Emotional Provocation In Built Environment

Emotional Provocation in Built Environment

Have you ever been emotionally charged when you enter a built environment for the first time? Well, I for certain have on several occasions. You can say to some degree that the designer has hit the winning spot when the environment is able to “speak” back to its user.

One such incident is where the space I just entered, a rather huge lobby space, got me really mad because I can’t find my way to where I was supposed to go next. In another word, I got lost. And there was just not enough signage to show me the way. At that time, the space seems to smile back in sarcasm.

Perhaps the best room for you to be when you want some solitude and peacefulness is a house of worship. Though normally big in terms of scale, the emotional sense of closeness and intimacy is apparent.

How about the lift lobby? What kind of emotions reached your senses when you are in one? From experience, I would say that the feelings were of being pressed against time. It made jump every time the lift doors open.

Apart from the aesthetics, a built environment should be able to provoke the senses of users to make it really worth its design.

Emotional Provocation In Built Environment.

Finding Meaning: Bursa Malaysia

Finding Meaning: Bursa Malaysia


Here is a brief description of the Bursa Malaysia or formerly known as Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Building:

Location

Along Persiaran Maybank off Jalan Raja Chulan, Kuala Lumpur. It is annexed to Exchange Square, and occupies part of Bukit Kewangan (Financial Hill). Well within commercial district, it is surrounded by offices and banks, notably the Maybank headquarters.

Owner’s Brief

The public should readily identify the building as the local stock exchange. It should project the image of being strong, solid, and at the same time inspiring confidence and reliability. Besides its basic function as a house of share trading and money making, it is also a place for information retrieval and an arena of educational seminars with state-of-the-art building technology.

The Design Concept

Overall, the design is contextually classical. It has fulfilled the owner’s intention of establishing a strong and solid existence, a monumental architecture that embodies timeless spirit. Long term endurance for beauty, utility, commodity, solidity and permanence are harmonised in classical buildings. It is with this spirit that the building takes its shape.
Description

The Bursa Malaysia is a 16-storey tower. Inside, it houses the bourses, public library, an information technology centre that can link the Bursa Malaysia to any international financial centres world wide, a conference room for 300 people convertible into two smaller seminar rooms, a theatrette for 138 people with the latest audio visual system, 11 floors of typical office spaces all with raised floor systems and two floors of executive offices at the 14th and 15th floors.

It also has recreational facilities at the lower ground and semi-basement floors. These are a multi-purpose hall with a seating capacity of 500 people and two badminton courts with terraced seatings. Other facilities include two squash courts, music training rooms, gymnasium and a surau (Muslim prayer hall) for about 70 persons.

On the ground and lower ground level, the tower is connected to Exchange Square. The Square features an automotive mall, air-conditioned food court and a restaurant. An amphitheatre sits atop the roof of the Square that becomes part of the features of a beautiful landscaped garden, complete with cascading waterfalls.

Summary Notes

• Client Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange
• Architect Idris Bhat & Associates-Architects
• Civil & Structural Engineer Hussein & K H Chong Sdn Bhd
• Mechanical & Electrical Engineer Antara Jurutera Perunding Sdn Bhd
• Quantity Surveyor Perunding NFL Sdn Bhd
• Landscape Architect Malik Lip & Associates
• Interior Designer IsskAplus; Elya Impressions Soft Furnishing Sdn Bhd
• Main Contractor Bina Alam Bersatu Sdn Bhd

Finding Meaning: Bursa Malaysia

Enter The Tower

Enter the Tower


Considering the scale factor, one can easily forget that the entrance to a high rise building is as important as the whole design itself. No matter how high the building rises, the entrance has to relate to human scale.

There are more than one approach to the design of entrances to a high rise tower buildings. One that I find of most importance is their appearance.

The main entrance requires the following basic elements to make it work:

1. It has to be grand enough so people can easily identify it. It doesn't have to be unique, just different from the rest of the facade. There must be a distinct visual difference between a row of windows or other sub-entrances and the main entrance.

2. There must be enough signages to say that this is the main entrance to the tower. I don't want to get lost looking for it. I could ended up entering the wrong tower.

3. It should project the image of hospitality. I want to feel like I'm being welcomed as I approach the main entrance, even if it is a hospital.

4. Make it as bright as possible at night so nobody is going to miss it.

Enter the Tower

The Elements of Expression

There are three elements that is considered as sacred in every creative architectural development:

1. a client with an instict for quality;
2. a master who knows how to awaken the creative possibilities of newer generation; and
3. the existence of a rising generation

Looking back at the KLCC twin towers reminds me of a statement made by the first "master" who started this school of thoughts, Peter Behrens, way back in the early 1900s:

Materials such as glass and iron possessed within them a secret strength of expression that could be brought out as soon as an artist understood how to develop their means and possibilities.

Unlike Le Corbusier's expression of forms, the new expression, that is glass and iron, were no longer enclosed by huge and solid walls. This is skin and bones construction, as Mies van der Rohe once put it.

So, the application of this concept for the twin towers, in a sense, is perfect. It makes the building stands out in the croud. Because its the only steel and glass building in the area surrounded by concrete and stone ones.

Isengard

The believe that man can't live forever on asphalt has prompted the ideas of taking high-rise buildings into an open space. First concieved by an architect Walter Gropius in 1930, the concept grew in popularity and fast becoming an accepted norm in contemporary urban design.

If the original intention of the designer of the twin towers of KLCC were to become realised, then Kuala Lumpur would have a landmark worthy of Isengard. I wonder if Cesar Pelli & Associates (USA), the architect of the Petronas Twin Towers, was inspired by Tolkien when designing the towers.

However, the drawback would be the distance one has to travel by foot from the open space car park to the entrance of KLCC. No doubt this problem might not exist if you park in the multi-level basement car park. But the basement car park has another story to tell.

That, in my next post.

The Busses Stop Here

I think the management of KLCC should do something about tourist busses parking. Because at present these busses just park at the side of Jalan P Ramlee causing traffic jams, especially during afternoon rush hour.

It's not that there are no parking spaces for busses, it's just plain too far from the twin towers and Suria KLCC. The actual parking spaces for busses are on the opposite side of the entire KLCC ground. So it means that you have to walk about half a kilometer through the park before ariving at the main entrance of Suria KLCC.

Somehow I see this as a flaw in the overall design of KLCC and the location of the twin towers.

I heard rumours that the original design of KLCC has the twin towers positioned right in the middle of the park. Therefore, realizing its concept of having a twin-towers in the park. But due to foundation issues, the final location is where it stands now.

Unless something is done now, this is where the busses stop, by the side of busy P Ramlee Street.

Da Vinci's Link: A Walk in the Park II

Leonardo Da Vinci is famous not only because of his paintings but also his sketches that show ingenious insight into technical possibilities. Some of them appear as snapshots from ages yet unborn.

One of my particular interest is his hydrodynamic studies - his investigation into the hidden, dynamic forces in the organic and inorganic sphere. His drawings are mostly filled with this concept, including his Mona Lisa. Remember the smile on her face? It has that dynamic quality to it.

I see this conceptual link in the design of the wading pool that connects to a Symphony Lake with musical fountains at the esplanade in the KLCC Park. Water element used in the park creates that dynamic forces, which not only enhances the natural embiance but also compliments the inorganic elements such as sculptures and other built structures around the park.

Besides the pool and lake, there is also the jogging track and footpath. Both promote movement in an otherwise stagnant landscape elements. Everything here reminds me of the art that connects the organics and the inorganics, the artist and the ordinary people.

A Walk in the Park

I like the beautifully landscaped park around the towers. And I hate it too, for some reason.

One feature I like of the park is the wading pools and the playgorund. Children must love the wading pools and the playground. They are one of the best around the city. Too bad they don't have these during my childhood time. I bring my kids here once in a while just to let them have fun in the wading pools and at the playground. Trouble is, when it comes to going home ... I think you get the idea.

However, try not to let the kids do the following:
1. drinking or swallowing too much of the water because the chlorine content is somewhat high. You can smell it easily. Furthermore, the water may not be entirely clear of contaminants.
2. staying too long in the water, i.e. over one hour, because prolonged exposure to certain chemicals used to treat the water may lead to other complications in some children, especially to the skin. If you know your kids have some kind of allergies, then remember this advice. Staying too long in the water can also lead to mild hypothermia, which later may develop into a cold or asthma. So, time your stay.
3. wandering off on their own beyond their parent's visual range, especially in the playground area. Due to the area's size and variety of play equipment, children can easily get carried away and eventually lost. Believe me, trying to find your lost kids in this playground can be quite a horrifying experience.

Well, I think it's time for a walk in the park.

What You May See Along The Underground Passageway

Lately, walking along the underground passageway that connect to the twin towers from the LRT station can be difficult. This is especially true during the afternoon rush hour. Chances are you may be stopped in your stride by some people trying to sell you something.

Apart from that, there are those who play musical instruments, normally in a group, by the side walls. They hope for your donations.

And occasionally you may find a used-books make-shift stall by the opposite side of the narrowed walkway.

I find all these annoying. Because during the afternoon rush hour, most people are rushing home. Like me, they would rather get to their destination in a blink of an eye.

Here's what I normally did:

1. Pretended I didn't see them;

2. Looked the other way;

3. Took out my cell-phone and talked to it, even if I didn't receive or make any call;

4. Walked closely behind someone who looked genuinely in a hurry;

5. Just smile and say "No, thank you."