ARCHITECTURAL E-PORTFOLIO
by Ooi Zi En
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN IV
TUTOR: MS FADZWIN
Projects in Semester 4 centre on the idea of "engaged environment and community." As a result, the studio investigates design through a project with a particular group of users within a specific setting, leveraging environmental features and conditions for human and environmental sustainability. Studies of previous design projects that are sensitive to environmental conditions and sustainability issues are part of the projects. We will investigate the environmental poetics of the building enclosure by using precedent studies to respond to the basic natural context, including the sun, wind, heat, cold, energy issues, and the existing building context, with clustered built forms like community centres, nature appreciation centres, and research centres, to name a few. The intricacy of the programme, the geography and vegetation of the site, sociocultural events, and a range of passive design solutions should all be taken into account. To give the user community the finest experiences, the design effort should enhance and blend seamlessly with the environment and the website. Students must incorporate research from the Asian Architecture module and illustrate how they have applied their knowledge from previous semesters' Architecture and Environment module. A complex spatial typology's poetics and environmental factors combine to produce a design narrative that strives to promote a sense of community.
Project 01: Design Esquisse –
Disabilities Experience Pavilion
The concept of materiality in relation to usage and experience is the subject of Project 1: Materiality is viewed as a characteristic of building and structure as well as a context for social activities that impart meaning and relationships. The Disabilities Experience Pavilion, which is expected to highlight architectural form and materiality for a suggested series of activities, will be the product of the students' design work. Project 2's programmatic requirements will be related by the investigation of themes centred on the idea of addressing universal accessibility and the spatial experience of impaired people in this project.
Project Outcome
REFLECTION
Through a variety of basic and in-depth studies, we were able to pinpoint the challenges that our targets faced when it came to coordination and balancing. This has given us the opportunity to think critically and carefully analyse the needs of our users so that we may construct a space that is safe and well-suited to meet those needs while also fostering the development of their motor skills and stimulating their sensory development. A reimagined playscape with three carrying sensory processing zones that allow users to transition and acclimatise themselves from one space to another to suit their sensory processing needs emerged from observations of conventional playground designs that trigger various sensory processing issues depending on the different autism spectrum levels, ranging from hypo-sensitivity to hyper-sensitivity.
I'm appreciative of my team members since they worked effectively together and took ownership of the duties that were given to us. I've learned how to collaborate with others as a team and assign tasks based on our individual strengths, which allows us to work quickly and effectively. My ability to model in Revit has also improved as a result of this project because I was able to pick up new abilities and become more accustomed to the programme. Overall, I found it to be a really enjoyable and fun project that has enabled me to put myself in the shoes of the disabled and approach my design process while understanding and experiencing space from their point of view.
Site Analysis & Design Response
The context for Project 2 is established by Site Analysis & Response. We were required to visit the place in our designated tutorial groups in order to document, observe, and obtain information about the social and physical aspects of the context. Drawings, graphs, photography, videography, audio recording, secondary site data from various local authorities, basic interviews focusing on but not limited to these aforementioned parameters, as listed, are some methods utilised in data collection. Along with the physical inventory, we must also determine the immaterial characteristics that define the site's personality. We were required to create design responses based on the findings to launch project 2 immediately.
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Project Outcome
Reflection
We had the opportunity to undertake a physical site visit to Kepong Botanic Garden as a preliminary step before our second project before we started our Site Analysis and Design Response as a tutorial group. There weren't many people in our instructional group since we had to break up into different work groups to collect the data before we could come together and combine it as a whole.
During the site visit, we made the proper choice to arrive early in the morning because we were able to avoid the traffic and were astounded by the site's rich vegetation and energising morning wind. We were given the flexibility to go about on our own, which allowed us to explore the area at our own speed. The site visit, in my opinion, helped me better visualise and conceptualise my ideas since it gave me a clearer, more complete grasp of the location and how it was represented, as well as a greater sense of place than I had from earlier virtual site visits.
Project 2: Wellness Center PLUS
The concept asks for the creation of a Wellness Centre PLUS on the border of a botanical garden and a suburban neighbourhood. We must submit comprehensive design proposals that incorporate data from site investigation and prior research. Using various complex typologies of spatial organisation and a variety of passive sustainable design techniques, we were to develop narratives that respond to the environment and community within the given context. We were also to explore environmental poetics of building enclosure's design solutions. The design need to enhance and blend in seamlessly with the surroundings and the location, offer the best spatial experiences, and promote a feeling of community.
Project Outcome
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Physical Model
Reflection
In Project 2, we were tasked with creating a Wellness Centre PLUS at Kepong Botanical Garden, a centre for community health and recreation. Wellness in the areas of emotional, physical, social, economical, spiritual, environmental, and occupational wellness have been challenged by the Covid-19 outbreak across Malaysia and the world. People, including relatives, friends, and neighbours, have been cut off from the outside world as a result of the pandemic. Reconciliation is required, as is the restoration of the disconnect. To encourage inhabitants' overall wellness, my primary target audience is families in the nearby Taman Ehsan neighbourhood.
This initiative has served as a wake-up call for me because it has made me aware of my lack of intellectual maturity. Without a plan, I should have done more in-depth research on my context and the problems at the site in question. Understanding the context, user groups, and activities is key to developing good concepts. I've learned to recognise my surroundings and create architecture that corresponds with its purpose. It's equally important for me to think clearly so that I can properly handle each problem with my design.