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An intriguing interview with the author of the Old Town Botanic Gardens, Chiang Her, expressing his thoughts on his design thesis journey in 2019-2020 session. We felt the concept as one of the most excellent ever done by a design thesis student from UM, however controversially it is a master planning project, which is deemed "lack building" but that is why it is such a good project. How architecture uses the natural environment to create a presence of a "natural structure".

Chiang Her explained that: Petaling Jaya Old Town is the oldest planned township in Malaysia but sadly, nowadays it is been tagged as a “Dead Town”. In fact, the town is not dead at all it just needs some improvements to make it more attractive and charming to live in. In this design thesis, it identifies the following issues: (a) The town is lacking of a formal, open space to dignify its identity; (b) School children are lacking of sufficient opportunity to engage with outdoor and natural education and (c) The KTM tracks on the southern edge is not serving the town efficiently.

From these issues, it derived to the design titled: “Old Town Botanic Gardens” which is a shared common in service of health, education, transportation, outdoor activity and immediate neighbourhood identity. The site contexts including the immediate neighbours, topography and existing programmes are studied and induced a derivation of a series of gardens and architecture which are all connected by a continuous & covered corridor named “The Spine”. The Spine forms the elevation of the whole botanic gardens, but it is more than an elevation, it is an edifice, a series of formal entrances into the gardens. Link to drawings: https://designthesis.wordpress.com/2020/07/31/wong-chiang-hers-old-town-botanic-gardens/

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Introducing another urban design and master planning project that proposes to rejuvenate Petaling Jaya (PJ) old town with a Botanic Gardens project for the design thesis batch 2019-2020. Wong Chiang Her's main contention were on the issues of the lack of identity; lack of outdoor and natural environment for educational facilities and the relocation of the railway station (KTM) nearer to the centre of the old town. The solution is shared common in service of health, education, transportation, outdoor activity and immediate neighbourhood identity. Chiang Her will be interviewed regarding the concept of the Spine to lend as an architectural device that uses landscape design and plantings to generate new programs and make alive this vital edge of PJ old town.

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A compelling story of Eva Liew's design thesis journey, including her struggles on doing an urban design and master planning project.

Eva Liew identified that the biggest problem was the lack of spaces for recreation, and an urgent need to reclaim the public realm for the people. The road is designed for cars and not for humans. Trying to create a better public environment for the B40 population with the lack of public transportation, Eva chose to prioritise the street environment and solve the complex problems of the street with structures for recreation and in between spaces to add the much needed pocket parks and other community programs.

Eva Liew's Kerinchi Neighbourhood Park Linkage design thesis project was commended by the external examiner at the end of the year, although her project was argued to be a "non architectural project" in the portfolio review session. The examiner said more of urban design and master planning projects should be done by design thesis students. Eva's interview provides an insight to her design thesis journey despite all the setbacks was a very positive outcome for her.

Link to drawings: https://designthesis.wordpress.com/2020/07/28/eva-liews-kerinchi-neighbourhood-park-linkage/

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Learning has no boundaries. The design of a school should not have boundaries. The school is part of Kampung Kerinchi.  Amirul Hakim Ismar's Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) school is a design thesis project that dealt with the B40 community's problems of kids not interested in education. The image of the technical and vocational school in Malaysia needs to be changed. It is not an "alternative" to the mainstream school, asserts Amirul, but as just one of the choice the student will take. We need to be saying the right things about education. A compelling story of his experience and thoughts, learn more about what Amirul has to say about the project's importance in the context of Kampung Kerinchi and addressing the nation's issue on TVET. The link to the drawings: https://designthesis.wordpress.com/2020/07/25/amirul-hakim-ismars-technical-and-vocational-education-and-training-tvet-school-at-kampung-kerinchi/
© 2020 Talk Architecture, Author: Naziaty Mohd Yaacob
Art work in podcast is the site plan & masterplan by  Amirul Hakim Ismar's  design thesis project 2018-19  named  the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)
Drawing  © Copyright: Universiti Malaya, Author:  Amirul Hakim Ismar

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We are reviving this teaser as the EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with Eva Liew is coming up next week. Check out Eva Liew's Kerinchi Neighbourhood Park Linkage, a "controversial" project that was debatable whether it is an "architecture" project, but it was a very necessary urban design project to be done for the Unit 2 Design Thesis Studio at University of Malaya's School of Architecture, as it is the bigger picture / master planning solution that deals with the big void of the heart and soul of Kampung Kerinchi. A mostly high-rise and high-density low cost housing with poor facilities for recreation, proper access to streets and social environment were the complexities that Eva dealt with in her design thesis, in terms of transportation, recreation and social spaces. This teaser podcast (last published in May 2020) is a reintroducing the project and we shall have a podcast interviewing Eva on her design process and why she thinks the project is important and what were her challenges when she faced with dealing with the project. 

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Malaysia's solution to help reduce school drop-outs and employment is the creation of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) school ( believed to have been introduced just recently in the last 15 years), and this teaser provides a glimpse to the issues and design thesis concept that Amirul Hakim Ismar explored in his design thesis project in 2018-19 at Kampung Kerinchi. The street concept is the solution to creating an urban TVET (for school leavers at 16 years old) right in the area of the B40 population (low income earners) where the most important thing for a child is to put food at the table for the family, and due to this pressure, TVET provides the education for a semi-skilled and even skilled work-force, and why not right in the middle of the city where the urban condition is situated, literally next to your house. Something to do with their hands and earn some money and building a small business enterprise right in the school itself, would create a different meaning to the idea of what a school should be to help these kids. Tune in to the interview coming soon. 

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A sincere viewpoint in this interview with Ahmad Zaldarriaga Sadain’s with his design thesis project of the Kerinchi Market Link undertook to solve a bigger area straddling from the main sites of Kampung Kerinchi to the other side of the highway at Kampung Pasir and beyond to Jalan Klang Lama. (Key – “kampung” is village, “jalan” is road). In order to solve the problems that beset the residents who comprised mainly of the B40 population of mostly low income earners bordering on poverty, people who needed to work at three jobs in a day, struggling with the lack of social protection and care and the lack of nutrition and basic necessities, the Kerinchi Market Link was created with a number of social and economic uplifting programs and connecting accessibility to these facilities, made complete sense. Juggling with the many varied programs, including an agricultural park / urban farm, the technical solutions made at the conceptual level will be leveraged for the people, by a business model to include the Indah Water Consortium land, illustrating a highly impactful investment scenario and not only mere corporate social responsibility. Drawings can be found here: https://designthesis.wordpress.com/2020/07/20/ahmad-zaldarriaga-sadains-kerinchi-market-link/

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Ahmad Zaldarriaga Sadain's Kerinchi Market Link is a complex programmatic urban link that connects Kampung Pasir to Kampung Kerinchi and Jalan Klang Lama, including small businesses and enterprises, transportation and agriculture. The project proposed to solve many community problems such as poor living conditions, malnutrition and economic uncertainty. The design proposal at first, looks into the bigger context of Kerinchi. The physical infrastructure allows nearby existing activities and needed facilities such as a wet market and alternative transportation modes to be integrated, forming an active spine for Kerinchi. We look forward to Zee's interview to explain why he did this proposal and what it could offer to regenerate and improve the living conditions, employment and economic activities of Kerinchi.

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First Day Special Semester (Pre Design Thesis) Site Visit:

Today's University of Malaya's campus site visit started at 7 am and was in most parts a drizzly rainy affair. We walked from the front of the Law Faculty, to the Faculty of the Built Environment, Faculty of Medicine, chatted at 9:45 am at the University Malaya Medical Centre's Food Court and continued through the Faculty of Engineering, across the garden around the varsity lake, chatted in front of the Library and went pass the Dewan Tunku Canselor (main hall) and ended with lunch in Bangsar. We observed a lot, ask questions and stopped along the way many times, talking about the in-between spaces, relationships, what is missing and much more. In this podcast, we try to summarize the important points by inquiring the "why", "what", "who" questions namely, hoping to start further conversations to assist the studio.

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Find here in this refreshing podcast interview, Low Joo Yin's related account, both personal and objective, providing the listener clues to how she interpreted a "client" which at the outset is uncertain as the "local authority", when a street market has to do with the community, it's social-cultural identity and basic needs for household items and food.  

As Joo Yin delved further into the project, she discovered it was not just to "sort out" the street market of it's haphazardness, dirtiness, lack of facilities in general and problems of traffic congestion and flow. She kept on visiting the site and found out what people really need, who the real clients are which led her wanting to design for the people and focused on seeing how people would use her design. 

Joo Yin stated that a small project or seemingly lack of a large building does not necessarily mean lack of complexities. The system thinking that designer explored in such a project, in terms of logistical flows of three conceptual frameworks of business, transportation and social-cultural aspects in the urban context, challenged her immensely as a graduating architect, and provided a sense of philosophical direction for her approach in her working life later. 

The case study of Joo Yin's design thesis, in the 2018-2019 batch, proved how the architect needed to command urban design problems in a very technically-driven circumstance, yet be designing for the community, designing with empathy. 
See the drawings here:  https://designthesis.wordpress.com/2020/07/11/low-joo-yins-street-market-at-kampung-kerinchi/

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