Hidden Cities (Elective Studies)

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING & DESIGN CENTRE FOR MODERN ARCHITECTURE STUDIES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA (MASSA) l BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) IN ARCHITECTURE

IN ADAPTATION (ARC 1133)

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EXERCISE 2: OBSERVING THE EVERYDAY

JALAN TUANKU ABDUL RAHMAN GROUP MEMBERS (HIDDEN CITIES) : CHEAH EE VON (0308719)

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GENNIEVE LEE PHICK CHOO (0311622)

TUTOR: MS. BASHIRA MOHD. BAHAR

LOCATION

BIRD EYE VIEW

CALVINO’S PERSPECTVE BASED ON THE TEXT, CALVINO VIEWS HIDDEN CITIES THROUGH THE SOUL OF THE COMMUNITY. HE MENTIONED VERY LITTLE ABOUT THE TANGIBLE ASPECTS OF THE CITY BUT HE USES THE ACTIVITIES, THE HOPES AND ATTITUDES OF THE PEOPLE TOWARDS LIFE TO POTRAY HIDDEN CITIES. IN OLINDA, CALVINO DEPICTS THE CITY IN CONCENTRIC CIRCLES LIKE A TREE TRUNK WITH A NEW CITY ADDED TO THE OUTER RING EVERY YEAR. THE INNER CITY STILL REMAINS BUT STARTS TO DETERIORATE AND FORGOTTEN BY YOUNGER GENERATIONS AS THEY MOVE TO THE NEWER PARTS OF TOWN. THEY LEFT THEIR OLDER GENERATIONS BEHIND MAKING THEM APPEAR TO BE IGNORING THEIR ROOTS AND PURSUE THE NEW. IN RAISSA, THE SOCIAL CLASS OF THE COMMUNITY CAN BE SEEN WHEN CALVINO POTRAYED THEM BY MENTIONING ABOUT THEIR DAILY ACTIVITIES SUCH AS QUARRELS THAT HAPPEN BEHIND DOORS, PEDESTRAINS ON THE STREETS BEING RUDE, CONSTRUCTION WORKERS HAMMERING STUFF, BARS OR RESTAURANTS THAT HAS LITTLE BUSINESS. THROUGH THE ACTIVITIES, WE CAN DEDUCE THAT THE OCCUPANTS IN HIDDEN CITIES ARE FROM MIDDLE OR LOWER CLASS GROUP. SO, SLUMS OR COMPACT HOUSING SCHEMES DECORATED WITH SMALL ALLEYS ALONG THE BLOCKS COULD BE IMAGINED BY READING ABOUT THE PEOPLE IN RAISSA. AS A WHOLE THE PEOPLE IN RAISSA SEEM TO BE DEPRESSED BUT THEY ARE SOMEHOW STILL CONTENT AND COMFORTABLE IN THEIR CURRENT SITUATION. HE ALSO PORTRAYED AN IMAGE OF THE CITY THAT IS LIVING THROUGH DIFFICULT TIMES AND IS ALSO IN THE PROCESS OF UNDERGOING CHANGES DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE PEOPLE WERE WORKING IN CONSTRUCTION AND INPUTTING WORDS LIKE SCAFFOLDING, WHICH ARE SOMEWHAT SIMILAR TO THOSE OF INDUSTRIAL ERA. IN CONCLUSION, ALTHOUGH THEY SEEM TO BE CONTENT WITH WHAT THEY HAVE BUT THEY ARE STILL WORKING ON BUILDING A BETTER PLACE FOR THEMSELVES ON STEP AT A TIME.

WE CHOOSE JALAN TUANKU ABDUL RAHMAN AS OUR SITE BECAUSE THIS STREET HAS MANY HERITAGE BUILDINGS AND STILL COEXIST WITH VARIOUS MODERN STYLES OF BUILDINGS WHILE SURROUNDED BY SKYSCRAPERS AS IF IT IS LIKE THE CONCENTRIC CIRCLES OF OLINDA WHERE THE NEWER CITIES ARE GROWING AROUND THE OLD IN THE CENTRE. BATU ROAD USED TO BE THE “HIP” SHOPPING DISTRICT OF KUALA LUMPUR IN THE EARLY DAYS. SOME OF THE BUSINESS STILL OPERATES SINCE ESTABLISHMENT AS EARLY AS 1920s SUCH AS COLISUEM CINEMA, HOTEL & CAFÉ, CAPITAL CAFÉ, HARRISONS, G.S GILL AND MANY MORE. WE PERCEIVE THIS SITUATION IS SIMILAR TO RAISSA. THE BUSINESS COULD SUSTAIN FOR SUCH A LONG PERIOD BECAUSE OF THE STEADY STREAM OF OLD CUSTOMERS THAT PATRONS JALAN TUANKU ABDUL RAHMAN. HENCE, WE COULD INDUCE THAT THE COMMUNITY HERE ARE FOND OF THIS PLACE ESPECIALLY THE OLDER GENERATIONS DUE TO ITS NOSTALGIA EXPERIENCE.

INTRODUCTION

FORMERLY KNOWN AS BATU ROAD, JALAN TUANKU ABDUL RAHMAN WAS NAMED AFTER THE COUNTRY’S FIRST YANG DI PERTUAN AGONG, TUANKU ABDUL RAHMAN IBNI ALMARHUM TUANKU MUHAMMAD, WHOSE PORTRAIT IS ETCHED ON EVERY RINGGIT NOTE. THE STREET WAS ONCE A HAPPENING PLACE WHERE THE BIG SHOPPING SPOTS IN THE 1990s LIKE SOGO, PERTAMA KOMPLEKS AND HARISONS ARE LOCATED. NOSTALGIC CAFES THAT HAS BEEN OPERATING AS EARLY AS THE 1920s SUCH AS COLISEUM CAFÉ AND CAPITAL CAFÉ ARE LINED ALONG THE STREET. THE BUILDINGS AT JALAN TUANKU ABDUL RAHMAN ARE OF UNIFORM HEIGHT IN AVERAGE. HOWEVER, THEY ARE RELATIVELY SHORTER THAN THE SKYSCRAPERS SURROUNDING THIS HIDDEN GEM IN THE HEART OF KUALA LUMPUR.

“IF YOU MOVE ALONG MAROZIA’S COMPACT WALLS, WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT, YOU SEE A CRACK OPEN AND A DIFFERENT CITY APPEAR. THEN, AN INSTANT LATER, IT HAS ALREADY VANISHED.” URBAN SKYSCRAPERS SEEM TO EMERGE IN BETWEEN THE “CRACK” OF TWO ROWS MIXED DUTCH COLONIAL AND ART DECO STYLED SHOPHOUSES. THE SKYSCRAPERS ARE THE PROJECTTION OF JALAN TUANKU ABDUL RAHMAN’S FUTURE OR HOPE; WHILE THE OLD SHOPHOUSES SYMBOLIZES THE CURRENT OR PAST OF THE STREET.

“TWO CITIES, THE RAT’S AND THE SWALLOW’S; BOTH CHANGE WITH TIME, BUT THEIR RELATIONSHIP DOES NOT CHANGE; THE SECOND IS THE ONE ABOUT TO FREE ITSELF FROM THE FIRST.” URBAN SKYSCRAPERS REPRESENT THE SWALLOW WHILE THE OLD SHOPHOUSES REPRESENT THE RAT. BOTH TYPES OF BUILDINGS COEXIST IN THE SAME SPACE AND TIME. HOWEVER, THE SKYSCRAPERS BEHIND ARE ABOUT TO OVERSHADOW THE SHOPHOUSES WHILE FORMING ITS OWN TERRITORY.

“AT THE WORKBENCHES WHERE, EVERY MOMENT, YOU HIT YOUR FINGER WITH A HAMMER AND PRICK IT WITH A NEEDLE , OR OVER THE COLUMNS OF FIGURE ALL AWRY IN THE LEDGERS OF MERCHANTS AND BANKERS.”

THE VARIETY OF PEOPLE COMING FROM DIFFERENT BACKGROUND AND RACE REPRESENT OUR GENERATION NOW AS WELL AS THE TYPE OF CLASSES OF PEOPLE IN THE CITY THAT AFFECTS THE ARRANGEMENT OF CITY PLANNING, ARCHITECTURE AND BUSINESS BEING OPERATED TO SUIT THE TARGETED GROUP OF PEOPLE IN OUR ERA NOW.

“…OR AT THE ROWS OF EMPTY GLASSES ON THE ZINC COUNTERS OF THE WINESHOPS, THE BENT HEADS AT LEAST CONCEAL THE GENERAL GRIM GAZE.” ESTABLISHED IN 1921, THE COLISUEM CAFÉ AND HOTEL AT JALAN TUANKU ABDUL RAHMAN LOOKS AS IF IT IS FROZEN IN TIME. THE DECORATIONS, WINE GLASSES, STAIRS, EVEN THE DOOR TOPPERS WITH THE SIGNATURE “CH” INITIALS WERE PRESERVED OVER THE YEARS. THE PLACE LOOKS GLOOMY AS IF IT DOES NOT WANT TO SHIFT AWAY FROM THE ERA IT WAS FROM.

“ONE BY ONE THE SPECIES INCOMPATIBLE TO THE CITY HAD TO SUCCUMN AND WERE EXTINGUISHED.” IN CONTRAST TO THE URBAN DEVELOPMENT AROUND JALAN TUANKU ABDUL RAHMAN, THERE ARE MANY HOMELESS PEOPLE ON THE STREET. THE SITUATION ECHOES THE PROCESS OF GENTRIFICATION WHERE THE WEALTHIER CLASS OF PEOPLE OR TYCOONS DISPLACE THE LOWER INCOME FAMILIES AND SMALLER BUSINESSES BY TEARING DOWN BUILDINGS AND ERECTING NEW STRUCTURES.

“BUT WHAT I WANTED TO WARN TO YOU ABOUT IS SOMETHING ELSE: ALL THE FUTURE BERENICES ARE ALREADY PRESENT IN THIS INSTANT, WRAPPED ONE WITHIN THE OTHER, CONFINED, CRAMMED, INEXTRICABLE.” THE SKYSCRAPERS SURROUNDING THE OLDER AND SMALLER BUILDINGS IN JALAN TUANKU ABDUL RAHMAN ARE THE NEW CITY, WHICH EXIST AT THIS PRESENT TIME. ALTHOUGH NEW AND MORE BEAUTIFUL VISUALLY, THE SPACES OF EACH BUILDING IN THE NEW CITY HAS BECOME EVEN MORE CONFINED, COMPACT AND DENSE VERTICALLY, WHICH HAS NOT CHANGE MUCH FROM THE OLD, THAT ONCE WERE CONDENSE HORIZONTALLY AS WELL. HOWEVER, AT LEAST THESE OLD BUILDINGS STILL HAS ITS OWN BREATHING SPACE WITHIN THE WALLS OF THESE OLD BUILDINGS, SUCH AS INTERNAL COURTYARDS.

“…WHICH ALSO GREW UP ON THE MARGINS AND BECAME THINNER TO MAKE ROOM FOR STILL MORE RECENT ONES PRESSING FROM INSIDE;” THE ORIGINAL STRUCTURES ARE SQUASHED AND STUFFED BY URBAN DEVELOPMENTS SURROUNDING IT. MODERN SHOPHOUSES, STREET LAMPS, DECORATIVE SIGNAGES AND LIGHT TRANSIT MONORAILS INTERVENE THE SCENE AND FORCES THE OLD SITE TO DIMINISH IN THE CONCRETE JUNGLE.

“…ANY MOMENT, THE OLD MAROZIA WILL RETURN AND SOLDER ITS CEILING OF STONE, COBWEBS, AND MOLD OVER ALL HEADS.” -HIDDEN CITIES, PAGE 155 “…THE VICTORY OVER THE TERMITES LEFT THE CITY AT THE MERCY OF THE WOOD WORM. ONE BY ONE THE SPECIES INCOMPATIBLE TO THE CITY HAD TO SUCCUMB AND WERE EXTINGUISHED.” SIMILAR THE BUILDINGS IN JALAN TUANKU ABDUL RAHMAN, THE BUILDINGS OF THE NEW CITY WILL ALSO EVENTUALLY BECOME WORN DOWN AND MOLD AWAY LIKE A CYCLE. THE IMAGE ABOVE SHOWS THE TIMELINE OF BUILDINGS FROM THE OLD TO THE NEW AND VISE VERSA DEPENDING ON HOW ONE SEES IT.

“…IF YOU LOOK AT IT SLIGHTLY ENLARGED, REVEALS WITHIN ITSELF THE ROOFS, THE ANTENNAS, THE SKYLIGHTS, THE GARDENS, THE POOLS, THE STREAMERS ACROSS THE STREET…” BEYOND THE BOUNDARY OF THESE SMALL STREETS AND SHOP HOUSES, LIES ANOTHER CITY CONSISTING OF TALL SKYSCRAPERS THAT IS FAR BEYOND OUR REACH. BUILDINGS THAT IS FAR MORE ADVANCED IN TERMS OF TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN WHEN COMPARE TO THE SMALL, WEATHERED BUILDINGS IN JALAN TUANKU ABDUL RAHMAN. EVEN FROM AFAR, THE NEW AND MODERN CITY SURROUNDING THIS STREET CAN BE SEEN AND IDENTIFY FROM THEIR UNIQUE ROOFTOPS AND ANTENNAS. THIS IMAGE SHOWS THE COMPARISON OF TWO VERY DIFFERENT BUILDINGS, YET STAYING TRUE TO ITS ARCHITECTURAL ROOTS.

“HIDDEN BERENICE, THE CITY OF THE JUST, HANDLING MAKESHIFT MATERIALS IN THE SHADOWY ROOMS BEHIND THE SHOPS AND BENEATH THE STAIRS, LINKING A NETWORK, OF WIRES, AND PIPES AND PULLEYS AND PISTONS AND COUNTERWEIGHTS THAT INFILTRATES LIKE A CLIMBING PLANT AMONG THE GREAT COGGED WHEELS…” -HIDDEN CITIES 5 (BERENICE) IN TODAYS ARCHITECTURAL WORLD, BUILDINGS FROM THE NEW CITY ARE MOSTLY INSPIRED BY THE INTERTWINING OF WIRES AND PIPES LINKING ONE ANOTHER LIKE A STRONG BOND. THE CITY SURROUNDING THIS SMALL STREET IS NO DIFFERENT AS WELL. THE FACADES OF EACH BUILDING ARE CLAD WITH A VARIETY OF STRAIGHT VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL LINES, THAT REPRESENT DIFFERENT MEANINGS FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL OR DESIGNER. JUST AS WRITTEN IN THE CONTEXT, THE LINES COULD ALSO RESEMBLES CLIMBING PLANTS OR BRANCHES.

CONCLUSION AS A WHOLE, THE ISSUES WE CONCLUDED FROM THIS OBSERVATION IS:

• CERTAIN TOWNS THAT ARE USED TO BE HAPPENING BECOMES DEAD AND BURIED BECAUSE YOUNGER GENERATIONS LEAVE THEIR ROOTS BEHIND AND MOVE TO A NEW ENVIRONMENT. • COMMUNITES ATTACHED TO CERTAIN PLACE TENDS TO REVISIT THE PLACE AND RELIVE THEIR MEMORIES ARE THE KEY HOLDERS OF PREVENTING THE TOWN FROM DISAPPEARING.