Environmental Sustainable Design

Project 1

Green-Go 2013 International Short Film Contest

Project 1 in ESD required us to produce an awareness video to increase the awareness of environmental issues locally and internationally. We were encouraged to produce a short video that is creative, shocking, funny or explicit eye-opener in the three categories: 'Life in plastic, is it fantastic?', 'Water-the drop of life' and 'Stayin' Alive'. The short videos should be either a campaign film that is shorter than 60 seconds or a short film that is not more than 4 minutes. The video can be shocking, saucy, dumbfounding and can be in any genre (cartoon, animation, puppet film. documentary, interviews etc.) I have chosen the short film format and decided to work on the topic of 'Stayin' Alive'. This topic is basically about species going extinct- reasons why that happened, the effects of it and how can we try to overcome the problem. My focus was on animal species extinction and I tried to bring over a message to the audience so that extinction would stop.

Here is the link to my awareness video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4EB60wvtfU



Project 2

Appreciating Environment - Nothing is Considered Waste

Project 2 was divided into two parts, group and individual. In this project, we were to produce a complete documentation and analysis of waste on construction sites. We should analyse and explain the reason why waste is produced in construction sites, and to overcome it, giving creative and innovative methods to reduce and recycle wastes. All these documents must be compiled and shown in an A2 size research poster, it should show our studies, findings, innovative solutions and good visuals of each of our products. As for the individual part, we were to create a creative and meaningful object from construction waste to demonstrate our awareness and appreciation towards the environment. This object should remain durable and beautiful for 3 weeks outdoor. The size of the object was limited to A3xA3 size maximum. Originality will be important in producing the object. The object that I have created was a tree made out of wasted steel wires. The bottom of the tree is a candle holder, it indicates that if we keep cutting down trees or burning forests from their roots, our trees in the future will be made out of steel instead. The top part of the tree acts as a key hanger, which also symbolizes houses we live in. The houses that we live in were built on the price of trees.

Research Poster

Tree of Life

Tree of Life with keys hanging

Architecture Culture & History 2

Project : Architecture Heritage Building Analysis

Our history 2 project was a 13-week project. In a group of 4, we were to select a building and study the function of the building type to serve the community within its vicinity. From our
observations on site, we needed to identify the different architectural elements (exterior and interior) that have been adapted to site to best serve the practical and functional needs of the local community as compared to the similar building type found in another region. Also stating how local technology, materials, climatic conditions, history, culture and beliefs influenced the design of this building. We were encouraged to conduct interviews, library research, photography, sketches and drawings to record our findings.
The site for this analysis was Klang. We have chosen the MPK (Klang Municipal Hall) as the building that we will analyse on. Throughout the project, we have visited the site several times to collect the data needed, conducted interviews with related people, researched in the national archive, and took plenty of pictures on site. 

For the group part of the project, we were to compile a complete report on the heritage building selected. A report including facts about the building, contextual condition, architecture elements, and the design concepts of the building. The report needed to have approximately 2000-2500 words. It took us sometime to collect all the information needed as some of them were hard to obtain. However, after organizing the data that we have, we divided out jobs and managed to come out with a written report.


Moving on to the individual part of the project, we separated the information into 4 parts, history, user and context, design concept and architecture elements. Each of us focused on a topic and made a analytic board of it to present it to our lecturer. This analytic board was to help us explain the findings and show how much we understand about the building.

Here you can read the complete report

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8hgiOMglBrhTGhld0JRYk9ualk/edit?usp=sharing

Analytic Board of MPK

Building Construction 1

Project 1

Experiencing Construction: Experiencing, documentation and analyzing construction process

Our task for project 1 was to select ongoing construction site which visibly covers most of subject topics covered in the syllabus. Our selected sites must be medium rise or low rise buildings, for example: bungalow, terrace houses or maximum 4-storeys building. We were to identify different types of building elements and its construction process, details and materials. We were asked to study and record construction of different building elements, which we have learnt in this module. We should be able to show and apply ourknowledge in the details of the building construction drawing that we should provide a reflecting of our understanding of the construction itself. It should be an A3 bound report complete with visuals, sketches and manual drawings inclusive of the detailing and documentation of the project we have selected. The sketches must be hand drawn, neat, clear and annotated. The report should include construction process, methods, material, site context. We must be able to explain the specification of material used in construction, dimensions and sizes of components, standards of descriptions, procedures of constructing the components, and also construction response to site context (environmental issues related to sustainable development) in the report.

This was a long and difficult project as we had trouble finding a suitable construction site. Our visits to the construction sites were delayed but nevertheless successful. By visiting the site and talking to people there, we managed to understand the process of how a building is built from foundation to roof. The site visits helped us greatly in doing the report as we got to see the details ourselves. However, we did our fair amount of research to understand better and to be able to produce quality drawings.

Here is the link to view our report
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B91P5xhXvWIDRWVpemZFc05EdFU/edit

Project 2

Integrated Construction Detailing/Drawings

This project is a continuation of the first project-an integrated project where it involves construction detailing solution for final project in design studio. This project is designed to allow the demonstration of knowledge and understanding of construction and application from prior project. Emphasis in producing related manual construction drawing. In this project, we should develop and demonstrate some knowledge of construction, materials and structural theory in a small scale design project. Our task for this project were to identify and propose 3 details for selected element or part of the building apart from providing the necessary plans, section and elevations. The 3 architectural details should cover the roof, superstructure and the foundation. The details must be drawn manually and have appropriate specifications, symbols and dimensions to reflect the proposed materials clearly. The selected detail should be details of interesting construction solutions for our own design. 

Similar the the previous semester, our final project was a integrated one with Design Studio. This time, it was much harder as we have learned more and basically know how a building is built. I have chosen the construction materials and methods that I thought was appropriate for my design. 

A2 presentation board of integrated project

Design Studio 2

Project 1

FAMOUS PEOPLE, FAMILIAR FACES

DIAGRAMMATIC ABSTRACTION

The first project of Design Studio 2 was divided into three parts, an introduction video, A3 drawings and also models. It was back to the basic, introduction. This time, it wasn't about self introduction, instead it was an introduction of a selected architect. The architect that we have chosen was Glenn Murcutt, an Australian architect. In order to make a good introduction video of Glenn Murcutt, we in a group of 5 did plenty of research to truly understand his style and works. This part of the assignment enabled us to identify various architects and their respective architecture style. The next part of the project required us to produce a complete set of architecture drawing of a selected project (private residence) from the architect. After lots of analysis of Glenn Murcutt's works, we decided to work on the 'Ball-Eastaway House'. We thought that this project shows a great amount of architecture elements in Glenn Murcutt's design style. Finally, we had to investigate and formulate our findings into a set of 5 models (6x6x6cm). The models should be able to precisely show the information of the analysis. We were asked to use not more than 3 colors and the models should be beautifully crafted and placed on an A3 MDF board for display. After all the works were done, we presented our conceptual models alongside the architecture drawings to our lecturers.

This project proved to be a good project to kick start a new semester. It was an interesting way to learn more about various famous architects and to actually study their projects ourselves was an amazing opportunity. This group work also required a lot of mutual understanding between group mates, thankfully my group mates were really up for it, which made things so much easier and fun. I have learned to analyse and identify key elements in a building instead of just looking at it as a whole in the past, it was a satisfying experience that i felt a connection between Glenn Murcutt and myself.

Here is the link to our intoduction video of Glenn Murcutt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Egm6nukbuI&list=WLtmXmOZ1EG8kGNsShrXXA-nJgEaVDXzC9

Conceptual Models

Conceptual Models

 Set of architecture drawing we produced on Ball-Eastaway House.

Project 2a

Bay Watch

To conduct project 2, we had to go to Penang for a site visit. The site that was given was Pantai Keracut, Teluk Bahang, in the Penang National Park. In group of two, we were to begin with a volume in the form of a solid cube 3 x 3 x 3 meter. By selecting a beach/water sport activity, we needed to design a life guard post for the purpose of monitoring/guarding. It shall include the activities of observing, resting, eating etc. in which furniture and equipment must fit and be incorporated with the spatial planning. This structure should correspond to the site that we have chosen. Adequate access, circulation and fenestration are mandatory. For this project, the site analysis was vital. Every information must be considered before designing the coastal guard post. Similar to the previous project, we needed to produce a 1:50 scale model with drawings to support it. With the concept that we got from pictures taken during our time in Penang, we developed our design several times to come out with a form that we think fulfills our concept of diverting motion. Our model were then rested on an A3 board and were presented with 3 pieces of A3 drawings.

Pictures where we got our inspiration from, we wanted to show how motion reacts to still and how it is diverted. In our case, our tower acts as a diversion of human flow.

Coastal Guard Post

Coastal Guard Post

Project 2b

Pantai Keracut Retreat

Project 2b is a continuation of project 2a, using a similar or derived concept from the coastal guard post, we were to design a retreat house at Pantai Keracut. This retreat must function as a habitable architectural spaces to enable the activities associated with living, dining, cleansing, cooking, storage and such within a build up space of 150 square meters. The relationship between the building and context is important to make the building unique to its landscape and activity. I have decided to focus and explore on the concept of motion and still. Through tutorial sessions, my idea strengthened each time. Thus, helped me to get a firm understanding of what experience i want to put in my design. I have incorporated a few information from the site analysis into the design because I felt it was important to cause as little damage as possible to the nature and the site while designing. Turtles appeared to be my main concern because they come onshore to lay eggs almost every month. The spatial organization of my design was almost decided by the nature, bubble diagrams helped in placing the basic needs where it is needed. After the design was set, I worked hard on the layout of the presentation board to showcase my retreat design in the best way possible.

This project opened my eyes toward the real world. I have experienced how to work on a selected concept and to never waver upon it. Explorations helped to generate ideas that further developed into designs. I noticed that we cannot forcefully create a form or a design, the design comes itself when you truly understand the concept behind it. I have also realized how important a site analysis is. Without the site analysis, we cannot know what the context is like and will not be able to do what is best for the site. The information that we managed to collect were very helpful. Moreover, I have seen how people can get inspired by just anything in the world, even small things that we do not notice in life. I think I have gain a lot in the sense of architectural knowledge after this long and hard semester that prepares me well for the next one.


Here are some pictures of the presentation boards and models displayed for presentation purpose: