Theories of Architecture and Urbanism Individual essay

MARKS & GRADES

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING & DESIGN Centre for Modern Architecture Studies in Southeast Asia (MASSA) Bachelor of Science (Honours) (Architecture) THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM (ARC2224)

Project: Theorizing Architecture

NAME: OOI SHIN TZE ID: 0302058

LECTURER:MR JAMES JUNE 2014

Ar. Chong Sue May was born in 1977. She was brought up in Kuala Lumpur. She was always fascinated by the buildings in Kuala Lumpur because each of the building has a story untold. The architecture in Kuala Lumpur is a mixture of old colonial influences, post modernism and regionalism. Ar. Chong favours heritage building the most. She got into architecture because of her great passion in design and also influences from her parents who are from the construction industry. After graduated, she worked in T.R.Hamzah & Yeang Sdn. Bhd and BCT Arkitek, Kuala Lumpur. Ar. Chong was inspired by her employer, Dato’ Ken Yeang who is an architect and ecologist. She was given a golden opportunity to participate in various projects from commercial to residential such as the Digi Technical Center, Idaman Residences and The TTDI Plaza and Residence. She was aware that Kuala Lumpur, such a hectic city is buried with skyscrapers and the relationship between the built environment and the natural environment is ignored. Under the assistance of Dato’ Ken Yeang, she applied ecological design strategies in the projects she was involved. From her working experience, she realised the importance of preserving the sustainability of a building especially in a big city. As an architect, she has the responsibility to reduce the usage of energy and at the same time designing good quality spaces for the end users with minimizing negative impacts on the environments. This project emphasize that architecture carries messages and communicate meanings. In order to understand architecture, one must understand the principles employed within a building. There are various reasons for the architect to design a building in certain ways. Hence, one must understand of the concept behind.

The TTDI Plaza and Residence is one of the projects Ar. Chong is involved in. The building was completed at the year of 2006.The Plaza and Residence is located in Taman Tun Dato’ Ismail. TTDI is situated at the borders of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. It is a very peaceful place to live as it has a low density of high rises but old landed homes and some office building. The quality of air is better for a residential site. The TTDI Plaza and Residence is a combination of a commercial square and residences. The residence is a high-rise luxury condominium and is built together with the Plaza condominium for residential living along with shop lots at the Plaza. The site is surrounded with amenities and facilities. There are a lot of commercial center around that brings convenience to the residents as they can reach the places within walking distance such as KFC, Pizza Hut and some saloon.

Before designing a building, it is very crucial to determine the climate patterns, sun orientation, wind speed and the humidity of a site. The faรงade of the Residence building, where the main living spaces are located, is facing the North and South side to prevent too much heat penetration. The east and west faรงade are sun shaded by the roof and protects any sun entering the corridor until 4pm where the sun penetration is weaker. There are end cores located at the hottest part of the building, which is the east and west faรงade. This is to create buffer zones separating the working area and the hot walls.

The Plaza itself has a double volume roof. It is designed for natural ventilation. The positions of the commercial blocks created an enclosed central courtyard. The courtyard is surrounded by open central corridors to increase air movement. It happens when there is temperature and pressure differentials between inside and outside. It creates a giant wind scoop and is assisted by mixed mode extraction fans on the roof. The building also applied passivedaylight concept by using a skylight at the enclosed courtyard. It controls incoming direct sunlight but at the same time maximize the use of daylighting.

The skylight-glass used low-emissivity glass that reflects radiant heat to prevent it from entering the building.

Water evaporation is another effective way to cool down buildings, since water absorbs a large amount of heat from its surroundings when it changes state. Hence, there is a swimming pool located at the fourth level that acts as an evaporative-cooling device to cool the hot air before entering the living spaces of each lot.

Regionalism architecture is regarded as tradition and the sense of “dwelling� with a specific culture. Basically it is derived from the local settings.

The TTDI Plaza and Residence is one of the regionalist architecture. The cultural considerations will definitely affect the size and the layout of one unit. The building shelters local people and providing sufficient comfort and reassurance.

The TTDI Plaza and Residence is designed in an urban setting. The plan is the shape of a rectangular.

The spatial layout of the building is able to accommodate at least a family with basic needs of spaces. The room sizes are generous enough and well proportioned. The public and private spaces are separated clearly for family gatherings and individual private spaces. The service spaces such as the bathrooms and kitchens are located at the corner of the lot whereas the living and dining room took most of the space as they play the major role in a house.

From the exterior, the arrangement of the window and doors are symmetrical.

Each window measurement is constant throughout the whole building emphasizing the verticality of the building faรงade. Each lot has a balcony that opens up views for the residence. Shading is necessary with solar shading projections like overhangs.

The building emulates the forms of the local condominiums. The local environment influences the usage of construction materials. The building materials can be easily obtained locally like concrete and bricks. It is suitable to the local context which is considered sustainable.

TTDI township has developed ranging from commercial blocks, landed properties, condominiums with community amenities like schools, restaurants, banks and others. The building was designed to target urban dwellers. It serves for the community as shelter. Furthermore, it also gives people another

opportunity in property investment. The TTDI Plaza and Residential is connecting the residential units with the commercial centers in the neighbourhood including the Plaza to increase the pedestrian population. The Plaza increases the local socio economic by encouraging businesses and entrepreneurship. This gives more working opportunity and cultivates more interaction between the local communities. The value of the Residence will increase because of the MRT station which is just less than 200 metres away. The MRT is going to be a node which gathers people around the area and being a transportation that brings the people from the Residence to various destinations. The Residence is quite noticeable as the entrance is very wide compared to a narrow and hectic road.

The location of the building is also near to major highways like the MKVE and LDP. Another thing that we should be aware about residential buildings is the security. Although TTDI is a mature township, it is inevitable to prevent crimes from happening. The crime rates in Malaysia is increasing in the past 3 years, therefore we should take the initiative to protect ourselves. Without proper protection, the residences are going to live in anxiety and worrying about their safety at stake. Hence, the Residence condominium is of high security level. The accessibility of any visitor required a registration from the guard house. Each resident has their own card to access the building. They have to use the access card to go through the lift lobby which is the main vertical circulation that brings people up to the building. The security guards are always on duty. The Residence building also provided amenities like the gym and swimming pool. The Plaza below the condominiums has retail shops that cater the needs of the residences.

In conclusion, from Ar Chong’s childhood, she was raised in Kuala Lumpur, such a busy city where time never stops. She was amazed by the different styles of Kuala Lumpur architecture and that’s where her interest towards building ignites. Her parents play a major role in her life as well as both of them are from the construction industry. She got influenced since young and developed her

knowledge and passion towards architecture later on. When Ar Chong pursued her internship in BCT Architects, she was exposed to the company philosophy about designing. It was much more different from what she learnt from school. It became more complicated because she has to build something that response to the physical site. She has to take account the relationship between human built environment and the natural environment. She started to get involved in eco architecture after she worked in TR Hamzah & Yeang Sdn. Bhd. which is specialized in green urban design. She obtained a lot of inspiration and different point of perspective towards building from Dato’ Ken Yeang. Therefore when she was involved in this project, TTDI Plaza and Residence, she applied most of the principles she learnt from Dato’ Ken Yeang. She applied a lot of passive design in order to save energy but at the same time preserve the user comfort of the space. She applied natural ventilation concepts to the Plaza like a double volume roof for smooth air movement and operable windows. The materials used are even to radiant heat like the low-emission glass used as the skylight. Although the Plaza is well designed with passive strategies but sadly the place is so quiet even during lunch and dinner hours. The activities seemed to be inactive because there is lack of interesting events and also most of the shops don’t seem to cater the needs of the residences as most of them are used by private companies or organisations.

The best and highest demand units at the plaza are units facing the north, facing better views which are towards the Bukit Kiara Golf course together with the skyline of Bangsar and Kuala Lumpur. However, the residents suffer unpleasant views of the Desa Kiara’s muslim cemetery. In short, the building brought people to the site providing necessities however there are also pros and cons from the building design.

References:

C.C.K.Kowaltowski, D. (1997). Bioclimatic and vernacular design in urban settlement of Brazil. Retrieved June 20, 2014, from dkowaltowski: http://www.dkowaltowski.net/1088.pdf creating places for people. (n.d.). Retrieved June 20, 2014, from Urban design Australia: http://www.urbandesign.gov.au/downloads/files/INFRA1219_MCU_R_SQ UARE_URBAN_PROTOCOLS_1111_WEB_FA2.pdf The Residence, TTDI. (n.d.). Retrieved June 22, 2014, from Propwall: http://www.propwall.my/ttdi/the_residence Yeang, K. (n.d.). Eco design: A manual for ecological design. Wiley Academy.