THEORIES OF ASIAN ARCHITECTURE
(ARC60704)
This module helps us to explores the history of architecture in South, Southeast, and East Asia as a whole, as well as architectural design and construction, building science, and technology.
project 1 - reading the contexts of traditional streets .
In this assignment, we are required to conduct a virtual visit through Google Earth to one traditional street assigned in the brief to study the distinctive characteristics of the street. Based on the selected street, we are then required to identify its physical and non-physical contexts in several aspects. The traditional street that I have chosen is Jalan Tun HS Lee, it was one of the earliest and most important commercial thoroughfares in Kuala Lumpur. We are required to produce 8 pages of A4 size sketches to show our understanding of the distinctive physical and non-physical contexts of the chosen street in 4 weeks' time.
self reflection .
Throughout this project, I've learned the relationship between architecture and its social, cultural, and intellectual context. This project also helps me to understand how to identify the distinctive characteristics of a traditional street. Even though I do not get to visit the street physically due to the pandemic, but the distinctive characteristic of Jalan Tun HS Lee is so strong that you can easily found it all over the internet. I am amazed by the social and cultural essence of Jalan Tun HS Lee as it still captured the bond between the three major ethnicities in Malaysia which are Malay, Chinese, and Indian. If I were given a chance to re-do this project, I must visit this street physically and spend more time studying the relationship between its architecture and the cultural context of Jalan Tun HS Lee.
assignment - infographics .
This is a small exercise that required us to present our understanding of a particular type of traditional architecture in an A3 size format. Based on the lecture handout and external resources provided by our lecturer, we are required to choose one type of traditional architecture to produce an infographic to reflect our understanding of the selected type of traditional architecture based on design thinking, history, society and culture, building typology, spatial layout conception, structures, materials, and constructions. The type of traditional architecture that I have chosen is Chinese Architecture as I think Chinese Architecture is beautiful and it has a long history.
self reflection .
project 2 - research in asian architecture .
This is a group assignment that required us to have at least 6 members in the group and it requires us to research and discuss significant issues to generate a critical understanding of tradition, modernity, and globalization in the Asian architectural contexts. This project is driven from Project 1 where we have to expand our research from Project 1 to the specific scope of the study. We have to expand our study of the building by undertaking one of the directions which consists of Architecture and Place Identity, Adaptive Re-use of Traditional Architecture, Sustainable Heritage Tourism, and Cultural Space in Cities. The direction that my group has chosen is Sustainable Heritage Tourism as the street we are going to further our research is Jalan Tokong and Jalan Tukang Besi in Melaka which has recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site. This project has 3 submissions which included a Topic Proposal (Due on Week 10), Research Poster, and Video Presentation (Due on Week 13 )
self reflection .
In this small assignment, I've learned to identify the accuracy of facts and put theories into practice. I've also learned how to organize an infographic poster in a clear way for viewers to understand. I had fun doing this assignment as it was satisfying to organize the information and graphics into the board. Throughout this assignment, I also understand more about design thinking, history, society and culture, building typology, spatial layout conception, structures, materials, and constructions of Chinese Traditional Architecture. I also rewatch the pre-recorded lecture and the lecture slides to ensure the informations that I insert are correct and accurate. Overall, I am happy with the result as I think the infographic is well-organized and well-visualized.
In this project, I've learned how to research in a clearer way and more in-depth. I've also learned how to communicate research findings through expressive and effective verbal communication as we have to do a pre-recorded presentation video. Throughout this project, I've also learned to choose my groupmates wisely next time as we have 6 members in the group and 2 of them were not contributing to the project. It was frustrating and helpless for the 4 of us as we have to do more work and spend more time on this project. But other than that, it was a good experience as we get to research the Sustainable Heritage Tourism of Melaka which was an interesting topic.