Lecture 12 | toad

PHENOMENOLOGY OF PLACE

Phenomenology of place. Everyone will have different sensory toward a place if the aura of the place itself is not strong and less of characteristic. Therefore when we are designing a building, we should do our best to blend in the architecture to the environment, to avoid the breach of duty. When architecture suit with the landscape and environment, and enhance the existing sensory of the environment itself, it call architecture, otherwise, it is only and building. We should integrate regional characteristics into each of the architecture element, to achieve harmony between the architecture and the environment.

“The significance of place in human experience goes far deeper than this is apparent in the actions of individuals and group protecting their places aginst outside force of destruction," - Edward Relph

Would be choosing my year 2 sem 3 project to elaborate about this topic. It was a project at the site in New Village Jenjarom. It is a traditional Chinese new village like how the rest of the new village like in Malaysia. Without this project, we would never know what is the history and story of each of the new village, which is something we, as the young generation should know. And we realise, most of the youngster today knowing nothing about the historical moment, when the Briggs implement the policy which to gather all the Chinese residents into new village, to block the connection between the Chinese and the Communist. This is something to be remembered and recall, a historical moment that can never be erased nor forget.

During the emergency period, Chinese were forced to move to the new village immediately after they being told. They were forced to leave their home where they create and “stores” their memories, and move to a place where is totally mean empty to them. Therefore the centre of the museum is designed to be empty (void).

However, after they have move to the new village, they built their own house by their hands, and new memory begin to start and created since that moment, therefore a tree is planted at the center if the museum once the construction has done. When time pass, tree grow, representing the “grow” of the new memories of the villages.

There is only one circulation in my building, which representing how’s the life of villagers in new village last time is been controlled. They have to follow each of the rules that fixed by the Briggs and have no right to take any alternative way. That’s, call controlled.

Gallery 1 was design to with the ceiling height of only 1900mm, to enhance the pressure to the visitor when they are walking in this space. This area representing the segregation times, where villagers are living under the pressure given by the Briggs, insecure.

Then, as the visitor moving forward, it looks like there would be have a higher ceiling at the front, but actually when going up to the stairs, entering Gallery 2 and Gallery 3 it eventually becomes even lower. This representing when the segregation has comes to the end, the villagers thought that their life has been relief, But who know, what is waiting them at the front was the heavy economy crisis and heavy flood which destroy their homes and plantation.

The form and shape of the building is designed base on the architecture vernacular study of the site. Continuous wall with vertical strips opening were design facing the south-west direction, where most of the wind come from.

First floor is design to be lifted up with solid wall, to reflect the winds comes from the east direction to the café area, to provided better natural ventilation.

Material used are timber and bricks, to avoid the breach of duty.