Project 1
The objectives of this assignment are as follows:
1. To have an overview of the formation of cities and introduce basic concepts of urban design about the architectural design
2. To introduce and implement primary methodologies of urban studies
3. To investigate the role of multi-user typologies in traditional and contemporary urban societies
4. To examine various examples and architectural responses for urban blocks
The project is about improving an urban node's spatial and social qualities within the Kula Lumpur City Centre. There are two sites in the historic quarter of Medan Pasar. The blocks are fragmented and were built in different periods due to the evolution of private sectors' hegemony. Some parts of the blocks are also attempted for conservation by the location authorities.
The study has to be done in two levels of complexity, namely, the macro and, with more focus to, micro contexts. At the same time, the macro research is about the role and how the location fits into the city. In micro-study, the students are to comprehensively study urban form, activity, and movement patterns. ‘Legibility Analysis’ (Bentley et al. 2013), a method to explore Kevin Lynch’s Elements of legibility (Lynch, 1979), is employed here as a study method. The students are to establish possible opportunities (such as routes and attractions) to sustain and offer legibility by the proposed Community Centre for the Creative City. The students will also begin to demonstrate an understanding of the urban issue given in the scenario above. The course work will integrate to Theories of Urbanism in which the Studio site (the street) will be studied for the spaces between the buildings, focusing on the public realm, furthering the case studies from the West. Such an understanding should reflect here in Project 1a.