LABUHAN DAGANG - tourism terminus

This is my design project which was done during diploma 08. The site is in Tasik Timah Tasoh, Perlis. We were assigned to design a Small Medium Industries (SMI) exhibition centre for our traditional product. The centre should not just be a place to display our traditional product (Batik, Songket, Tembaga, Anyaman etc) but also as a centre for SMI training.

At first the site was analysed in groups. We had to make the site model and site analysis for our reference. Then, in the next stage would be a study on various SMI which was related to our project. Both studies were then being referred to formulate our own individual design brief. I chose to create a centre for learning Batik, Songket, Tembaga and Kompang.

These series of studies on the traditional equipment had enlightened my knowledge on my own Malay culture. It would have needed a great deal of lectures to put these cultural seeds in our architectural learning. The understanding of our own culture was then incorporated into our design could be a journey to understand who we are. Someday when we get drown in the latest modern designs we would stand firm on our cultural roots and create our own unique design identity in the future.

There was a lot of design idea being thrown into the project. I didn’t have enough time to make further design development. My old Pentium 2 PC took ages to generate drawing, visuals or even to print. To over come these difficulties I had to cut-and-paste various ideas onto the final board. And to maximise the time I had left, I had to dump all the design that I had done during my part-time office to formulate a new design. This would reduce the amount of time needed to think of the toilet layout, lift lobby, staircase design, roof detail and many other typical design and focus on the main design idea.

But I got carried away with making a complete detailed 3d model. Then when it got completed I fell like taking all the angles on the model to show how much design input that I had applied on it. That was a mistake that I learnt. I should have gotten a priority list on my design. I had so much idea that I felt like presenting it all.

Now when I re-visited this work I could see a lot of design idea that have the potential to be re-used in real projects. Ideas that I wish I could further develop. My excitement grows even more wildly when I could import the old 3d model into the current 3d software and explore it in real-time. Being able to feel the adventurous elements in this design gives satisfactions that I hardly get in real practice. It makes me realised that only imagination is the boundary.

LABUHAN DAGANG-tourism terminus Diploma Architecture 08, UiTM
original write-up

IDEA:
A newly wed couple went to 'nat', pekan sehari - a one-day market just to buy mangos. This 'nat' offers a variety of mangos, from imported mangos to local mangos. The loving couple moved from one stall to the other looking for the best and cheapest mangos. While dropping by other stalls, the wife had a glimpse of 'rebana'. She was thinking, "Is that a 'rebana' that I've just seen? Or it was just my imagination". Interested in the existence of a 'rebana' in the middle of 'nat', she pulled her husband's hand and headed for the place where she saw the 'rebana' just to proof that she was not dreaming. Once they got there, they saw a man demonstrating the making of a 'rebana'.

Sounds familiar ha? I'm confidently sure that most typical type of Malaysians experiences this when they go to certain places. A typical Malaysian has a common habit known as 'singgah sat' which means dropping by a place for a while just to look around with no purpose at all.

This concept is applied to Labuhan Dagang to buy local people's attention as it places different types of things at its so called 'nat', varying from food to furniture which are mainly originated from the northern region of peninsular Malaysia.

Traditional design applied in ancient building constructions, is a heritance that no money can buy. These ancient heritages had never spoken arrogantly like the modern buildings that we have today; instead they spoke and behaved in the most polite manners - using the humble language, revealing them as down to earth type of building. Today's modern construction stands and acts alone, being isolated from other building population.

Labuhan Dagang, is an industrial tourism terminus which had been generally designed to promote tourism through small and medium scale industrial activities throughout Malaysia. Located in Timah Tasoh, Perlis, Labuhan Dagang will be one of the main tourism attractions as it locks together all the traditionally woven industries such as songket, batik, traditional music instruments and 'tembaga' - a brass metal, in order to exploit these industries. Hopefully, the exploitation of these industries will enhance the preservation of all the characteristics that belongs to a historical, traditional building by applying these qualities to all the buildings constructed in Labuhan Dagang.

DESIGN ANALYSIS:

Some scanned sketches that being able to documented.

PRESENTATION BOARD:Conceptual Board'Nat' Market SMI Board Generator SMI board Batik and Songket SMI BoardTembaga Handicraft and Music Instrument SMI BoardAdministration and Facilities BoardElevation - PENAMBANG TIMURSection - PENAMBANG TIMURElevation - PENAMBANG BARATSection - PENAMBANG BARATSection 'Nat' - Admint (perspective) Section 'Nat' - Admint (To Scale)

Being able to feel the adventurous elements in this
design gives satisfactions that I hardly get in real practice. It makes me
realised that only imagination is the boundary.

LABUHAN DAGANG - tourism terminus by Fadzlan Rizan Johani is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

DREAM CITY 01

EVOLUTION OF BUILDING

The image above is a short remodelling exercise for an extension of a conservertory in a terrace house design. The idea is to illustrate to the planner how a renovation on the terrace design would be built should the potential buyers plan to renovate this house. This would then become a guide to its future extention.

The possibility for future extention is a fantastic idea of further developing a building thus evolving it from its previous form with new features. It would provide owners the opportunity to expand the building in order to accommodate their changing needs without comprimising the architectural value. It would eventually reduce the effect of undesirable terrace extention which very often does not only synchronise with the original design but also spoils the genuine beauty of perfectly planned building.

Lesson: Considering the Evolution Of Building

http://www.rgp.uk.com/ RGP have an innovative approach to architectural design. We have no dogma, no standard answers and we are spirited and fun to work with.

BINLEY SHOPPING PARK

"A great intention on detail also creates a beautiful design look gorgeous."fadzlan rizan

Below is an abstract from the design statement.:
Building Design

5.1 All the buildings in the scheme are designed to be unashamedly modern in appearance and not follow the ‘vernacular pastiche’ stylistic precedent set by the adjoining developments. Plan shapes and dimensions will provide a range of unit sizes, and the requirement of a number of potential occupants for full or part mezzanine floors will result in varying eaves/parapet heights.

5.2 The plans, structure and elevational details will be designed to allow flexibility in sub-dividing the blocks to suit future letting patterns. This will help to ensure the long term viability of the scheme.

5.3 The principal materials to be used for the external envelopes will be architectural masonry, brick, flat panel Trespa and metal cladding, powder coated metal, self-coloured render, and curtain walling with clear glazing and look-alike panels. All cladding panels will be of high quality, with airtightness and insulation values to meet or exceed Building Regulation standards. The horizontal setting out and the sharp edge flush detailing of the panels, together with the strong horizontal lines of the black powder-coated elements, will give a contemporary appearance, which matches public expectation of such developments.

5.4 All shop fronts will have extensive glazed panels amounting to a large percentage of that wall area at ground level and a glazed canopy will run the full length of all the frontages. There will be high level glazing in those units containing a mezzanine floor.

5.5 All pitched roofs will be contained within parapets, with the single exception of the roof of the unit abutting the apartments, where the parapet will be omitted to reduce the effect of overshadowing.

5.6 The gable and rear elevations of unit 24 are very prominent when seen from the A46T and their design reflects this prominence. Extensive use of Trespa and curtain walling in large panels, together with recessed corners exposing circular columns, creates a more massive, urban, scale and form, in keeping with their location.

LINK

http://www.rgp.uk.com/ RGP have an innovative approach to architectural design. We have no dogma, no standard answers and we are spirited and fun to work with.

RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT

I was once again asked by the residential team to help them prepare the design presentation. It was good to be involved in residential again once in a while. It refreshed me from any routine-like job. Thus making the day a little bit more interesting as it took me away from the more challenging job. It was like painting art work again.

I was amazed with this typical British housing. It has very typical layout and elevations yet once the right materials consisting of various colour of bricks, stones, slates and timber are applied onto it, you'll see how different the typical housing has magically been transformed into. They revealed the pure and true beauty of the materials. The house is no longer a plain, simple, concrete house or cheap brick covered with plasters, painted with fake colours!

Lesson : Understanding true beauty of materials

http://www.rgp.uk.com/ RGP have an innovative approach to architectural design. We have no dogma, no standard answers and we are spirited and fun to work with.

THE RGP APPRAISAL

“Devoted to produce the best work”, that was a phrase that had been added to my recent appraisal by my director. Although it might be true, I would never write it to describe myself as I don’t intend to blow my own trumpet. This was my second appraisal with the company. This year I had written the pre-self appraisal question with more realistic approach in mind.

The appraisal is not only to assess my achievement and performance during the previous year but also to plan for a year ahead on my personal development.

One question that keeps on popping during the appraisal was about my progress towards obtaining part 3. I am getting used to hearing it by now. It still remains a dream awaiting to be realised. I do hope I would be able to reach that dream soon. I would consider this part 3 thingy as a holy title that needs to be carried with dignity and responsibility. Thus, it will need a lot of experience, work and patience.

Although I did not put my part 3 development in my current appraisal as a top priority like last year but I did put my step towards it clearly; putting one step at a time as my strategy towards achieving that popular title. I would not write down all the processes to gain part 3 because apparently I might not be able achieve it within a year period. What I did write was the first process that I need to master in my preparation to become the master builder. The first step is to design!

On the other hand, I leave a fair comment on my job; “Generally, I’m happy with my job because I’m able to fulfill the work expectations and deliver the task to my utmost best” The appraisal process is designed to benefit both myself and my career development. It is not a salary review even though most people believe your good performance should be materialised as an increment in salary, promotion or even bonus.

I later then had a conversation with the chairman while we were overseeing the traffic at our local carboot event. He said that most companies in UK are now having hard time due to the credit crunch crisis in US which eventually affected the UK economy. I also hear that a lot of jobs had been cut down in various industries. Therefore, I am not putting so much hope in any salary review but I really hope that my employment is secured and at least maintain the current salary. It has come to my surprise that despite of all the current hard time, the company is still giving me salary rise. I am so grateful and feel really relieved that I am seen as a contributing employee and a part of company’s assets rather than a liability.

I am so grateful and feel really relieved that I am seen as a contributing employee and a part of company’s assets rather than a liability