RINGS OF UNITY

Typology: Sculpture

Location: KWSP Headquarters, Malaysia

Status: Constructed

Year: 2021

The Rings of Unity sculpture sits on the reflective pool of the new KWSP complex. Derived from the logo of EPF, a dynamic metallic sculpture was designed to represent the brighter future that results from the close relationship between EPF and its members.

Construction

The base of the structure is bolted to a podium that sits just above the surface of water. It supports the spirals made of a rebar cage that is then cladded with steel sheets. Its surface is treated with weather resistant chrome paint.

Sculptural Narrative

Composed of the simple geometry of lines and circles, 2 spirals rise upwards in synchrony - representing the mutualistic growth journey between EPF and its members. The gold and silver spiral both originate and end at the top and bottom of the sculpture respectively, forming only one continuous loop. It signifies the established trust between EPF and its members throughout their partnership. The spherical orbs found on the individual rods represent the prospective financial future where everyone receives returns of their investment. Ultimately, the iconic sculpture becomes a statement of trusted partnership and smart financial investment akin to the idea of “sikit-sikit lama jadi bukit”.

HOW TRUSTING ARE WE?

Typology: Urban Analytical Tool

Location: Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

Status: Proposal

Year: 2021

Quantifying Goodness

“How Good Are We?” is a joint studio between Tsinghua and MVRDV Next that explores the quantification of goodness and the methods to assess parameters through computational means. It is done through a 4-week workshop measuring the context and impact of a design proposal of varying scales (from a room to a city). The project entails usage of basic scripting tools (Rhino & Grasshopper) in order to articulate a personal vision of a digital design tool.

How Close Are We?

In a group of 4, students select a key parameter that matters to them and would like to further explore upon. My chosen parameter was the question of “closeness”, an idea first introduced by Edward Hall in the term he coined “proxemics”. I wanted to explore the correlation of proxemics and different cultures as they express different preferences to what each perceive as their “social distances”. Together in a group, closeness became a key parameter to observe the bigger topic of “trust” expressed within an urban street environment.

How Trusting Are We?

As a group, we developed a computational tool to measure the chosen parameter of trust by developing an early metagram. The key topic of trust can be derived from the parameters of closeness, equity, accessibility and visibility. The goal of the tool was to measure the trust of a 1sqkm neighborhood. The main project statement was “a trusting neighborhood is a vibrant and active one that supports all kinds of users to foster different kinds of interactions through the physical and visual connection of a variety of spaces”.

We then enlisted a domain under the 4 parameters of specific measurable items such as dimensions of space, porosity of streets, proximity to third places or the presence of street lights. These different dimensions helped us quantify a heat map that could be projected unto the site as well as provide an overall score for the trust of a neighborhood. The locality was also considered to determine the variations of culture and density.

Generative Design

The projected heat map helped us identify problematic areas on site to be addressed with a catalogue of an urban tool kit. We proposed 3 levels of design (humble, comprehensive, radical) that ranges based on project budget, speed and degree of change. The corresponding design changes were then fed back into the measurement tool to reevaluate a site’s trust score.