Designing through writing : A gallery for handicaps

Written by Aina Farhana

Problem Statement

The natural behaviour of human is that we are sometimes unconsciously selfish. We put ourselves first before others without realizing it. In order to achieve our goal, we pollute our Mother Earth and jeopardise the needs of our future generation, we destroy the surrounding environment and the living eco-system, and we even ignore and neglect our own kind; - the disabled.

The build environment is also guilty of committing this crime. Buildings are design without considering people with disabilities as the end users. It is difficult and challenging for the disabled to navigate their way in the build environment. Street furniture that obstruct their way, no clear defined edging and no delineation from the edge of the curb to the road are some of the examples of poor construction in build environment that can be hazardous to the disabled.

The culprit behind this issue is the fact that we confine them in their own world. Yes, we do acknowledge their existence but we segregate them from our society. People with disabilities are often excluded from social activities and shut away in the social circle. Some even think of them as incapable to function as a human being.

The negative thoughts ought to be push away in order to solve this problem. Disabilities are not hindrance of a success, instead it pushes one further to break and redefine the barriers which were ruthlessly set by the society. Art is one of the medium that they used to express themselves. The freedom that they cringe, the respect that they demand and the right that are rightfully theirs are clearly portrayed through their artworks.

The task for this project is to design a gallery which also serves as their community centre. Here is where they can exhibit and showcase their works for the world to see, appreciate and understand. It is also a statement of acknowledgement of their existence. Designing for the disabled opens up the door of opportunity for them to express themselves through creative manner. They do not ask for sympathy, it is respect that they demand.

Design Concept

The main emphasize in this project is on natural day lighting and accessibility. The function of the building as a gallery requires natural day lighting to be maximize and employ as much as possible. Under natural lighting, the collection of artworks can be viewed at its best. Designing with natural lighting also enables the interplay of interesting shadow pattern thus animating the interior space. The shadow pattern that changes over time offers a dramatic experience to the visitors. Besides that, the use of natural day lighting contributes towards a sustainable and greener future. The energy consumption of a building is significantly reduced as the building relies on sunlight to light up the interior spaces.

Accessibility is crucial in designing for the disabled. Barrier free spaces enable them to navigate their way easily without the aid of others. The absent of obstructions that barricade their movement also allow them to be independent. A disabled user friendly building should provide an environment in which they are able to manage and run the building on their own. In this case, the term user friendly building refers to the ability of the building itself to aid and cater the activities of the disabled. The building itself helps them to manage and ensure the smooth running of the building.

As a gallery that exhibit the best and finest collection of the disabled artist, the building should serves as an icon of recognition that carries their image and reputation. Art creates and generates endless possibilities to be explored. Origami is one of the forms of art that intrigued many. The natural folds and lines of the origami combine precision and art hence create a different, one of a kind interior space. The crease of the exterior envelope sculpted the interior.

Old Cinema assignment : Metropolis 1927

author : Atta Idrawani Zaini

Year written : 2009

Additional Reading List:

• · A Pattern Language (Christopher Alexander)
• · The Failure of Modern Architecture (Brent Brolin)

This film is not of today or of the future.

It tells of no place.

It serves no tendency, party or class.

It has a moral that grows on the pillar of understanding:

“The mediator between brain and muscle must be the heart.”

Thea von Harbou,

Writer,

Metropolis (1927)

What if perhaps in the future, high-rise buildings become so powerful that they are perceived as a new city within?

What if the cities become so great that in fact they could divide the society into 2? The one who is in control and the one is being controlled?

The essence of the storyline for Metropolis, produced in 1927 forecasted the scenario of living condition of human perhaps hundred years ahead in the future (there is no suggestions of the actual timeframe). The humans will be divided into two groups - the planners (who own the metropolis), and the workers (who make the city works). Separated apart from each 2 different worlds, one is high above the ground (heaven?), and one is underground – the city for workers. So there are attempts to bridge these two worlds together secretly, but later seen as a threat to the planners as they are too arrogant.

The world view of the movie maker was so extremely portrayed – the world has only 2 rigidly different societies which only hundreds storey apart yet they did not manage to live mutually in respect to each other. The rich become richer, and the poor become poorer. This leads to the question of what is a society as we understand it and could it really happen in future? Or is it happening now?

But the movie never tells how did it happen?

Le Corbusier’s planning for the future suggests designing buildings or cities in according to the demands for the modern life. This approach is a bottom-up strategy, to fulfill society needs – but modern needs. In real situation, perhaps the building in future will control humans, and it would later invert the overall process into a top-down strategy. People have to live in accord to the building demands them to be. According to Alexander, development should be gradual and organic, almost of their own accord. According to Brolin, modern planning is solely the result of modern architect’s assumption of society – how people live, how they should live and their own personal values.

This movie perhaps tries to answer the question of modernists, through more extreme possibilities and reasoning for modern planning in future. This will happen when modern approach failed to obey society, which emphasized too much on functions and productivity eventually overpowered the human value of living. The director tried to portray the scenarios through symbolisms such as:

The planners’ city is the buildings high above ground, while the workers’ city is high below the ground;

· Dehumanized workers to portray the misery and sorrow;

· The building is a smaller scale of a country, and the city is a smaller scale of the world.

What have I learnt?

High buildings make people crazy. There is no genuine advantages for high-rise buildings, accept for the banks and lands owners. They destroy townscape and kill social life, other than damaging the light and air view. The higher people live off the ground, the more likely are they to suffer mental illness.

(Summarized from A Pattern Language)

The movie suggests if a building is a machine, to work in, to live in, what will the entire city be?

Buildings will become more important than humans, and humans will try their best to keep the buildings running despite of their lives will be taken away during the process. In macro level, the accumulation of these machines could be disastrous. The movie itself portrays the entire Metropolis collapsed after the workers destroyed the “heart” in a strike. This may seems too literal to portray, but the important idea is humans could not be rigidly controlled by what is designed for them.

The movie Metropolis is not the real situation of today’s life. It is not really happening. But into some degree, it is true in the sense of people of the higher position is in control of the people below. Perhaps we could relate the characters to today’s politicians, who have the power to decide undemocratically. They tend to tell people what they must do, and the people tend to adapt, whether the things are good or not.

In designing high-rise buildings, humanity should be the main concern – which is the ‘heart’ which mediates the ‘muscle’ (workers) and the ‘brain’ (planners).

Therefore, a building could not be a machine. It should be humanized.

Let's write about architecture and urbanism...

Currently, writing has been marginalised in contemporary Asian culture while the wealth of Asian Literature spans longer than Latin language. Writing culture among architecture students are worst or even, non-existence. This blog would like to recognise the writing talent among architecture lecturers and students in architecture department of University Technology Malaysia and hope to inspire more to write about architecture and urbanism. The strength and focus in architecture school might be communication in the form of drawings or graphics, but writing would be one of the strongest tools for some to envision an idea before designing. We hope to cultivate such interest and talent, whilst inculcate the importance of knowing how to abstract essence from the readings as rational justifications and reasoning behind the act of designing. Submitting to aesthetic pleasing visual works without a critical reason is nothing but a hollow shell without substance.