SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI 1429 Hijrah

Esok atau lusa kita semua umat Islam bakal menyambut kedatangan Syawal dan merayakan Hari Raya Aildilfitri. Ramadhan yang pergi harap dapat bertemu lagi.

Pasti ramai yang sedang sibuk dengan persiapan untuk pulang beraya di kampung. Ramai juga yang dah "shopping" raya. Membeli baju baru, kuih-muih dan barang hiasan rumah.

Anak-anak pulak sedang sibuk menghitung hari untuk mengumpul duit raya. Duit poket "extra" yang diberi setahun sekali. Sekolah pun mungkin dah mula bercuti.

Ramai juga pasti dah takda "mood" bekerja atau sudah pun balik beraya.Inilah masa yang ditunggu-tunggu untuk menziarahi sanak-saudara dan kawan-kawan yang jauh.

Di kampung, persiapan sudah sedia menantikan orang kota pulang beraya. Pelita telah sedia dipasang. Kampung yang sunyi kini kembali hingar-bingar dengan pelbagai cerita dari orang bandar yg pulang ke kampung. Ketibaaan seorang demi seorang ahli keluarga menambahkan lagi kemeriahan.

Segala suasana itu amat kami rindui. Masa kanak-kanak kita yang telah lama ditelan arus kedewasaan. Masih ingat bagaimana sibuknya Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman dengan terpaksa diheret berjalan dari satu kedai ke satu kedai untuk membeli hanya sepasang kasut.

Teringat bagaimana aku sibuk membantu arwah Tok Long membakar kuih sepit di bawah beranda rumahnya.Tok pula dulu masih kuat membuat ketupat dan rendang.

Terkenang rasa gembiranya pulang kekampung berhari raya. Semangat untuk mengumpul duit raya sehingga menjelajah keseluruh rumah dari hujung ke hujung kampung. Hinggakan terpaksa membuat beberapa "round" demi mengosongkan poket baju yang makin sarat dipenuhi duit siling.

Ketika ini Wardina sedang seronok menyanyikan lagi-lagu raya. Mungkin dia cuba mengubat kerinduannya dan menghidupkan suasana menjelang hari raya. Aku memahaminya. Ini kali ke-3 buat aku dan kali ke-2 buatnya tidak pulang berhari raya.

Anak kami Azhan dan Zulkarnain masih belum dapat merasai suasana hari raya di Malaysia. Masih belum dapat bersama kawan-kawan sekampung "meronda" berhari raya. Tidak berpeluang bersesak-sesak membeli belah baju raya. Belum dapat merasai suasana balik berhari raya di kampung. (dulu balik masih kecil lagi)

Inilah antara harga yang perlu dibayar dalam perjalanan kami. Perjalanan untuk mengubah nasib dan memberikan harapan baru buat anak-anak. Sedang kita tidak mahu mereka melalui kesusahan masa lampau kita, seperti mana ayah kita juga tidak inginkan kita melalui kesusahan mereka; kita juga terpaksa mengorbankan detik manis dalam kepayahan itu.

Namun disebalik segala ralat di Aidilfiri nanti, kad ucapan, SMS, panggilan telefon, email dan pelbagai lagi ucapan telah diterima.Terima kasih juga buat kawan-kawan yang mengirimkan ucapan hari raya. Tanda ingatan semua amat kami hargai.

Sedang aku terkenangkan masa-masa lalu, sebuah bungkusan telah tiba. Bungkusan yang membuatkan Azhan dan Nine begitu teruja dan seronok...sangat gembira. Segala ole-ole dan kuih-muih yang terkandung didalamnya mengubat sedikit kerinduan kami... terima kasih tidak terhingga kami buat mak dan ayah. Moga Allah sentiasa melimpahkan rahmatnya keatas mereka.

Dan buat semua, terimalah poskad raya yang "poyo" sebagai tanda ingatan kami. InsyaAllah kalau ada umur panjang boleh kita berjumpa lagi...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jalakmas_photography/

MENARA LEMBAGA GETAH MALAYSIA - MRB TOWER - episode 1

In this post, I’d like to feature one of my Architecture school projects which I did during my year 2. It was the semester when we set our design study to reach out for the sky; we were studying about High-rise and Skyscrapers.

We were given the chance to choose our own client. Then, we got to create our own design brief according to the clients’ needs.

To tell you the truth, in order to create a real life brief one needs to spend an awful lot of time in bureaucracy and make appointments and go through a lot of procedures before one could actually sit down and formulate a real design brief.

I had no luxury of time because I was already shouldering a huge responsibility as a father to my two sons but I knew this should never be used as an excuse. So to ensure that I still work within the time constraint, I decided to choose a client that I could easily have good access of information. I chose Malaysia Rubber Board as my client simply because my father is one of the government officers who work for the Board. My father provided me information based on his years of service in the board which was a tremendous access for me to get first hand information straight to the core of understanding the need of a “client”.

Malaysia Rubber Board in fact has a headquarter office, known as Menara Getah Asli which currently stands right across from the infamous Petronas twin towers. So this brief was formulated based on the possibility of expanding the board in the future.

The project for this semester might be seen as just a “dream”, however the process of making this dream had already made it a reality.

BOARD 1

2 x A0 saiz Presentation Board

This design approach is dedicated to develop a new building for Malaysia Rubber Board (LGM) that had contributed lots of new technological advances in the rubber industry in Malaysia for the past 75 years.

The new building reflects the corporate image of LGM as one of the government
bodies besides the Petronas which keeps Malaysia on the edge with other developed countries.

Everything that makes a giant tree comes from the seed. All that is needed for the growth of a seed is a little bit of sunshine, water & minerals. The same applies to the rubber industry, the seed is the most vital element in developing it.

LGM is very synonym to rubber as the main function of the board is to seek for new technology in the rubber industry. This could be easily seen from the LGM logo itself, where a rubber seed is proudly portrayed on it. Again, this shows the importance of rubber seed in the industry. These are some of the reasons why the rubber seed is used for the main concept to unleash the corporate image of LGM. The floor plan of this building takes the shape of the rubber seed which is safely protected with an outer layer that looks somewhat like a shell. If one has the chance to analyst the nature of rubber seed one will find that there is an empty space in the centre of it. And this empty space provides good air circulation for the seed to grow.

The nature of the rubber seed is directly applied to the whole building, in order to create good ventilation and gathering space on the constrained office. This will create a double layered surface for the building. Both layers are connected to one another by a corridor which allows the occupants to experience a wider view of the outside world.

A tower sitting on the ground becomes the landmark of the overall LGM district, and it also functions as the services centre. This is to avoid the services from cramming up the building if it is put together with the office area.

Once the shape of the floor plan is extruded to construct the skyscraper, it looks like a fully grown rubber tree. The building is substantially defined by the decisions to raise the shape of rubber seed on inclined columns above the hollow centre. The inclined columns allow the number of piles to be reduced and also give this otherwise building a more dynamic appearance to the outside world. Additionally, in lifting it out of the ground, gives it the dignity and authority which that site, at the entrance to the office, needs. A further bonus is improved air flow across the site.

The construction of the LGM building does not interfere the existing trees around it as these trees are well preserved by the inclined columns. The columns provide a shady canopy walk which allows passersby to go through the 'forest'. The existence of the canopy walk creates a shortcut to the KLCC Tower and a clear pedestrian walkway.

As a child who had grown up in the rubber growth environment, it is a pride to see the LGM (MENARA GETAH ASLI) new building standing tall with the other great skyscrapers as prestigious as KLCC Twin Tower and The Asscot Hotel.

1. The first massing follows the building height of the WISMA ROHAS PERKASA as a limit for the proposed tower.It creates a continuous building plane along Jalan P.RamleeHowever, it does not respond to the height of THE ASCOTT APARTMENTS.This 21-level height massing fails to give an inclined climax to the lot angle, but it only give a monotonous picture of the continous building plane on Jalan P. Ramlee. For the continous builing plane on Jalan Pinang, itsmassing causes sudden declined climax towards the existing skyline.

Notes: Unfortunately, some of the information of this project is still kept by my former lecturers and several bits of information were left at my home back in Malaysia. To be continue...



MRB TOWER by Fadzlan Rizan Johani is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.5 Malaysia License.

ESOK PENGORBANAN INI MEMBAWA KEBAHAGIAAN

Hari ini aku cuba membuka dokumen design dari Semester Bachelor 02. Ada kawan lama yang belum menamatkan pengajiannya meminta aku maklumat berkaitan "highrise design". Jadi sebagai membantu sedikit sebanyak kawan tadi, aku pun mula mengodek fail-fail lama.

Secara kebetulan dalam salah satu file tersebut ada tertulis sebuah sajak. Sajak yang tanpa tajuk itu berbunyi :-

hari ini aku tiada disisimu,

tetapi masih dihatimu,

hari ini kau juga tiada disisiku,

tetapi kau tetap dihatiku.

tiada ucapan perpisahan,

kerna kita tidak bisa terpisah,

hanya kata kerinduan,

yang menyambung kejauhan.

hari ini kita sama-sama kesejukan,

hari ini kita sama-sama kerinduan,

hari ini kita sama-sama ketandusan,

tapi esok pengorbanan ini membawa kebahagiaan.

Fadzlan Rizan Johani

21/7/2002

Sajak ini sedikit sebanyak membawa aku kepada kenangan susah payah kami dalam permulaan hidup berumah-tangga. Pengorbanan dan kepayahan dalam menguruskan hidup sebagai seorang mahasiswa sepenuh masa dengan assignment bertimbun-timbun; sebagai seorang pekerja part-time bergaji rendah dengan kerja yang banyak; dan sebagai seorang bapa dengan anak yang masih kecil.

Moga sajak ini turut memberikan harapan kepada mereka yang memilih jalan seperti kami agar terus menyakini segala pengorbanan dan kesusahan ini, InsyaAllah akan menjanjikan kebahagiaan.

ESOK PENGORBANAN INI MEMBAWA KEBAHAGIAAN by Fadzlan Rizan Johani is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.5 Malaysia License.

RAJA FUTSAL

Nie aku tolong promosi bisnes kawan sekolah masa MRSM Jasin (SPM96). Kalau sesiapa berminat boleh hubungi terus tuan punya Futsal. Jangan risau aku takda ambik komisyen punya. This is the least that I can do to help..a friend.

Memperkenalkan RAJAFUTSAL, yang terletak di tengah-tengah pusat pekanParit Raja, Batu Pahat, Johor.

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Bagi peminat-peminat sukan futsal di Parit Raja, anda tidak lagi perlubermain di atas lantai simen dan tidak lagi perlu menunggu berjam-jamuntuk mendapatkan court futsal yang terhad.

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DETIK BAIK

6 March 2008
Kadangkala ada baiknya jika kita menikmati setiap hari dengan menghargai detik-detik baik untuk hari ini. Ia akan merangsang kita untuk melangkah di hari esok dari terhenti di masa lalu memikirkan kesilapan yang telah berlaku.

JUCTION 27

3 September 2008

1. Junction 27 was originally designed and built by RGP Architects. Due to the expansion of the retail park, a new retail unit would need to be built.

2. Because of the lack of available site within the retail park, the proposed new retail unit would replace the new built smaller unit. This small unit will be knocked down (although the unit was quite new) and would be replaced by a bigger retail unit.

3.I believe the client has considered the profit of taking the bigger unit as more worthwhile despite the fact that they would have to demolish the existing unit.


4. I had produced the preliminary drawing which consisted of plan and elevations.


5. Interestingly, the use of 3d modelling and visual assistants was to convince the client that the new bigger unit would not block any signage of the current tenant.




Visibility study


6. With my own initiative, I secretly rendered another view looking towards the entrance. This is because most of the photos that I needed to use to superimpose the illustration would not be able to reveal the whole design of this project. If I used those photos, the illustration would only feature a portion of the back and the side of the building.

7. The client soon agreed and believed that the building would sit in its place without disturbing the existing tenant signage and visibility. They were also amazed with the extra view from the entrance that I’d produced.

One of the comments was, “If only we could build them this easy. It looks so real as if we could move into the building straight away.”

Well, it's not really that great, is it?

Existing building

Proposed Retail Unit

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.

RIVERSIDE RETAIL PARK

01 June 2007
This post is a little back-dated in comparison to the completion of this job

1. The project is a clear example of a building that evolves to response to its surrounding.

2. The corner of the retail was previously where the external garden centre sat. They intend to extend the retail parks up to the edge of the site perimeter. Hence, the garden centre would have to go.

The Site Plan

3. This new extension is hoped to attract more customers.

4. To realise the hope of drawing more customers, the new extension would need a new landmark sign for the site.

5. The landmark would also serve as an entrance to the retail park for the pedestrians.
6. A few sketches were made to study the pedestrian flow towards the retail park and the amount of visual appearance of the landmark from vehicular traffic.

7. This juxtaposition of both elements (vehicle and pedestrian) creates a certain degree of angle to locate the best position for the landmark.

8. Later, a few version of detail façade treatment was sketched. It should have taken a few bits and pieces of design elements from its existing building.

9. The gable roof form on the façade was being transformed into a semi-translucence (could be polycarbonate) pyramid.

10. When the design detail was finalised, we then need to look at different aspects of signage position, size and types for potential tenants.

11. The signage should be flexible enough to cater different types of layout.

12. Bear in mind that signage is an important aspect in any retail development.

Option 1
Option 2
Option 3
Option 4

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.

MIND PUMPING

1.If you act like an idea person, you will become one. It is the intention and going through the motions of being creative that counts.

2.If you want to be an artist (architect, designer, etc) and actually go to through the motions of being one, you will become at least an adequate artist.

3.This world offers no guarantees, only opportunities and vicissitudes.

4. When you reach for the stars you may not get one, but you won's come up with a handful of mud either.

Reference: Thinkertoys, 2006 by Michael Michalko

vicissitude (plural vicissitudes)
1.Regular change or succession from one thing to another, or one part of a cycle to the next; alternation; mutual succession; interchange.
2.(often plural) a change, especially in one's life or fortunes.

KUMPULAN DPI OFFICE

Finish illustration back in July 2005

This was one of my freelance works that I did with DOT (Design Option Team) several years ago. Unlike other illustration services that DOT’s offered, this assignment was inclusive of designing the exterior façade.

Initially, the client had a schematic plan designed by their own architect. I was then appointed by the client to design the exterior facade.


Re-visited diagram

1. My approach for the design was to divide the huge massing of building created by the architect’s schematic plan into several proportional cubes.

2. This cube would provide a building mass that could easily be tailored into a practical design facade.

3. The central part of the building (central cube & stair cube) was designed with sleek, sharp and clean design. This was introduced to bring a strong corporate feature to the client.

4. Both right and left side of the cube was designed with more highly structured detail. The use of vertical and horizontal louvers had also been introduced. This would not only reduce solar gain but also expose the beauty of its details. A sloping roof had been chosen instead of a flat roof on the central cube.

5. This design approach should break the “fat” massing into slimmer, elegant, sexy and proportionate building. The detail of each side keeps the main focus and intention of the building towards the simple entrance. The simple solutions portray a strong statement of business foundation.

Re-visited building massing

Re-visited building section

The client loved the solution and design but unfortunately I couldn’t further proceed the work to the next stage. I had to surrender the design back to the architects as I couldn’t commit to work on it on a full-time basis.

This simple exercise proved to me that I also had the capability to manage and make decisions in real life design. But in my full-time office (during my younger years), I was only the background figure who assist the senior designers.

The success of this exercise (and many more jobs similar to this) however doesn’t mean that I should be a senior designer straight away. It also doesn’t mean that I should just lay back and become a follower. I believe that in the long term learning process I should also learn to give design direction.

If you could not have that opportunity in your office (due to inexperience) you could start doing it on your own...gaining experience.

The Bottom Line

"It's true that you need friends in life in order to lead a more fulfilled life, but it's not a good idea to get too hung up about how many friends you have. It's all about quality-- not quantity."
September 3, 2008 Capricorn (Dec 22 - Jan 19)