EXPERIENCING CULTURE (IPOH TRIP) ARTICLE

After the Ipoh Trip, I was given an assignment of producing an article of any one topic based on my experience and observation during the trip or about Ipoh. I decided to go for something that is related to my design project - The Revival of Ipoh Heritage. I enjoyed doing this as well. It's like I'm working as a magazine editor lol. Anyway, it was a satisfied work to me.

DESIGN 4 PROJECT- LOCAL ESSENCE BOUTIQUE HOTEL

Another long semester has ended and welcome to holidays. I had an interesting project for this semester and enjoyed doing it although time is limited and it turns out to be not as I expected it to be. Anyway, it was a good try for me to design an actual whole building for the second time. I enjoyed doing the merchandise part especially. To make everything simple and short, I'll just post my design statement of this project here (basically what is this project about):

Embrace the Forgotten

"Tin House is a double storey boutique hotel located at Jalan Sultan Ismail, Kuala Lumpur is an ambitious, high profile ecological educational and entertainment facility with the idea of connecting the interior to the exterior surroundings. The main objectives are to instill the knowledge tin cultural heritage among our future generations which was long forgotten with the saying goes; “Embrace your origin place, remember the story”.

Inspired by the ‘palong’ (sluice box) which was used for producing tin deposits during the development of tin mining industry by the Chinese Hakka villagers in 1900s, the design concept is FILTRATION which explains the meaning behind the process of how a palong works. The concept is achieved by the gradual changes from higher spaces to lower spaces and ambiance from the openness of nature to industrial and rustic features interiors made of recyclable materials. The concept also recognizes the quality of green spaces where recyclable energy like solar panels and reusing water from the water feature and sky garden. This is to create awareness to the public to preserve the environment by reusing, reducing and recycling waste products intelligently. The building was once a showroom and the original structures were retained while being converted to a boutique hotel to preserve the sense of space. The spaces are exposed to natural surroundings naturally depicting the tin miners’ lifestyle in the open area.  The building finishes are made from raw and recyclable materials to allow nature work its way in harmony with the spaces creating a diorama effect of an open mine pit area.

The main activity starts from the first floor where visitors are forced to direct from the main entrances to reach the receptions on the first floor. Visitors are welcomed to view the art gallery and have a fun ride on a slide down to the distinctive workshop at the ground floor producing a PRESSURE effect. The spaces are organized in a way forming one way circulations from the first floor to the ground floor. The workshop offers from making pewter, accessories to art sculptures and don’t miss the chance to exhibit your own art pieces too. PENETRATE involves visitors can view the activities happening at the ground floor. The spaces are penetrated by interlocking nature into the interior space and connect indoor activity with the environment. SPLIT involves where the lounge at the center is linked to all the spaces of the building creating a datum circulation. The spaces are divided into active and inactive spaces like the workshop, art gallery, lounge and sky garden. This provides opportunities to bring biodiversity back into the urban environment.

In conclusion, the role of Tin House is not only to create aesthetically pleasing space and exhibition to visitors, but to re-invent interior space by adding and preserving value to the lifestyle trends, rich biodiversity environment and conducive environment for interaction between community. Tin House is a perfect getaway to experience and explore while relaxing to distract yourself from a hectic week."

The Merchandise Areas (main attraction of this boutique hotel)

"The Silver Workshop was extended to accommodate a comfortable working space. The self- contained workshop was surrounded by full length glass windows to allow maximize sunlight to enter for productive working environment. A new semi- glazed roof was built steel- framed supporting glass panels to provide spectacular views to the exterior surroundings. The steel frame enhances the height of the space and the east side is glazed to provide the sunlight. The workshop is partially shed by a cantilever corrugated, galvanized metal roofing which was locally manufactured to provide a reflective surface while reducing the need for roof decking and substructure. The roof was equipped with solar panels to capture the direct sunlight from the east. The original staircase was retained to direct visitors to the art gallery on the first floor. It is a place where visitors can view various activities being carried out at the workshop from outside and participate after a few minutes of exploring them.

The MineCraft Gallery on the first floor was an extended space which rests on top of the Tin Shop. The main objective of this space is to provide a flexible facility to allow pathway circulation and storage for art pieces and old artifacts. Wire mesh partitions were installed to allow installation of art pieces by tying them up with metal wires, creating a tension effect.  The shelving system was fixed on metal poles between the floor and ceiling to display the artifacts making them cantilevered. Full length glass windows at the corner provide clear view of the workshop on the ground floor while allowing diffused sunlight in."

There are altogether 8 A1 boards combined forming a landscape poster taller than me lol. I had never done such a big poster before in my life. Will improve for the better next time. I would like to thank my lecturers for this project. Besides this project, I learned about heritage of my hometown too. 

Zoom ins:

                            

What it really looks like:

The merchandise:

Mock up models (Theme: Filtration)

SPACE VS PLACE (THEORIES LECTURE 3)

In general, spaces and places around us always influence and affect in every way we observe, experience and understand the world. Space and place are the mediums of creation- the movement of people, identities, cultures and objects. Human create spaces to fulfill their needs and satisfaction. The spaces created are often surrounded with reflections of themselves and the stories of their lives.

Based on one point from the lecture, one should experience a space for it to become a place. We cannot make architecture without understanding what the space is. There is no such thing as an empty space or place as there is we are surrounded by objects and matters everywhere we go. For example, the Blue Pavilion in Royal Academy of Arts, London is more than just bricks and cement where the identity of location is what makes the building significant. Guts, emotions and rationality are involved where people desire to seek a place to refuge to escape a hectic week and hence, they create an illusion of a comfortable space for themselves by visiting this building.

There are a lot of ways for one to determine and read this place. For example, the Royal Academy of Arts location may be strategic enough in terms of transportation and convenient-wise to attract one’s attention when passing by. Those who have not been to this place before would have visualized the place using their own imagination and senses relying on the description of others’ perception of this place or after looking it up on the website. The spaces inside this building are special enough to provide meaningful experience that is worth to be remembered. People can clearly define the differences of each space and the functions.

The spaces are filled with installations which invite visitors to engage with the experience of architecture and observe how different spaces, lightings, smell and sound make them feel. For example, the lighting installation by Kengo Kuma provide a relaxing atmosphere to certain people due to its flexibility and the way it is installed by allowing people to stroll along and pass through it to experience the spaces in between the lightings.

Object in spaces involved where the objects are designed according to proportions based on human ergonomics and their relationship to the spaces occupied by people. For example, the CONVEX carpet designed by Asplund is made with series of woven yarns which provides a soft for relaxing moment. The carpet can occupy two to three people and they would sit comfortably on it. The relationship of spaces between the carpet and the human itself reach to an intimate level when the people can sleep and stretch their body while sitting on the carpet.

Therefore, sense of space is important to human in order to engage and explore more about architecture and interior design; to shape a better environment for themselves to engage with a sense of accomplishment in everyday life. 

OLD VS NEW (THEORIES LECTURE 2)

Based on a point from the lecture, rather than demolishing old buildings and turning them into museums, it is better to reuse them for better purposes. Apart from preserving the historical values, old buildings attract majorities like entrepreneurs, property agents and stakeholders due to the building’s culture and complexity, providing a sense of permanency and heritage. People are curious and eager to see how amazing it is to a transform from an old abandoned building to a café or a hotel. Therefore, a site consist of older buildings always possess higher investment value compared to a site with modernized buildings. This can be seen where many businesses opt to look for old buildings and convert them into offices, retail shops, merchandise, homestays and lofts by preserving the original features and structures of the buildings.

In contrary, adding more new constructions and even green buildings would not improve the environment if the earth is contaminated with infinity buildings and endless constructions. This matter will sooner or later lead to global warming and destruction of the mother earth apart from pollution. New constructions are necessary to meet the needs of the city development. However, we need to think of how it is possible to create architecture that incorporates historical styles and experiments with the new ones to contribute a little help in order to balance the ecosystem. Old ideas can sometimes use new buildings; new ideas must start with old buildings; as once said by Steven Johnson.

Old and new buildings should intertwine to be in a visual harmony. The addition of the new building should not only function as a conceptual form of modernization but more to keeping up with the historic character like repeating the design form, materials, features and details as a new addition. Although an existing old building is so old and redundant where it is beyond restoration, it may still be worth to retain certain features and structures to provide consistency with the surrounding buildings. This will not only preserve the building but it creates a concept and value to the entire city that links to the building itself. For example, Haworth Tompkins Architects adapted a music campus at Snape Maltings by inserting a prefabricated Cor-ten steel shell inside the existing walls to provide a new purpose for the building while preserving the existing structures and its surroundings.

An addition of a new building should only be considered only after it is more than beyond restoration until it causes risk to the public health and safety. The addition of both old and new building should not be mixed completely so that the new generation is not confused with what and which is genuine part of the past. However, precedent studies should be taken into consideration for the context of the work including the building’s historical background, significance to society and purpose of the new additions. The new generation often seeks for something new and different. Therefore, a combination of both old and new architecture would be a good future plan for the industry. With this ideology and concept, people can get to enjoy living in the modern and at the same time, appreciate the hidden historical values that they might not even aware of. 

IPOH TRIP

The first time when I heard about this trip I was like “Seriously? We are going to Ipoh?” while looking at my lecturer with an eyebrow raise. Lecturer said that Penang and Melaka are too common and already been there so many times so why not Ipoh? And so yeah, we are going to Ipoh!

Being a ‘Ipoh mali’ myself, I was actually glad that the lecturers organized this visit as I can really observe the development of this small city myself that I usually don’t. The feeling of guilt happened during those four days and three nights when I was searching for the best food and interesting places to visit together with my group mates which were not from Ipoh. This was another reason for me not to worry because I got the chance to really explore my own hometown this time. It is never too late. The night is still young.

The list of interesting places I been to:

What I observed and my opinions:

One thing I realized was that the development of Ipoh had increased drastically throughout the years. After having meaningful conversations with few of the kind Ipoh folks here, I was actually proud of the development of this small town. One good example was there were a quite number of investors and entrepreneurs who invest in the historical shop houses and convert them into cafes. Each cafes are specially designed with their own specific themes enriched with the historical value of the building itself. Some of the cafes were rented out for visitors to stay over on the first floor as well (homestay) and most of them were tourists who were fascinated by the happenings around the area.

Therefore, property investments are a huge hit recently and especially during Chinese New Year season. Not to mention, the lower cost of properties and an abundant of lands to choose from, made it so ‘lau juak’ (happening in Hokkien) here. Imagine you can get a double storeyed house for RM400K! Recently, Ipoh South Precint (ISP), the largest freehold- titled integrated township, is coming up engaging virgin lands, residential houses, commercial units, retails outlets and infrastructure development.

Ipoh was also known as 'The Town of Retirees' where the younger generation all left Ipoh for the sake of education and work, leaving the old citizens behind. In few years back, Ipoh was considered a ‘developing state’ compared to KL. It is not that Ipoh is useless at all but it takes time to build a successful and productive environment. Even KL takes years to come out with a nice city like what we see today. Development in KL was one level up, hence, producing numerous job opportunities that attract everyone like a magnet. The only time you get to see the most of the younger generation is during festival seasons like Chinese New Year.

However, this trend was slowly starting to make a twist recently where younger generation opts to settle down in Ipoh. Generally, most people just want to lead a simple life- a good job, a car, a house and a happy family; all these might be easily achieved in Ipoh. Ipoh is a quiet and peaceful, leading to a less stressful environment compared to the fast pace and hectic lifestyle in KL. Quality of life is more essential. YOLO!

As Ipoh continues to be developed, the northern and central regions are beginning to see saturation as well. The region is not new as it is (yet), as it has long established neighborhoods such as Pasir Pinji, Gunung Rapat, Tasek, Bercham, Ipoh Garden and Canning Garden, just to name a few, making them the largest suburban areas in Ipoh. Along with existing retail shops, shopping malls, local and international schools, F&B outlets and infrastructure, boosted by its proximity to the North-South Expressway (highway basically) exit at Simpang Pulai, Ipoh South will be very soon be Ipoh’s version of Petaling Jaya and Kota Damansara. Yay!

Ipoh might be a small town but there are still some historical values that are left behind that attract visitors occasionally. The little things which you don't see or enjoy every day: shop houses with British colonial architecture, pomelo plantation, chicken running around the house compound, cow crossing the street, goat eating grass and not to mention, the local delicacies like bean sprout chicken (the beansprouts here are especially fresh and big), white coffee (I’m not a coffee lover but I couldn’t resist Nam Heong coffee at old town), salted chicken, freshly baked pastries and desserts. Therefore, Ipoh is indeed a nice and peaceful place to settle down with no regrets and I hope that the story and value behind the small town would remain and preserved forever. 

Reference:
http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Community/2014/02/08/Change-for-the-better-Many-young-people-now-choosing-to-settle-down-in-Ipoh/

Last but not least, some interesting facts to know about Ipoh =):

http://cilisos.my/8-things-an-ipoh-boy-realizes-after-almost-20-years-in-kl/