the Kampung the Block the Unit
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the Kampung /etymology dictionary/ "inhabited place larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town," from Old French village "houses and other buildings in a group" (usually smaller than a town), from Latin villaticum "farmstead" (with outbuildings), noun use of neuter sing. of villaticus "having to do with a farmstead or villa," from villa "country house" (see villa). Village idiot is recorded from 1907.
/wikipedia/ In Malaysia, the term kampung (sometimes spelling kampong) in the English language has been defined specifically as "a Malay hamlet or village in a Malay-speaking country". In other words, a kampung is defined today as a village in Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia. In Malaysia, a kampung is determined as a locality with 10,000 or fewer people. Since historical times, every Malay village came under the leadership of a penghulu (village chief), who has the power to hear civil matters in his village (see Courts of Malaysia for more details). A Malay village typically contains a "masjid" (mosque) or "surau" (Muslim chapel), paddy fields and Malay houses on stilts. Malay and Indonesian villagers practice the culture of helping one another as a community, which is better known as "joint bearing of burdens" (gotong royong), as well as being family-oriented (especially the concept of respecting one's family [particularly the parents and elders]), courtesy and believing in God ("Tuhan") as paramount to everything else. It is common to see a cemetery near the mosque, as all Muslims in the Malay or Indonesian village want to be prayed for, and to receive Allah's blessings in the afterlife. While in Sarawak and East Kalimantan, some villages are called 'long', primarily inhabited by the Orang Ulu. Singapore also follows the Malaysian kampung. However, there are only a few kampung villages remaining, mostly on islands surrounding Singapore such as Pulau Ubin. In the past, there were many kampung villages in Singapore but now there aren't many on the mainland. The term "kampung", sometimes spelled "kampong" is one of many Malay words to have entered common usage in Malaysia and Singapore. Locally, the term is frequently used to refer to one's hometown. Wednesday, March 6, 13
the Slum /etymology dictionary/ 1845, from back slum "back alley, street of poor people" (1825), originally a slang word meaning "room," especially "back room" (1812), of unknown origin. Go slumming is from 1884, pastime popularized by East End novels.
/wikipedia/ A slum, as defined by the United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing, squalor, and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the developing world between 1990 and 2005. However, due to rising population, and the rise especially in urban populations, the number of slum dwellers is rising. One billion people worldwide live in slums and the figure is projected to grow to 2 billion by 2030. The term has traditionally referred to housing areas that were once relatively affluent but which deteriorated as the original dwellers moved on to newer and better parts of the city, but has come to include the vast informal settlements found in cities in the developing world. Many shanty town dwellers vigorously oppose the description of their communities as 'slums' arguing that this results in them being pathologised and then, often, subject to threats of evictions. Many academics have vigorously criticized UN-Habitat and the World Bank arguing that their 'Cities Without Slums' Campaign has led directly to a massive increase in forced evictions. Although their characteristics vary between geographic regions, they are usually inhabited by the very poor or socially disadvantaged. Slum buildings vary from simple shacks to permanent and well-maintained structures. Most slums lack clean water, electricity, sanitation and other basic services. The rising phenomenon of slum tourism has western tourists paying to take guided tours of slums. This tourism niche is operating in almost all major slums around the world, including in Mumbai, Rio de Janeiro, Kibera, and Jakarta.
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the Block semi-private housing The condition of the kampung in response to the river edge is defined by the kampong block, which itself consists of a combination and assemblage of many individual units. Each block represents roughly one hectare of surface area that could house up to 500 units instead of the 250 units currently in use. This is the scale at which students must master the systemic organization of the city, whether for rainwater collection and storage as for water treatment and garbage. Each student team will be asked to reflect on the kampung block as a key to environmental sanitation and sustainability. The place and role given to the river at the scale of the block will be of critical importance in applying and consolidating these remedial measures over time. The understanding of local terrain in terms of water and topography will in turn inform the design of the block. This is first and foremost an exercise in the modulation of architecture principles and site planning, through the understanding of terrain, water and vegetation. Community gardens and ponds (wadoks) will be linked to specific blocks, depending on the location and the quality of the terrain. In order to work on new block typologies for the Kampung, students will need to transform the existing footprint depending on the conditions and location. There will also be the question of levels and circulation patterns to solve. The block will take into consideration both the adaptation of innovative architectural solutions and prototypes with the given cultural and “natural� situation of the river with its unpredictable temperament. In turn the block will also need to respond to its specific urban location in terms of services, continuities and connections. The block study will require architectonic and topological guidelines following: - Landscape: topology, the river system and its vegetation; - Building densities and typologies; - Rainwater collection, wadoks and communal gardens; - Infrastructure: transport, recycling and services. - Building densities and typologies, common space and networks; - Infrastructure: transport, hydrology and services. Wednesday, March 6, 13
the Unit private house The kampung at present is structured in terms of roughly 250 living units per hectare. Can the footprint of the kampung unit dwelling be further developed to attain a higher density or must it be fundamentally transformed? What is the minimal unit size, and how can it be combined into larger units? Part of the tectonic constraints of the unit will in fact be dictated by the river landscape and its varying flood levels. Students will be asked to consider three unit conditions: normal flooding, high flooding and extreme flooding. Depending on the location and level under study, the approach to designing each unit may change. The goal of unit design is to find a means of integrating the flood as a natural phenomenon within the city fabric. The unit will also inform strategies to improve the adjacent landscape, to adapt it and make it evolve into a new and productive environmental paradigm. Different unit scenarios and typologies will emerge from studio depending on their specific location and the way dynamic forces such as water, vegetation and location are worked-through together and interact with each other. The unit design will require several tectonic and topological guidelines following: - Landscape: topography, water and gardens; - Dwelling density, tectonics and typology; - Common spaces and connections; - Collection, sanitation and services.
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Houses on stilts Wednesday, March 6, 13
Houses on stilts Tuesday, Wednesday, February March19, 6, 13 13