archi-tale by Heffrence Teow

Compilation of selected works by Hai-Pâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ng (Heffrence) Teow email :heffrence@gmail.com website :heffrenceteow.com

TABLE OF CONTENT

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1 - ARCHITECTURE // PAST

STORY OF THE MEMORY KEEPER - The Last Window MH 17 Memorial and Park Idea Competition by MatterBetter IJmeer, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2014)

11 13

STORY OF THE ONE WHO CAME, WHO SAW, BUT WHO DO NOT CONQUERED - Placentel M.Arch Year 4 Studio Project Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia (2016)

35 37

CHAPTER 2 - ARCHITECTURE // PRESENT

STORY OF THE SELF-COOKING POT - The Reifier M.Arch Year 4 Studio Project Klang, Selangor, Malaysia (2017)

67 69

CHAPTER 3 - ARCHITECTURE // FUTURE

STORY OF THE DETECTIVE WHO WORKS AS A FORTUNE TELLER - Sub-Rosa Wonderland M.Arch Year 5 Thesis Project Seri Kembangan, Selangor, Malaysia (2018) - Literature Studies - Surveillance, Privacy and Architecture - Concluding Surveillance in Architecture - Speculating Anti-Surveillance Enclave - Reviewing Anti-Surveillance Enclave - Design Realization Drawings and Details

103 105

106 117 136 143 183 189

INTRODUCTION

“As an architect you design for the present, with an awareness of the past, for a future which is essentially unknown” - Norman Foster. Architecture is not a momentarily decision: the famous quote above captures the very essence of architecture itself - it answers to the PAST, PRESENT, and FUTURE. Architecture defined as the art and science of constructing the environment that we want to live in, deals closely with human and all the associated dimensions of a society: psychology, physiology, social, environment, technology... it has to perform on a broad context to seek solution for a simple question - how to make the world a better place to live in? And as a physical structure, there is a correlationship between architecture and time as well. It witnesses and records the history; it monumentalizes memory; it interacts with our living environment and everyday life; it visualises our imagination of the future... and each different timeframes presents a different set of societal considerations. The complexity and comprehensiveness of architecture demands an array of responses that each inquiries, researches and answers to different circumstances that are uniquely composed from a matrix of influences. This compilation of works - “ARCHI-TALE” serves as a tool of examining architecture in terms of a character that is created in response to different stimulus that persist within our living environment, from past to future. Arranged chronologically into 3 chapters, the portfolio presents 4 projects that narrate about different situations in which architecture comes into play. Thematically, the portfolio can be understand as how the roles of architecture shift in dealing with the PAST, the PRESENT, and the FUTURE. However, the structure of such arrangement can also be interpret as how architecture expands from personal/intimate experience of psychology and memory, to a smaller community with cultural dimension and identity, to a broader urban context, and eventually to the bigger picture of cross-disciplinary study, ecosystem and world-making. It is a storytelling of architecture - as something that co-exist with us everywhere; as the companion of our everyday life. Enjoy the tale!

LIFE IS

ARCHIT

ARCHIT 6

ECTURE

ECTURE IS THE MIRROR OF LIFE - I.M. PEI 7

CHAPTER 1

p architecture s t

ARCHITECTURE IS TO MAKE US

KNOW AND

REMEMBER WHO WE ARE

- GEOFFREY JELLICOE 10

1.1 S T O R Y O F T H E M E M O R Y K E E P E R ARCHITECTURE AS A TOOL OF RECORDING MEMORIES

In the past, architecture are often celebrated as a form of monument, an art piece, a statement, or a symbol of power. Heroic figures, moments and status are materialized into structures. Architecture being a tangible thing that built to last has long since becomes a tool of record, and as it ages through time, it tells stories. These stories become lifelong as architecture engraved them permanently onto world’s surface. Not limiting to monumental structure, functional spaces throughout the history had also becomes well-known due to their attached memories and narrative behind: the Great Pyramid of Giza is a tomb; the Great Wall of China is, well, a wall for defending against intruders. Today, with various other factors such as economics, user comfortability, environmental concerns and budgets coming into play, the fact that emotions can be still decoded from a modern architectural space indicates the reliability of recording intangible experiences or memories into tangible structures. For example, one can says “the gallery space makes me feel nostalgic” or “the office space makes me feel depressed”, and so on... This abstract quality that is created in a space enables architecture to be perceived as an effective channel of communicating human emotions through vivid experiential stimulus of tangible elements such as walls, floors. finishes as well as intangible elements such as light, sound, and wind that found within a space. Without going through the aging process that historical architectures faced in making them even richer in narrative, a memorial of present day choreographs such emotions through spatial planning, design elements and materials itself to tell the story behind, and to preserve the memory that is lost. As time fades away, architecture hence becomes an intimate tool of recording memories, and a provocative tool of telling stories.

IT IS NOT THE

GOODBYE THAT

BUT

HURTS THE

FLASHBACK

THAT FOLLOWS

Idea Competition

Memorial for Everyone Looking out of a window, what comes into your mind? Is it the scenery that caught your eyes? Or the memories of your loved one? If that is the last beautiful thing to see in this world, which would you choose? However, sad but true, it is never a chance to make the choice... because no one ever knows, when will be their last window... Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) was a schedules international passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that was shot down on 17 July 2014, killing all 283 passengers & 15 crews on board. The Boeing 777-200ER airliner lost contact about 50km from the Ukraine-Russia border and crashed near Torez in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, 40km from the border. Most of the passangers were Dutch, while many of the others were Australians & Malaysians. The mid-air explosion caused a 15km radius wide dispersal of scattered pieces of broken fuselage & engine parts, bodies & passports over the land, dozen into crop fields & some into houses. It is a man-made tragedy that influences thousands of lives in different manners across the entire world. It is a catastrophe by human, to be remembered by human.

Hence, the design idea of the memorial is based upon a collective memories from 2 different perspectives - those who are directly involved or attached to the tragedy, and those of the public - the citizen of the same world. The experiences and memories from these differing 2 parties are intertwined together within the architecture. By looking into how each of them perceive the tragedy and space, the bilateral meaning of a memorial is founded. From human scale to city scale, from the point of an outsider to an insider, things of complete opposite are expected to happen at one place, and yet the memorial must be kept simple but narrative, interpretable but unpredictable. As such, a continuous transition of spaces and voids with changing scale were arranged in a way that embarks the visitors onto a journey of experiencing in terms of first person perspective on what the victims had gone through, boarding onto their last journey. The tangible and intangible memories coexist as we started to portray ourselves as them, and this brings back the intense memories of one. Besides, the configuration of the memorial forms a landmark that tells the story of the tragedy itself, marking the heartbroken incident permanently on the world map.

The tragedy had greatly affected the world, Netherlands the most, and with Amsterdam as the departure point of this one way flight, an artificial island is to be proposed in IJmeer as a foundation for the MH17 Memorial. Fundamentally, the very basic principle of a memorial is to preserve a memory and to convey message. This, however, is often the hardest to achieve as memories are very abstract, to the extent that they are very subjective and varies dependantly on each individual based on their experiences. In embracing individualism, different channels are required to effectively portray the architecture of the memorial for it to be appreciated.

Memorial Park Island The memorial for the MH17 tragedy, together with park and amenities will take form as an artificial island in IJmeer, Amsterdam. The brief states that the memorial has to be for everyone - the place for the people who are directly connected to the tragedy and for the population of the world in general. 14

The Inconsistency of Memories A memorial is nothing without profound memories confined within it. However, the term “memory” itself is a complicated thing to deal with. Different people sees thing differently based on their perspective and point of view - a related person’s experience differs completely with that of a public’s perspective. For a memorial to carry its value in conserving memories, pieces of these experiences had to be put together.

AS RECALLED

FIRST PERSON PERSPECTIVE: To friends and family of the victims, it is about the last farewell and goodbye when sending off their love ones. The conversations they had, the smile of theirs, the moment when they turn their back and walk into the departure, the reluctant feeling of leaving… 16

AS SEEN

THIRD PERSON PERSPECTIVE: To public, it is a man-made catastrophe that brought down a plane en-route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur and killed hundreds of innocent life...

Design from Third Person Perspective A memorial records memories. While the direct victims and related members of the incident make up a rather small amount of people as compare to the overall population of the world, it is crucial that the event should be made known to everyone. As such, the design should be able to relate to the bigger world through an architectural narrative that tells the story of the incident.

1. To find connection, 2 important locations related to the tragedy were identified in respect to the site.

4. Level being adjusted to portray the movement of taking off, with the “memory cube” seems to be “crashed” into the ground.

2. A dominent axis is created pointing straight to the crash site of the flight (Torez).

5. A second axis was brought cutting through the site, pointing to the location of the intended destination (Kuala Lumpur).

3. The axis configured the island profile into the shape of an airplane body along the direction, carrying a concrete cube at the midst as a “container of memory”.

6. A glass triangle intersected the cube along the axis as transparent & imaginary destination through the solid memory, viewing out to passing planes & ferries, to send off their blessings.

1. arrival 2. landscape 3. memorial space - “the journey” 4. memorial space - “the lost path” 5. courtyard 6. mechanical room 7. administration office 8. meeting room

9. multifunctional space 10. cafe 11. public restroom 12. sky bridge 13. viewing point 14. memorial space - “the goodbye” 15. exit

13 12

9 11

10 11

2 3

4 5

Design from First Person Perspective

B O A R D I N G

D E P A R T U R E

C A T A S T RO P H E

EMBA RK ON TO TH E JOU RNEY

1 10

1. arrival 2. landscape 3. memorial space - “the journey” 4. memorial space - “the lost path” 5. courtyard 6. mechanical room 7. multipurpose space 8. sky bridge 9. viewing point 10. memorial space - “the goodbye” 11. exit 22

T A K I N G

T A X I I N G

O F F

S O A R IN G

The memorial spaces is designed base to the most profound memory - the last one when the victims board onto the flight. These moments of a journey from when they left their families at the airport to the incident - from departure, to boarding, to taxiing, to taking off, to soaring, and to the unexpected catastrophe, are translated into a sequence of spaces that allows the visitors to portray themselves together as part of the lost ones. The idea of role-playing enables a complication of emotions to flow in, and reliving the memories in their truest experience.

7 6

MEMORIES ARE TO BE PRESERVED THROUGH RELIVING THE MOMENTS 24

Boarding

The journey begins with visitors coming upon a vast enclosed space, and immediately feel reluctant and overpowered about it. A wide empty space that seems anxious at first due to being in the profile of an upside down dome, with narrow walkway spanning across the space, the scale difference between this space is intended to spark a heavy tone for the visitors upon the journey up ahead. Together with minimal lighting into the space, this entrance to the memorial speaks of a statement how of powerless humans are, and recreates the mood of reluctivity when boarding onto a new journey of unknown ahead.

Taxiing

A long passageway, populated with repetitive rectangular masses arranged in such as way that they are replicating the exact seats arrangement of the flight, together with exposed skeletal structures above the shapes like a fuselage, this space is intended to recreates the atmosphere inside a plane. The repetitive manner and dullness of the space create a sense of curiousity and lost in the direction one is heading to as they walk along. The overscaled space is being excavated into the ground, having sandwiched and supported by retaining walls on both side and light filling in from above. As visitors go along the flat ground, the walls appear to be getting taller, as in they are getting deeper or smaller, unnoticed. This enhances the experience of feeling nervous.

Taking Off

At the end of a long walk, visitors are faced with a continuous ramp spiraling up. This space marks an important part of the whole memorial park. It is a game changer, indicating an change in altitude, a change from linear to circular passageway, and a change of perspective. The node implies an important connection between the two realm, that on the ground and that floating up above. While walking up the ramp is tiring and uneasy, the views it gets thereafter is a promised satisfaction.

Soaring

A walkway projects out from the enclosed wall and over the ground. At this moment, for the first time the visitors catch the overall unobstructed view of the surrounding, widen their perception and expectation from the previously narrow spaces. As the journey move on, the seemingly floating walkway on the air gently slopes and rises. As one walks, without notice their distance from the ground gets higher and higher. Some might finds it insecure, others excited and having fun. But at the end of this exhausting journey, it is about the new experience of going onto a journey, much of uncertainty and wonder.

Catastrophe

A rigid dome-shaped space illuminated with light coming from top through an opening mimicking the shape of an airplane window, with the wall cladded with recycled scrapped metal plate and cut-out of words in the memories that one probably last had with their love one, glows periodically. This continuous surface of dome is intended to wrap the visitors in darkness, surrounding them with overwhelming stress and uneasiness, looking through the glaring window as memories start to flashback all around. It is as if, people are experiencing the space via the memories of the victims and looking through the last moment from their eyes, feeling the despair and a sense of powerless against the reality.

Detail of Memorial Dome 1. Oculus for skylight to be the shape of airplane window. 2. Continuous hot dip galv. metal RHS forming the shape of oculus. 3. Flashing to wrap around. 4. Hot dip galv. metal RHS for inner shell structure. 5. Hot dip galv. metal bracket. 6. Laminated tempered glass. 7. Metal stud holding up the glass to allow gap for ventilation. 8. RC kerb to support skylight framing. 9. RC shell. 10. Reflective alum. foil for redirecting the sunlight down to bottom. 11. Hot dip galv. metal tie rod. 12. Timed/programmable lighting to glow over cut-outs on inner shell. 13. Recycled metal plates to be welded and joined to form a shell, to have words cutted out from the surface. 14. Hot dip galv. metal I-beam as inner shell main structure.

1 2 3 4

7 8 9 10 11

5 6

12 13 14

1.2 S T O R Y O F T H E O N E W H O C A M E , W H O S A W , BUT WHO DO NOT CONQUERED ARCHITECTURE AS A TOOL OF PRESERVING CULTURE AND IDENTITY

As architecture monumentalize memories, it preserves culture and contextual identity as well. Building, or structure, even in its most abstract form takes shape by occupying a place in this world, and each of them is distinctive to the other due to the background history, culture, community and users that are associated to the site. Ironically, architecture is a creation of space by taking up space, and by establishing its place within a given context means to also deal with the pertaining cultural aspect. The direction on how to response to this intangible dimension is what makes a building different from the others. Vernacular architecture, in a broader sense, is a collective response of the whole area and community to the preservation of culture. Elements making up to the style are reflection to local lifestyle and beliefs on top of environmental factors, contributing to their unique identity: Chinese courtyard house - the Si He Yuan, is based on the Chinese belief of filial peity; certain tribal groups of Borneo built longhouse as a way of communal living; traditional Malay houses are built without nails, thus can be dismantled, moved, and assembled again. The cultural aspect of site is what makes a place unique, and having the need to response to that is what makes architecture meaningful. While preserving heritage culture and place identity are crucial, debate often arises as whether or not such action worth over other considerable factors such as economics, practicality as well as suitability of modern lifestyle. The generalisation of modernist architecture, globalisation and influx of foreign culture add pressures to the threatening of this matter. By looking at architecture as a mean of communication that is able to affect the usersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; experience, the translation of such contextual identity into suitable architectural language (yes, not literally copy and paste) becomes a great challenge without compromising its basic functional requirements. Afterall, the meaning behind each piece of architecture does matters - it is what builds up the narrative for making it a relevant architecture.

WHAT IS MEANING

THE OF

PLACENESS IN ARCHITECTURE IF TRAVELLING AROUND THE WORLD FEELS EXACTLY

THE SAME EVERYWHERE? 36

M.Arch Year 4 Studio Project

A Hotel Sustained by People, Place and Culture Kuala Terengganu Chinatown is a township that was predominated by fishing activities. And as those days were slowly gone due to lack of demands and government actions, local lifestyle changed and people has but to turn up for other businesses. Eventually, the idea of modernization swept through the whole township, unevenly, that it saw a new architectural language of complexity with multiple layers of stories behind it. With these various historical transition and adaptation, the shifting policy of the Kuala Terengganu Chinatown had seen a forward progression in favor of urbanism, causing on the other hand, the diminishing of its local identity that the community still holds up to. These all becomes part of the identity of the place. Without any principal source of local incomes, the township has to rely much on external resources to survive, and hence it is important to create an enticement that draws travelers to the place. To do so, it is important to incorporate local uniqueness into architecture. The primary concern is about accentuating, if not reviving the special characteristics that once define the place, in order to create an attraction that is strong enough to establish a bond between outsiders and the local culture. Also, it serves a mean to communicate local identity to outsiders as a continuation and appreciation of a diminishing culture. This gives rise to the question of â&#x20AC;&#x153;How can we design a hotel architecture that is able to synthesize the relationship among outsiders and the locals?â&#x20AC;? While conventional hotel architecture usually exerts verticality and rich internal living ambience, it produced a rather generic atmosphere that feels nothing much different from staying at any places. It sounds questionable that as if people travels to other parts of the world just to feel like they are instead just staying in their own apartments. Is there a way to reimagine a hotel architecture to be more site experiential specific?

Tagging along the rich contextual experience, the PLACENTEL is a hotel architecture that instead of cocooning the guest in an isolated box, it opens up to the maximum exposure of experiencing local community lifestyle and cultural value. The idea is about reimagining the walls, corridors, views, structures, that make up a typical hotel had been injected with elements that characterize local identity. Also by extending the horizontal public realm like a sheath of fabric to gently wrap up and hug the hotel rooms altogether acting as a backdrop, it forms a crucial role in which the public realm gives life to the hotel. It can be well describes as a placenta, supporting and feeding the fetus. Interactions between the outsiders and locals are in close proximity at every direction and critical. Contradicting to the existing hotel typology of living in a micro-environment within the hotel itself, that the atmospheres are driven by the interior, it is much meaningful to shape the hotel ambience with the surrounding elements â&#x20AC;&#x201C; people, culture and place. This cross-fertilization of public and private space generates a new form of hotel aimed to heighten the exposure of surrounding atmosphere during the stay, and to depict the story about a place through its architecture, hence establishing the romantic connection of people and place-making.

The Fate of Kuala Terengganu Chinatown As one of the heritage area of Kuala Terengganu, the capital city of Terengganu state, Malaysia, the site carries a strong distinctive historical and cultural value. From when the historical figure Admiral Zheng He arrived at the shore and subsequently the migration of Chinese to the land which established the culture of Peranakan (a mixture of Chinese culture into local Malay culture) that still amounts for a small portion of current Terengganu population, it is a site of importance for preservation. However, the fall of local economics and rise of modern demands had caused a negletion of local identity due to generalization of trade and tourism - construction of an artificial island, Pulau Warisan at the shore that resulted in demolition of stilt houses; unstable economy resulted in closing down of small businesses and moving out of population in search for better opportunity; conversion and renovation of heritage shophouses into modern building to cater for swiftlet farming... Slowly, the cultural aspect becomes less celebrated among the community and the architectural scene changes. To hang upon the remains of heritage and reminiscing the history, it is crucial to extend such values to a broader community - the outsiders, by incorporating tourism into cultural preservation. An intimate connection between the outsiders and the context has to be developed through their stay and visit for better appreciation, and for the story to live on.

how to create an upmost intimate experience of being connected to a place?

ity

N cultur e

OREIG

comm un

CAL LO

can local community and culture define the unique experience of placeness? 38

Place and Cultural Uniqueness The transitions of Kuala Terengganu Chinatown - from its historical inception to its current uneven modernization, all of them play an important role in establishing a mixture of rich characteristic that is unique to the site. While the crossover of architectural languages and elements defines the place, the community living experience still present within the site defines the life. The traces of Peranakan culture that persist within the communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cultural root adds another level of richness to establishment of local identity. These altogether form the criteria of weaving sense of placeness into architecture placemaking.

streetscape as a mixture of characters

community living and Peranakan culture 40

Merging Locality Into Modern Hospitality The starting point of embracing contextual identity into hospitality experience is to redefine a typical hotel typology. Falling in between a common, interior-centric urban hotel and an environmental indulging retreat villa, the new hotel typology has to address both the limitation of urban land area and the needs of contextual experience. Hence, instead of reaching out to the surrounding, the design brings in the community and cultural values to the hotelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proximity by fusing it with other subsidiary spaces - a public square and a Peranakan textile gallery. They form a plane that extends public life, folds and wraps around the hotel. These public spaces cushion the private hotel space with maximum exposure to local lifestyle and enables interaction in between. The result is an archi-alchemy of hotel (hospitality space) plus public square (community space) and a textile gallery (cultural space).

stilts / exposed structure

hanging â&#x20AC;&#x153;Peranakanâ&#x20AC;? textiles

swiftlet farming building profile

modernization / contradiction

community activities

pitched roof / party wall

sea-based activities / sea waves

Design Narrating Local Identity While the building program addresses the cultural aspect, the building profile has to enhance the sense of place and its narration. Historical elements, activities, transitions, patterns and lifestyles are being traced and translated into architectural elements, which are then put together to support the spaces by adding a layer of meanings that defines the place.

PUBLIC SQUARE

TEXTILE GALLERY

HOTEL

Transition

floor plane extension

neighbouring roof profile continuation

site connection

gallery ramping circulation

hotel view to public square

hotel view to gallery

Circulation

View

domination of modern elements

tapering roof to match neighbours

public free-flow

controlled hotel entrance

hotel view to street

hotel view to sea

Juxtapositioning Experience By drawing inspirations from local context and historical characteristics to inform the profile of hotel, the building form itself can be interpreted as an accumulation of cultural narratives that fits into the streetscape distinguishly yet harmonizes with the context.

Site P 1. 2. 3. 4.

4 2

Lower Ground Floor Plan 50

genset room hvac room water tank compartment water pump

Plan 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

public square retail cafe gallery washroom refuse

5 4

3 2

Ground Floor Plan 51

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

hotel lobby lounge washroom linen / store room - super single

6. room - deluxe double 7. room - superior double 8. room - family suite 9. cafe 10. gallery

10 2

7 7

1st Floor Plan

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

2 4

1 3

3rd Floor Plan 52

room - super single room - deluxe double room - superior double room - family suite gallery

1. 2. 3. 4.

dorm (male) dorm (female) dorm common area gallery

3 2

2nd Floor Plan

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

room - deluxe double room - superior double room - family suite sky bar viewing bridge gallery

1 1

4th Floor Plan 53

HOTEL TEXTILE GALLERY

PUBLIC SQUARE

Hotel Layout The hotel heightens the stay experience by embracing local culture and community to its closest possible proximity: - Front facing units overlook the public square below and the streetscape to channel the community presence into internal space. - Internal facing units overlook the textile gallery along the courtyard, creating connection between foreign travellers and local heritage culture. 54

Unit Detail While the front facing units of the hotel emphasize on immersive experience of the guest to local community at the public square below and along the street, a room - at its core purpose, has to deal with privacy and security issue. As such, a double layers facade system incorporating sliding glass door and a solid aluminium facade panel mimicking the external wall is designed to balance between the needs of openness and exclosure. The opening and closing of these two screens allow a variety of controls over individual room.

sliding glass door ( CLOSED ) alum. facade panel ( CLOSED )

COMPLETE PRIVACY

sliding glass door ( OPENED ) alum. facade panel ( CLOSED )

VENTILATION

sliding glass door ( CLOSED ) alum. facade panel ( OPENED )

VIEW

sliding glass door ( OPENED ) alum. facade panel ( OPENED )

TOTAL EXPOSURE

Public Square An open public square occupies the ground, creating a void along the shophouse that draws people in, and the protruding massing above provides shade to it. Exposed structure frames the activities, together with waves-like ground create reminiscence to the history of place.

Textile Gallery A gallery showcasing the local traditional Peranakan Textile adds a cultural dimension to the scene. With textiles hang in between the centre void, walkways and ramps run through one side of the display space, while the others is overlooked by the terrace of hotel units.

Hotel From street level, the staggering, monolithic hotel massing protudes over party wall frames as a representation to the narrative of how modernism slowly devours local cultural identity, and the change of opening sizes from big at bottom to tiny holes at top denotes the shift of interest from tourism (community value) to economy (swiftlet framing).

QUALITY OF LIFE A SENSE OF PLACE CARING ABOUT THE COMMUNITY COLLABORATION AND COMMUNICATION ACTIVE PARTICIPATION TRADITION AND INNOVATION - PLACEMAKING MANIFESTO (BSA/AIA PLACEMAKING NETWORK) 62

CHAPTER 2

p r architecture s e n t

ARCHITECTURE SHOULD SPEAK OF ITS

TIME PLACE &

BUT YEARN FOR

TIMELESSNESS - FRANK GEHRY 66

2.1 S T O R Y O F T H E S E L F - C O O K I N G P O T ARCHITECTURE AS A TOOL OF URBAN REVITALIZATION

While in previous chapter architecture takes a more personal role by exploring it in terms of the intangible dimension - the embedded memories, the portrayal of cultures, the engraved histories... these elements however present only through human interpretations and their interactions within the space. Undeniably, the user context and social aspect in architecture should not be taken lightly. Architecture has the ability to create influence to the users, and by putting it against the context of a city, the user group thus encompasses the whole gamut of city dwellers - the public, recognizing that for better or for worse, every architecture does become a character that plays an important role in the everyday life of the aforesaid urban context. Architecture hence should be seen as a puzzle that makes up a bigger picture, and the picture is to be painted in accordance to needs of the place and its people. At its peak, an architecture is able to reform the whole image of the city it sits in: Sydney Opera House by Jorn Utzon as one of the most recognizable buildings of the twentieth century has becomes the icon of the city and shapes the image associated to Sydney as perceived by the public; Guggenheim Museum by Frank Gehry becomes a catalyst that revitalized the city of Bilbao and its economics, contributed to its current financial growth and prestige. Architecture in an urban context also treats the city as a community and makes it a better place to live in with improved lifestyle and experience: Markthal in Rotterdam by MVRDV creatively juxtaposes private residentials with public market for an all new, fun experience living around the food; Oslo Opera House by Snohetta cleverly incorporates and expands public life into the otherwise limited activities of an opera house. Architecture as the creation of space and living environment is a process that has much more influence than just being conceived as a physical outcome. It is a purposeful endeavor that has the power to resolve issues of concern and to make changes over a broader area. It does not only shapes life within, but affects those around it as well.

R E G E N E R AT I O N GENTRIFICATION INTERACTION H Y B R I D I Z AT I O N PERSISTENCY 68

M.Arch Year 4 Studio Project

Rethinking Gentrification for Rejuvenation The current Klang Town, (located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) has been experiencing the efflux of local community over the years due to various social issues and the development of new townships at the fringe such as Setia Alam and Bukit Tinggi. The limited market available due to the moving out of majority buying power has left a lot of business to fall and eventually closed down. The efflux of middle-class community resulted in the fall of living standard, which then countered by the influx of foreign community, often lower-class that stemmed up even more social issue. And the deterioration does not stop here. The worsening condition encourages even more local community to make up their mind of moving out, and at the same time attracts the likes to the place. The idea of rejuvenating the area revolves around the notion of gentrification by introducing an institution, imagining it as a form of city campus by injecting new community hence expanding the city activity level over a broader coverage, reactivating the idle street. However, very often the term itself carries negative images such as driven out of existing community and conflict of cultural value. According to Charles Landry, this pessimism usually arises due to the fading sense of placeness by the local and feeling segregated. Yet, with no doubt issue such as security and businesses can only be solved as a collective effort from everyone developing mutual responsibilities to a place. A gentrification thus has to emphasize on interaction and exposure rather than concealing and segregation. A new form of gentrification therefore required to promote interaction and creates exposure between the two communities, of new and existing. By putting this against the idea of urban revitalization via institution, the equiv-

alent to the extrovert and bold nature of education is an art school, as art is often deemed as an expressive form of communication. The intention is through the use of an art institution as a form of catalyst to react against its surrounding generating a sharing platform that resonates among both communities, hoping to strengthen the mutual bond and sense of belonging. Very often gentrification means introduction of a new community that could be easily isolated from the native, but here the intention is to maximize the interaction and eliminates the boundary in between - it is a creative gentrification. The Reifier is an inversion of envelop and content, picturing as an extrovert architecture. To do this, a study of how various arts are best display is important - through grouping arts into analogue and digital. This also becomes like a split and dialogue within the reality and virtual world of art itself. Thus, the building massing is being separated into two, one on top of the other. The bottom massing then lined with exhibition space, with shaded corridor running around connected with steps and seating for upclose experience of the art; the top massing then cladded with reflective panel, animated by human activities on ground level. It also doubles up as LCD screen for the projection of digital art as a lively building faรงade. Metaphorically, it becomes as if the virtual world is an apparent image of the actual world, holding up afloat incubated with imagination. The reflection also indicates an oscillation between virtual and reality, subconscious and consciousness, triggering imagination, and manifesting the dogma of art and creativity through the architecture language itself while keeping the channel of interaction and communication opens.

KE LA NA

E P P

JA LA N

EA R A

TE NG KU

N HA

The southern side of Klang Town is in closed proximity to various natural features such as the Klang River, and an ample amount of greeneries area along the river bank, as well as public infrastructure such as the KTM railway station. However, due to various social issues and the development of new townships at the fringe such as Setia Alam and Bukit Tinggi, people have been moving out of the place in search of a better living environment. This resulted in an imbalance and shrinking market, causing a lot of businesses to close down and areas neglected or abandoned. This is particularly true along Jalan Raya Timur due to the fact that the one way traffic system and lack of public activities at the area has causes the street to be used as merely a bypass to other parts of the town most of the time. In the challenge of limited business opportunity and ever decreasing population, the town faces a critical question of â&#x20AC;&#x153;how do we breathe new life to a deteriorated context, and to make persistency out of it through its new given definition for a sustainable urban regeneration?â&#x20AC;?

E IG D E H R W A A L Y

The Challenges of Revitalization

K LA N G R IV E R

N EGLE CT ED

E A

TR AI ST AT N IO N

CAMPUS CITY + BILBAO EFFECT

Stages of Urban Revitalization In answering to the question of rejuvenating a deteriorated area, creating social sustainability is a crucial starting point. A greater community is needed not only to revive the area, but to make sure that the result carries on and persists through time. Hence, urban revitalization is to be seen as a process rather than an action, and it can be separated into 3 stages: STAGE 1 - POPULATE : The first step to such circumstance is to bring in more people to the area and to propagate the urban life covering a broader area. While such action of a gentrification is often associated with negative connotation that threatened local community, we cannot deny that this action does offer some desirable benefits to a place, such as the increase of occupancy rate, market, economics, urban activity levels, and the reduction of crime. As such, urban revitalization has to begins by looking at bringing in new form of lives and community rather than just merely improving the existing. STAGE 2 - STAY : Next, while higher population means more urban activities, it is crucial to make sure that such environment is able to persist on. Current Klang Town is facing a critical condition of declining due to the vicious cycle of population moving-out creating increased opportunity for social issues. This perpetual cycle has to be broken by making sure that not only the community comes in, but to stay and permanently occupies the spaces. This opens up an opportunity of rethinking the township into a Campus City - by utilizing an institution as a catalyst to incorporate studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; daily life into the fabric of the town. A new cluster of facilities is set to rebrand the whole area into a more vibrant living environment. STAGE 3 - COMMUNICATE : For a sustainable living environment, the boundary between existing community and the newly introduced student community has to be dissolved. As stated by Charles Landry in â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Creative Cityâ&#x20AC;?: an even wider cooperation between various parties is important in order to truly achieve something: crime will be solved less through physical control but more via establishing a sense of placeness and mutual responsibility; sustainable environments are not done by looking at the environmental dimension, but through addressing how people mix and interact, cultivating their motivations and responsibility to their place and lifestyles. Interaction between cultures has to occur to prevent segregation of social groups. As such, the new institution has to be recognized as part of the bigger urban pattern. It needs to become an extension to the local public realm, and the existing community is proud to be part of it.

The New Population - Sharing the Campus City

The Klang Town is reimagined as a campus city, and the new layer of studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; life is to be added onto the existing urban pattern. The everyday life of a student is intertwined into the fabric of local lifestyle to create constant occupations. Using the institution as a catalyst, it becomes an important urban node that connects various spaces together such as the river bank, streetscape, abadoned shophouses, railway station and pedestrian walkway, improving the current deteriorated state into usable spaces. These new urban expansions also create shared value among the existing community and the new community.

AM PHI

A TR E HE

K GE N D I L RI B M

U L

T I-

T O R E

Y S

C A

G IN

EA T P

R K

FOOD ALLEY

How do we prevent community displacement due to gentrification?

Interculturalism Rather Than Multiculturalism A common negative image attached to the notion of gentrification is that when people starts to recognize themselves with interest rather than geographical identity. In dealing with this, a new form of urban rejuvenation has to be investigated that emphasizes on interculturalism rather than multiculturalism. The barrier that separates community apart from the new and existing had to be broken down and promotes more interaction and understanding in between. Rather than seeing the action of gentrification as introduction or cumulation of cultures, a more appropriate perspective is to enable hydridization of culture. 78

Which nature of institution is crucial in maximizing interaction? contextual richness

L I M K O K W I N G

content exposure

U N I V E R S I T Y

O F

C R E A T I V E T E C H NOLOGY

cyberjaya, malaysia

T H E

O N E

A C A D E M Y

sunway city, malaysia

S C H O O L

O F

T H E

zubir said drive, singapore

A R T S

Communicating Content to the Context through Art The idea of introducing an institution as the core of revitalization requires it to be a channel of communication. Such criteria of a school points to the proposal of an Art Institution in corresponds to its expressive nature - art is a tool of communication on its own. As precedents, studies on various other similar projects in Malaysia and Singapore are conducted, examining upon their responses toward â&#x20AC;&#x153;context and contentâ&#x20AC;?. An optimum idea of connecting the context to the content by eliminating any threshold in between is thus in favor, and that should not be limited to just a single horizontal plane, but extruded into a 3-dimensional space as a whole.

L A S A L L E

C O L L E G E

O F

mc nally street, singapore

T H E

A R T S barrier interaction

art content

public context

to effectively link the content to the context, the relationship between the content (ART) and the context (PUBLIC) has to be identified.

art content

public context

fantasy

A R T

SKY GARDEN

reality

virtual

D I G I T A L

A N A L O G U E

A R T

URBAN INSTALLATION

realness 81

Content-driven Massing Massing for the art institution is driven by examining the characteristic of each of the two different types of art - analogue and digital. By emphasizing on the mode of communication that is most suited for each type, the result is an extroverted institution that keeps the dialogue between both communities open through the sharing of space and contents.

Digital World

Tilted Facade As Display Screen

Accessibility

Split

Volume

Analogue World

Recessed Facade As Tired Display Platform

Sky Garden For Public Access

Merge

Connection

Corridors and Stair For Public Access

Upper Facade Mirror surface doubles up as electronic display screen is cladded for showchasing the studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; artwork. The mirror profile of the surface also acts as an active facade of reflecting human activities on the ground, as well as creating a new platform for creative art installation.

Lower Facade Retractable louvres facade fixed around the perimeter, providing controllable sun shading to the corridor without compromising the view both in and out. The independantly movable panels also add a rhythmic and playful profile in suiting to the art installation exhibited along the public corridor.

INST A L L A T I O N

SUN

S H A D I N G

P R O J E C T I O N

R E F L E C T I ON

D I S P L A Y

R H Y T H M I C

Extension of Public Realm The art institution is not only a new focal point to the area. Rather, it enables a two-way communication between both communities. While the form and facades express artistic experiences by showcasing its content to the public, the building itself becomes an extension to the public realm - a meeting point, a piaza, and a new dimension of thrilling public space not limited to ground level. Public are able to access through the building from the piazza below to the seating steps, across the bridge and up to the sky garden above. Criss-crossing of cultures happens throughout the journey for an exchange of experience.

PUBLIC ACCESS

IT IS BOTH PUBLIC AND PRIVATE

ARCHITECTURE IS FOR 94

IT IS BOTH INSTITUTION AND URBAN PARK

EVERYONE 95

100

CHAPTER 3

f u t u r architecture 101

EACH NEW SITUATION REQUIRES A NEW

ARCHITECTURE

- JEAN NOUVEL 102

3.1 S T O R Y O F T H E D E T E C T I V E W H O W O R K S AS A FORTUNE TELLER ARCHITECTURE AS A TOOL OF INVESTIGATING URBAN FUTURE

Architecture beyond form and space, is a response to its immediate environment. Historically, decisions and movements in architecture are often determined by external influences, and are not limited to building industry itself. From aesthethic factors and art style of renaissance, art nouveau, de stijl... to environmental factors of tropical rains, snows, heats and so on, architecture evolves by answering to the needs of a particular situation. Not limiting to the characters of “aesthethic” and “place” that architecture are closely related to, other industries and world events had changed the face of architecture throughout the history: industrial revolution and new construction methods, Fordism and mass housing, World War 1 and modernism, global warming and green building, natural disaster and disaster relief architecture, food insecurity and urban farming, programming and parametricism... However, in most case architecture comes only after the occurrence of an event, sometimes too late that the effect had taken toll on our living environment, and the finding of solutions becomes critical and rushed, often absurd. In view of this, it is critical now to research, postulate and make clever hypothesis of what is to become of future living environment based on current scene, exploring into other field in search of theme that could potentially shapes architecture in order to be prepared of the next possible paradigm shift. Cinematic and fiction industries are no foreign to this analogy: George Orwell’s “1984” painted on the possibility of a fictitious world whereby central governance is everything, and everywhere, oppresing freedom of thoughts; “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins tells a dystopic world around the themes of “political power” and “status”; Ernest Cline pictured a future world of everything-cyberspace when technological advancement and virtual reality took over the real reality in “Ready Player One”... Each of the stories, despite being fictional, is built on a theme that could anytime be a real issue. Similarly, relationship between build industry and other disciplines has to be re-examined for making better understanding of our future. The result, a transdisciplinary speculation of urban future as a statement of such study does not stop short at questioning about buildability, but rather serves as a base for further discussions and debates to the related issue. The pertaining controversials and arguments play an equal important role in triggering the future discourses of architecture in search of ideas and solutions to the subject of analysis. It is crucial to initiate the conversation early and to be holistically prepared before the particular issue becomes detrimental.

103

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION W A R G L O B A L W A R M I N G N A T U R A L D I S A S T E R M A S S SURVEILLANCE 104

M.Arch Year 5 Thesis Project

Anti-Surveillance and the Fabrication of Anonymity Just when we thought that alternative exchanges – credit, information, the bit coin – had replaced gold, we are at the threshold of finding that, possibly, the next supreme currency is anonymity. The robbing and erosion of personal privacy have taken a treacherous path in our social experience. Typological and fictitious models form our legacy. Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon and George Orwell’s 1984 are both (un)inhabitable worlds of dystopic propositions where privacy is zero and surveillance – in all its imagined forms – a reality. Investigative journalism is, no less, an operation of this reality where princesses are hounded to death, and where our bodily nakedness might be viralled on cyberspace against our wish. Where can we go where we can be naked and unashamed? Post-Snowden, where can we be where we can know and be not known? How much are we willing to pay for this freedom/ place? What might the architectural space of this free world look like? Speculating on a phantasmagorical urban future, this design thesis imagines a conservatory world of private residential villas and sanctuary chalets with an internalized and shared system of movement, complemented with recreational space, integrated and forming a close-loop living environment. It cloaks itself with a filtering screen which protects as much as it modulates communication with the outer world. In locating this proposition – Sub-Rosa Wonderland – at an ex-mining lake in Malaysia, it resuscitates conversations on urban escapism in a locale which, not so long ago, witnessed the pursuit of the same vision. The Mines Wonderland theme park was a place of entertainment, fantasy and make-believe combining beautiful landscape, recreation and retreat. Now defunct, the spirit of escapism is given a new definition. Wonderland is not so much about mere entertainment anymore. It is a place where privacy , anonymity and the facility to roam free-from-surveillance is the priced possession. Sub-rosa Wonderland takes a critical stance on disseminating the potentiality of uprising surveillance society had on our living environment when it challenges the very basic definition of sheltering and protection in architecture. While the project depicts a possible fantasy, it also communicates satirical value on our current social issue. What is freedom afterall? And what is the cost of it? Or are we just giving up more freedom to reclaim the freedom that we once had?

105

LITERATURE STUDIES

Allegorical Value of Fictional Works Fictional work, though imaginary, is often built upon a thematic concept that carries a certain value within its characters, or narrative that can be used to question our current living environment. It provides us the opportunity to look at this world from a different perspective. As the story expands by emphasizing or exaggerating on a certain component of our lives, examin-

ing a fiction can be used to instigate a research pertaining to the possibility of our factual, future living environment when such value becomes crucial. Here, the fictional work of George Orwell - “Nineteen Eighty-Four” served as a starting point to question about the meaning “privacy”, “security” and “freedom” against a formidable surveillance body.

NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR George Orwell ( 1949 )

A dystopian fictional novel depicting a state where freedom of thought is suppressed and rewarded with torture, while privacy is invaded where people are monitored every second of the day.

106

In the story “1984”, the superstate of Oceania is ruled by the Party through 4 Ministries and its figurehead - the Big Brother.

MINISTRY OF LOVE

MINISTRY OF TRUTH

enforces loyalty to Big Brother through fear, with infliction of misery, suffering and torture.

responsible for propaganda any necessary falsification of historical events.

MINISTRY OF PEACE

MINISTRY OF PLENTY

maintains a state of perpetual war, which keeps the “peace” (status quo) in Oceania and balance of power in the world.

maintains a state of perpetual poverty and scarcity so that the populace is easier to rule over by convincing them that they are in prosperity.

the theme of

OMNIPRESENT GOVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE, TOTALITARIANISM & PROPAGANDA 107

Parallelism between Fiction and Real World While the concept of central surveillance, propogandas and cover-ups forms the background of fictional world in “Nineteen Eighty-Four”, an almost similar situation hits our world through the incident of Edward Snowden’s NSA Revelation in 2013 when public is shocked with the truths of goverment’s malpractice of trepassing individual rights. The misuse of omnipresent surveillance program raises an alarm that never-before-seen regarding the concern of privacy encroachment in the age of advance technology.

108

109

Expanding on the Theme of Omnipresent Surveillance Zooming out, the discussion on the use of surveillance - its applications and its affects started way before the Snowden’s revelation and expands over a wide genre of industries throughout the history with few notable works, more so after the incident and in the rise of current technological revolution.

DISCIPLINARY STUDY AND THEORY

DISCIPLINE AND PUNISH: THE BIRTH OF THE PRISON Michel Foucault ( 1949 )

Introduction to the concept of “panopticism”, built upon the idea of Panopticon by Jeremy Bentham - a radial prison where inmates are being exploited on the fear and uncertainty of being watched, aimed at not only bodily entrapment, but also on psychological aspect for behavioural reformation.

110

URBAN STUDY JOURNAL

THE GAZE WITHOUT EYES Hille Koskela ( 2000 )

Argues on the detrimental implication of active video surveillance, eg. CCTV, prompted the postulation of three concepts of space under surveillance in describing the issue: Space as a Container, Power Space and Emotional Space.

111

NON-FICTION LITERATURE

NO PLACE TO HIDE Gleen Greenwald ( 2014 )

Highlights and expands on the incident of global surveillance disclosures revealed by Edward Snowden in 2013 from the perspective of the journalist who is directly in-contact with Snowden during the revelation, discussing on the daunting misuse of surveillance and its trespassing of multiple rights, as well as suppression of medias later on in publishing related news.

112

ELETRONIC GAME

WATCH_DOGS Ubisoft ( 2014 )

Plot of the game built around the notion of hacking, wire-tapping and surveillance. While at one hand it allows the player to experience a completely different world of eletronic infiltration and cyber-war, at the other it portrays a seemingly possible future that questions about the potentiality of mass surveillance on our living environment.

113

ARCHITECTURE DOCUMENTARY

ELEVATION

Dezeen ( 2018 ) With more surveillance drone currently in the air than military drone, it looks into how drone will change the city, serving as an expanded consciousness to reach the places that we otherwise cannot. As the application of drones change the way architects design their building, from construction methods to aerial scan and site survey, it also raises a serious issue in terms of spatial privacy. It is important to think about what the future possibilities are.

114

WE HAD SPENT MORE THAN A DECADE DISCUSSING ABOUT GREEN ARCHITECTURE AND AS SURVEILLANCE IS GAINING MORE ATTENTIONS IN RECENT SOCIETY

PERHAPS NOW,

ANTISURVEILLANCE IS THE NEW SUSTAINABILITY 115

VISIBILITY IS A TRAP - MICHEL FOUCAULT 116

SURVEILLANCE, PRIVACY AND ARCHITECTURE

What is Surveillance Then and Now? In the study of surveillance in relation to architecture and space, the prominent literature revolved around the concept of Panopticon, which was firstly introduced by Jeremy Bentham as an ideal prison in 1791. Further made famous through the lens of Michel Foucault’s analysis in 1975, coining the term “panopticism”, referring to “a diagram of a mechanism of power reduced to its ideal form… without any physical instrument other than architecture

and geometry, it acts directly on individuals; it gives the power of mind over mind,” the whole concept of panopticism saw its adaptability to every possible space not limited to prison. This thus becomes the principle in most of the modern surveillance modes, both formally and informally.

CLASSIC P AN OP

TI CO N

ICO

Surveillance from general population in modern society whereby they voluntarily engaged as watchers and the role of being watched.

Arrangement of perimeter cells around a central tower enables clear visual of the inmates, while contrastingly shadowing the presence of the inspector. Although it seems impossible for the inspector to obsserve all at the same times, it creates the fear and uncertainty of constantly being watched, and this forces behavioral self-regulation. 117

INTRODUCTION

SURVEILLANCE EVOLUTION

1791 Panopticon by Jeremy Bentham

1942 Introduction of CCTV 1949 Dystopic Novel “1984” on concept of Big Brother 1970s Widespread of CCTV 1975 Panopticism by Michel Foucault 1997 Introduction of social media

MASS SURVEILLANCE

2000 Introduction of camera phone by Sharp

2001 9-11 Incident in United State of America

2002 2003

RESISTANCE

2004 Booming of social media 2013 NSA Leaks by Edward Snowden

CAPITALISM DYSTOPIC MESSAGE

ARCHITECTURALIZE

2013 ON / OFF installation by Sibling Architects

118

2013 Commercial drones by Amazon 2014 Jammer Coat by Coop Himmelblau 2014 Faraday Cafe by Hughes Condon Marler Architects 2014 Outlining the needs of Faraday Cage in architecture by Rem Koolhaas 2014 Prototype RAM House by Space Caviar

2017 Hansel & Gretel installation by Herzeg de Meuron & Ai Wei Wei 2017 Colonel Sanders Internet Escape Pod by KFC NEXT ?

ARCHITECTURE ADAPTATION

1917 Her Majestyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Treasury by John McKean Brydon 1928 Presidio Modelo by Gerardo Machado

SURVEILLANCE AS CONTROL

1968 History Faculty Library of Cambridge by James Stirling

2004 Petronas University of Technologyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Library by Norman Foster

EMBRACING DRONE

Transition of surveillance from historical applications to modern usages itself is not throughout a positive acceptance. Various theories arise alongside the development of surveillance industry, and the once almost architecturally-detached field seems to take a big loop from technologies over-dependency and then back again to architectural idea for future solution again. Previously, adopting surveillance within architectural space often equates with the needs to control and for safety, but what will happens if surveillance is being viewed differently as a pervasive component in the future?

SURVEILLANCE AS EXPERIENCE

2012 Beijing CCTV Headquarter by OMA & Buro Ole Scheeren

2018 Uber Elevate Competition NEXT ? 119

Patterning & Predicting Surveillance In order to be more accurately predict the future possibility of surveillance system, the evolution pattern of it is to be traced. Through close studies, three general structure can be deduced: one, the possible commercialization of mass surveillance; two, the increased subtleness of surveillance in a direct proportionate relationship to individual pervasiveness; three, the generalization of surveillance environment, rendering the public vulnerable to surveillance notwithstanding their responses and acceptance. These analysis suggested that surveillance will continue to grows to an even overwhelming and daunting power in the near future no matter what circumstances, and this matter is in need of an imminent response.

fixed location, central point

1928 : Presidio Modelo - Cambridge Library : 1968

PANOPTICISM

PANOPTICON fixed location, multiple points

1942 : Nazi Military CCTV - Commercial CCTV : 1970s

CCTV

CCTV mobile location, multiple points

2002 : Military Drone - Commercial Drone : 2013

DRONE

DRONE no limits

current : Big Data Surveillance - Commercial Mass Surveillance : future

SATELITE

PUBLICIZE AND COMMERCIALIZATION OF SURVEILLANCE

INCREASING INVINCIBILITY & PERVASIVENESS OF SURVEILLANCE

Surveillance methodologies witness a constant shift from disciplinary and military application to commercial and public usage. By adopting such trend onto current mass surveillance state, a future of even multiple times more drastic mass surveillance is inevitable.

The evolution in surveillance applications slowly distants away from spatial constraint. The once prominent surveillance structure fractures and dematerializes, becoming more and more synonym to modern life, while increasingly pervasive as the operating power turns invincible.

120

subjected to surveillance on a cause

IMPOSED install only at where applicable

The role of architecture is ever changing as a response, if not a solution for its immediate context. In view of this, the concerns of anonymity related to surveillance could certainly be a turning point for future design considerations. While Oscar Newmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Defensible Space Theory suggests that in terms of defending the living environment against instruder, the facilitation of control and supervision should be empowered by the residents themselves, the advancement of surveillance systems also means new form of intrusion threatening not only safety but privacy, and Oscar Newmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Defensible Space Theory takes only into consideration of human intruders befitting to the past context. The concepts of territoriality, natural surveillance, image and milleu argued by Newman do not stand for future living environment.

APPLICATION choose to voluntarily

PARTICIPATION undiscriminated overall surveillance

FORCED

UNCONTROLLABLE GENERALIZATION OF SURVEILLANCE The condition of surveillance experiences a drastic change along the timeline. While surveillance is being employed previously only at place where it is required, the condition grows further in general terms, through which public then utilizes it for themselves, and eventually being forced on without a choice. 121

The Chilling Effect of Surveillance What is lost in the wake of surveillance society? “The mere existence of a surveillance state breeds fear and conformity and stifles free expression” - Jon Penney. The rising surveillance state creates a watcher society that curbs all the individuals living within. The drastic extension of such system into modern living environment challenges the notion of democracy. Erosion of public’s liberties right occurs when the difficulty of

maintaining privacy is being provoked, and freedom of expression is being subdued. The concept of “enjoying the anonymity within a big city” is almost gone as a choice against the proliferation of future surveillance. Now, being alone is a challenge.

SURVEILLANCE AS AN INVASION According to the INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS - ARTICLE 17, it states that “individuals have the rights to share information and ideas with one another without interference by the State”. However, these happened: - CAM-ERA RESEARCH PAPER BY HILLE KOSKELA rising number of CCTV and camera phone creates a society of constant surveillance and scrutiny. - PRISM LEAKS NSA’s program that tapped directly into servers of nine prominent internet firms and collected millions of the users’ metadata 122

- MASS SURVEILLANCE surveillance “based on prior suspicion” to “all individual is open to suspicion” - DRONE SPYING a drone can fly overhead without a person noticing, peer directly into someone’s window or film private property from above. - PARTICIPATORY PANOPTICON modern world saturated with digital devices becomes a panopticon where surveillance comes from general population whereby they voluntarily engaged as watchers and the role of being watched.

SURVEILLANCE AS A SUPPRESION According to EDWARD SNOWDEN, he states that “without privacy there is only society, only the collective, which makes them all be and think alike. You can’t have anything yourself, you can’t have your own opinions, unless you have a space that belongs only to you.” However, these happened:

- GOOGLE TRAFFIC STUDY significant decline of 5% in searches involving terms people might believe would be flagged as suspicious by mass surveillance software post-Snowden era.

- GONE FOR DEMOCRACY surveillance programs may threaten the disclosure of minority views and contribute to the reinforcement of majority opinion.

- JOURNALISM SELF-CENSORSHIP study from PEN America writers found that 1 in 6 writers had curbed their content out of fear of surveillance.

- WIKIPEDIA TRAFFIC STUDY approximately a 19.5% drop in ‘terrorist-related’ article view counts, as studied by Jonathan W. Penney comparing both pre and post Snowden era.

- POSSESSION SELF-CENSORSHIP British libraries refuse to house any material on the Taliban for fear of being prosecuted for material support for terrorism. 123

DARWINISM LIFE EVOLVES BY ADAPTING TO THE SURROUNDINGS

WHAT IF TECHNOLOGY NOW BECOME AN 124

TECHNOLOGY ALTERING THE SURROUNDING IN ADAPTING TO LIFE

ISSUE? 125

Modes of Defense What are the defensive measures that can be employed? A defensive architecture for the future can be achieved by relooking into the defensive measures that was being used in various historical events, modern design cues as well as famous war literatures. These strategies, though some are not directly architecture-related, are able to provide insight on the multiple possibility of creating an defensive enclave by deploying them. A further analysis is also done on determining the suitability of each measure in targetting different level of surveillance threats, which covers the intrusion from people (outsiders and even the neighbours) - limited to connected space; from drone - unconstrained by planes; and eventually from satelite surveillance - without spatial limitation.

cyber surveillance

drone surveillance

human surveillance

126

RAM House FARADAY CAGE Preventing signals from entering/exiting

Stealth Wear

METALLIC FIBRE to disrupt heat sensor and radio tracking Jammer Coat

CAMOUFLAGE Hide by blending into environment

Taking deceptive appearance

Trojan Horse

OBFUSCATION To cause confusion and mask presence

Borrowing arrows with thatched boat

Petra Tomb, Jordan

LEVELLING to hide or interrupt access

Bamboo forest

Tree house

BARRIER physical or symbolic blockade

ORIENTATION security through planning and arrangement

Kastellet Moat Copenhagen

WW1 tunnel

Great Wall of China

Brondby Garden City, Copenhagen 127

Architecturalizing Defense

FARADAY CAGE

By drawing cues from the defensive precedents, the concept is to be translated and strategized into architectural space. A wide range of possibilities in employing defensive enclave can be compiled into a matrix, ranging for the more subtle building orientation for controlling privacy, to the defensive measures against possible intruders and even drones, as well as the battle against the pervasive mass surveillance. All these strategies can then be incorporated into the anti-surveillance enclave in order to achieve its aim in fabricating anonymity.

standalone

attached

stack

flexible

128

METALLIC FIBRE

CAMOUFLAGE

canopy

mirror & reflection

retractable extension

blend in

facade screen

profileless

movable partition

trojan

129

130

OBFUSCATION

BARRIER

tree foliage

moat around

complex structure

multiple islands

layerings

perimeter wall

repetition

segmented wall

LEVELLING

ORIENTATION

rise

radial

float

staggered

trench

random

underground

grid

131

Case Study Defensive Master Plan 1 Hierarchy - Defense Through Hardening This strategy study revolves around the notion of achieving defense through choreographing spaces in a hierarchical manner. Adopting this method allows for added layers of protection and security, filtering potential intruders through transitions of spaces as they progress. Such concept can be further broken down into “zoning” and “circulation”, in which the former looks into creation of multi-tier defensive space, one enhancing the other after; the

later looks into manipulating defense by having the potential intruders to need to go through multiple nodes along a journey and manoeuvre around the enclave before reaching the core.

HARDENING BY ZONING

HARDENING BY CIRCULATION

Minas Tirith The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien)

Mont Saint - Michel Normandy, France

most private space

node most defensive space

most defensive space

tier 4 tier 3 tier 2 tier 1

132

node node

Case Study Defensive Master Plan 2 Labyrinth - Defense Through Confusion This strategy study revolves around the notion of heightening defense through multilayering of space and components in order to disrupt normal surveillance. Adopting this method creates confusion to the potential intruders in attempt to make surveillance much difficult and to deter their efforts. Such concept can be further broken down in “complexity and flexibility” and “hiding”. The first incorporates complex planning of spaces and

architectural tectonic components in creating a web of non-intruder friendly environment; the second looks into creating confusion by hiding away from plain sight, in terms of different exposure level. An added defense can also be achieved by having all distinct layouts over the layers for more confusion in manoeuvring around and across layers.

CONFUSION BY COMPLEXITY AND FLEXIBILITY

CONFUSION BY HIDING

Shura City Asher Kohn

Underground City Oscar Newman

(refer to)

Louvre Abu Dhabi Jean Nouvel

envelop - complex layering

layer 1 - spot

profileless

flexible wall building - random arrangement

layer 2 - radial

layer3 - grid 133

TRANSPARENCY IS FOR THOSE WHO CARRY OUT PUBLIC DUTIES AND EXERCISE PUBLIC POWER.

134

PRIVACY IS FOR EVERYONE ELSE - GLENN GREENWALD 135

CONCLUDING SURVEILLANCE IN ARCHITECTURE

THE NEW DIMENSION - DRONE SURVEILLANCE drone makes almost all corners disregard of height, location and access to be susceptible to the disruptive gaze

136

Threat of Surveillance The practice of surveillance imposes detrimental affect of our living environment and questions fundamental question: What is the meaning of “escape” or “retreat” if no place is really out of sight from the gazing eye of drones? The once secluded resorts and even privacy-promised units above a tower no longer stand their positions. Also, the extended surveillance into cyberspace means that privacy intrusions had transcended over mere material world. As one of the prime purpose of architecture is to shelter the occupants, what if the walls is no longer a barrier of external infringement? How do we fabricate anonymity in this becomingly transparent world?

DEMATERIALIZING WALLS - CYBER SURVEILLANCE walls as the main measure of privacy protection and shelter had been completly blown open with the internet-of-thing

137

FORTIFICATION - DEFENSE THROUGH HARDENING protection through stationary layers of hierarchical barriers or controlled access and journey through a space

138

Methods of Anti-Surveillance The implementation of defense against surveillance opens to two possibilities: Fortification - utilizing the concepts of zoning, layering and journey by erecting physical or symbolic barriers to choreograph a hierarchical structure within a space in impeding potential intruders; Obfuscation - bridging the ideas of confusing, camouflaging and deceiving through spatial complexity to deter accurate interpretation from the outsiders, allowing occupants to secretly manouevre around and hide among the repetitive and profileless architecture.

OBFUSCATION - DEFENSE THROUGH CONFUSION protection through repetitive, complex or profileless elements and disrupting normal perception of reading a space

139

CREATION OF HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT rising paranoia concerns easily resulted in over-defensive measure which creates a noxious living environment instead

140

Challenges of Anti-Surveillance The threats arises from surveillance society are subjected to new means of architecture defensive measures. However, a few challenges present which are crucial when rethinking anti-surveillance community. First, the surveillance world easily created daunting images that suggest maximum enclosure, which on the other hand could resulted in a hostile environment that is worse. Second, an easy solution of anti-surveillance design means detaching from the environment and making the living space as a protected whole, in which such polarity means the occupants have to give up the ownership of their own space to the surrounding, and is easily exploitable due to lack of control.

LOST OF SPATIAL AUTONOMY general surveillance imposed living environment to infringement without ability to navigate the level of privacy & enclosure as needed

141

P R I V A C Y = CURRENCY

142

SPECULATING ANTI-SURVEILLANCE ENCLAVE

Spaces of Privacy Importance Designing for anti-surveillance involves targeting at spaces that people spends the most time and that require privacy the most. As a result of study, three main spaces are derived to be of detrimental condition to surveillance threat. These three spaces - private residential villas, chalets and recreational park will form an enclave that house an anti-surveillance community.

IN A YEAR

29% WEEKENDS

71% WEEKDAYS average work day of employed person ages 25-54 with children

SLEEPING

WORKING

LEISURE

HOUSEHOLD ACTIVITIES

EATING

CARING FOR OTHERS

OTHER

5% 8%

10% Activities that involve interactions with other people externally 79% Highest three components revolved around sleep, work and play

32%

69% Highest two components involved activities deemed to be most private.

37%

PRIVATE WORKING SPACE

PRIVATE RESIDENTIAL VILLA

SHARED WORKING SPACE

RECREATIONAL PARK AND LANDSCAPE

HOLIDAY RETREAT AND CHALET

source: Bureau of Labor Statistic, American Time Use Survey

143

Selangor Turf Club

Golden Horses Health Sanctuary

Palace of the Golden Horses Luxury Hotel

144

Mines Waterfront Business Park

MINES SOUTH LAKE Mines International Exhibition Conventio Centre Mines Resort and Golf Club

Heritage Residences

Mines Shopping Mall

Philea Mines Beach Resort Golf Course

Mines Wonderland Theme Park

MINES NORTH LAKE

Locating the Community - Mines Wellness City Located at Seri Kembangan, Selangor, Malaysia, the Mines Wellness City (previously known as Mines Resort City) is an integrated health and wellness resort township that revolves around the North Lake and South Lake. Formerly the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest open cast tin mine, the city consists of luxury hotels, business park, shopping mall, theme park, golf club, convention centre, residences, retails, and most important the beautiful landscape. The whole city becomes a representation of a fun and worry-free environment equips with necessary facilities for everyday lifestyle, and locating the anti-surveillance enclave of similar residential, hospitality and recreational purposes within the city becomes a reflection of the existings for a surveillance future. 145

Defunct Wonderland A crucial part of the Mines Wellness City is the Mines Wonderland - a theme park combining beautiful landscape, recreation and retreat together, playing the central role of providing urban escapism within the city. As a place of entertainment and fantasy make-believe, the theme park celebrated its prime days in the noughties. However, the dream of a wonderland eventually ran down in 2011. The site now left in ruin, is given a new opportunity to resuscitate the idea of escapism for the future - a rebirth in the spirit of fantasy.

2004

2010

2014

146

Sub-Rosa Wonderland In facing the mass surveillance state of future, the concept of fantasy can be interpreted as the dream to get off the grid - to be shielded from the prying eyes. A new form of wonderland built upon the idea of anti-surveillance fits into the puzzle by holding privacy at its highest priority. Metaphorically, as roses are sometimes used to represent secrecy and confidentiality, the concept of Sub-Rosa (a symbol of sworn confidence as used in Middle Ages over the ceiling of meetings) becomes the new ethos of the wonderland. It becomes a place whereby escapism is being redefined as the ability to remain anonymous and to retain secrecy - a true wonderland for the future.

2020

2025

2028

147

0 10 20

100

200m

A - Mines Shopping Mall B - Mines 2 C - Malaysia International Exhibition & Convention Centre (MIECC) D - Philea Mines Beach Resort E - The Mines Resort & Golf Club F - Mines Driving Range G - Sapura Building

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

- access - lobby - gondola hire station - carpark - port - cup chalet - junction - colony - villa - maze wall - enclave

8 9 11

148

5 2

B 3

149

Tectonic Development : Perimeter Wall In a castle or any defensive space, a perimeter wall lines the enclave with controlled entry point to enable protection against unwanted infringement. While a tall, solid wall enclosed the space with maximum protection, the monolithic and massive volume easily overwhelms the occupants within and creates a carceral environment. In responding to the site, the perimeter wall slopes to match its neighbouring context - a dynamic change from human scale to machine scale, and it is further broken down for porosity of view towards the lake. 150

ENCLAVE

HEIGHT MATCH

WALL POROSITY

CONTROLLED ENTRY & INDIRECT ACCESS sunken lobby

carpark

restaurant

LIVING SPACE

CONNECTIVITY

151

JUNCTION

Tectonic Development : Arrival Gondola & Bridge Maintaining privacy and confidentiality against the dominating surveillance society does not occur only at the living space. The journey through which one takes before reaching the destination is also susceptible to surveillance and tailing. While it is almost impossible to completely maintain a closed environment from start to end, steps can be taken to erase part of the path taken to make the journey undetectable thus increasing the difficulty of tracking. Increased efficiency of anti-surveillance in terms of unpredictability can also be achieved by increasing the number of probabilities in destinations. 152

ANONYMOUS TRAVELLING

commuting within the enclave through untrackable faraday gondola

instead of stopping at particular block, the gondola stops at junction to increase unpredictability of destination

GONDOLA STATION MAP

FARADAY GONDOLA

153

COLONY

access

Tectonic Development : Residential Block Enclosure The effort to battle against surveillance creates an enclosure that holds living spaces together. It is an added line of defense that becomes the interface between private and public. As such, the enclosure translates the flight pattern and behaviour of a flying drone into architectural spatial arrangements that counter its effectiveness. Travelling in and out of the enclosure is then only connected with gondolas and paddle boats. The monolithic profile of the enclosure portrays a false impression of blocks to the public akin to the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Trojan effectâ&#x20AC;? but perceived otherwise by the occupants, creating further difficulty for interpretation. 154

access

splitting and mixing conventional tower by tower configuration to increase difficulty of location pinning

what you see is not what you get !!!

how insiders recognize the colony

7 2

6 5 â&#x20AC;&#x153;TROJANâ&#x20AC;? EFFECT

3 how outsiders perceive the colony

DRONE FLIGHT AND VIEW DETERRANCE irregular tree branches pattern to prevent drone entry and view from top sky garden

D residential

lattices to increase difficulty for drone to manoeuvre around

pool

ORIENTATION

longer span structure to reduce interference on the floor plane

view & ventilation

155

VILLA

unit access

typical unit

pool

Tectonic Development : Typical Residential Unit Current residential typologies are often designed based on Oscar Newmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Defensible Space Theory, but they do not work well in facing with the increasing threat of surveillance, be it drones or cyber-surveillance. Primarily, reconfiguring unit arrangement can increase the difficulty to manoeuvre around. Secondarily, the battling against overwhelming surveillance usually results in the occupants losing their autonomy to control their own space. Hence, the typical residential unit has to be able to restate the occupantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s autonomy of space by providing a high degree of spatial manipulation through new anti-surveillance enclosure materials. The intention is also to provide selective controls over part by part of the unit rather than as a whole. 156

HORIZONTAL ARRANGEMENT

HIDDEN ACTIVITY SPACE

internal courtyard

hidden living room

VERTICAL ARRANGEMENT

BEDROOM ENCLOSURE

radiation absorbent material (RAM)

stainless steel mesh sliding panel

COMPOSITE ARRANGEMENT

SEMI ENCLOSURE

aluminized mylar blanket canopy

COMPLEX 3-DIMENSIONAL ARRANGEMENT

TOTAL ENCLOSURE

transparent polycarbonate tube

metal structure

aluminized mylar blanket shutter 157

MAZE WALL

Tectonic Development : Recreation Wall While a living or working area is a personal space that demands high level of secrecy, recreational area on the other hand is space where people interact with each other and the environment. As such, while external surveillance is still a threat, participating in this semi-private environment requires a balance between openness and enclosure. The recreational space is thus framed within the porous wall facing the lake, and slits lining the wall serve as deterrences to external surveillance devices. Contradictorily, while occupants at the wall can enjoy the scenery, public at the bank cannot have a clear image of the occupants due to the lack of visual sense. 158

STRUCTURE AND SPACE

RETRACTABLE BOAT GATE

metal deck composite slab main metal frame metal batten

DRONE ANTI-TRESPASSING

rectangular hollow section

visual sense can only be useful within 100m

OCCUPANTS’ VIEWS THROUGH

OUTSIDER’S VIEW LIMITATION

Jan Gehl says “NO !!!”

> 100 m

159

Tectonic Development : Exclusive Floating Chalet In a mass surveillance society, isolation is valued but difficult to achieve. Lifting the chalets on stilts and topped with trees form a natural canopy barrier above ground to deter surveillance through to the landscape below. The irregular arrangement and height of the sculptural chalets create difficulty in imposing surveillance. Similar to how one commutes to a typical chalet with a buggy, these chalets on the lake are commuted by boat. This provides opportunity of customizing an anti-surveillance paddle boat as means of movable protection. Working along with lift hoisting system, this new mean of transportation allows one to get from the lobby to the room in complete secrecy. 160

CUP CHALET

CANOPY BARRIER natural surveillance blockade through tree canopy FARADAY BOAT

CHALET

green & soil layer on top covers heat signature of space below

stainless steel mesh

non-uniform chalet profile & height increase difficulty for drone flight maneuvering steel frame with high density foam insert protected lake surface for recreational purpose

STEER AND PARK

HOIST

MANUAL OF OPERATING BOAT LIFT

insert your room card here

TRANSFER

RAISE

the platform will extend & retract automatically

sit still until the red light on the boat turns off 161

YOU SHOULDN’T CHANGE YOUR BEHAVIOUR BECAUSE A GOVERNMENT AGENCY SOMEWHERE IS DOING THE WRONG THING... IF WE SACRIFICE OUR VALUES BECAUSE WE’RE AFRAID, WE DON’T CARE ABOUT THOSE VALUES VERY MUCH

- EDWARD SNOWDEN 162

Amalgmation and Segregation From places for living to playing, from infrastructures to inabitable spaces, from building to landscape, all the elements come as a whole for collective effort against external surveillance. A well-rounded living environment is in favor without sacrificing basic lifestyle needs. The threshold in between spaces and zoning also has to be addressed between various parties - the residents and the guests, to prevent unwanted crossing over or interaction which otherwise undermine the high value of privacy created within.

163

Life Within - Residents Living in a surveillance society projects stress and paranoia to individual. In countering it, an anti-surveillance surrounding not only needs to deter those eyes from infringement, it also needs to keep a balanced living environment. Instead of predominantly hiding within an enclosure, a mixture of indoor and outdoor spaces for both living and recreational are incorporated into the enclave, forming an internal community by itself. These different spaces are then connected via various means to form a close loop, which on one hand adds the elements of fun into the enclave against the dystopic surrounding, while on the other it encourages the occupants to mingle around without compromising their anonymity. The multiple transportation channels also added an extra dimension of making potential tracking harder.

Mr Lee and his wife are both accountants. They have a child named Jack and they stay in the villa. Everyday after work, he and his wife will fetch Jack back from school. At Sub-rosa Wonderland, they park their car and take the gondola to their colony.

Upon reaching the designated station, Lee then decides to take a stroll around the lake with the boat to enjoy the view and to relax after a stressful day at work.

Mrs Lee then returns home to prepare dinner.

While the dinner need some times to get prepared, Jack goes off across the bridge to the Maze Wall recreation park to meet his friend from other colony.

164

4 4

165

Life Within - Guests An escape or a retreat in the surveillance society gets harder due to the increased pervasiveness. Rethinking such hospitality has to go along two ways: First, the maintaining of confidentiality and secrecy throughout, in which it covers both the exact location of where someone is staying and even the process they take to get to their rooms. Any opening along this journey might compromises the total privacy. Second, the keeping of retreatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s definition, whereby the enclave has to still offer the relaxing and calm atmosphere despite the daunting surveillance environment. In achieving this, it means that the enclave has to have a certain degree of permeability, and the protection cannot by just stationary; it has to be able to move around in the form of a boat so that the guests can enjoy the beautiful landscape peacefully.

Last summer, Mr Noburo went for a short getaway with his wife, Ms. Sarada, which is an writer looking for inspiration on her new book. Upon touching down at the airport, they took a cab to Sub-rosa Wonderland.

After checking in at the lobby, they took a Faraday Boat along the recreation park at the bottom of the Maze Wall.

Feeling amazed with the unique welcoming gesture and journey, they then steer their boat to the boat elevator & get hoisted straight to their chalet.

The enclosed and semi-automated process from lobby to room ensures their location to be in complete secrecy.

For the next few days, they often spent time on the boat relaxing around the lake while Ms. Sarada writes on her story...

166

3 6

4 5

167

168

169

Wonderland: Towards A New Mission The project will take form by speculating an urban enclave at the lake bank of the Mines North Lake and extending out over the water body like a promontory. Sitting on the site of an ex-theme park, it re-imagines the concept of “fantasy” and “wonderland” for the future community. Instead of bunker-like fortification as defensive measure, the project responses to the threat by adapting to the two paradoxical premises present – the beauty of nature around and the invading surveillance context, proposing a living environment whereby the society lives and hides among the dynamic landscape and infrastructure, in disguising in between static architecture for covers against potential threat.

170

171

Barrier-Barrier Not All Walls Living in a mass surveillance world is not all like a big prison, the only similar part being constantly under survey, or least the fear of it. While a prison involves incarceration, the world as a whole is not. In facing the threat of surveillance, the Wonderland disputes the typical castle-like walls all around and blends it with the immediate surrounding, subjecting the occupants to their relationship with the landscape without compromising their protection â&#x20AC;&#x201C; absolute solid at one side, porous at the other. To win a battle, one must first analyzes the enemy and understands the context.

172

173

Welcome to the Conservatory World The Wonderland sits on existing mass surveillance context by fabricating a new layer of landscape on top of the existing layer of lake. While architecture and structure are static and predictable, a layer of tree foliage covering the community below provides protection to unauthorized entry through ever-changing/growing branches and canopy that take forms following natural influence and wind movement. In an environment where privacy is threatened, privacy will becomes a currency in face of its scarcity, and all sudden the ambitious dream seems possible.

174

175

Living in the New Grid When the surrounding context fails to protect human, a new form of living grid is needed. Balancing in between complexity, compactness and comfortability, villas are inserted among the 3-dimensional grid. With plantings and structures mixing around with living spaces as obstacles, it ensures maximum difficulty of directing surveillance within. The villas restate the occupantsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; spatial autonomy by providing degrees of manipulation over spatial protection through radio-absorbent material (RAM) panels, retractable aluminized mylar blanket canopy and shutter, as well as spatial organization itself. Residents also commute within the enclave through Faraday Gondola to make the journey undetectable thus increasing the difficulty of tracking.

176

177

Threshold of Appearance A healthy living environment has to incorporate recreational spaces despite the dystopic environment. However, these spaces is of different nature compare to living spaces, whereby the level of privacy is compromised due to the interaction that take place. Recreational space hence becomes the threshold between total privacy and being public, thus framed in between the porous wall as a transition space between the distinct environments. It also acts as a boundary that blocks off external surveillance devices from entering without sacrifing the beautiful lake view across.

178

179

Festival of Anonymity Chalets are hidden under the tree layer; The landscape and soil above deters heat detection; Non-uniform, yet profileless cup form increases difficulty of maneuvering drone and targeting surveillance. They stand on stilts and like how a normal chalet commutes with buggy, chalet on water commutes via Faraday Paddle Boat and lift-hoist system for absolute anonymity from lobby to room. Within the Wonderland, privacy is being celebrated against the daunting external surveillance. With beautiful lake environment sheltered by tree canopy and glimpse of light ray shining through, it is a creation of a little hidden world whereby amidst critical context, occupants can still seek peaces in between. The water, the light, the trees, the breeze, the structure... These elements connect and embrace human in between.

180

181

I DONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T WANT TO LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE EVERYTHING I SAY, EVERYTHING I DO, EVERYONE I TALK TO, EVERY EXPRESSION OF CREATIVITY OR LOVE OR FRIENDSHIP IS RECORDED

- EDWARD SNOWDEN 182

REVIEWING ANTI-SURVEILLANCE ENCLAVE

Tiers of Anti-Surveillance The level of anti-surveillance protection differs throughout the spaces within the enclave as a response to the different nature of threats and needs required in each of them: cyber only at most private space because it requires total enclosure; drone at collective space because of its extensive capability of movement; people at individual space as a demarcation of basic property privacy.

MOST PRIVATE SPACE protection at

Bedroom of Villa Chalet Gondola Paddle Boat

COLLECTIVE SPACE protection at

Colony Maze Wall Lake Surface

INDIVIDUAL SPACE protection at

Villa Chalet Gondola Paddle Boat

183

Dystopic VS Utopic Vision When “Nineteen Eighty-Four” was first written, such oppressive world is very much imaginary. However, the once fiction seemingly becomes a factual as our current living environment moves towards mass surveillance state. A re-evaluation is needed to look at the issue from another perspective - to solve it rather than to fear it.

Similar to the fictional world as portrayed in “Nineteen Eighty-Four” whereby Oceania is kept balanced through 4 Ministries each having their own role, the dystopic environment of omnipresent surveillance is given an utopic vision in Sub-Rosa Wonderland through 4 components that reenact the roles in a different ways.

MEANS OF COMMUTE Loyalty towards the Wonderland is inflicted by being considerate to the occupants, allowing anonymity to their commuting destination within through gondolas and paddle boats. In return, the occupants espress their love by taking good care of the means.

VILLA The heavily protected villas aim to bring serenity at the most intimate space without compromising on living quality. Here, the peace is real amidst unsettling environment.

CHALET The chalets generate the economy for the Wonderland, and the maintenance of the chalets’ planting coverage as a barrier acts to control the prosperity of the community within and the activities at lake surface below.

MAZE WALL Instead of fabricating a false perception of the environment through isolation, the porous wall serves as the contact point between the Wonderland and the external world. Understanding of the surrounding truth can elevates appreciation of internal environment.

184

185

186

187

188

DESIGN REALIZATION DRAWINGS AND DETAILS

Ground Floor Plan N

190

0 2 4

40m

191

SERVICE ACCESS

TEL

REFUSE

TEL

REFUSE

TNB SUBSTATION

REFUSE CHAMBER

ELEC

LIFT LOBBY

LOUNGE

LIFT LOBBY

JACUZZI

WADING POOL

BOAT PARKING

SWIMMING POOL

WATER FEATURE (above)

10th Floor Plan N

192

0 2 4

40m

193

TEL

REFUSE

ELEC

LIFT LOBBY

BEDROOM

M&E

BEDROOM

TERRACE

TERRACE DN

YARD

KITCHEN

POWDER RM

OUTDOOR DINING

KITCHEN

POWDER RM

OUTDOOR DINING

YARD

LIVING RM

YARD

OUTDOOR DINING

POWDER RM

KITCHEN

POWDER RM

YARD

TERRACE

BEDROOM

M&E DN

BEDROOM

M&E

BEDROOM

11th Floor Plan N

194

0 2 4

40m

195

TEL

REFUSE

TEL

ELEC

LIFT LOBBY

UP RAMP UP

BEDROOM

M&E

BEDROOM

YARD

OUTDOOR DINING

POWDER RM

KITCHEN

POWDER RM

TERRACE

BEDROOM

M&E DN

BEDROOM

M&E

BEDROOM

12th Floor Plan N

196

0 2 4

40m

197

GONDOLA STATION

LIVING RM

RAMP DOWN

BEDROOM

M&E DN

BEDROOM

M&E

BEDROOM

LIVING RM

Section N

198

0 2 4

40m

PLANTER

SEATING STEPS

TERRACE

13TH FLOOR

COURTYARD

GROUND FLOOR

1ST FLOOR

2ND FLOOR

3RD FLOOR

REFUSE CHAMBER

WATER PUMP

STORE

HVAC

TERRACE

5TH FLOOR

4TH FLOOR

BEDROOM

LIVING RM

BEDROOM

COURTYARD

BEDROOM

COURTYARD

TERRACE LIVING RM

KITCHEN

WATER FEATURE

BEDROOM

COURTYARD

BEDROOM

TERRACE

SWIMMING POOL

LIVING RM

KITCHEN

TERRACE

BEDROOM

LIVING RM

BEDROOM

KITCHEN

7TH FLOOR

6TH FLOOR

COURTYARD

KITCHEN

BEDROOM

LIVING RM

8TH FLOOR

9TH FLOOR

TERRACE

10TH FLOOR

BEDROOM

KITCHEN

BEDROOM

COURTYARD

LIVING RM

TERRACE

BEDROOM

LIVING RM

COURTYARD

ROOF GARDEN

BEDROOM

11TH FLOOR

12TH FLOOR

BEDROOM

KITCHEN

15TH FLOOR

14TH FLOOR

BEDROOM

16TH FLOOR

ROOF

LIVING RM

COURTYARD

LIVING RM

COURTYARD

TERRACE

BEDROOM

TERRACE

BEDROOM

LAKE

Front Elevation N

200

0 2 4

40m

GROUND FLOOR

1ST FLOOR

2ND FLOOR

3RD FLOOR

4TH FLOOR

5TH FLOOR

6TH FLOOR

7TH FLOOR

8TH FLOOR

9TH FLOOR

10TH FLOOR

11TH FLOOR

12TH FLOOR

13TH FLOOR

14TH FLOOR

15TH FLOOR

16TH FLOOR

ROOF

Villa Plans & Section N

202

0 0.8 1.6

3.2

16m

LIVING RM UP

ENTRANCE YARD

Villa Lower Ground Floor Plan

POWDER RM TERRACE

KITCHEN

OUTDOOR DINING

M&E

Villa Ground Floor Plan

BEDROOM

COURTYARD

BEDROOM

ROOF

Villa 1st Floor Plan

BEDROOM

COURTYARD

BEDROOM

ROOF

KITCHEN

TERRACE

ROOF LIVING RM LG

Villa Section

1 - Radiation Abosrbent Material (RAM) lining external facade of bedroom wall. 2 - stainless steel mesh sliding panel for faraday cage effect of bedroom, to be able to tuck away completely hidden in between walls when not needed. Villa 1st Floor Detail Plan

3 - 100mm thk brickwall with 25mm thk plaster on both side, to have stainless steel mesh embedded within. 4 - 200mm x 200mm MS square hollow section in 3600mm x 3600mm grid as structure. 204

0 0.2 0.4

0.8

BEDROOM

COURTYARD

BATHROOM

planter (below)

1 - retractable aluminized mylar blanket canopy. 2 - C-channel canopy track. 3 - ceiling recess for curtain. 4 - 200mm x 200mm MS square hollow section with 350mm extended hot dip galv. metal plate as support for concrete planter. 5 - hot dip galv. metal frame cavity wall with insulation in between. 6 - hot dip galv. metal frame with bubble deck floor & insulation in between. 7 - hot dip galv. metal frame floor with 25mm x 25mm timber batten on top to support external timber flooring. 8 - 150mm x 50mm hot dip galv. metal railing welded to 12mm diameter metal rod as balustrade. 9 - metal deck RC composite slab to be capped with structure grid, to have waterproof fibrous plaster at the underside and timber floor finish on the upperside. 10 - retractable aluminized mylar blanket shutter. 11 - metal deck RC composite slab to be capped & supported by 300mm x 100mm rectangular hollow section welded to structure grid with fibrous plaster ceiling at the underside. 12 - Radiation Absorbent Material (RAM) lining external facade of bedroom wall.

Villa Detail Section

13 - 12mm thk frameless laminated glass. 14 - 200mm x 200mm MS square hollow section in 3600mm x 3600mm grid as structure. 206

0 0.2 0.4

0.8

12 3

BEDROOM

COURTYARD

TERRACE

LIVING ROOM

Chalet Plans 1 - cat ladder access for servicing planter above. 2 - hatch for planter service. 208

0 0.8 1.6

3.2

16m

BOAT LIFT

Chalet Ground Floor Plan LIVING UP

PANTRY

Chalet 1st Floor Plan BEDROOM

BEDROOM

Chalet 2nd Floor Plan

2 PLANTER

Chalet Roof Plan

Chalet Plans

1 - planter service access with cat ladder. 2 - RC piers to encase CW pipe within. 3 - boat lift. 210

0 0.8 1.6

3.2

16m

ROOF

2ND FLOOR

1ST FLOOR

GROUND FLOOR