Project: Theorizing Architecture Part 2

Theories of Architecture & Urbanism (ARC 2224)

Name: Daniel Yap Chung Kiat

Student ID: 0309100

Course: Bachelor in Science (Architecture) (Hons)

Date: 15/6/2015

Table of Content

1. Introduction- Area/ Building Introduction- Theory Introduction

2. External Factor 1: Climate

3. External Factor 2: Human Activity & Economy

4. External Factor 3: Surrounding Context

5. Conclusion

6. References

Introduction

Architecture plays an important role in building up the world as it is one of the need for human to survive and develop. Architecture can be defined as the combination of art and science in a designed building which provides shelter for human to live in and work. Nowadays, rapid growth in population has caused the increasing in shelter’s demand. Therefore, lots of buildings have been built to fulfil the human needs. Besides the increased demand, technologies have also lead to the advancement in building construction sector which contribute in speeding up the building construction. Rapid increasing in building demand have caused the building to loss their ‘soul’. Thus, many buildings nowadays can be no longer called architecture. Theories in architecture world act as an important guide for the architects to design a building which has ‘soul’ instead of just function as a shelter. Individuality in every building will help in creating a beautiful and functioning world.

Figure 1: Red spot shows the research area (Retrieved from google map)

The chosen research area is Bangsar area which located at the south-west of Kuala Lumpur city centre. This is a busy sub-urban area which consists of developing commercial area and high density residential area. As a developing area which host people, urban planning in that area is important to avoid or decrease social problem in the future such as congestion and homeless.

The chosen theory for this research paper is from a theorist named Leon Krier. He is an architect, architecture theorist and also an urban planner born in Luxembourg. He is a representative of the New Urbanism and New Classical Architecture. The chosen theory is “Return to classism in architecture and community design.” It is the represent theory from Leon Krier as he thinks that classism in urban planning and architectural design is more associate with sustainable urbanism which is indeed needed by the people to achieve a better civic life. Few points have been mentioned in his theory including building levelling limitation, spatial planning and building style etc. These elements in the theory will be further elaborate in the following text with some diagrams.

External Factor 1: Climate

In this part of research paper, we will discuss on the climate in Malaysia and how it affects the design strategies of the architects on buildings. Climate is an important factor that has been always concerned by the architects. Different coordination on earth possess different temperature. The design strategies on buildings have some similarities where the areas are nearby.

Malaysia is located in the equatorial region. It has tropical rainforest climate which has the characteristics of hot and humid throughout the year. Rainfall can be found throughout the year which has little function on neutralising the heat in Malaysia.

Figure 2: Architecture at research area (Retrieved from google Street)

Architecture as a shelter has been categorised as the need for human beings. Therefore, it plays an important role in providing thermal comfort for the people who lives within it. Hot weather in Malaysia is an important issue that should be solved during the architectural design. Figure 2 has showed the

architecture at Bangsar area. From the diagram, we can see that the shop houses possess some elements of traditional Chinese architecture. The most significant elements are the five-foot pathway and also the front balcony on the first and second floor. These characteristics have solved some of the climatic issue in Malaysia. The five-foot pathway and the front corridor both act as a thermal buffer area in the building. Therefore, the wall has a slower heat up rate which will then contribute in thermal comfort achievement. Beside function as a buffer zone, both of the key features also provide shelter for the user from getting wet. Five-foot pathway allows the pedestrian to walk from building to building from rain and direct sunlight. This will thus comfort the user.

These shop houses are categorised as vernacular architecture as they possess the some of the key elements such as materials used in construction, architectural features and characteristics, and functions etc. From the observation at the research area, we can see that the materials used are bricks for wall, timber for door and window panel, timber for roof trusses, zinc for roof deck and glass for the window. These materials were mostly used in the late 60’s as they can be obtained easily from the local industry. Beside materials, the design features stated in the paragraph above also prove that vernacular architecture style had been applied on the building at Bangsar area.

External Factor 2: Human Activity & Economy

In this part of the research paper, we will discuss about the human activity at Bangsar area and how it affects the design strategies of the buildings at that area.

The population in Bangsar area is increasing year after year. Few reasons have caused this phenomena, one of them is purely the birth rate in Malaysia increase. Other than that, increasing in work opportunities have also lead to the increment in population due to the migration to Kuala Lumpur city. The geographical location of Bangsar area which is near to the city centre attracts people to move in as the accommodation fee is slightly cheaper than city centre.

Figure 3: Activity distribution at research area (Retrieved from google map)

As a developing suburb area, business opportunity is increasing in a large scale which achieve a phrase that states “whenever there is people, there will be trading.” Many new business opportunities have been introduced in Bangsar area such as city development, food business, apparel business and so on. These human activities have led Bangsar to become a more advance area. Beside the advancement of the area, congestion problems will appear when rapid increment in population occurs. To solve this issue, town planning is important and we will further discuss in the next external factor. From figure 3, we can see the distribution of different human activities in the research area. The green part shows the food business occurs in that area while the yellow shows the grocery business in that area. Beside business, education chances have been provided in that area too which show in blue.

Figure 4: Shop houses at research area

These human activities have affect the architecture design on the form and also the levelling of the building. Different types of architecture possess different type of function. The buildings in figure 4 are shop houses. While on the opposite site, school type of architecture has been set up. From both

types of architecture, there are some similarities. One of them is the building levelling. Both of them have 2 to 4 storey in building levelling due to the amount of target user to be hosted and also the activities undergo in the buildings. Function of a school is to provide a place for students to study and the target amount of student is 1000 to 1500 students. Therefore, few blocks of academic buildings with 4 storey is sufficient to host the amount of students. The shop houses were designed in 2 to 3 storey to host the small business such as food business and grocery business etc. Restaurants are normally set on the ground or the first floor in order to provide the convenience to the visitor or pedestrian. Beside convenience, setting up food business on the ground or first floor is aimed to be easier viewable by the target customer in order to increase the business.

Figure 5: Skyscrapers along the same street

While walk down few steps from the research area, we can see that skyscrapers are built. Skyscraper, a representation of the modern architecture has successfully increase the land used efficiency. Different purposes are aimed when designing skyscrapers in Bangsar area. One of them is hosting different companies in one office tower without used up many land areas while apartments and condominiums have been built to host the rapid growth population without used up many land areas.

The examples from the observation have guided us about different types of human activities will affect how the building been designed. While, in the theory of Leon Krier has stated that the most ideal building level should be ranged from 2 storey to maximum 5 storey. He enhanced his statement by saying that a city should be expand horizontally instead of vertically when the population increase graciously. He believes that a horizontal city will secure the civic life but not the vertically developed city. Heavy congestion will occur

if the city developed in the vertical direction due to the small area ratio to population which have been proved in many cases today.

External Factor 3: Surrounding Context

Buildings were designed and placed on the specific location when comes to urban planning. Every building plays an important role in showing an efficient urban planning which minimise the occurrence of the congestion. Surrounding context is an important criterion to be referred when an architect design the buildings.

In this part of research paper, we will discuss about the effect of the surrounding context on the architectural design how to achieve an efficient urban planning.

Bangsar area with increasing population has affected the growth in building construction industry. Developers take this opportunity to increase their business by launching properties such as residential properties and commercial properties to adapt the population. From the observation, the skyscrapers such as Maybank Tower and UOB Tower have been developed along the street from our site. Beside these office tower, residential building such Gaya Bangsar Serviced Apartment is built next to Maybank Tower. From the map of Bangsar, we can discover that the skyscrapers have been developed within a boundary at Bangsar area while the buildings on our research area are mostly shop houses and common houses. It is a common urban planning nowadays which separate the buildings according to its function and form. And this relates back to the surrounding context mentioned earlier. The surrounding context have restricted the building designs in a certain in terms of function and form. From the visit to Bangsar area, we can see a transition from building to building which is illustrated in the diagram above. The planning of the buildings’ location is planned according to the size and function of the buildings during the urban scape planning.

Figure 6: Houses opposite the shop houses

Figure 7: Shop houses next to the research area

Back to our research area, road as the connectivity of different places is just located in front of the shop houses. This context is important when it comes to buildings design as it helps to set out the building orientation during the design process. Access points in a building is important for the people to enter and exit the building. Therefore, the collaboration between the location of access point and the road are important to allow the continuity from exterior to interior. The ease of entering the building will affect the will of people to pay a visit to the building. Besides roads, the surrounding building also play a role in determine the design of the building in terms of function and form. Examples from the research area are the architecture beside the shop houses which show some similar characteristics such as the building orientation and façade.

Conclusion

In the conclusion, the architecture style of the buildings at the research area in Bangsar are affect by the 3 main external factor: climate, human activity and economy, and surrounding context. These factors have influenced the architects’ design which have created unique Malaysian Architecture with the combination of the vernacular architecture. Through the study on Leon Krier’s theory, few ideas have been stated by him such as the ideal level for a building is 2 to 5 storey without limiting the height, architecture style should return to classism or vernacular architecture and also the walkable distance from building to building which relates to the urban planning. From my opinion, I agree with some of the ideas stated by him. For example, the architecture should return to classism or vernacular architecture. I think it is suitable to the situation of Malaysia building industry as vernacular architecture have been proved can save more energy during construction and the materials used are lower in embodied energy. Besides possess these features, vernacular architecture can also provide thermal comfort efficiently with the design and materials used in the construction. While, for the idea of building levelling, I think that this idea should not be applied on every architecture in different places. His example stated in the statement he made is located at the place with large area of land. Therefore, he can achieve his ideal urban planning by expand the city horizontally instead of vertically. This idea should not be applied in the country such as Singapore because land coverage of Singapore is less while the population is high. Therefore, his theory can be applied when certain requirements fulfil. In a nut shell, there are many theories in the architecture world. They act as a guide but not a rule in design because varies of external factors will affect the design ideas.

References

1. Leon Krier on sustainable urbanism and the legible city | Essays | Architectural Review. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.architectural-review.com/essays/leon-krier-on-sustainable-urbanism-and-the-legible-city/8659343.article

2. Interview: Leon Krier | Society | The Guardian. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/society/2006/jun/28/communities.guardiansocietysupplement

3. [Google Street]. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/maps/@3.129018,101.67855,3a,89.9y,220.88h,95.27t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s_i2Xk0lT1d6jE4zQzxTxUw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656