Final Design Brief

Akmal Azhar, Unit 22 (Izaskun Chinchilla & Carlos Jimenez)

Wood: Tropical rainforest

+

Fire: Tropical climate

Wood and Fire; Towards a Definition of Mild Architecture.

The brief of the year brought me back to my home country, Malaysia. The country is seen as a strategic location to answer the brief for few reasons; weather condition, cultural background and the rich greenery. The first keyword, “Wood” is being related to the wellknown lush wood area in the country which is the Bornean rainforest, the second largest rainforest conserve in the world after the Amazon whereas the second terminology “Fire” is seen as an analogy to the warm tropical atmospheric condition experience throughout the country.

Three different sites in three different part of the country is being chosen as an experiment for the first project; Three Dwellings. They are located in peninsula of Malaysia (Chocolate Dwelling), Sabah (Chimney Dwelling) and Sarawak (Tree Dwelling). I looked at three different group of user to correspond to the dwellings which is the Malay people (the indigenous ethnic in Malaysia), the Sea Nomad (the last sea gypsies in the world) and the Orang Utan (the clever but critically endangered primate). The collection from the three design is later being developed further for the final project; The Harbour.

User: Sea Nomad

+

Program: Fish market

The Harbour; A Preserved Fish Market for the Sea Nomads in Borneo, Malaysia.

The user and the programs are the two key elements that build my harbour. I am interested in the Sea Nomad community for their intimate understanding to the context. The sea is everything to them; a home, playground, workplace and also as a source of food. I am fascinated by the Regatta Lepa festival celebrated annually by them because it is seen as the best platform to acknowledge the presence of the outcast community within the local and the tourist.

The livelihood of the community foster the choice of the programs; the fish market.

The sensitive context and their simple lifestyle are two main challenges of the project. I looked at three different traditional methods of preserving the fish originating from different part of the country; fish drying, fish pickling and fish smoking. Three different life-size devices with a combination of modern technology and scientific approach are designed to

sustain the traditional methods. The harbour is kept alive by the interchange activities done among the different communities. The Lepa boat as an icon from the Regatta Lepa festival becomes the main inspiration of the design. Traditional Malay house as an epitome of local architecture is being utilized as the secondary design framework of the entire harbour.

The general design agenda is to showcase and provide better understanding of the unique Sea Nomad lifestyle to the local people and foreign tourist besides empowering the typical problems and vulnerable reality face by the community. The fish market is hoped to provide a base to generate a source of earnings not only to the Sea Nomad but also the local people. The design is also aimed to provide a proper infrastructure to facilitate the local and the foreign tourist for the yearly Regatta Lepa festival.

Submission Models:

1.

2.

3.

4.

Drying tower (Scale 1:50) Pickling aquarium (Scale 1:50) Smoking chimney (Scale 1:50) Traditional Malay house (Scale 1:50)

Drawings:

1.

2.

3.

4.

1650mm length longitudinal section (Scale 1:250) A1 master plan (Scale 1:500) A1 circulation diagram (Scale 1:500) A3+ portfolio (inside portfolio bag)