Thursday, November 30, 2006

Urban Planning and Housing Talks

I hope that 4th year studio members will take the opportunity to attend the 2nd ASEAN Post-graduate Seminar on the Built Environment that will commence on the 4th until the 6th of December 2006 at our faculty.

For just RM50 you will get the publication (proceedings) and will be able to attend all the sessions, including the Urban Planning and Housing session on the 4th and 5th Dec. There are talks particularly on low cost housing by Goh Ai Tee and Wan Srihani. With their calibre (Ai Tee used to be one of our top student) I am sure you will learn a lot.

Do attend these talks by hook or by crook. Please contact Puan Ainoriza (79676811) or En Abdul Ghani (79676833) asap to get yourself registered!

By the way I emailed the detailed programme to those members that gave me their email addresses. So please pass that programme along. Cheers!

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Why I decided to become an architect

I did not decide to become an architect. My mother did. I knew I was somewhat good in Art, and my grade proved it, but I wanted to go into Science. I had Chemistry and Nuclear Physics for my first two choices. And then thirdly, Architecture. I knew at the back of my mind that I had Architecture to fall back to.

My mother was overjoyed when I got to do Architecture locally. I had a lukewarm feeling. I felt sad that I could not go overseas.

I hated first year. I did not like doing models and more models. I did not enjoy those projects. I started liking Architecture when I was in second year. My seniors in the 3rd year had quite an influence on me. They were passionate about architecture.

But I liked Architecture from the teaching point of view better. I remembered in Form Four I loved Biology and wanted to dissect frogs and do experiments all the time. I loved it when my Physics teacher in Form Five demonstrated "centrifugal force" by spinning some device around the lab. I loved the "alpha, gamma and theta rays" and all that scientific discoveries in Physics.

Circumstances or fate had presided over my life's proceedings. Architecture overruled my career path. After second year I trudged on regardless of repeating my third year. But local university had its limitations. I needed to expand my horizon and managed to get a MARA loan.

Needless to say, I excelled in Architecture when I was in the U.K. I wanted to be a designer so badly. I managed to do my practical year out training right in the middle of London, with five minutes walking distance to the AA School of Architecture. I attended their evening lectures and saw Zaha Hadid, Peter Cook, Morphosis and many other famous names. RIBA evening lectures were 20 minutes walking distance the other way.

The 1992 UK recession did not allow me to work in the UK and I had to return to Malaysia. If there were no recession, I might have become a designer / architect for longer. I did not really enjoy practising in Malaysia. It was too bullish and architectural firms generally did not like to spend on "training", so the Part 2 Graduate Architect is dispensable.

I decided to pursue being a lecturer and I started out in UTM Skudai. And the rest could be discussed over a cup of tea...

See the link on this blog on other people's view on "Why I decided to become an architect"

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

International Student Design Competition 2007

Anyone interested in this competition? 3rd year students can use their CDP projects and expand the site. I can help to guide if you want. I can also contribute to the registration fee. ($US 25 before December 30th 2006). Read below, and tell me about it when you have decided.

Calendar:
Queries: Up to December 30, 2006
Latest Submission: January 24, 2007
Jury : January 24 and 25, 2007
Awards Declaration: January 28, 2007
Exhibition: January 30- February 5, 2007
Publication of Document: December 15, 2007

Prizes: First Prize: Rs. 50,000/-Second Prize: Rs. 25,000/-Third Prize: Rs. 15,000/- The Jury may award honorable mention to deserving entries without any prize amount.

( I don't know how much that is in Malaysian Ringgit, but it's worth calculating for.)

The International Association for Humane Habitat (IAHH) announces the 5th IAHH International Student Design Competition 2007.

Description:
The design aims at planning and designing a regional social, cultural and arts complex for a sustainable community. The design and planning proposal shall aim at humane, sustainable and innovative architecture.

The design brief shall be evolved in its regional, urban/rural context. The complex shall have a community centre, social centre, women centre, youth centre, art and craft centre, exhibition centre, library and resource centre and share some public places and social interaction spaces with the community. It shall Include a regional arts and crafts centre, which provides for research and training in the arts, crafts and culture of the region. It may provide some outdoor and indoor sports facilities or it may be located in close proximity to such recreational facilities.
The regional social and cultural complex shall include clean, modest accommodation for visiting participants in social and cultural activities as well as the average cultural tourist who is looking for a simple nirvana break with local flavour.

The regional social and cultural complex may be located in rural or urban environment. The student participants are required to identify a suitable rural or urban community, undertake social, cultural, environmental and physical surveys and analysis before developing design brief and proposing a design synthesis. The region is not to be defined by administrative or revenue boundaries but is to be considered as a social space with shared traditions historically which may cut across local district or state or national boundaries.

The proposed design should be people and environment friendly and should be evolved with active participation of the people and the community. It should be energy efficient and should have sustainable infrastructural services, such as supported by alternate source of energy, water harvesting, recycling of wastes.

It should have good accessibility and should be linked to the surrounding neighbourhoods and community through pedestrian linkages. It should be accessible through private and public transportation systems. It must provide for adequate parking facilities for cars, buses and bicycles. It must be harmoniously related to other community facilities and open spaces. The design proposal should aim at generating awareness about humane and sustainable architecture.
The project may have a small area with a high density of development or a large area with low density development. It may use state of the art / appropriate and sustainable technologies. The complex may be spread over an area of 5 -10 hectares, approximately zoning of the project may include 15% of the area shall be for sports/ recreation. 10-15% for social / public interaction spaces, 10-15% for transportation and infrastructure with proper accessibility and parking facility. 55-65 % of area may be used for the buildings and facilities housing the regional social, cultural and arts centre. The development may be in a phased manner.

Prizes:
First Prize: Rs. 50,000/-Second Prize: Rs. 25,000/-Third Prize: Rs. 15,000/- The Jury may award honorable mention to deserving entries without any prize amount.

Submission Requirements:
The design submission shall be presented on 6 A1 size drawings / 3 AO drawings, which shall include the following:
Max two panels for contextual, social, economic and environmental analysis, site analysis of an area or areas incorporating separate sites admeasuring about 5-10 ha.
One A1 panel for proposed site development to the scale of 1: 500 or 1:1000 for the regional social and cultural centre.
Three A1 panels for innovative, appropriate and sustainable designs for development of arts, cultural, social facilities for a sustainable community.
A brief report identifying the context, analysis, concept, planning and design approach of the proposal on not more than 10 A4 sheets in Arial 10 font size with illustrations and photographs.
The participants are required to send CDS containing the proposal including drawings and report, photos of the models etc for publication purposes. The Jury for consideration of the Awards may use these CDs. However, it may be noted that CDs alone will not be accepted.

Eligibility:
The Competition is open to all registered students of any nationally recognized school, college or institutions of architecture, urban design, planning, landscape design, environmental design. The team may have student from any related discipline.
The student group shall be headed by a student of architecture / related discipline with architectural undergraduate background. The participants may be undergraduate, graduate, post graduate or doctoral students. The participants may be individuals or a group of not more than 5 students.
The students shall fill in the registration form and airmail it along with the supporting certificates from the head / director of the school / college / institution for each of the student participant.

Terms and Conditions:
The participants shall assume a seven digit numerical code, which shall be written in right hand bottom corner of all the drawings in 9cm x 9 cm boxes.
A plain sealed envelope containing the copy of the registration form with the name/s of the participants and the institution shall be enclosed with the submission of entry. The seven-digit code shall be written on top of the copy of the form as well as on the envelope.
The drawing shall be in black and white or colour and they shall be prints. The drawings may be hand drawn or computer out puts. No original drawing shall be sent. The participants shall retain the original drawings.
The documents shall be sent by airmail / courier and not by airfreight company. The participants shall declare the submission as documents without any commercial value. The participants shall bear the expenses for its transshipment including taxes / customs duty if any.
The drawing and design copyright shall be with the authors.
The IAHH shall have the rights to its publication and exhibition.
The drawings shall not be returned, as they shall be required for traveling exhibition and publication.
IAHH may bring out a publication, documenting award winning projects and other significant projects. The winning projects may be published in professional and institutional journals.
The jury shall have full freedom to decide on the awards and their decision shall be final and binding on all the participants.
The IAHH guarantees a free and fair student design competition.

Registration:
The student participants have to fill in the attached registration form and mail it along with the registration fees and a certificate of their studentship from the Head of the Department/Institute/Faculty of Architecture or related discipline, addressed to:Convener,IAHH International Student Design Competition,Rizvi College of Architecture, Off Carter Road,Bandra West, Mumbai 400 050 INDIA.

Registration Fees and Deadlines:
Foreign countries (except SAARC countries):Early registration: US $ 25 up to December 30, 2006Late registration: US $ 50 up to January 24, 2007
Indian and SAARC countries:Early registration: INRs 1250 up to December 30, 2006Late registration: INRs 2500 up to January 24, 2007
Registration fee shall be paid by a banker's cheque or through money transfer in favour of Rizvi College of Architecture Conference a/c payable at Mumbai, India.

Calendar:
Queries: Up to December 30, 2006
Latest Submission: January 24, 2007
Jury : January 24 and 25, 2007
Awards Declaration: January 28, 2007
Exhibition: January 30- February 5, 2007
Publication of Document: December 15, 2007

For further particulars, please contact:
Prof. Akhtar Chauhan, Convener,Prof. Anil Nagrath,Technical Co-coordinator,IAHH International Student Design Competition SecretariatRizvi College of Architecture,Off Carter Road,Bandra West, Mumbai 400050 INDIATel: 91-22-26050624 /26044196 Fax: 91-22-26002744 Email: ichh2007@humanehabitat.orgWebsite: www.humanehabitat.org

Comments on this blog

Hi and thanks to all that commented on this blog.
Firstly my apologies to all about your comments not appearing on this blog. I only knew of your comments today and I just read them. ( Imust have not allowed the comments to appear or something. I will try to correct that in the moderation bit.)
All this while I was wondering how come nobody wrote any comments, especially Mior and so now I know that many had commented, especially Mior, so I really appreciate that.
A bit late though...

I will try to answer the comments in the comments section after each posting to be fair.

Cheers.

Friday, November 24, 2006

Low-Medium Cost High Density Housing

I hope by this time all members of the 4th year Architectural Studio had received my email that I sent to the members who attended the informal discussion. I found it very encouraging that the members present showed concern about the project, such as the input (what and when) and also the site of the project.

Letters will be going out to DBKL and JPN. It is not confirmed that the site will be in DBKL area, but we are inquiring that possibility. "We" means there are other lecturers involved and I am assuming also that some of the 4th year studio members are also pursuing the matter.

Searching for a site involves a lot of factors (to decide which one) and it is not enough with just going around in my aeroback and spotting a vacant lot and fancying it to be the site. It is more complicated than that. To cut the story short, the site should afford a balance of realism and opportunity for the designer. We will go more into that later.

That is a long title - "Low-Medium Cost High Density Housing", but the keyword here is "housing" and what that means to the designer. A designer should not divorce him/herself from that subject matter. I would give a big congratulatory pat on the back if a designer actually decides to find out for him/herself how it actually feels to live in a "pigeon-hole", I mean, a low cost flat... say maybe for a week. For those that had stayed in one for real, they must use their experiences to get the best ideas.

I had not lived in one myself, but I had visited people who lived in these low-cost flats. Imagine families of five (as recommended by policy) living in these flats. It is so tight!

I read with interest in Holland that designers who design for "affordable housing" (Also welfare or social housing - depending in which country you are referring to), they have to provide for three main doors. One for the teenagers to enter and exit so that they do not have to come across their parents all the time and two for each parent if they get divorced. Even the flat can be partitioned in two parts when the divorce happens!

I like to refer to the work of Herman Hertzberger and the Dutch architects. Since the 1960s they were concerned with the quality of social or affordable housing.

Back to the project. So, it will be good for 4th year studio members to explore some questions (or topic of inquiry) and to come up with the design challenges (problems) for the project. For example;

Possible topic of inquiry is based on the following questions:

(1) What are the issues (problems) of low-medium cost high density housing in Malaysia, and;

(2) How do we design for the family unit (average 5 people per unit) and the community living?

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Last year in November 2005



I was sitting on a low wall at St. John's Street, when I caught the chapel's tower behind me. The prominent landmark in this part of Cambridge was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1869, on top of the previous Medieval layer, even going back to the 13th Century. I did not have time to inspect the interior, but I also admired the trellis-work (shown below) as I waited at that particular corner.



I had coffee at Caffe Nero, which is the most preferred cafe chains on the high-street in the UK. Simply because an Italian friend of mine who had sampled the lot, remarked that Caffe Nero's coffee is the best of the lot! Well, when it comes to quality of food and drink, always trust the Italians! I decided to take a shot of the scene in front of me, and I quite like this one, taken of a couple deciding on what to eat and a young woman just coming into the main door.



Cambridge being the tourist attraction twelve months a year that it is, (it was a cold but sunny November when this was taken), needed to protect its narrow streets and created a pedestrian friendly environment, and as a result the streets' pavements have very low curbs. In fact, the vehicular service access route often flush with the pedestrian access route, but strict laws and enforcement deter vehicle drivers from breaking the law. And this ensured that the pedestrians enjoy walking on the streets. But be very careful of the "gung-ho" cyclists!



The last photo was taken at the corner of Market Street near St. Mary's Church, shows four old style telephone booths in a row, which I found to be well placed, compositionally, next to the bicycles tied to the fence behind, a sign of a pedestrian accommodating city.



(All photos except the "trellis" was doctored by Adobe Photoshop.)

Islington Canal - on the way to an interview in 2005


islington canal Posted by Hello

I used to live in this area of London called Highbury and Islington.
I used to suffer when the Arsenal fans came out of the stadium where I lived at Highbury Park, especially when I am a Liverpool Supporter!
Anyway, the area became more upmarket since the early 90s and many architect offices such as StantonWilliams' established themselves there. I was at the canal waiting to interview Alan Stanton.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Changes

Changes can be small or earth shattering! Well, it depends on you really...

Good News? Bad News?

Depending on you...

I need to inform the studio that I will not be the studio master for third year next semester. I am moving elsewhere. I mean, I am still in the department, so you all can consult me on things if you want.

The other news is (good news or bad news?) you will be developing your existing project and finish it in 9 weeks (excluding submission week) and there will be a 3 week 'group project'. That has been decided by the department.

I would like to say sorry for this inconvenience if you had already done some work on "CDP2", meaning the performing arts and heritage food studies and so on. Please forgive us all for this change if it had been a bother but please also note that we think you will benefit from this change as well.

All the best for the exam and have a good holiday.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Busy Preparing for Exams?

I wish you all the very best for your last exam this Friday.

I hope to pin up your grades at my door in the next two days, so you can see for yourself your overall grade for BAEA 3275 - Architectural Design Studio V, this semester.

Basic guidance to grades:
If you get an A, you had been impressive both personally and by the work shown. Keep that up.
If you get a B and B+, you have qualities as a designer and showed good mastery in space and form. If B -, you lack that extra bit of quality in mastering the formal and aesthetics.
If C and C+, you had just passed in terms of the planning and technical aspects but seriously lack the aspects found in a designer.

(If you want to know more, refer to your studio tutors.)

During the Portfolio Review, we chatted about the quality of students. Basically with B and above, with a PNGK (CGPA) of 3.0 at the end of 2nd semester, you have the potential to go to 4th year straight. So that means that you could design competently. You will be a good assistant designer in a design firm.

With a C and above (below B), you should be able to work well in a design firm as your quality would at least be expected to be that of an assistant to the senior draftsman. You will have an acceptable technical competence.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Heritage Food (updated)

Although there will be no study on "heritage food" as the project (CDP2) had been scrapped, it is interesting to note there are places and restaurants emphasising on the authenticity of the food ingredients and preparation.
Then one learns about the origins of the food and how certain ingredients were often used in making that kind of prepared food.
An author of an article in Wild Asia wrote about forest products and based her research on the Penarikan area of Negeri Sembilan. Many of the forest products were used to make the cuisine of the Minang people who settled in this area of Negeri Sembilan.
You could investigate why a particular cuisine use a particular ingredient.
And why people like and enjoy the culinary experience of heritage food.