PORTFOLIO - Inspiring Spaces for Creative Minds | Building Envelope and its Spatial Effects in JNM

inspiring spaces for creative minds

Jogjakarta is a city located in central Java, Indonesia. The city is known for its rich culture, including traditional art forms such as batik and wayang puppetry, as well as the famous Borobudur temple complex. The people of Jogjakarta are predominantly Javanese, with a strong emphasis on family and community values. They are known for their friendly and welcoming nature, and their commitment to preserving their cultural heritage. One unique aspect of Jogjakarta is its status as a special region of Indonesia, with its own sultan who plays an important role in the local culture and governance. Additionally, Jogjakarta is known for its delicious local cuisine, including gudeg, a traditional dish made from young jackfruit. The climate in Jogjakarta is tropical, with hot and humid conditions throughout the year.

ABOUT THE CONTEXT

Jogja National Museum is both a museum and an art gallery located in Jogjakarta. It has been through a series of restorations. It was once a complex for Akademi Seni Rupa Indonesia (ASRI) and the Faculty of Fine Arts and Design of Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI) Yogyakarta. The rejuvenation of this abandoned complex was endeavored by KPH. Wironegoro, the head of Yayasan Yogyakarta Seni Nusantara (YYSN) in 2006. Arcadia Architects also supported the attempt to rejuvenate the complex, which they intervened in 2021.

JNM is surrounded by commercials (predominant), health care, education institutes, and hostelries. The commercials consist of diners, souvenir shops, boutiques, cafes, etc. On the west side of the site, there’s a river that runs throughout the y-axis of the city.

SITE ANALYSIS

In the previous chapter, we understand that JNM context is surrounded by various typologies such as traditional markets, public schools, hospitals, hostelry, commercials, etc. In this section, we are going to fathom to have a deeper understanding of JNM’s spatial qualities, morphology, weather, nodes, uniqueness, and more that contribute to the concept of the proposed design.

Facade of JNM’s buildings mostly facing north and east.

WIND

South side’s pressure of JNM context are slightly higher than the north’s. As result, the wind moves from the south to the north

NODES

Highly populated area throughout the day. It appears because there’s a food stall and commercials nearby

UNIQUENESS

A big tree in the middle surrounded by buildings, implied a focus toward the centre

ACCESIBILITY

The movement of visitors mainly occured on the south side of the site, since there are a lot of commercials

ROAD

The site is in the middle of secondary road. There won’t be a lot of noises come from the vehicle

UNIQUENESS

One of the phenomena the writer saw when she visited JNM is there are 2 types of morphologies that are present in JNM. First, shapes like traditional buildings and other shapes like colonial-influenced buildings. After further research, it seemed that these morphologies were created as a response to Jogjakarta’s climate. A book called ‘Tropical Urban Regionalism Building in a Southeast Asian City’ that was written by Ken Yeang, mainly discusses how settlements/buildings in Southeast Asia respond to its tropical climate. It examines the ideal elements that usually are present in this region, such: louvered windows, gable roofs, overhang eaves, verandahs, selective openings, air-well court, and latticework.

To respon to its climate, JNM seems to have two distinctive architectural styles. Each outlined area are the representation of the styles.

Hamemayu Pendopo

Users in Hamemayu would have a limited view of the landscapes/context because the building is massive and covered by blocks of bricks. While Pendopo only has a few columns to support, the users in Pendopo would have an unlimited view and get more fresh circulated air.

Even though the floor area is relatively narrow compared to Pendopo, users in Hamemayu would have more opportunities to see broader landscapes/context in different elevations.

The roof of Hamemayu has little overhang compared to Pendopo. Therefore, Hamemayu’s building approach to respond to the sunlight and rain is using the selective openings that are installed to the facade.

SPATIAL QUALITIES

JNM complex is composed of many massings and forms a grid organization. Even though the massing was scattered and seemed out of pattern, we could still navigate the way pretty well, even though there’s a vast negative space in the middle. From the uniqueness, we understand that the existings bring certain qualities to the users. These qualities that are mentioned will be put into consideration in further design. Either to be preserved, enhanced, or removed.

HOTEL WIROBRAJAN, KANTIN

JOGLO

JNM

JNM BLOC

CASA WIROBRAJAN

SD TUMBUH

PENDOPO

The buildings are ordered in a grid organization

Uninviting cause it seems restricted by a gate and hindered

Uninviting caused by a massive wall and the scale of windows are quite small compared to the proportion of the entire building

Unstrategic position, feels restricted caused by the wall

Blocked by JNM intervention and massive balcony

The visitors tend to flock and sit nearby the intervention of JNM Bloc. They sit around, doing passive activities, and are likely to make impulsive purchases. Impulsivity and consumerism behavior would significantly impact human beings if it was seen from a further scope. It led to poor decision-making later in life. Therefore, JNM has to inject not only a program that can profit the organization but also some programs that are responsible for user actions.

This section will discuss the idea that focuses on how the buildings implement the concept of responding to its regional climate—also, the placement of its massing that corresponds to the existing programming.

PROPOSED SITE PLAN

Here is the proposal for JNM site plan. This plan was produced with several following considerations:

1) Maintaining the existing spatial organization in the form of a grid

2) Implementing gable roofs and openings to improve climate response

3) Make the streets more varied in the empty sections so they don’t become negative spaces. Also, designing the landscape planning so that it is more varied

4) Installing materials that respond to the local climate, one of which is glass with a low u-value to ward off excess solar heat but still allow natural light to enter and grass block as an alternative to the conblock, which absorbs excess heat.

5) Placement of buildings intervention that are related to each other as transitions between existing ones.

6) Creating a service area at the rear so that the circulation of staff and employees can be more directed and tidy.

PROPOSED RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN USES

The following is a schematic diagram of programming placement in the JNM complex. The programming presented in this complex results from a series of studies from various creative hub precedents in different parts of the world. What the study conduct is that there is a tendency to include programs such as workshops, multipurpose, theater, and exhibitions. Therefore, the programming presented in JNM wants to imitate this. The hope is that by offering these programs, JNM can become a ‘successful’ creative hub like others. The relationships between programming and its portions/hierarchies are represented by the lines and circles below.

CONCEPT

The sketch below explains how four programmings are located and scattered, forming a grid pattern like the existing’s spatial organization. It also explains how users perceive the site at a certain point. This sketch helps the design process to make an eye-catching and welcoming sense for the user from any angle

The sketch below shows the probability of the user’s circulation in the proposed massing placement. This sketch helps to design a major and minor pathway—also, a possible entry for the user to enter the massing.

The sketch below explains what the users see once they enter the massing. Therefore, a landscape or ‘view’ between the massings is important to create a buffer between massings that contribute to the user experience.

business learning actively lifestyle

touching experiencing social interaction & art industry

gathering

discussion learning 22

experiencing silent

seeing touching

gathering meeting discussion art industry

learning passively touching

silent observing

The following diagram shows the relationships of existing with proposed building massing. The placement of these programs considering the proximity between each other. Hopefully, with this placement, programming can become more integrated and blend to form a harmonious gradation.

The first photo explains the field of the existing building. The color purple implies an art-related sector, while orange implies a social sector. So, the strategy is to place the proposed program next to the existing sector. And bind them with the socially-art industry in the middle of them.

Placement of the proposed program next to the existing sector. And bind the whole separate program with the socially-art industry in the middle of the current complex. The colors indicate the hierarchy of the program

This section will discuss the design proposal that focuses on how the buildings implement the concept of responding to its regional climate. The idea came after the writer read a book called ‘Tropical Urban Regionalism Building in a Southeast Asian City’ that was written by Ken Yeang. In this section, we will also learn how the building will operate with integrated passive design, utility, and tectonics.

MULTIPURPOSE

ELEVATION, SECTION, PLAN

GABLE ROOF

OVERHANG EAVES

LOUVERED

SELECTIVE OPENING

DOUBLE SKIN

OBJECTIVES

In “Tropical Urban Regionalism: Building in a Southeast Asia Country,” Ken Yeang presents a comprehensive examination of sustainable architecture in the context of tropical urbanism. The book is a significant contribution to the discourse on sustainable architecture and urban planning in Southeast Asia, an area experiencing rapid urbanization and environmental challenges.

Yeang’s focus on sustainability in architecture is especially important in light of the significant environmental impacts of urbanization in the region. By highlighting the importance of sustainable architecture, Yeang provides a roadmap for architects and urban planners to develop ecologically sensitive and resilient buildings and communities. His approach emphasizes a deep understanding of the natural environment and how it can be integrated into architectural design and urban planning.

One of the book’s strengths is Yeang’s discussion of the social, cultural, and economic dimensions of sustainability in architecture. He recognizes that sustainability is not just about environmental considerations but also involves social and economic equity. This holistic approach ensures that sustainable architecture is not just a technical issue but a social one, rooted in the needs of people and communities.

Another focus/objective for Ken Yeang is to examine the building morphology in Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and many more. After reading the book, we can understand that these countries share similar building traits, the ideal elements that usually are present in this region, such as louvered windows, gable roofs, overhang eaves, verandahs, selective openings, air-well court, and latticework.

louvered

selective opening gable overhang verandah latticework

From the design that has been designed, taking into account building elements in the tropics, it is hoped that the new intervention building at JNM can be maximized and improved. From the theatre building intervention section diagram above, we can see the qualities of tropical climate building elements can be fulfilled or provided here.

First is the louvered window. Louvered windows act as heat reducers and sunlight. Besides that, their role is to make it easier for fresh air to enter. The proposed building will be energy efficient in terms of ventilation and lighting.

Second, the installation of a gable roof that has an overhang. The roof here is an antidote to excess sunlight and rainwater so that it does not enter the building. In addition, the sun’s heat can be reduced because of the overhang eaves.

The third is selective openings. Besides being beneficial for facilitating passive ventilation, the presence of a selective opening can function as a heat reducer. The atmosphere of a room can also be adjusted by playing with the design of selective openings. Wide openings allow plenty of light to come into the building, making it feel more expansive and more prominent, rather than small openings that only let a small amount of light come into the building, making it feel small, cramped, and uninviting.

The fourth is the verandah. Verandah plays as a buffer between the outside and the inside. It allows the hot wind to be cooled down before entering the building. It also gives the interior a beautiful repetitive shadow effect, like what latticework does. Latticework contributes as a heat reducer. It also allows the wind to enter the building to make the interior cooler.

In conclusion, combining all the aspects/elements that theoretically fit in the Southeast Asia climate will improve overall buildings’ performance and their spatial effect inside. Hopefully, it will also complement and enhance the features of the existing’s buildings.

wood plank roof

structural wood plank

13 plywood plank wall metal railing

plywood ceiling ceiling joist

concrete stair

20x30cm concrete column

3mm clear tempered glass

rigid insulation

steel floor joist

concrete base

earth

The following are schematic diagrams of how the building’s utility system works. Starting from how to deal with fire disasters, staff walking circulation, moving clean water, dirty water, and rainwater, then HVAC, electrical, to waste management. The uniqueness can be seen in the diagrams. It shows that the groundwater tank system is divided into two because it considers the accessibility and efficiency of the waterways. Then, hydrant points were installed at the JNM complex to cover all intervention areas.