KLANG ARTS GALLERY

SIOW YEE THONG

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN V
BSC (HONS) ARCHITECTURE
SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING & DESIGN
TAYLOR’S UNIVERSITY

August 2021
Introduction

Klang is a place full of memories and layers of history. Its community and its

culture define the value of Klang, yet time is constantly moving forward. With

technology introduced and people of new generation creating the gap, there are also

some initiatives taken to help Klang to preserve its existing traditions. For instance,

painted mural arts around town or setting up a backpacker hotel to attract visitors

which will increase the economy of local businesses.

Klang is a decaying town with the new generation leaving and the old generation

maintaining its reflecting in the local community as the food culture and small

businesses are one of the few charms left that has been maintained and people

needs them because it has already been imbued in part of their lives. Therefore, the

crowd would only linger around town to pick up their daily necessities, some

cultural meaning is lost. The site which I have chosen is comparatively merrier than

site B. Site A is a sweet spot for a community center and it is because the site is

located in 2 major contact points, the KTM station and the famous Chong Kok.

Building a community center near these landmarks will attract crowd towards the

site.

The elements of legibility such as social dimension by Jan Gehl suggested that

there are three types of activities in the current social situation such as necessary

activities, optional activities and social activities. The necessary activities in Site A

here includes staffs working in the shop houses and the KTM station. The optional

activities are customers buying goods in the shop houses or eating food in the

1
coffee shops surrounding the site. An example of social activities would be

interaction between customers and waitresses, taxi drivers or staffs. These activities

mentioned will be affected when outdoor areas are of poor quality.

Site A have poor quality outdoor areas and it is because of the bare minimum

activities taken place. People rush home when they have completed their essential

tasks. Jan Gehl have also mentioned that ‘When the quality of outdoor area is good,

optional activity occur increased its frequency.’ In this case, there are less social

activities near KTM station compared to the others.

Zoning in Klang splits function and causes displacement that sometimes could not

accommodate the social diversity so losing its cultural meaning is defined as

useless gathering space because people do not gather in that specific area anymore.

Thus, the position taking should emphasis on the social groups and sequences of

outdoor rooms as a whole rather than individual spaces.

2
Narrative of the end-user experience

Every architecture should prioritize visual permeability as it should inform the user

that the community centre is available and welcoming for everyone. The multi-

storey exterior should look fascinating with captivating façade materials to be

noticeable by cars from Jalan Stesen with façade replica of the site. Moreover,

pedestrian walking from Chong Kok Kopitiam to the community centre will

experience a pristine landscape of trees and plants acting as shades and also a place

for social interacting since there are not much noticeable landscape on site.

To tell a better story of Klang, the linear circulation of the community centre should

help people understand the culture and history of Klang with the front of the

building connecting to the back alley. With that, it will ensure the safety of back

alley as people will walk through there as shortcut and peek into the community

centre. While trying to understand and appreciate a piece of art, providing a lounge

area in one of the blocks around the gallery will encourage communication whether

it is between a connoisseur of art, a history enthusiast or the 3 local who have been

around for some time. It increases the social activities desirable for a community

centre.

As might be expected, the community centre must be in the best interests of the

locals with its necessary activities and potential activities. Hence for the

programme, a mini library and collaborative workshop could educate the locals or

become a pastime. The mini library will be the space where young generation

arouse aspiration from their heart since there are students present in the area. With

3
the library and multipurpose classrooms, it is possible to create job opportunities

around the area and bring back the young generation back to the town. The

multipurpose classrooms will be designed flexibly with moving partitions to

accommodate varied sizes of people assembled in there. Improving the wellbeing

of the locals and instil new interests, creates topic of conversation allowing social

interaction. Flexibility in design produce an environment vulnerable to change for

different drawbacks. The pantry will also aid in providing a “take a break” space

for the people in the community centre. Apart from that, more communal activities

provided will foster positivity among the community allowing them to learn and

play on the third floor.

Looking from tourism point of view, we want to promote Klang as an important

town with rich history and showcase the initiatives taken to revive the town. The

shop houses’ design element such as the courtyard are incorporated in the

community center as an open space cut through corridor to remind visitors of the

traditional Nanyang architecture. The allocated cut through space will give the

visitors a sense of clear direction where visitors should go because it is connected

to the back alley and it is ventilated. At the same time, it creates variation in terms

of building form and induce curiosity for spatial experience of a segregated town.

Conclusion

To put it briefly, the design creates new environment with old elements and it is a

designer’s role to bring back its cultural meaning since opportunities are provided

to reshape the urban centre. A community centre being the talk of the town

4
increases contact form among people. Minimal investment has to be made in order

to maintain the public space and the community’s willingness to participate in the

organized events. On account of that, event halls are set up for hosting indoor social

events. I hope that the community centre will enhance the charm of this town and

restore its cultural meaning by inviting more crowd. It should be a spot where both

locals and non-locals could enjoy, learn, play and interacting with the others.

References

Gehl, J., & Koch, J. (2011). Life between buildings: Using public space. Island

Press.