Project I: Enhancing Street Community

Project Details:

The community-based services in the CSI module for SABD are to expose students to the real-community living in real-life situation. The students are to work together as a team for architectural, culture, and environmental enhancing activities in the communities of different socio-economic status and social groups. The series of community services are offered under four (4) categories/themes and as student empowerment projects they are given the freedom to choose and to execute the project in the best possible manner (term and condition applied and must within the constraint of the project requirements).

Board:

Video:

Reflection:

How do we define street? For me, it's the place where things cross path, where architecture, community and culture creates an identity.

Why we choose to enhance street community? Street, is the most fundamental thing for a region, a city even a country, every single details build up a different identity. With the recent site visit conducted in the other module, we took the responsibility to research and develop projects in the place which we had analyze and took further research to understand the needs of the community.

The most distinct issue that we had identified on site was the loss of sense of street. Street were once a place where we stopped by for a conversation, where kids played, it is now dominant by cars which disrupt the walkability of the pedestrians on the side walk. Machines and blocks dominant the street, and there's no sign of greeneries along the street, not even small plantations from individual shop lots, only mosses on the wall of the abandoned shop. It's sad to see that there's no interaction among the community and users around, there's a distinct boundary created right after the petaling street commercialized market, which the bottom street was just a place the allows people to get to their destination, without slowing down their pace to mingle around the street.

“The street is the river of life of the city, the place where we come together, the pathway to the center.”
 –William H. Whyte

Therefore our group aimed to enhance and raise the awareness of the community where a street is how it define their identity, it is also to let them understand that it is a group effort to liven up the street. Therefore we also came up with the simplest idea which is green curtains which are build-up of plastic bottles as planter box. For the choice of materials, plastic bottles which will always be treated as rubbish when unused, we brought in a community effort which is a pocket gardening. This activity allow mutual influence to liven up the street, as people attracts people, it's easy that everyone can involve in changing and tackle the issue.

This project also let me understand how to think critically and researched further to understand what the community really need. It is to understand the theories and concept of enhancing street community, which spatial design and community values are taken in for place making. Therefore this is the motivation that keeps our project going, break the boundary of the happening and dead, linking the whole street together as a journey and define the identity of Petaling Street.

For this module, I would like to thank my lecturer, Miss Ann for being all along with us and giving us really clear cut and constructive comments which would help us do better in planning and time management for this module and project. I personally enjoy this module as it is somehow related back to our studio module itself, where it also creates thinking and development about the site my have chosen itself. Overall, it was a good experience working with this team, and I've learnt a lot designing, doing the presentation board and video.