As an ego-stroking exercise, that kind of scale works out just fine for a person with a god-complex syndrome like me

43 acres masterplans, 8 million sqft of floor space. Among other. My mind went into an automatic shut down when confronted with a lot of figures, so I can't really remember what those other impressive figures are. I got dizzy just listening about them, partly because I couldn't even begin to comprehend the physical vastness of those figures translated into the built environment.

So I reckon I have to forget about designing intimate urban spaces like user-friendly surface car parks (yes I actually enjoy designing car parks, parks is the operative word here), squares, pocket urban spaces, and the like and don that cloak of masterplanner. It's just so much easier if the solid and voids are already there and my task is only to make the voids work, but it's back to my old role of shaping the solids and voids.

And my 10-12 hour days will start next Monday. Well actually I was asked to come tomorrow, but I wanted some more days of sprawling out like a beached whale while staring stupidly at the telly. Some people are born with the natural talent to work and some don't. I belong to the latter.

It's really nice when the boss told you that they'll brief you on the projects and then you can see what you wanna do and they'll help you to build your portfolio. What's even nicer is it only took 15 minutes of a very casual conversation with the boss to get back in. Boy, they must be pretty desperate to take me back that easy, heh. Or maybe it's because I told him it's only temporary and the thought that I will leave one day make it better.

Nah. He's a nice guy.

I even know where I'll sit. Opposite my old desk. Yeah. Not much change of a view.

So I'm back to working on top of that Renault showroom in PJ while figuring out my next step. And from the looks of it, it's all urban design and masterplans full throttle.




Perhaps I'm preparing myself for something.

I must have this book

I saw it first in a bookshop in London. I wanted it then.

I saw it again today,well, here. I want it still.

I've seen those percentages time and again at the Venice Biennale, and I still manage to get awed every time (well maybe because numbers don't make sense to me usually).

I sense the geek in me struggling to get a grip.

(Click on image to get more information about the book)

Sketch Series 2: Around the Stadthuys

First stop: Chendol Stall by the Bridge

Being Malaysian, it is imperative that I start everything with the 'kita minum dulu!' (let's have a drink first!) spirit. Hence, upon alighting from the car (I asked my grandpa to chauffeur me around town for a bit this morning), I purposely crossed the road to the Mamak Chendol Stall by the Bridge. Actually there is another shop selling really good chendol in the Jonker area, but for the life of me, I can't remember the location. This sketch, which was supposed to be my warm-up sketch (but turned out to be nicest of the bunch too), was done while I was stuffing my face with two small bowls of chendol. The clock tower is located on the Dutch Square (The Stadthuys) and was built in 1886. Behind it is the building that was built by the Dutch for administration purpose, which the British also used for administration when they managed to wrench Melaka away from the Dutch. It was built on the ruins of the Portuguese fort.

It was really nice sitting under the tree by the Melaka River, eating chendol and sketching at the same time, while listening to Tamil music on the radio. I was joined by a Chinese boy and 2 Chinese girls later and when I wanted to pay for my chendol, I was told by the Mamak that the Chinese girl had paid for my chendol. I went to ask her about it and she didn't seem to realize that she had paid for me, and so I offered to pay. But she refused my money, saying 'tak apa, tak apa' while pushing my hand away. My luck then.

Second Stop: Christ Church.

This church is the oldest Protestant Church building in Malaysia. Yes, it is still being used today. I didn't know that. Shame on me. I thought it had been converted to a museum, as all the other red colored buildings in this area are. I would've gone in had I known it is still functioning as a church.

Man with trishaw.

This was one of the least 'decorated' trishaws around. Today the trishaw only serves as a tourist attraction, but when I was a kid, it actually served as a public transportation. My mom and I used to hire a trishaw to take us back home whenever we went out shopping in town. These days they use an umbrella to shade the passengers, but back in the day they used to have this canvas foldable roof which is way cooler if you ask me. Somehow rather, the umbrella doesn't have the same elegance as the foldable canvas.

Fourth Stop: One portion of the facade at The Stadthuys

Although The Stadthuys is made up mostly of stones, some portions of the second story is made up of wood. You've got to give it to the builders of the old, as it was all harmoniously composed and the proportions are to die for. This particular facade caught my eyes and I lodged myself on the steps in front of it to sketch it. If architects are allowed to have favourite elements, then the 'louvers' is my poison. I fell in love with this particular architectural element since the beginning of my architectural education, and to date, nothing else has managed to take its place. I love the louvers for the practicality and also the understated aesthetics it brings to a facade. If there is one thing I love more than the louvers, then it has to be the adjustable louvers, as The Stadthuys evidently has.

When I was sketching this, a group of Japanese tourists walked past by and several of them stopped to watch me. Those who stopped told me that my sketch is beautiful and one dude gave me the thumb up and said, 'good!' before patting my shoulder as he was leaving. As much as I would like to pretend that I'm cool and words of praises mean nothing to me, I must admit that that felt good =)

Final Stop of the Day: Democratic Government Museum

Were it not for the result of the last election, I would have been convinced that democracy is dead in Malaysia as we have a museum dedicated to it. This is one of my favourite buildings in the area. Shamelessly modernist, it fits surprisingly well into the context. This sketch is also crap as I was experimenting with my 0.4 felt tip pen (the other sketches were drawn with a 0.2 pen) and the proportion is wrong and so are some of the details. It is actually a very beautiful building but my sketch obviously doesn't do justice to it. I heart modernism. I really do.

My grandpa asked me to bring over my sketch book to his house once I was done. When he opened the book he let out a short cry, which sounded a lot like disbelief. He then asked me if I actually drew them myself and although the temptation to kid around was really high, he is also hard on hearing and that would take some of the fun away, so I just nodded. The guy has been there for all of my important dates since I was a kid and yet he's really clueless about what I do. My grandma referred to my course as 'kursus lukis-lukis' (drawing course) for quite some time and I didn't bother to correct her. It was not until later that she referred to it properly, no doubt a kind soul (which I strongly suspect my mom) had taken the time to explain it to her. Oh well. They looked at my sketches with such pride that that was such a precious moment, and I just thought that all the critics at the Bartlett can go to hell, my grandparents love me!

I'm going to KL tomorrow to sort out a few things and if I have time, I'll hang out again in this area. I really wanted to sketch the old Chinese townhouses in the Jonker area and perhaps I should concentrate on that next time.

Note: All sketches save for the last one were drawn with 0.2 Artline felt tip pen on white A5 paper. Sketch book courtesy of the Tall Dane who will claim credit once I won the Pritzker ;P

Consultation

What striked me with awe the most yesterday was how people are really engaged here. It's only a proposal to refurbish a square in front of their blocks of flats and to upgrade certain common facilities, but hey, if it is to affect their daily lives, they very damn well have a thing or two to say, and sometimes in a not very polite manner too.

Some people got really agitated about the smallest things. Their demands and concerns can be very specific, and as a newcomer to the project it shamed me that I'm not that familiar with the area. That prompted me to go for another round of site visit to have a look at the area of which I'm part of the design team.

As I've said, some people were really agitated. One woman just stormed out of the church because she was upset. At the risk of repeating myself, I was at awe with how engaged and passionate people are with their surroundings. If they can have a say about something, then they very damn well would have a say. Even if they're not consulted but still they have a thing or two to say, then hey, just wait for the petitions to start coming.

I was at awe because this would never happen in Malaysia. Public consultation is an alien concept and besides, the public just do not give a damn about getting involved. We're rather jaded as a society. Maybe because we've never really had a platform to affect change and the politicians have always taken a patronizing approach when dealing with the public majority, over the years we came to believe that there's nothing we can do. As a society we have this 'tidak apa' (it's ok) mentality even though we're getting screwed in broad daylight sometimes by those in power. We are as a people, to put it in a not very mild manner, fucked.

We believe that there's nothing we can do. We believe that as individuals we can't affect change. We forgot that a lot of individuals make up a significant number, and then what we have is a significant majority who are supposedly well informed but are just content to let things go to the dogs.

How do we sleep at night? Oh as long as we have our grilles on our doors and windows and we didn't forget to set the alarm before we go to bed, we'll be fine. Who cares about what's going on out there, it's not our problem.

I told my boss that we don't have this in Malaysia. People just don't care. He proceeded to say but you do so many big tall buildings over there. I answered by saying well that's why we could do that, you just don't ask the people. You just do it. The government is still very much the patron in this matter.

Yesterday, a woman who walked with a cane spoke to my colleague for an hour yesterday just to make sure that we will resolve the connectivity for the disabled. She started by speaking to me, but when she questioned our design decision, I mean proposal as nothing's decided yet and hence the point of the consultation, and said that it's pointless and we (the people) are going to pay for it with our money. As a designer, the reason why we proposed that was clear cut to me. We wanted to raise the level of the car park so that it's at the same level as the street and pedestrianise it so that it's safer and more pleasant to use. We also proposed a ramp besides it so that the disabled can use it. I honestly don't understand why she was opposing it as the existing car park is crap and there is no connection at all for the disabled at the moment.

I passed the buck to my colleague. Didn't know how to handle that. I am always bad at communicating the obvious. And as a true product of the society, I just realized that I myself took a patronizing stand when thinking about the public. I'm the designer, I know what's good for you, was my approach. I didn't realize that but I did yesterday. A real eye opener, that.

I've never met these people before so it was a surprise when some of them said that I've spoken to them before. People were generally friendly, and even when they get upset, you understand that it's nothing personal.

I think that one resident, a certain Tommy C, an old gentleman with real charm and a tad cross-eyed, was probably there just to kiss the girls. After greeting me with 'Hello sweetheart,' I don't think he listened to what was explained to him anymore. When I met him outside the church on my way back from my site visit, I stopped and we talked. After quizzing me about whether I remember his name, he proceeded to tell me his flat number (which for some reason I still can remember but won't share with my gentle readers just yet) just in case I need anything. After saying 'you're beautiful sweeheart,' Tommy just leaned over and smack, planted a wet one on my cheek. Tommy is probably as old as my grandpa and even if he was probably a leery old man, I didn't feel that way.

Father D, who unlocked the church door for us yesterday, looked more like a redneck with his rough looks and buffed body and crew cut hair. When he came to see us in late afternoon in a pair of very short shorts and a sweater and told us he was on his way to the gym, we told him that we probably could figure that out. He then said that he would look totally different tomorrow morning (Sunday service).

There's a lot to be done still. Yes it's only a refurbishment proposal for a public square but this will take time.

It was a fine day. I learned a lot.

Caffeine

I managed to go for two weeks without touching coffee at all. I gave up on Monday. Am averaging two mugs per day now, which is ok.

I used to chain drink coffee. Well, what I used to chain drink had some coffee in it at least. Back in Bolehland I couldn't function properly without a mixture of Nescafe, Milo, and milk. By the time I add water, the mug would already be half full (ever the optimist). And I would continue making mugs of it through out the day.

It's a wonder I still have all my teeth. And we all know my digestive system has given up on me a long time ago due to my zealous intakes of chilli.

.....

I've been making a model of the site since Tuesday. Site's pretty, it's in hilly Sheffield.

Note to self: Next time don't use so much glue. Carving out cardboards glued overzealously is not that much fun at all. It's heart-wrenching to see my beautiful model torn out.

It's ok. Got to wear a cool pair of goggles to do the model. They said be careful, if the blade snap it might get into my eyes, so don't take off my glasses. Dude, without my glasses all I can see is a blurry version of things. I jokingly asked if there's a pair of goggles lying around somewhere. 2 minutes later, I was wearing one.

I get up in the morning to go to this cool place to make things. While listening to Nina Simone.

I think I can like this job.

Oh and I've been asked if I could come to a consultation event. You know, to talk to people and explain things (so perhaps I'm not exactly the bumbling idiot I thought I was). We'll use the information gathered to develop the design.

Cool eh?

I don't think people do this in Bolehland. Well, not to my knowledge anyways. Site analysis is usually done by taking in the physical factors mainly and even the feel and experience is taken from the perspective of the designer. Newsflash: Let's ask the people what they want! Well, they'll be the ones using the bloody space anyways. Designers seldom use the space they created themselves, unless of course, it's their own house. Designers always assume how people are going to use the space while really, they don't have a clue. We are too weird to function like normal people do. We do things for the wrong reasons. Attuned to asthetics, sometimes we sacrifice practicality, while the average joe really just want to walk the fastest route so screw this business of pattern-making on the landscape.

It's participation. I'm not that crazy about talking to people really, but for the sake of designing and getting the information, I'll do it because I think it's bloody crucial. it's democratic, well, at least the people have a say in how they want their environment shaped. Also by getting them involved in the design stage, they would feel a sense of ownership and care more about the space. It's about fostering that sense of neighbourhood.

Perhaps this is the result of hanging out with the Tall Dane and the Only English Girl In Our Class. Those two are really into this participation thing and although I found it interesting, I found other things more interesting (for example, my quest for the inclusion of landscape into the process of urban design which I never got to solving, I think the subject is worth another masters, or a PhD. Hell, who wants to study anymore?).

The time of the gentleman architect with the royal patron has long past. It's the time of regeneration and thus the inclusion of the people in the design process. The people ARE the patron.

Unless we're talking about the Middle East of course.

I sound like a bloody socialist don't I?
..............

Can't believe it's Friday tomorrow. Where has the week gone?
...............

Oh elusive flat, please materialize. I think I've found the flat that I want, well, judging by its description at least. It's a studio with a separate kitchen and the rent is inclusive of all bills, which is very good.

Haven't seen it yet but the agent said she'll arrange for a viewing.

If I like it I prolly would just snap it on the spot. You have to move fast in London.

...............

Have a nice weekend people of the world.

Chasing Pavements

Because I'm an urban designer, *insert maniacal gleeful laugh here*

The Idle Mind

Even though I'm idling at the moment, still I feel excited to sign up for the competition.

Might as well. It's true I'm idling, but the thought of doing a short term project of which I don't have to answer to anybody and can do whatever I (or we) like is very tempting.

Will write more after we've submitted the drawings and who knows, maybe win it =) I haven't won many competitions, maybe I should try wanting to win for once.

To my partner in crime, I'm very excited! First brainstorming meeting this Sunday maybe? I've registered, we are officially participants!

Design design! Woohoo!

The Future is Now

Having listened to mlj talking about what she wants to do for the umpteenth time (no Maja, I'm not asking you to stop talking, besides, it's not like you're gonna let something like a post in my blog stop you from ranting to this long-suffering friend of yours, hehe), I naturally began to think about my own direction. mlj, being the uncompromising idealist that she is, wants to do something involving community participation and research, and not really keen on doing urban design in terms of designing per se. It's nice to see a friend having such a clear vision, even though it's quite off the beaten path.

As for me, well, to tell the truth, I'm not that crazy about working with people. It has something to do with my natural temperament. I can get very impatient and thus can get irritated or bored quickly. People don't interest me, their spatial requirements do. I'm not interested in talking to people, I'm interested in their architectural needs. As far as architects go, I'm about as anti-social as they go. Yeah I know about all those things about architects being social animals and stuff like that but I don't know, I'm just not like that. I feel more comfortable with a pencil and a paper rather than having to sit and talk to people. In an ideal world, I'm the bugger who use the research findings of the likes of mlj for designing. And since she's super at drawing diagrams, I'm sure she'll spare the likes of me the torture of having to read oodles of words (Maja, I'm hinting for future reference).

Seeing her being so idealistic, I just wonder about my own standing. I started out being quite the idealist too, but somehow rather along the way I've gotten rather disillusioned. Having had to deal with clients who think they know better and tried to argue stuffs from the urban design textbook with me, it just took a superhuman strength for me to remain calm and not start shouting at the swaggering know-it-alls. It just sapped one's spirit. I really thought I could make the world a better place, not because I'm a patronizing holier-than-thou egoist standing on a pedestal looking down at the rest of the world, but because I'm really selfish and I take my designs personally. I design things imagining I'm going to use them, and if it seems substandard to my liking, then I'll ditch it. Which was why drawing the masterplan for a residential area in Tehran was bloody painful. Imagine having patterns from a Persian carpet as a concept. I managed to draw it of course but not without alternating between fits of laughter and resisting the urge to smack my head against a brick wall. And that is my problem. I can't design something that I don't believe in. Well I could, but it would be plain torture. And as banal as it may sound, I would really like to enjoy my work, thank you.

Which is why it probably wouldn't hurt if I were to improve my communication skills. If I could manage to convince people that the design is wonderful and they can make an obscene amount of money out of it, then why not? Everybody wins. The end user gets a nice space, the client gets the money, and more importantly, the designer's ego is pumped up until she could float in the air.

Sigh, there really is no running away from talking to people is there?

I think I want to design. I enjoy designing, I enjoy drawing plans and sections and elevations and imagining people using the place that I've created. I want to work at a place which has a vision, and not just another firm churning out one masterplans after another without much thought. I want to enjoy my job, and to do that I can't hate the kind of work I would be doing. I want to be engaged in what I'm doing, and not just treat it as a means to pay my bills. And since I can get demotivated easily if I was bored or have no belief in what I'm doing, the firm that I would be joining should have a clear vision of what they want to achieve. I don't mind working for a firm which is after money, after all money is a great motivator, as long as the principals do not sell out on their own principles. I want to work for a firm which has its own agenda and knows how to achieve it, and make oodles of money on the side, of course.

I don't know what I am, but I know I'm not a realist. I don't really have grand motives of saving the world, all my motives are selfish and personal, and if they somehow get aligned with making the world a better place, then isn't that just dandy?

And oh, architecture can wait. Right now, being the power-crazy bugger that I am, I want to make decisions that can affect people at a larger scale, so urban design it is.

Anyhoo, I'll talk to my personal shrink first before continuing this rant about my direction in life. It really won't hurt to know my own strength and weaknesses. The timing is about right.

Imagine having the means to influence people's lives on a big scale.

Scary innit? Terribly exciting too.

8 Critics! (Panic Attack iii)

There would be 8 critics present to see my presentation.

Add to that my tutors, maybe another 4 or 5.

Add to that my classmates, around 20 strong numbers.

And I'm gonna be standing out there, alone, trying to sell my design.

Last night it came to the point where we used Sir Terry Farrell's presence as a gauge, as in 'Now, would I feel comfortable presenting this design to Terry Farrell?'

Oh well, worse comes to worse, I'd probably provide him with a good laugh to start the day.

Hmmm.

To all of you out there (yes all 5 of you), please pray that everything would go fine for me. That would mean that I wouldn't talk in a speed that would rival a bullet train or worst of all go blank mid-sentence.

I'm about to finish. Can you believe that?

Don't Look Back In Anger a.k.a Panic Attack ii

I know I've had too much of Coldplay when I felt like throwing up when they played Clocks (which is a very very excellent song and is one of my favorite) at Sainsbury this afternoon.

It's no joke when you've downloaded the whole discography of a band and you've listened to it on loop for about 4 days.

4 bleedin' days of Coldplay.

Time for some Oasis.

After that, I'm gonna have to start having a go at my old MP3s.

Yes people, crunch time is here.

Yeah you're my Wonderwall.

Panic Attack i (yes I'm expecting more)

OMG OMG OMG, we've got our presentation schedule, and I'm gonna have to present in front of Terry Farrell.

I have absolutely f**k all.

Random thoughts (ii)

After using the word freely for so long and not really thinking about it, I think tonight (because I'm writing my stupid dissertation) I finally sort of understand the term organic in relation to cities. No , I don't totally get it yet, but I'm finally grasping the usage of the term when it is used to describe cities.

Apparently, all these while, when I say organic growth, it just means incremental. This is due to my failure as an urban designer to understand the nature of cities. (It's true, the more you know, the more you know that you don't really know shit).

Organic cities are comparable to organisms, where form relates to function (there's a reason why we have fingers for example, though I guess even if we were designed with webbed limbs, we would have adapted just as well somehow, or maybe that's the one factor that saves us from being extinct in terms of evolutionary process, hmm, ok now I'm digressing), and growth doesn't just mean incremental in terms of size. It means the reorganization of city structure, as in the increment would affect the older parts of cities, just as the increment happens as a result or a response to the factors happening in the older parts, and there might be a shift of balance or changes of function respectively. And just like organisms, there's a cycle of life and death in various parts and it is through maintaining this rhythm that a dynamic balance is achieved.

Wait. I know all these things. I just can't summarize it all up by saying 'organic'. (I don't know English can be that concise).Because that's not how I understood the word before. Argh.

Sigh. J. is right, I really need to to articulate my thoughts. Properly.

Design Process ii

Part of the process is coming to the realization, or finally accepting, that maybe some of your earlier decisions could be naive and simplistic.

Well nothing is cast in stone, and the point of the exercise is to test your decisions. If you can't move forward because you're stuck with the method, then maybe the method needs revision.

Furthermore when you've mulled over it time and again and it didn't take you any farther. Sometimes you just have to accept that it doesn't work and a good shake up is what it needs. Sometimes when you overdo things you just kill it and walking away may be the best thing. And then come back with a fresh approach.

As long as you keep your eyes on the objectives of course.

Another day, another lesson.


(mlj, I could volunteer to be your case study for design process. I don't ask much, just a duck and some rice pudding, hehe).

of decisions and determinism

as an urban designer, how do you make decisions without being deterministic? we can all predict growth patterns, how things would be and should be, based on our own educated assumptions, which probably won't be too far off, provided you really understand the way people live and make decisions. the problem with being a designer is of course, caught up in your own sense of idealism, you forget to be people. and you forget that for most people, they wouldn't care less if their move from driving a car to taking the bus to work, would probably reduce the ecological footprint, and thus save the bloody environment. people are people. they have enough on their minds not to worry about mundane stuff like saving the world. they leave things like that to us, the designers.

but people change, together with the flotsam and jetsam of urban flow. the decisions that you make today might be obsolete tomorrow, together with that beautiful plans and sections that you've drawn lovingly. if the responsibilities of making decisions fall on your shoulders as the designers, then when do you stop being deterministic and let things happen organically? if whole urban systems have to be designed to be flexible, then what are the things that you decide, and what are the things that you just let be? how do you make sure that your city won't collapse once things you've never been able to foresee happen before, happen?

this is not about planting trees in your streets, or choosing the right pavement blocks to go with your nicely proportioned square. oh these things are important all right, for god is in the details, and it is through the details that people appreciate the urban environs. but this is not the focus, because taking for granted that people should be adept at greening your streets and paving paths for pedestrians which are basics for urban design, there are larger issues at hand, regarding whole urban systems and the way we live. urban design debates have always been rather traditional, focusing on the city per se, and the romantic notion of the atmosphere and the texture of the city. having vistas and landmarks and nodes and squares alone do not make your city a success. for how do you then explain putrajaya, which could've been straight out of the traditional urban design textbook, with all the key points checked if you want to go by lynch's image of the city? is it a success if getting from your house to your office on foot or by bike is suicidal, judging by the roads that mercilessly shaped the city, which are mostly highway standard? is it ok to depend so much on the automobile and in doing so, design your city to accommodate for cars, while it should be cars that accommodate the city? is your work done once you've drawn the beautiful plans, with your roads snaking like tentacles all over? or would it have been different, were you to think further before putting pen to paper, by developing urban systems of connectivity and movement, then your finished plan (which is never ever finished) might take a different form? and if you've thought further, then maybe you won't end up with domes all over the place, which is climatically incorrect, and culturally confusing.

the root of the problem lies in the way we deal with the built environment itself. segregation of tasks, of who does what and who designs what, have resulted in an urban form which reflects the confusion and the mess we all put ourselves through. an urban designer should feel at home designing street furnitures just as he/she is comfortable with designing transportation systems. one person should be able to have a technical overview of the whole system, and who else fits the bill if not the urban designer? if the architect's concern is about buildings and the planner's concern is about zoning and distribution of functions, and the engineer is concerned about infrastructure and the landscape architect is concerned about the park bench, then the discipline where they come together, which is urban design, should be the platform where you can get an overview of the whole system. and to tread gingerly between making clear decisions and not being overly deterministic, well, that's the challenge.

good luck to me.

(this entry is the result of losing precious sleep trying to develop an urban system which is sustainable. after this, i'm going to be sustainable to myself and go to bed. the world can take care of itself while i slumber and dream of blue skies and bright sunny days)