Tunes

chow
kit
by : wan mohamad affdhan
student ID : 0330551
tutor : ar. teoh way keat

final design
report
community music centre
narrative
Chow Kit
Centre of capital opportunist, increasing egotist-individualist lust,
“the working loop”

Visits to purchase essentials, nowhere further;

Work, feeding the survival behemoth, nowhere further;
Physique exploitation to survive, nowhere further;
The left behinds, nowhere further;

Present
Segregation between beings;
Dull perception, “be careful”, “terrible place”;

Concrete forest surrounding Chow Kit is growing, left it behind

The navigating, trading, selling; loops of flat, constant, interaction exchange, arouses no dynamics nor excite-
ment nor expression;
Flat setting
Producing ironical fast paced, soulless, divided, unremitting identity.
A perennial opportunist as it were, the city stayed behind

Universal, music, binds

Thumps of drums and plucks of strings; modulating synthesizers and singsong of vocalists; tunes and rhythms
enthuse all. The universality of musical composition provokes curiosity, moves and dictate the mind and break-
ing the routine; creating peaks on the flat loop, infuses dynamic and expressive impact rippling through Chow
Kit, attracting whilst dispersing innovation and expressions, whilst pulling the left behinds forward together with
the locals, as the harmonic instruments that orchestrates Chow Kit into the musical future.

Chow Kit shows traces of musical experience by the abandoned theatre complexes, open air concert by the
late Sudirman, NGO (Angsana) that uses music as a therapy for locals, tunes of local jamming under bus
stops, as well as abandoned and operating music shops in the site. But the abandonment of the individual
premises are caused by their non-strategic positions, the capitalist incarnation of malls that houses maximum
individualistic convenience of essentials, and a competitive financial survivalist environment, dissolving the
local unification.

This project is a promotion and appreciation of musical opportunities as well as talent-harvesting from both
stable locals and homeless individuals by introducing recording studios and music based classes; bridging the
gap between the different characters through charms of sonorous melodies, providing spaces that amplify the
experience beyond with public amphitheatre and stage, experiential spaces, interactive audio introductory
area. This “local amplifier” aims to connect, move, express and harvest the hidden flairs of the local, and clean
the negative stain that is on the Chow Kit canvas.
user groups
urban intervention

the site is the first step

notes, ryhthms and sequences

the staff
every music reproduction starts with the staff, the staff is the basic canvas of expressing
tunes and rythym.

the rythm and notes on the staff maybe not every single person can read, but the
staff is recognisable universally as a musical statement
conceptual sketches
Exploration sketches Initial placement To scale More detailing

Amplify

Action Present

Still

conceptual facade consideration

Entrance

interim 1 outcome interim 2 outcome

final outcome
spatial exploration

UP UP

UP UP
UP

UP

UP

UP

UP

N
green design strategies

DN

strategic openings for natural

cross ventilation
cross ventilation

music
library

N
library acoustic instrument
display
lobby exhibition
cascade stairs
audio cafe cafe eating bus
the roof is fully exposed storage
retail area stop
to the sun, utilising the
morning sun absorbing
solar energy and save it
as electricity in the Section A-A’ fixed louvres provide
building 100mm METAL
ROOF PANEL shades all the time with con-
solar panel on roof stant penetration of natural
300mm THK
STEEL TRUSS
daylight in between the
louvres

100mm THK
TIMBER
materials
void between 2 building block CEILING
form
create a very effective stack 75mm THK concrete
ventilation system TIMBER
STRIPS
concrete is low mainte-
nance and can withstand
50mm THK
METAL the tropical climate well
SUPPORT

stack 10mm THK facade + interior

rooftop drainage
music library ventilation GLASS
timber
dormitory lobby accomodation interior exterior daylight
timber has great acousti-
void 150 mm THK
RC WALL SLAB
cal value and also a
music
counselling
teacher’s co-working storage
music
library
renewable source of
room room space sitting
area construction. the proper-
jamming 30 mm THK ties of timber also helps
studio
relief space relief reception
space
kitchen cafe busking sitting area
TIMBER FLOORING
mitigates climate change
stage
150 mm THK
RC FLOOR SLAB
basement
600 x 250mm THK

rooftop drainage to gather rainwater

carpark
CONCRETE
BEAM
permeability
rainwater as a response to catchment low e glass
sand
the rainy climate filter
low e applied to windows
main tank irrigation
helps block infrared light
from penetrating the
glass from the outside. it
helps on the cooling
Section B-B’ factor of the building,
improving user comfort
ground floor plan
precedent study 1
Pioneer Courthouse Square | AMERICA
WIll Martin (Architect), Doug Macy (Landscape)

Staircase sitting area

viewing into the park
Eating area
viewing and
and out the
park

Light rail stops here, greeted by sitting

areas and shade
“There are outdoor chess tables on
some of the toppled columns;
chess players frequently congre-
gate there during the day”

The layout the slope of the land facilitates

steps which provide amphitheatre style
seating to gather the most viewers.

The step sitting, “The

Bowl”, is where most of
the people gathers and
rest

Series of events
happening in the
square

“retaining a large flexible space at its centre which is

used to put on a busy events schedule (322 last year)
Programs and thus providing entertainment, interest and above all
private area
main Cafe a reason to keep going back, for a range of tourists and
(underground)
circulation News Broadcast Studio Station
locals alike.”
Public Information Centre
leisure Small Amphitheatre Water fountain always working,
area
Sitting Area around the square sounds of water provide constant
e
nc

liveliness in the square

die
au

People can sit on top of the cascad-

performance/
showcase ing platform and look into the
square with the sound of constant
water

Entrance to a small amphitheatre before continuing into the park

precedent study 2
Tohogakuen School Of Music | JAPAN
Nikken Sekkei
Architecture: School, Music
Location: Chofu, Japan
Size: 1943m2 pocket spaces
Year: 2014

The in and out facade of the building creates a rhythm in depth,

with the help of the unfinished material (concrete), increases the
solidity of the building, creating an almost mysterious yet fun
appearance

Visual connection Corridors and pocket

Monolith top
between and through spaces as another variant
appearance
lesson rooms to reduce the of acoustical setting that
strongly indicates
feeling of isolation and are preferable by the
private spaces
creates eye contact students, other than isolat-
between one another, ed rooms.
bringing liveliness and
forms unity among The gap between people is
students. diffused by introducing the
visual permeability

The undulating levels create a ryhthmic

circulation, and also slows down the The use of light shafts to
Light due to the use of mostly user’s pace, making the user more obser- bounce natural daylight into
glass on the ground floor indicates vant throughout the surroundings the building, and the void
a more welcoming appearance
reduces the feeling of being
too isolated
The ceiling void in between beams creates an acoustical surrounding
that reflects and reverbs the sound of chit-chatting and footsteps, it also
shows the arrangement of the top floor

PUBLIC PRIVATE
The use of thin columns create illusion of multiple defined open plan linear plan
and spacious area An open and
i n v i t i n g
appearance to
the public
final presentation
board
final design renderings
exterior
interior
reflective journal
project 1a: site analysis
Site visits to the site at Chow Kit to understand the sense of
place in a group, allocating tasks and collecting data and
information to research. This task is crucial for us as it is
very important to understand the context before generating
our concept. The research also utilises urban theories such
as Jan Gehl and Roger Trancik to conduct a better under-
standing of the site. Teammates also gained experiences
as to talk to the authorities like JUPEM and DBKL for
further accurate info about the site.
project 1c: spatial hierarchy
The spaces are arranged from private to public in a very
linear and simple way, responding to the local context that
already has a simple and linear pedestrian experience. But
the major idea is that the building shall be a background
rather than a building entity as the entrance to the interior
of the building shall be mostly open to the public. This idea
is a result on countless and numerous trial and error in
planning the spaces to reach the goal of the concept
The site is a final trial and the spot to showcase the knowledge that I have learnt in the past semesters not only Studio but also other subjects. I realised now that architecture not only need
to serve the immediate context like local and such, but it is also an important role for changing lives, beyond the simple needs of mere human.
week 4-6
project 1b: concept and form
After understanding the site, identifying the users and their
issues and needs, drives me to generate a concept that
covers most of the users. The concept I have chosen is
“music” but rather just music as one entity, it is more on
research on how music affect the users. I have also incor-
porated the effect on the city (Chow Kit) itself through
extensive research of music psychology, theories and
known musical city. And through my research, I have an
idea on how to not only feeding the user needs but the city
as a whole on how to bring Chow Kit up together.
week 11-12
project 1c: exploration
With the encouragement from my tutor, I have explored a
lot of music related identity both tangible and intangible
aspects of them and how that adds on onto my design. Ma-
teriality was inspired by the local but also Malaysia as a
whole, simple and dirable material and a complimenting
green material, as the green material is flexible and can be
bended into many weys
week 7-8
project 1b: exploration
The form is very much affected by the programs, on which
programs are beneficial to the whole concept. I use the
idea of form follows function, but also a tiny amount of
suprematism as following the main idea, is to transform
Chow Kit itself, and to do that we need external inputs and
foreign influence which is slightly foreign maybe visually to
the locals but still very much familiar in the idea and identity
of the site and building.The Urban Room is supposed to be
a free and expressive identity so that not only it attracts
locals it also attracts external visitors that also benefits the
locals.The form that I have picked is a very simple form, but
ornaments and symbolisms that catches the local eyes at
the same time bring familiarity to them
week 13-15
finals
Upon reaching the final presentation, I start to compile and
make sequence onthe topics I am going to elaborate about
During the few weeks. I have gained knowledge of spatial
orgamisation and concept. This is the time to show my
ideas to the panels and hope for their best replies
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