FRACTURES IN SEGREGATION

REHABILITATION OF RELATIONSHIPS
Klang Neighborhood Wellbeing Centre

JADEN LIM KAI JIE

0337132

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN V

BSC (HONS) ARCHITECTURE

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING & DESIGN

TAYLOR’S UNIVERSITY

OCTOBER / 2021
Sense of Place: Urban Issues and Theories

Klang is a city defined by functionalism, derived from its people moving from point A to
B with little thoughts of its surroundings. The people can be seen through a fractured lens
where the sense of segregation is significant, the division between ethnicities and social class
lines are apparent; with people finding comfort in the familiar within their individual groups.

Klang is now known to have the highest crime rate in South East Asia which burdens a
sense of distrust between the community with Covid-19 worsening the situation; increasing
the disparity between the social class lines. The devastating Covid-19 pandemic created an
integration of more physical divides and barriers, reducing the ability of communication and
interaction between the community members. With the introduction of Mysejahtera, the
technological divide between the community members became more apparent as people in
different social class lines and age groups have diverse comfort levels with technology.

The destruction of Maxwell Square in 1975 was a loss of an impactful public space. It
was demolished to create a pathway to bridge the 2 sides of the cities but it also dis -
integrated the connection between people within the south community. The community lost a
place to gather and tried to make do with the use of the parking lot at Jalan Stesen 1. But, there
were no facilities, the environment was lackluster, and due to the pandemic, activities have
since halted.

The Users
The people of south klang city are mainly the working class with most buildings
catering to retail, service, and food. The main priority of this congregation of people is their 9
to 5 jobs, reiterating the emphasis of functionality without any semblance of identity.

Site Context
My chosen site is site B due to its location next to a major junction with moderate
intersection with the community. The idea is to create a qualitative space where the
interaction of movement through the space coincides with the aspects of a node; for
penetration of people into interactive spaces, promoting the reconciliation of site and building.
The creation of this intersection facilitates the integration of interaction between the
fractured communities, promoting the rehabilitation of community.

Design Questions and Statements

The sense of place extracted holds the idea of “Fractures” through segregation
concerning ethnicities, social class lines and technological divide. The natural antonym of
fracture is the concept of rehabilitation. And through this approach, reach a space to mend the
fractures between the communities and to create a new neighbourhood centre to supersede
Maxwell Square.

This approach leads to the question.

How do I Rehabilitate the fractured relationships between the different Ethnicities, Social
Class Lines and Technological Divide, and enable the Mending of the Fractures through
programs and spaces in my neighbourhood centre for wellbeing?
Narrative of the End-User Experience

Architectural Concepts and Integration with site

To extrapolate the essence of rehabilitation the building starts with the reintegration
between the building and the site context, taking account of adjacent circulation pathways.
The foundational aspect of the ground floor is the integration of circulation pathways from the
neighboring major nodes to cut through the building to promote penetration of pedestrians
into the site. This endorsement encourages the diffusion of people into the ground floor of the
building which is holistically integrated into the public realm. This integration is important
because public spaces are the connective tissue of a city that connect the communities with
each other which is important within this fractured city.
Form
As the building increases in elevation the promotion of privacy is transparent through
the definition of more secluded programs, But this creates the problem of seclusion of the
different floors. To combat this, the integration of different levels was introduced to create an
open atmosphere where the segregation between the different heights are ambiguous and
blurs the boundary between levels. The platforms create public spaces of contrasting heights
which create intrigue and further enhance penetration into the higher floors.

Materiality
This concept will also permeate into the materiality of the facade, with integration into
the site context being a priority. The idea is to continue the identity of the facades of Klang
while giving it a modern form with natural ventilation being a primary design consideration.
This led to the consideration of bricks due to the continuity of materiality of site and flexibility
of design with the implementation of perforated brick walls as well as the freedom to create
oblique walls block by block. This solution keeps a language of embedded history as well as to
add a contemporary twist to the design.
Programs

Amphitheatre / integrated theatre room

An external outdoor event space meant for recreational festive and cultural
performances to recapture the past historical congregation of communal gatherings and
re-engage the community with their cultures and identities. Whilst in the space the people are
quiet, there is something more that cannot be seen connecting the audience together. Isolated,
yet together this community feels the emotionality of the performance/movie together, a
connection that falls deeper than verbal communication.
“Each individual audience member . . . is alone, by himself, looking into the world
presented to him, yet this isolation does not separate the individual from the group. He does
not communicate with his fellows, but he sees and feels with them, if not like them. A kind of
underlying connection is established between the audience members shut up within their own
contemplation. . . Communication exists at the level of feeling and fascination”
- Jean Mitry

Library
Acts as a conjunctional space that permeates through the ground and first floor
creating platforms for work, learning, play, and food for all age groups to enjoy seamlessly
together, while promoting visual connection between isolated spaces.
Culinary Classes
The guidance and training of the creation of food is a way to bring the community
together, to reconnect or start new friendships as well as to empower and support the
community members to make their own food to be sold within the building promoting
economical sustainability, this reduces the burden on the social economic class lines.

Food Street / Farmers Market

Klang is a city rich with culinary culture and has an extensively diverse range of food
types. This external space is perceived to be used during evening and night cultural events
where the rich smells of the food can permeate through the streets and stimulate passersby to
join in on the events. The promotion of assimilation creates a temporal node of natural
bonding through conversation and enjoyment of good food. This generates a gastronomic
behaviour setting which is “a complex combination of human behaviour and physical
environment” (Barker ,1968).

Zone for Kids and Elderly

The parents of children require a locality to leave their kids as they depart for work or
workshops. The proposed spaces is to be an Interactive, playful and educational environment,
safe from the dangers of cars and yet have the dichotomy of being open to natural ventilation
and enclosed for relief from the piercing equatorial sun.
Parents with living elders would legate their children to help take care of them, Thus
the spaces will need to be designed for the divergent age groups. It requires a homogenous
space for play and relaxation of kids and elders with visual and physical interaction. The quality
of space sparks communication with neighbors, strengthening the link between community
members of diverse generations.

Reflective Summary of Exploration in the Design Process.

This interpretation of the neighborhood wellbeing center is meant as a space to reunite
the community and mend the fractures through the use of programs. Programs, meant to
rehabilitate and rejuvenate the spirit and to bring back the communal sense of place that was
lost.

References
Use APA referencing style
● Barker, R. G. (1968). Ecological Psychology: Concepts and Methods for Studying the
Environment of Human Behavior. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
● Wisecrack. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/wisecrack/featured
● Lee, D., & Read, 1. M. (2019, October 28). Breathing New Life into Klang: A Critical
Review. Retrieved from
https://www.xiangloon.com/blog/breathing-new-life-into-klang-a-critical-review
● KQ1 What is the purpose of the Neighborhood Centre for Wellbeing?
● KQ2 What is the main feature for the contextual relevance?
● KQ3 What is the selling point of you’re the Neighborhood Centre for Wellbeing?
● KQ4 What is your integrated design thinking?
● - in the urban language of paths…eg through the site…creating a passage of interest/
define the holding space by materiality? -
● - as the site is located in an old part of the town…. [heritage/ fine grain] explore the
formality level for building typology…ask the question of how this fits in with the
identity of shophouse hybridisation perhaps…how does one keep a language of
embedded history