BANDING SKETCH 05

Aku meneruskan perjalanan kembaraku,

Menyusuri jalan yang pernah kutempuhi,

Suatu tika dulu;

Di saat kecilku yang gembira,



Perjalanan ini akan mengimbau kenangan,

Menjejaki perjalanan yang kian sesat,

Moga kutemui jalan;

Selepas kebuntuan,



Dalam pencarian ini,

Aku mengerti... erti ketawa dan gembira,

Usah perlu mengempita dunia;

Cukup sekadar seukir senyuman,

Yang terus terpahat dan terlekat disanubari,



Bunga-bunga senyuman ini,

Membangkitkan wangi kedamaian,

Semakin harum baunya,

Semakin dekatku rasakan kehadirannya.

NEW HALL HEY - phase 2

The first entry on this development is done earlier with basic 3d modelling. This is another stage of development on this job.

During that time Dave, who is the architect in-charge was away for summer holiday; spending his time on a boat near Mediterranean. Despite the nice and sunny beaches, back here in the UK the work still needs to move on especially when the project has already received clients' feedback and comments. So, without Dave around I was the only available to complete the job.


What did I learn (thanks to my other colleagues for their advices and guides) :


1. The loading and unloading area gradiant ramp

2. The standard leisure ceiling height

3. The standard food outlet ceilling height

4. The beam zone reserved

5. The ceilling zone reserved

6. Solution for different level for a central core

7. To standardized cladding panel and glazing


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

LOVE, LIFE and CAREER

Christopher Gardner: [voice-over] This part of my life... this part right here? This is called "happyness."Movie: The Pursuit of Happyness (2006).

It has been 2 weeks now since the first day me, my wife and my two sons got reunited here as a family. Since then, we are busy patching the time that we have lost along the way. It was among our happiest moment together. Spent time the way we used to be not so long ago.

Thus I haven't spent much time on the blog itself but just simply post old works without spending ample time to review it. So there are just pieces of raw data that have yet to be digested. It seems like a sequence of pictures of life but not yet a complete story to tell.

However when I'm unable to justify the work that I had done during the day on this blog, it eventually become just another daily routine. At the end of the day, it will make you work like a robot who just work with less ability to think. Again, it also makes me feel lazy and remember less thing. I guess I should get back on the blog to write down my thoughts and review works before I'm totally conquered by the laziness. Would we really have life if the days that pass by are filled with nothing but routines? Or it is just work rather than career?

There is a demanding need for maximising the quality of Love, Life and Career. It must also be celebrated together with different kind of mixture to create variety and robustness to stay alive. I've learnt how people here spent quality time in their working life.

Now everything will be blend together as it should do; LOVE, LIFE and CAREER.

Love is a constellation of emotions and experiences related to a sense of strong affection or profound oneness

Personal life (or everyday life or human existence) is the course of an individual human's life, especially when viewed as the sum of personal choices contributing to one's personal identity.

Career is a term defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as an individual's "course or progress through life (or a distinct portion of life)"

BANDING SKETCH 04

DI LEMBAH BANDING


Di suatu pagi di lembah Banding ini,

Kocak air meritma degup jantungku,

Kegirangan rimba membangkitkan jiwaku;

Sinar mentari menghangatkan gelora cintaku,



Di lembah ini aku berdiri,

Menghirup udara dingin nan segar,

Tenaga alam ini meresap keseluruhan pembuluh darahku;

Mengalir deras, sepantantas ilhamku,



Di lembah terpinggir ini,

Ingin aku terus menetap di sini,

Menghayati dan menjiwai akan kedamaian ini;

Bebas dari kekalutan kota,



Di lembah ini tidak seperti di lembah kota,

Di sini daranya masih belum ternoda,

Di sini iramanya cukup membangkitkan;

Di sini kutemui teman...

MIX-USED DEVELOPMENT MASTERPLAN

http://www.rgp.uk.com/

BANDING SKETCH 03

DI BAWAH JAMBATAN BANDING


Penantian ini penuh ketenangan,
Tiada keresahan dan kegelisahan,

Setenang air di tasik,
Begitulah jua aku,


Di jambatan ini ku sambungkan
Kecintaanku kepada tuhan dan kepada insan,

Moga disuatu masa akan ku temui,
Kedamaian.

Dibawah Jambatan Banding
14th November 1999

BANDING SKETCH 02

This is a note regarding the bus route. It covered a lot of places and villages that I myself have never known of. The views started with an old royal town in Kuala Kangsar and ends in Gerik Town. The scenery changes as you move towards Gerik Town with the changing height altitude. During that time a new highway was on construction, a few route linking to MRSM Gerik had been completed. Though the road has been widen, the traffic amount was still small. Sometimes I feel that the bus is the only vehicle on the road.

Despite the noisy engine of the small bus, the outside panorama is surprisingly calm and peaceful. Most of the villages are still intact. Maybe next time when I have the opportunity to travel on my own car during the holidays in Malaysia or “cuti-cuti Malaysia”, I will stop by at these places.

My fellow travellers made some notes on my sketchbook. It was an honour to have their notes on my humble sketchbook.

BANDING SKETCH 01

rough quick sketch
a small note and sketch by my friend

12 November 1999

This is a series of sketches from my old traveler's book. The journey was to a lake called Tasek Banding, Malaysia.

This ordinary travel trip was also a significant turning point in my life when I took a break from the hectic study schedule to find a peace in my mind.

The journey begins... and continues on till the present time.

ARCHITECTURE NETWORK

A few days ago I read an announcement on the friendster from my former school group. It is about a website developed by a group of bright young students dedicated to the Students of Architecture at UiTM (MARA University of Malaysia).

This is a good attitude towards developing a sense of belonging to our school. To show my support for this effort I have joined the group and become a member of the website. The birth of this media platform will eliminate the barrier between lecturers, ex-students and students for the first time. http://www.arcanawar.com/archijoomla/

The creation of this website is a good effort; we should support this and make it worth for our school. I'd say that this is like a charity support. If we don’t have the facilities to donate money or material, the least that we could do is to give support and our small words of encouragement would help others to move further ahead with their initial effort.

The biggest challenge that they need to face is the inconvenience truth. The truth that most of the working architects are very busy in the practice; the truth that most of us from the hand drawings era still find it sceptical to use the web tools, the truth that most us are rarely using the email to stay in touch with our friends what more of using other web groups to keep themselves updated with news from their circle of friends, and the truth that many of us still prefer to look at pretty pictures than reading the beautiful words composed to describe the underlying ideas and design concept. The most disturbing of all, is the fact that majority of web users would normally visit the site as a mean of generating ideas for their own advantages than sharing/contributing their ideas with the rest of the community.

If this website ever becomes an official UitM Architecture alumni webpage, more supports from various parties will be needed to make it an excellent and useful website to the whole UiTM architecture community. No matter how great the problem that they will face, they will have no other option but to overcome it. Turning their back against a good effort that they have started is a sign of FAILURE!

An excellent and informative website/portal is a reflection of our dignity and pride for the future to come. So, let us unite and walk together into the new wave of the 21st century!

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Malaysia License.

HOW TO GET EXTRA TIME IN ARCHITECTURE?

FADZIL-ko buat blog mcm paklan laa...aku nak nengok gak keja2 ko.. please...please... (aku pon heran...MANA PAKLAN DAPAT SPARE TIME BUAT DIARY KAT BLOG DIA TUHHH???) cozSHYREEFA

First of all alhamdulillah; thank you God for this opportunity. I really hope my dear friends could spend sometimes creating and updating their own blogs (if they love to write) or anything of their interest. The news about a friends and his/her family is more important than gossips. The reason why I started bogging can be found at this link http://jalakmas.blogspot.com/search/label/00%20-%20WHY%20BLOGGING

This time I want to share my secrets on how do I get spare time apart from the busy life in architecture firm. Here are some of the secret ingredients:-

1. Cut travelling time
I used to travel 1 hour to the office from the place that I lived before. Now, having to rent a room near the office had given me the extra time by reducing the hours of travelling back and forth to work. Unfortunately, not everyone has this privilege. Back in the university, I used to travel 1.5 hours to my design studio from home and took another 1 hour to my part-time office and still had little spare time. I took the travelling time to think and resolve the problems I was facing. It was quite relaxing to think and find solution when I was out of the office or studio. It felt like taking a walk in the park. By the time you are in the studio or office the next thing that you need to do is just work!

2. Get to work on time -
I've learnt a lot about the importance of time. Not regret it. Get to the office on time means to start the journey on a reasonable time. The word reasonable is to make sure you are moving in relax mode so that we can think about what we are going to plan for the day. If you’re driving at 150 km/hr, under the rushing gear; I suggest that you put in 110% concentration on the road.

3. Plan your work
Remember the old schooldays when we were young? Our mother used to prepare the clothes on the night before, making sure the books are all placed in the bag, the shoes are all ready with matching school socks. Similarly, we need to plan ahead of what we want to achieve in the day, and prepare the things that we need to bring earlier. This will help you to think ahead of schedule and reduce time finding where the other side of the socks’ pair.

4. Concentration
This is the most crucial moment in work. After we had planned what we need to do, we need to fully concentrate on the work. Full concentration at work will help you meet your target for the day.

It’s also a good practice to avoid music during this period of time. This may sound weird for creative people like us, but believe me it works. We actually need the music if we need to think and find inspiration or idea for a solution. Usually, the need for music is a sign that you aren't ready to concentrate on your work.

5. Get back in time
If you plan your work properly you’ll be able to leave work and head home on time. There will be no more staying late in the office. People used to think that staying late at night in the office is a sign of being a good worker, (Japanese attitude) but actually an inefficient worker (to the western world). We may stay if there really is an urgency to do so, (usually we as 'kuli' couldn’t avoid unplanned schedule made by the client) but we must bear in mind that we need the rest of time to spare for our own life and interest.

6. Money ain’t everything
This is also related to give you more time. I've learnt from my own experience that financial problem will make us think more about making extra income. I used to do freelance work day and night to fulfil the need of the family and not to mention being the eldest in the family I have more responsibilities and expectations to fulfil. Yet it is better to spend time making extra income rather than staying back in the same office for the same salary at the end of the month. But make sure the extra time spent is worthwhile.

7. Don't bring home your work
This will spoil your time. Unless it is really necessary. But this will prove that you are not efficient at all.

8. Spent quality time for family and friends
Most of us just sit and watch television without talking to each other, or just hang out with friends by watching another TV program in “mamak” stall. I don’t mean that we need to avoid such activities but if we need more time, we should spend some quality time with them. Plan an event or activity to do together. I used to follow friends for fishing (eventhough I’m not a big fan of the activity) but I joined in just get to know my friend better and learn fishing but I do get some peaceful time while waiting for the fish to make the biggest decision in its life!

9. Get some good rest
We need to rest in order to recharge our mind and energy to complete the challenge of the next day at work. If not, we will feel sleepy and tired. Our eyes may seem to be wide awake but our mind is still sleeping. This will drag more time on making decision at works which then result in not meeting the task target. I sometimes sleep late only when the following day is a holiday or weekend.
"The brain uses sleep time to process the day's experiences. Also, creativity works during sleep time. The brain compensates for inadequate sleep with shorter attention span, lowered creativity, reduced memory capacity, more rigid viewpoints, and irritability"

In conclusion, the busiest among us can find time for ourselves between chores and appointments. I've recently read a great blog of my SIFU who is a much busier person. And I hope I could read more from my friends sooner or later.

"If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time or the
tools to write". Stephen King, On Writing, p. 147US horror novelist & screenwriter (1947 - )

HOW TO GET EXTRA TIME IN ARCHITECTURE? by
Fadzlan Rizan Johani is licensed under a
Creative Commons Pengiktirafan-Bukan Karya Terbitan 2.5 Malaysia License.
Based on a work at
jalakmas.blogspot.com.

ANGIN PERANTAUAN

ANGIN PERANTAUAN

Angin Perjalanan,
Kencang membawaku kepadanya,
Seperti kencangnya degup jiwaku;
Menahan kerinduam itu,

Aku bisa tercampak oleh angin ini,
Terjun kedalam dakapan bayu,
Terbang ke alam mimpimu;
Di lapang rumput yang terbentang,

Perjalanan ini semakin laju,
Selaju fikiranku ini,
Mengenangkan apa yang bermain;
Difikiranmu dan difikiranku,

Kini ia meluncur sepantas masa berdetik,
Sehingga menjelmamu di kabut,
Membelai manja;
Saat bersama selamanya.

Saat Pulang dari Singapura,
29 Jun 2002

SUNDERLAND RETAIL PARK

September 2006

These are my first few sketches that I did before I started using sketch-up. The project is about a refurbishment for an existing retail park. The idea is to give emphasis on the angle of entrance signage to be observed from both sides of the front road. Due to the location of the project being set back behind from the main road, it is vital to emphasis on the signage to be visible as much as possible. Hopefully this will eventually overcome the current problem of not being visually visible from the main road.

I sketched the proposed design on top of an existing photo layered by tracing paper. Then it was scanned and coloured in Photoshop. It would be better if we could colour using markers but it's hard to find full range marker colours in firm nowadays. Maybe the method is more expensive than normal printing. But I believe the digital edge art work seems to be less valueable than an original sketches even though it has the same artistic features. I would still prefer a canvas painting than a normal print out of the same drawing.

There are painters who transform the sun to a yellow spot, but there are others who with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun. Pablo PicassoSpanish Cubist painter (1881 - 1973)

UNITARIAN CHURCH RENOVATION

4th August 2006

During my early days in RGP, I’ve been trained by Reid to do several technical works. This small renovation works is a good exercise to begin with. It provides a good example to UK standards and regulations.

The jobs covered are: -

1. Site measured drawing
2. Material studies
3. Appointment with various suppliers
4. Prepared sample board
5. Prepared construction drawing
6. Specification

Even though it just a small job, but the amount of detail and technical knowledge needed is huge. Maybe because I’m not doing it often like the design works. The skill will come with experience and more exercise.

Hopefully, in future I could continue with site supervision. Till then I just do my best for the firm.