (Operation design)

art Direction: Mahathir Buang (Milx)

architectural detail and implementation: Nuriana Hashim

1. School bus being pushed from loading bay into site.

2. Site supervision includes weekly meetings, coordination of works at site between architectural fitout, mechanical and electrical fitout, attractions contractors, and theme features.

3. The center upon completion....

4. ...Features a robot protruding through the mall’s curtain wall, school bus ‘crashed from 2nd floor down to 1st floor, one of the first rollglider installations in the world, and a trampoline park for 30 persons at one time.

Here is the first collaboration between Stretchmarks Asia, Milx Art and IOI Group. The concept, design development, implementation and the operation of this theme active park evolves around the following story:

Earth is in a time when air is so polluted, it is no longer safe to walk around without breathing support suits. In that chaos, a group of hardy children found refuge in an abandoned self-sufficient research center initially established to simulate life on neighboring planets. Here they created a home for themselves, growing up in a temporary protected environment, before they turn twenty-one and will have to ‘go out and survive’.

As reflected in the park design, children engage in active entertainment to symbolize ‘training for a fit and healthy future or survival’: mazes, a giant trampoline park, ropes course, theme wall climbing facilities, slides and more.

COnt’d

DIsTRICT 21: DETAIL LIBrArY

DESIGn DEVELoPMEnT & ImPlementAtIon for: Stretchmarks Asia Sdn. Bhd. (2013 - 2014)

PRojECT: DISTRICT 21 IOI City Mall, Putrajaya

Direction and implementation: Patrick Andrey (Park concept) Jeremy Peet (Operation design)

art Direction: Mahathir Buang (Milx)

architectural detail and implementation: Nuriana Hashim

Stretchmarks Asia saw this active entertainment park as the start of a franchise of the District 21 brand. With that intent, we developed a detail library and a series of mood boards that heavily reference Patrick and Milx’s story boards.

1. Plan of first floor (main attractions)

2. Axonometric: dome skeletal structure as part of the maze attraction, initially designed to be suspended on existing mall roof truss.

3. Plan of said domes, which accommodates 20 visitors.

1. Skeletal structure of robot, protruding through existing curtain wall of IOI City Mall, from 1st Floor.

2. Skeletal structure of dragonfly as part of the maze, before theme artist tendered to design its cladding.

3. Initial design of ramps made to wrap around ‘abandoned’ construction crane.

1 2 3

COnt’d Portfolio of selected design works 15

There are eight party rooms in the active entertainment park District 21, IOI City Mall, Putrajaya. With reference to Patrick and Milx’s story board, they were originally themed as astro-laboratories for human life sustenance in hostile environment. We depicted abandoned scientific aparatus, LED monitors and rusted pressure doors colonized by vegetation. Sadly these themed features were removed from the project’s budget. The first three are shown on this page whereas the rest of the party rooms in the following page.

1. Axonometric view showing how the party rooms can expand into one long hall.

2. Section through party rooms 1-3

3. Perspectives below from left to right: room approach, and its interior views

COnt’d Portfolio of selected design works 16

1 2 3

1. Perspective view of external corridor of party rooms 4-8.

2. Plan of room divisions fitted out in existing glass enclosure.

3. Section and elevation of room divisions, with specifications.

4. Detail of each ‘oxygenators’

5. Interior perspective: each divider is a ‘laboratory for food growing in hostile environment’.

1 2 3 4 5

COnt’d Portfolio of selected design works 17

This was the first themed interpretation of District 21 active entertainment park’s climbing attraction. The structure shown below in colors is the briefing and harness rooms, designed to look like what used to be a processing plant for quarried samples from Earth’s neighboring planets. The climbing attractions were themed accordingly by Walltopia, to make it look like the briefing room would ‘power the climbing walls’.

COnt’d Portfolio of selected design works 18

District 21’s merchandise shop was themed as an old junkyard that ‘used to sell obsolete machine parts from the research laboratories’. Because it is located at the exterior of the ‘self-sustaining park’ (in the lobby), its shopfront is a series of ‘decontamination archways’.

1. Axonometric view to show theme ceitling works.

2. View of park exit (through gift shop).

3. Pipe ceiling features meant to direct view into shop

4. Skeletal structures before theme artists detail out.

5. Shop front elevation.

This parasitic 2x2 m pods attach themselves s on Kuala Lumpur Monorail pylons by means of moving cables Each pod is an artist studio with minimal storage for their favorite medium and tools to execute their commision works or installation around the city’s Golden Triangles

YEAr 1

Department of Architecture

University of Malaya

lecturers: Ar. Asrul Sani

Megat Ariff Shah

GRaFFITI POD: PARASITIC ARCHITECTURE 2006

Elevation

floor plan

Roof plan

1. View 1 (see blue triangles on plan). Areas on ground level facing main commercial streets become communal spaces which residents can startup businesses or hold community meetings.

2. View 8 where multipurpose halls have an open facade, which receives the northern spill area.

3. View 7 showing unit entrance facing courtyards for natural surveillance.

4. Ground floor plan: When communal spaces open up, it creates a south-north axis through site that allows weddings or funeral processions.

ArCHITECTUrAL STUDIo

YEAr 4

Department of Architecture

University of Malaya

Lecturers: Ar. Saari Omar

Ar. Lee Mei Ming

Ar. Alvin Tham Chee Kang

aFFORDaBLE HOUsING: jALAN DoRAISAMY 2010

This exercise of affordable housing encourages natural surveillance on ground and upper levels by living room-entrance orientations of housing units. Flexible community halls are arranged to reflect the processional nature of local cultural events like Malay and Indian weddings, and Chinese funerals.

This affordable house design intend to maximize the vertical space given by one unit with volume of 10x10x2.7 m. With provision of basic servant spaces like the kitchen, bathrooms and laundry room, the rest of the unit will be defined by a series of ‘vertical room modules’ categorized as ‘bedrooms’, ‘living’, ‘dining’ or ‘home office’. These are literally cupboards designed to contain shelves, power points, working spaces and even retractable beds. This way, one family can grow from two to six members and still occupy the one unit: to accommodate the growing density of Kuala Lumpur.

1. Axonometric view, showing unit with vertical spaces maximized.

2. Initial sketch showing how potential furniture designers can detail out ‘vertical rooms’ or ‘vertical offices.

3. Basic plan, servant spaces in one unit.

4. Unit design progresses as family grow from two members to six.

1 4 2 3

Newly weds Home office (no child) 1st child grows up Family of 4 (2nd child born) Family of 5 Family of 6

COnt’d Portfolio of selected design works 22

ArCHITECTUrAL DISSErTATIon Year 3

BSc. Architecture Department of Architecture University of Malaya

A comparative study was done on rajagopurams* of two of the oldest temples in the capital city Kuala Lumpur: Sri Mahamariamman Temple in Chinatown and Sri Kandaswamy Temple in Brickfields. A rajagopuram mainly serve as a ‘signboard’ which informs which deity a hindu temple is dedicated to. This form of ‘signboard’ intrigues because of its intricacy of architectural orders horizontally, and by vertical order of idol variation: every tier tells a different story relating to the deity, and the higher up, the more ethereal scenes are portrayed. In this dissertation, the selected major gateways of are both five-tiered with similar inventory of architectural features, but vary greatly in terms of ornament, styles of idols. Whilst the most obvious reason for this is that they are both dedicated to different deities, this dissertation is also a celebration of its similarities. This page, however are a brief profile of sketches from Sri Mahamariamman Temple only.

* major gateway or entrance of a Hindu temple

full dissertation title: Comparative Study of Two Rajagopurams: Sri Maha Mariamman Temple and Sri Kandaswamy Temple

Supervisor: Ar. Lee Mei Ming

RAjAGoPURAMS of HINDU TEMPLES 2008

The 'salai' piercing the middle of all tiers are larger. These prominent 'salai' are called 'jala' because of its window like character.

the grand door on the ground floor called 'vasal' is obligatory, for this is the only physical access into temple. As discussed in a previous chapter these doors are twice as high as its width.

As ornamentation, plant motifs inspire these kudus, where it acts in representing the organic life in whole composition of a gopuram, symbolizing the tree of life.

One of the series of sketches, studying pairs of attendant idols with same pose, but holding different items on different tiers.

1. Tier 1: armory

2. Tier 2: musical instruments

3. Tier 3: the Vel and trident

4. Tier 4: Holding nothing, but

5. Tier 5: In stead of the attendants, lions.

ArCHITECTUrAL DESIGn THESIS

Department of Architecture

University of Malaya

Lecturers: Dr. Naziaty Yaacob

Kevin Mark Low

DEsIGN THEsIs: PSYCHIATRIC REHABILITATIoN 2011

literature review

Of the contrasts between behaviorism and psychoanalysis, and medical advances in mental health

interviews

Visits to University Malaya Psychiatric Day Care Center, interviews with doctor and nurses. Participation of patients’ daily programs, for three days. Presentation of project brief and design progress to the center for feedback

Significance

The increasing rate of mental health cases in Kuala Lumpur by the year 2010.

Main question

How would something physical like architecture help heal the various troubles that happen in the mind? With architectural and landscape interventions, how can mental health improve in the center of Kuala Lumpur?

Approach

site selection

In the city, where commercial activity is less intense and where there is lush vegetation: Jalan Belfield, Kuala Lumpur

Resulting proposal

This design thesis approaches main questions and sub-questions by literature review, Thus this thesis concludes that healing can happen within the city itself, with a balance of interaction between subject and people, plants and animals: built, natural and social environment.

...is a proposal that scrutinizes three architectural design aspect (i) a tweaking exercise with a hospital’s corridor dominated layout; (ii) study of kinesthetic effect of roof undulation; (iii) and study of landscaping materials that reflect the movement of forces of nature like the wind, rain and sun orientation.

design studio

Design works in studio under supervision of studio masters.

Although corridors are means of efficient circulation, they have become synonymous to ‘routine’, ‘monotony’ and ‘anticipation’. However corridors may give themselves a more positive characteristic if they expand or narrow down according to space requirement, site analysis. No two corridors will be the same. The following diagrams shows how the final space planning is derived.

“Down corridors of routine Where life falls unatoned”

1. Template derived from Architect’s Data (P. Neufert) psychiatric rehabilitation centre

2. Sketch showing concept of ‘expansion’ and ‘contortion’ of corridors

3. First superimposition - ‘template’s positions at important points on site, based on site analysis

4. Lyric excerpt from song ‘From Despair to Where’ by Manic Street Preacher

5. Final proposed plan

1 2 3 4 5

COnt’d Portfolio of selected design works 25

tweaking with a Hospital’s Corridor Dominated Layout

1. Axonometric showing how roof structure dips to form a pond.

2. Study model of interior looking out of the rehabilitation rooms.

3. Aerial view from south of site. When roof is planted with native grass or plants it will ‘disappear so as to not overwhelm patients who are ‘overstimulated’.

Kinesthetic Effect of roof Undulation

How would one imagine the weary fashion their sweet escape in a given space? What kind of room do those who feel detached from ‘humanity’ occupy? Would they love to view ‘humanity’ from a small square window? Would they love to view the city that wears them out from a different (detached) point of view?

4. Screenshots from two music videos for study of hypnotic movements

5. Interior model

1 3 5 4 2

COnt’d Portfolio of selected design works 26

Whathappenswhenpeopleopentheirhearts?”Cigarettedanglingfromherlips,Reikoclaspedherhands togetheronthetable.Shewasenjoyingthis.“Theygetbetter,”shesaid.

Haruki Murakami (Norwegian Wood)

Conclusion: Getting Better

Despite interventions willingly offered to patients by people and environment, healing really happens when the person him- or herself is ready to get better. Just like woeful musicians healing from their music (the songs they write gradually sounds brighter); just like Zelda Fitzgerald painting to communicate; just like Hayward and Taylor professing that they exist because his doctor wants them to. Here, one hopes that this proposal ‘speaks’ into their open hearts.

COnt’d Portfolio of selected design works 27

Year 4

Dissertation sited in a neighborhood off Changrong road, Tainan, Taiwan

Analysis Part I: renovations and their effects on neighborhood’s Urban Volumes.

As need for space grow, most residents of the housing area off Changrong Road, Tainan, Taiwan, started extending one floor space atop their houses. Building heights has changed in the course of time. This, given the width of the original street which only goes up to 8 meters, has a radical effect on its urban volumes along the streets. First, space bounded by high house facades and streets create a sense that the streets are ‘narrowing’. Secondly, as mentioned in the introduction, piecemeal extensions and renovations done by residents create a disorder in its urban surfaces, which then defines their volumes. As a result one can observe a rather jagged urban volume along its streets and alleyways.

From analysis part I one can conclude that if, on the whole, the neighborhood is not aesthetically luxurious when it comes to surface materials (facade, pavement etc.), then the charm of the streets are how residents create personal touches by their own extension of personal spaces such as an extra floor above their house or defining their terraces with all sorts of roofs or walls that even eat into public streets.

Both of these create dissimilar and episodic urban spaces all over the neighborhood. To emphasize the placating statement, Camillo Sitte, 1889 says that aesthetics does not only have historical circumstances and urban spaces are to be used 'today' and thus 'must be judged according to today's needs and aesthetics'.

This might be subject to dispute, of course, seeing that finding delight in urban spaces or simply what one sees from the streets depend solely on a person's interpretation of the spaces.

BArch. Architecture Department of Architecture

University of Malaya

Supervisor: Ar. Lee Mei Ming

URBAN CoNTINUITY THRoUGH

PARTIAL vIEWS 2010

The motivation for this analysis is fivefold, however only two will be briefly mentioned here: (i) Camillo Sitte’s criticism of modern town planning for its dependency on plan views, thus disregarding experience of urban spaces at eye level; (ii) and method of experiencing urban spaces by serial visions (Gordon Cullen; Steven Holl).

This and the following two pages are extracts of three analysis relating to urban continuity through partial views, or serial visions in the neighborhood of Changrong Road. Analysis I is an investigation of the accumulated urban volume of the housing neighborhood caused by individual floor extensions. Analysis II tabulates the neighborhood experienced at eye level, borrowing terms from Gordon Cullen. Finally, Analysis III look into the tendency of eye movement at two points in the neighborhood.

COnt’d

URBAN CoNTINUITY THRoUGH PARTIAL vIEWS

Location where photos (partial views) were taken for analysis and questionnaire part I

Analysis Part II: Serial Vision & Place: Changrong road, Tainan, Taiwan

Continuing from analysis in part I, this section scrutinizes what makes the streets episodic from street level or eye level. Firstly, it has become the street scape or character of the neighborhood that it is mostly defined (enclosed) by ‘fluctuating’ surfaces and ‘silhouette’. Secondly, because of its planning, the streets surrounded by closely set houses create most interesting ‘closure’ and ‘deflection’. And finally, as a result of fluctuation, closure, and deflection the spaces create moments after moments of ‘anticipation’ and ‘surprise’.

Analysis Part III: Attention and Sequence

A third and final exercise was done to tabulate an observer’s eye movement tendency on a street. Fully acknowledging the limitations of chosen methodology, two printed panoramic photos of two site locations were presented to 30 respondents. They were asked to identify seven objects within the image, and to note the sequence of the objects identified.

Respondent’s answers were then mapped visually to derive patterns of their ‘eye-movements’ or viewing sequence. Upon analysis, 30 tabulated patterns can be classified into three main categories: circular, left-right zigzag, and up-down zigzag. Besides that, there are also eye movements that include a combination of the three categories.

In brief, it can be said that amongst the 30 respondents, the most common way of observing this particular image is left-right zigzag. This tendency, however, may be highly influenced by the fact that the image is spread out more horizontally than it is vertically.

How to read this analysis

Story lines through serial vision

Just as we recognise story lines in films and comic strips, a city or town’s sense of place can be derived from serial vision, a term widely used by Gordon Cullen. How do streets in Hammersmith start and end? Are there happy endings to its major streets, are they divided by chapters? Is there drama along or at the end of each routes?

Deriving identity through parts

serial vision

vision #

Sketches of a view as a whole, the street as we see it

Analysis

As a snippet from the project submission in 2015, the following page will only show analysis of King’s Street

In his illustration of the perception of the cube as a paradigm of consciousness, Robert Sokolowski (1999) illustrated that the cube cannot be seen on all side at one time, but in parts. If identity of a cube is given by the number of its sides and faces, it is at the mercy of our ‘mixed activity of perceiving’. Parts and wholes, presence and absence become our tools of deriving the perception of a cube. That said, we now turn to the streets and ask what makes a walk along the street a complete experience that will form its story line and identity?

Golden section superimposed over the vision, to highlight what might be the elements that influence the tendency of eye movement and consequently movement along a street.

Maximum of seven views analyzed

Why maximum seven views? According to cognitive psychologist George A. Miller’s paper in 1956 titled ‘the Magical Number Seven, Plus Minus Two’, short-term memory is stored in ‘chunks’ of maximum seven. For instance, for one person to manage the memorization of a sequence of 21 numbers, he or she will tend to group 3 numbers in to make 7 ‘chunks’. Applied to this analysis, a person remembers elements in a street by ‘chunks’ of maximum seven.

Frame Elements that serve its purpose as ‘frames’ or ‘arches’

or backdrop

street Street furniture, signboards, street lamps King Street 1.4-1.5 Lower Mall 1.6-1.7 Queen Caroline Street 1.8 fulham Street 1.9 Nigel Playfair Avenue 1.10 Angel Walk to H’smth Bridge 1.11 Mall Road 1.12 Hammersmith Bridge Road 1.13 Hammersmith flyover 1.14-1.15

King

Street serial vision Place Content

Walking along King Street from the ‘nucleus’ can begin at two points, primarily from Broadway Mall and alternatively from road A219. The experience can be generally characterised as dominated by the consumer culture that gives hint of the general land use of the street.

By removing garish signboards and advertisements from the view (see ‘content’ row), an observer may realize that it diminishes the character of King Street. Thus he or she cannot help but be reminded of Robert Venturi’s reasoning for why ‘billboards are almost alright’

COnt’d Portfolio of selected design works 32

BIrTHDAY PArTY DECorATIon

Theme: @ateliernurina

Interpreted : Nuriana Hashim

^^ Hand-drawn sketches are scanned, and digitally colored

^^ on site mock-up of banner before deciding sizes of buntings.

^^ Characters for door gifts.

^^ Characters on invitation cards.

^^ Door gift variation.

^^ Characters on stickers as name-tags. Guest names will be hand-written on registration/ arrival

WorKSPACE AnD

GALLErY for ArTISAn

BSc. Science in Architecture

University of Malaya

Supervisor

Ar. Aniza Aziz

A utilitarian approach with a sole intention to display the Kelantanese kites known as ‘wau’s that can measure up to 3-4m in height. The only poetic indulgence: the solid and void between artisan’s personal living spaces and their work-gallery is a mimicry of the wau pattern system of ornate-void contrasts.

1. Section: showing void (gallery and workspace) and solid (living spaces and office for artisans)

2. Gallery front elevation, facing Cahaya Bulan Beach

3. Ground floor plan

4. Site plan: Cahaya Bulan Beach, Kelantan

Supervisor: Ar. Aniza Aziz

ProjECT BSc. Science in Architecture University of Malaya

fInAL

It was the year 2008 and Kelantan was increasingly obsessed with identifying Kota Bharu as an Islamic city. This has a direct impact on its city scape: all buildings, according to Majlis Kota Bharu, must have at least two of these elements on its facade: a dome, arch or ‘kerawang’.

If you were assigned the task to design a library and cultural center to accommodate cultural events and ‘worldly’ reading materials that are slowly being banned and censored by the state, will you not be obliged to produce a cultural and spatial paradox?

This proposal was a form of sarcasm towards Kota Bharu’s visions for of Islamic architecture, which, as no one seemed to question, was actually repeating interpretations of by Colonial British in Malaya.

CENTER FOR THE PEOPLE 2008 Portfolio of selected design works 35

frAnK GEHrY frESH oUT of THE oVEn

When Frank Gehry graduated, one could carefully murmur an ascent that his earliest works are fairly modernist. Fresh out of the oven, it is only natural that he would start off being influenced by great figures during his time. James Steele, 1993 suspected that Gehry was a closet Frank Lloyd Wright fan, although the reverence was so strong that at one point he went through a period of open imitation. Works like Steeves House and Sixth & Hill Residence are evident of this.

BArch. Bachelor of Architecture

Department of Architecture

University of Malaya

It is significant that Gehry associates himself to art more than architecture. Gehry’s ideological development runs parallel to the evolution of the Los Angeles art establishment since the 1960’s (K. W. Forster, 1998). It all started with a landmark installation of Marcel Duchamp retrisoectuve in the Pasadena Art Museum in 1963 by Walter Hopps. K. W. Forster (199?) speculates that this particular installation was the beginning of Art movement in the city which helped encourage the establishment of a Los Angeles ‘school’ in art.

Gehry takes pride in being surrounded by inspiring artist friends like Jasper Johns, Bob Rauschenberg, Ed Kienholz and Claes Oldenburg.

At one point Gehry started finding beauty in the most unexpected areas of imperfection, or in the most ordinary materials.

The Billy Al Bengston exhibition 1968 in the Los Angeles County Museum of Arts has used plywood, corrugated metal and exposed wooden joist fostered Gehry’s love in seeing beauty in raw materials or character.

Individual essay for architectural trip to Los Angeles

lecturers:

Ar. Lim Take Bane

Ar. Lee Mei Ming

frAnK GEHrY ESPECIALLY 1978-1989

Everybody seems to agree that experiencing architecture in Los Angeles is somewhat a tour around a gigantic museum of Frank Gehry’s ‘art installations’. Frank Gehry was known to be impersonal in his works, not egoistically ‘signing’ his projects with personal touches.

As K. W. Forster, 1998 Mentions in a compilation of his works, the Los Angeles based architect designs buildings as an inventive transformation of their circumstance rather than from an expostulation of their problems.

Therefore it is no surprise that Gehry’s works spark controversy which is portrayed in his works circa late 1970’s to late 1980’s; after which with projects like Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, he has finally fulfilled his ultimate dream of building without the constraint of construction.

One has been fascinated with Japanese architecture with how much it does not have to look pleasing to state the most beautiful poetry. Therefore it is pleasantly

surprising to find out that Frank Gehry was fervently influenced by Japanese Ryoanji order to a point that it still is the very foundation of his work. Indeed, Gehry professed to have trained in Southern California with a diet of works inspired by Japanese architecture. He even bemused the irony of having received the Pritzker Prize Award in Japan. Gehry’s fascination with Japanese architecture is also shown by likes of Greene & Greene, Harwell Hamilton Harrison, Gordon Drake.

Looking back at his ‘architourism portfolio’, the most influential visit he had was when he visited Acropolis in Athens. It gave an overwhelming impression on Gehry, that, he even mentions the visit in his Pritzker Award speech. Apparently, after the trip his works are reenactments of the ancient ruins, which, apparently, was the concept for his works from 1979-1989, including the Edgemar Center for the art.

frAnk GeHry SHeDS HIS SkIn :

Turning point or just a change in methodology?

Somehow at a certain point in life Gehry seemed to have shed his skin from building poetic chaos and fragmented volumes as portrayed Edgemar Development to sleek, uniform and sculptural works such as Guggenheim Museum. Tony Davidson in his essay has lamented the absence of Gehry’s earliest influences in Guggenheim Museum and Walt Disney Concert Hall.

‘Did Gehry declare that the pantheon of gods have forever left Mount Olympus? Is he challenging us to replace those old gods with our own gods, of the

monument, of ethnically diverse downtown Los Angeles or of gritty industrial Bilbao? Maybe those classical references has run its course’ - Tony Davidson.

It might be fitting to wager upon the fact that Frank Gehry has quietly schemed Guggenheim Museum around the year 1987 as being a whole new exploration of his. Perhaps at that point what has driven him were his thirst to break from constraints ‘ridiculously’ forming barriers to producing what was pictured in his head like rules, regulations, construction and the rule of gravity itself.

On the other hand, up to the time Guggenheim Museum was built, few of his buildings has taken shape in the way he imagined them, but they gave clear signs of divergent direction he has chosen (K. W. Forster, 1998).

For now, one can classify Frank Gehry’s works into 3 phases. His earliest works when he was fresh out of college reeked of high modernism, which was a surprising find seeing that one had known him to be famous for his post modernist works and after. Indeed, Steeves Residence completed in 1959 had the greatest resemblance to Mies Van Der Rohe’s German Pavilion and Philip Johnson’s glass house. As Gehry progressed into the 1980’s, his works saw him slowly distorting geometries and enveloping spaces with a series of fragmented structures. And finally the Guggenheim Museum blooming upon Bilbao marked his gravity defying and structure independent phase until present.

focus: Gehry’s Edgemar Center for the Arts

From a traveller who has walked through Edgemar on an Angeleno winter dusk, one could bask in joy to experience and agree with James Steele, 1993 that Frank Gehry has definitely created yet another one of his graphic expression of his ability to feel the public pulse and has boldly responded with architecture that is superficial and substantial at the same time.

EDGEMAr DEVELoPMEnT 1984

Santa Monica Bay spreads out onto a bay city clustered with high profile commerce, sun loving Californians and bluffs. The city portrays the American dream in a youthful manner, although James Steele, 1993 laments that it has evolved and was degrading.

2nd Street the street off which the site sits on was heavily travelled on be it by cars or pedestrians on its adjoining sidewalks. The Main Street to which 2nd Street is parallel lines Santa Monica Bay like a museum of an ‘accurate reflection of the rapid evolution and degradation of the American Dream’ (J. Steele, 1993).

Edgemar Center for the arts contains an art museum and spaces for commercial development on two levels with on grade and subterranean parking.

Like Chiat Day Headquarters on a more Northern side of Main Street, Frank Gehry has taken a scenographic sales orientated

COnt’d Portfolio of selected design works 37

approach (J. Steele, 1993). He was to combine business and art for the scheme thus representing, at the time, the best of small malls with street facades scaled down to harmonize with one to twostorey streetscape of funky shop fronts and restaurants (D. Ghirardo, 1996). Moreover, Tuscan piazzas in Italy have inspired this hybrid program of art and commercial into the scheme.

DESIGn ConCEPT

In his quest to preserve as many architectural features of the original building existed on site as it poetically was possible, Frank gehry explored many ways to capture patches of volumes within the site with different suitable architectural elements. Weather it is because of this intention, of under the influence of Acropolis, the Edgemar Centre is an architectural village of fragmented forms.

SPECIAL InTErESTS In ArCHITECTUrE

The shop fronts are designed to maintain the small scale character of the surrounding street, a commercial zone of primarily small shops and restaurants. Which is why Gehry is intent on maintaining the scale of the development down to match the site’s streetscape. How does he do that? Instead of fusing five functional spaces on the street front, Gehry has lined the street with five small

visually separate structures relating to the scale of existing shops.

The catch of this particular work of Gehry’s is that it comes from a haphazard mix of quirky, irregularly shaped structures and unexpected materials (D. Ghirardo, 1996). One should wonder if there are any reasons to why he has chosen to impose a professional chaos of geometry in his works. As mentioned before, Gehry was inspired by the ruins of Athens, finding beauty in the

COnt’d Portfolio of selected design works 38

space is the essence of architecture and expressing its will and existence through its medium varies according to the culture into which it is created (C. Jencks, 1991).

structure, one will most certainly find delight in taking a mini tour around the narrow corridor around the elevator, especially during a Santa Monican winter sunset.

most unexpected areas of imperfection. One could identify the many structures strewn all over his space planning which seem to have derived from volumetric fragmentation.

DESCrIPTIon

Would this particular work of Gehry’s be tabulated as a Historicist attempt? In Language of Post Modern Architecture, Charles Jencks has listed five characters which identify a work as Historicist: sweepin curves, overlap of space, various foci of space interfering with each other, brutalist treatment and rugged joinery.

The small complex is a three dimensional composition of geometric structures of restaurants, shops and a small museum strewn around a small central courtyard. Structures directly off the street is penetrated by two meandering ‘streets’ (D. Ghirardo, 1996)

There are individual structures strewn all over the space planning and stacked upon each other. There are three towers set behind the front shop structures, so that even though everything is scaled down, these dissimilar and odd towers would attract passers-by from 2nd Street.

Perhaps Edgemar development could be described under post modern space along with Gehry’s other works like Loyola, Aerospace Museum, Wosk and Winton? In a tabulated list of post modern characteristics, Jencks explained ‘post modern space’ as involving articulation of space and celebrating abstract space as the content of form.

Space and void had a kind of metaphysical priority, as

To acknowledge delight in squeezing oneself in every sharp nooks and radial crannies within its courtyard, finally putting an end to a doubt that orderly chaos, a signature of Gehry, is alright in its own special way.

The slender proportion and open character of these higher elements interject minimally into views of the ocean from the hillside residences behind the project (M. Toy, 1994). Given that Gehry has done a number of projects in Santa Monica, he should know better than to obstruct the very essence of the city, which is the ocean view.

Within the courtyard, there is a ramp for handicapped patrons, with a hard cascading water element slapped on one of its concrete handrails. This water element faces a mini piazza which usually contains seasonal gimmicks like it is currently holding seats with umbrellas and a Christmas tree made of shopping trolleys. The central element of this project is its wall fragment of a former dairy, now a shop. It was a plaster facade but original fragment collapsed during construction so it was reuit sheather in copper and green glazed tile. This ‘old’ fragment of the original site is topped with an open tower which strategically perches like a billboard on a roadside. Two other towers are green house structures, and apparently some towers are functional and some towers act as a symbol or a sign.

Even its parking spaces on grade is screened with a gateway-like structure, wchi is really an office space propped on columns.

From outside the elevator tower looks like an awkward structure along with other two towers that Gehry has introduced in the center. However if one ever takes the time to sit under the mosquito net of chainlink

On ground level the open-ended cube of a chainlink does provide a sense of protection because people use wi-fi under the elevator structure which is quite a rare thing for a elevator structure to be surrounded with casual or cosy activities.

IMPACT To ArCHITECTUrE THEorY AnD PHILoSoPHY

Gehry’s works in general has influenced younger architects who were also based in Los Angeles. According to James Steeles, 1994, one of them is Eric Owen Moss, with his Lovell-like portal frames and complex emotive geometries although Moss has slowly broken away from that. Steele has also included Morphosis in the list, which is evident in their empathic axial orientation in Crawford Residence and Comprehensive Cancer Centre.

References

• M. Toy (1994), World cities: Los Angeles, Academy Editions Ernst & Sons, Singapore.

• D. Ghirardo (1996), Cities of Consumption, Tames and Hudson Ltd., Singapore.

• J. Steele (1993), Los Angeles: the contemporary condition, Phaidon Press Ltd., Hong Kong.

• C. Jencks (1991), Language of Post Modern Architecture, Academy Editions, London.

• F. D. Co, K. W. Forster, H. Arnold, (1998), Frank O. Gehry: complete works, the Monacelli Press, Italy.

• http://www.youtube.com/user/LarryMossStudio

• http://www.youtube.com/user/sjyoon081

COnt’d Portfolio of selected design works 39

spaces at night

Commentary on jalan Doraisamy at night

"An open-ended urban space possesses several qualities that allow for a wide range of possible uses without changing the existing physical characteristic or altering the primary function of the space."

N. A. Fernando, 2007

BArch. Architecture

Department of Architecture

University of Malaya

lecturer: Ar. Lim Teng Ngiom

Jalan Doraisamy extends down south from a point in Jalan Sultan Ismail, commencing at a dark shady un-nodal junction but terminates dramatically in a sweeping manner at a point in Jalan Dang Wangi. Maybe it should be the other way around. That it commences grandly at the light flooded coffee shops at its south junction. Though this would mean it would peter out at its uninviting anticlimactic north junction. Perhaps one should start from the middle where the street meets Jalan Yap Ah Shak, where one would receive an immediate blast of vibe from revelers. One is spoilt for choice and this is not a very good thing when it comes to putting pen down to paper for a commentary. It is a good thing whilst there, however, because that is what being in Kuala Lumpur is all about.

Jalan Doraisamy houses an open ended nightlife of primary, complementary or opportunistic pieces that interrelate, if not physically, visually and in emanation. Or rather, none are primary, complementary or opportunistic, because every element that will be further elaborated in this commentary are actually moments that do not stand alone. Or rather still, they are parts that do not seem to communicate at all?

exPerIenCInG nIGHt tIme: lIGHt AnD VISIon

The need for vision makes lighting a necessity at night. More importantly, light and vision can be said to be two of the many pieces in the whole of experiencing spaces at night. Light in this context is a part, whilst vision is an ‘unindependent’ moment that exists as of a person’s retina’s receives it and the brain perceives it. Thus is why the exciting notion that buzzes of activities at night is graphic, delineated by lighting.

“In a slight mist, space is liquid and becomes a medium for dynamic color, reflected in wet streets, blurs and multiplies the exhilaration of this metropolitan space to intense, cinematic levels.”

Steven Holl, 2009

The spaces that contain or reflect the lights are the converted shophouses, pedestrian street abutting establishments’ entrances or gateways, vehicular road, pedestrian street across the road from converted shophouses and occasional sides of buildings or shophouses that stretch perpendicular to Jalan Doraisamy. In addition to that the cloud studded Kuala Lumpur sky plays a necessary piece in the whole of night time spatiality

The Asian Heritage Row is just another night time entertainment hub that has attempted to upgrade purpose of lighting from necessity for vision to that of means of expression and persuasion.

The manner of space changes when circumstances of vision are altered. Uniquely, spatiality of night depends on surrounding darkness for its primary effects (S. Holl, 2009, pp. 21) Filtered through lens blur, lights from signs along Asian Heritage Row is a floating means of expression like pixels in the sky on a whole creates the night’s graphic pattern.

The different manners of spaces, defined by lights and activities, along Jalan Doraisamy divides the strip into linear zones or thresholds that are parallel to each other and porous. The zones can roughly be depicted in section (Figure 3). The manners of these spaces to be defined at night can be classified into three categories: necessary, deliberate or accidental

exPerIenCInG nIGHt tIme: PeoPle

In cross section, one can discern layers of townies of different backgrounds and purpose of presence at the night. Revelers, seek pleasure whilst establishments seek to keep consumers within their premises. On the road, drivers drop these partygoers off but some just cruise off with their flashy cars. Across Asian Heritage Row, flaneurs sit hunched aimlessly, experiencing intangible urban porosity as their torsos are turned to face the Row.

ASIAn HErITAGE roW AnD jALAn DorAISAMY

Beyond the strip, opportunists charge for parking on any possible square feet of the road under the pretext of ‘having found’ a space for the drivers.

The primary night time activity along Asian Heritage Row is a necklace adorned with scarce fuzzy beads and deep black holes, all of which invites inquiry. What happens beyond the portals denoted by neon lights? What does it feel like to bask in blue neon upstairs on the balcony?

What happens within the black holes? With a playful daydreaming mind the strip may also represent a linear theatrical display where when walking through feels like one’s weaving in and out of darkness and brightness of events, representing hard times and good times within a storyline.

Sound of music leaking from premises is patchy, which denotes how well the Row is doing with business. Sound that mix do not evoke chaos within passersby’s heart and, against the stale Kuala Lumpur night time air, is altogether a weak representation of the night time entertainment economy.

LInEAr AnD noDAL ELEMEnTS on jALAn DorAISAMY

LiNEaR CoNvERTED sHoPHousEs

What one has heard about the revived strip of prewar houses being a vibrant port for nightlife is now no longer valid. Now in a more subdued life cycle of commerce, the Asian Heritage Row reeks of the ephemeral uncertainties of night time entertainment economy. However, what is left in its afterglow displays

“The process of managing nightlife typically involves production of nightlife, regulating nightlife, and the consumption of nightlife.”

P. Chatterton and R. Hollands, 2001

“The city, essentially and semantically, is the place of our meeting with the other, and it is for this reason that the centre is the gathering place in every city; the city centre is instituted above all by the young people, the adolescents.”

R. Barthes,

1997

“Better still, the city is always felt as the space where subversive forces, forces of rupture, ludic forces act and meet.”

the tact of optimistic nightlife producers. It almost feels like a flux of whims energizes the converted houses, but one’s mind wheels at the thought of who the whims might belong to.

Is it the establishment itself? Or should we turn to a more obvious guess ‘ consumers? What are the layers of society that has ventured their escapades within these establishments?

Eventually their fatigue has warded off and they had abandoned this particular play-scape to start living life. Behind bursts of colors and mixed sounds of various establishments, is the visual rhythm that is set by the

“Drawings for (Max Neuhaus’ sound installation on Times Square, New York 19771992) the installation art was conceived as a rectangular volume of sound with precise edges”

J. Hill, Pp. 183

R. Barthes, 1997

Heritage Row’s vertical windows repeated across their elevation. What dominates the elevation of blue buzz is the portal shaped piece that denotes an entrance.

LiNEaR PEDEsTRiaN sTREET i

The volume of a pedestrian street abutting establishments’ entrances or gateways is defined by weeping trees that grow in between the pavements. Behind or under each of them are neon signs that would have been ineffective without the foliage reflecting them. This narrow strip is a transitional threshold to

COnt’d Portfolio of selected design works 41

what lies beneath Asian Heritage Row. Merrymakers huddle around ethereal portals into nighteries.

LiNEaR - vEHiCuLaR RoaD

At night the space taken by the road is very much present, both to a person’s eye and skin. The road bathed in orange streetlights, so much that walking within the lit zones will have everyone’s cheek reflect the orange-ness into their own eyes. Cars either cruise by or stop to drop revelers off, no one in any apparent rush. Most of them tend to purr on their turbo engines.

DoTTED LiNEaR - oCCasioNaL

NoDaL PoiNT oF ExiT

(uN)NoDaL PoiNT oF ENTRy - CaTCHMENT aREa

After 12.00 p.m., urban porosity expressed by urbanites having midnight supper at the end of Jalan Doraisamy stops short as the road dissolves into Jalan Dang Wangi. Two stalls that flank that end of Jalan Doraisamy is nodal and is said to have been there even before Asian Heritage Row was revived by William Ng. The supper-having phenomenon spills out into adjacent pedestrian walkways so individuals on foot would have to meander through collapsible tables and plastic chairs, and cars parked right across the clay pavement.

On an elevation view that can be enjoyed across the road from Asian Heritage Row, spectators dot the walkway, enjoying a reduced musical experience that spills out of several open pubs and nightclubs. To make their stay worth the while, two or more snacks and drink stands are put up by opportunity grabbing men. All of whom also absorbs the visual and aural vibe discharged from Asian Heritage Row.

L. G. Rivlin,

2008

The dark side entrance, or rather exit from a tall Sheraton hotel seem like a source of constant visitor to pubs and bars. White men in casual wears make beelines to Asian Heritage Row, sporting bored-looking faces. A shaded bus stand is infested with spectators, making cat calls to ladies in scanty costumes. Some of the cat callers are dark skinned men in oversized banana green vests holding a sweep and a portable dustbin.

These two coffee shops are both so brightly lit, that people sitting outside can feel their skin glowing in a sickly peculiarity. And yet, the atmosphere is still, townies keeping to themselves, only occasionally that booms of bawls erupt from random tables, a fluctuating, almost pathetic spirit.

Perhaps on weekend nights the buzz that emanate from this node would be more constant, and people present at the time, though totally strangers to each other, would relate more to each other - consumers and producers alike.

COnt’d Portfolio of selected design works 42

LiNEaR PEDEsTRiaN sTREET ii

“In contrast to activities held within designated spaces such as marketplaces, common areas, squares and plazas, some of public activities that are spontaneous and ad hoc occur in ‘found spaces’, places intended for other uses that people have occupied to meet their public life needs”

siDEs oF buiLDiNgs

Streets and lanes that tap off or come into Jalan Doraisamy have ‘end lots’ that have their sides, though not completely blind, to the Asian Heritage Row, most of which rise up to 8 storey height. As a result these side surfaces serve its purpose by reflecting streetlights and creating random vertical urban volumes.

jALAN DoRAISAMY AT NIGHT

conclusion

Jalan Doraisamy’s open-endedness is such that formal and informal meetings take place especially at night, a fascinating site to nose around at. Quoting N.A Fernando, 2007, again, night time there indeed displays a certain range of possible, but relatively quiet social gathering, even within Asian Heritage Row which is now living in its afterglow of William Ng’s once successful vision to revive it. Unlike Clarke Quay where its producers have had light-projected.

Roofs over its cross shaped urban spaces, the Asian Heritage Row’s buzz hovers up to where its surrounding buildings rise up. Which is why, if at Clarke Quay people tend to look up at S.M.C Alsop’s attempt to create hyper reality, here on Jalan Doraisamy, it’s up to people’s imagination or creativity to set their own night-time leisure. And besides, the gaudy red-tinted night sky of Kuala Lumpur is roof enough.

References:

S. Holl, (2009): Urbanisms: working with doubt, Princeton Architectural Press, London.

K. A. Franck, Q. Stevens (2007): Loose space: possibility and diversity in urban life, Routledge, London and New York.

N. Leach, (1997): Rethinking architecture: a reader in the cultural theory, Routledge, London and New York.

R. Sokolowski, (2000): Introduction to phenomenology, Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom

BSc. Science in Architecture

Department of Architecture

University of Malaya

The rock cut temples of Mogao Grottoes is carved out to face East. Doors into the chambers can be seen from the cave slope, and one can discern that they are arranged in five uneven storeys along the cave.

Beneath the tiered structure that wraps the grottoes’ ‘facade’, lies the largest sitting Buddha statue of Mogao Grottoes. Taking space up to 30m vertically, the detail that can be appreciated from eye level is the statue’s sheer size and Buddha’s garment fall as he sits majestically on a plinth (not visible from chamber or eye level). He strikes his usual Mudra (special hand gestures). His right palm is facing up and outward, which means he is warding off evil and hence offering protection. His left palm is upturned with fingers directed outward, ‘bestowing blessing on mankind’.

Topping the vertical chamber is a skylight framed with detailed wood.

Individual travel-logue for architectural trip to China, between University Malaya and University of Southern California

lecturer:

Megat Ariff Shah

DUNHUaNG: MoGAo GRoTToES

Every chamber that is carved out of the Mogao Cave is preceded with an ante-chamber with narrower proportions to the main chambers within. Typically these ante-chambers house at least a pair of warrior statues that flank the doorway into the main chamber.

These warriors wear fierce countenances with sure square jaws, accented further by their hair being tied up in a high ponytail. Their garments adorned with accessories, dramatic folds and cool tones of colors reveal multiple muscles mainly on their chests and calves. These unnatural features is to depict the might of these warriors in their unearthliness.

The clay deities have some common features on their facial expressions. A Buddha would have elongated ears, long hair tied in a high bum, blissful eyes and rounded jaws. These are all to depict his ethereal wisdom.

Some of the clay statues are missing its hands, no doubt nicked by pilferers. The missing hands reveal how the statues are constructed : wooden frame and clay.

1. Sitting Buddha that take up almost five ‘storeys’ of the Mogao Grottoes

2. Typically the grottoes have rectangular concave ceilings painted with Buddhist scriptures or deities

3. Sketch of a deity’s countenance (Buddha)

4. Sketch of a dheva that usually flank the grottoes’ doorways into main chambers.

3

Sometimes the main chambers seem to be divided into two, as a massive pillar cuts through the middle. Bexause of that, one will face the first clay figure that has its back to the ‘column’, and is sitting beneath a rectangularly concave ceiling. Then, one has to around the column to witness the second main statue. This secondary space is usually lower and more intimate that its primary space.

1

The chambers are filled with murals that are either depicting ‘single or multiple sequences from Buddhist scriptures’ or Buddhist Deities. The styles of illustrating these murals are also different from the times before and after Sui Dynasty’s unification of China, where those done in Sui Dynasty is mostly painted.

2

To give the chambers order, niches that are tiered take different shapes and sizes. The main niche is the central niche, which is usually the largest. Besides that, to house other supporting statues, smaller niches are ‘arranged’ in several levels, depending on the categories of stories from the Buddhist scriptures to tell. These niches are accentuated with ornaments around the edges, mostly taking the shape of various types of arches, that might possibly signify the level of divinity of the content each niche houses.

2. A sketch of motifs typically painted on niche arches that house statues. Usually the motifs are floral patterns or clouds

3. A section of a grottoe with several types of niches

4. A section of one of the largest grottoe

COnt’d Portfolio of selected design works 45

ArCHITECTUrAL STUDIo

YEAr 4

BArch. Bachelor of Architecture

Department of Architecture

University of Malaya

lecturers: Ar. Saari Omar

Ar. Lee Mei Ming

HIGH RIsE: SPECULATIvE offICE 2009

Can recreation and workspace coexist vertically? From ground floor up, this tower’s typical floor plates are a mix of working environment, recreation (gardens), and retail (karaoke parlours, gymnasium). The result is a programmatic alternation of offices, commercial spaces and sky gardens.

1. Ground floor plan

2. Initial sketch, tower concept

3. Concept versus form and context

4. How typical floor plates alternate vertically

5. Section focusing on load-bearing wall system

6. Typical floor plates: T1-T5

1. Sketch of approach from lift core corridor into a sky-garden.

2. Tower elevation with external load-bearing wall reflecting structure versus vertical program.

3. Initial experimentation of load bearing wall system of the tower.

4. Detail section of office space, and green roof

5. Landscaping exercise

6. Landscaping exercise

7. Ground floor approach from east facade.

8. Ground floor approach from south facade.

ArCHITECTUrAL STUDIo

YEAr 1

BSc. Science in Architecture

Department of Architecture

University of Malaya

lecturers: Ar. Asrul Sani Megat Ariff Shah

MOsqUITO: GARDEN STRUCTURE 2007

rEDEVELoPMEnT CoMPETITIon

Proposal on behalf of Z&SR Architects

Client: Metro Kajang Holdings Bhd

RaZaK MaNsION: rEDEVELoPMEnT 2012

1. Location plan (Sungai Besi)

2. Master layout showing relocation of Razak Mansion and the redevelopment scheme.

3. Sketch of relationship between podium parking and public green space.

4. Aerial view of redevelopment site from south-east

RaZaK MaNsION: rEDEVELoPMEnT

1. Units type B, with variations.

2. Units type A, with variations.

3. East tower floor plate.

4. Perspective, focusing on units type B.

5. Perspective, focusing on units type A.

6. View from south-east showing public green area integrated with retail, and interactive podium edges