Regeneration of Decaying Urban Place Through Adaptive Design Infill

The state of urban and architectural decay has always been a classic case in most urban centers of Asian cities. The center of a city usually always displays urban decays , because development is concentrated too much in these areas. Seeing this almost ubiquitous phenomenon, radical examination and re-assessment on all the planning and design principles that we have used until now is needed. However, there will be no single and definite answer to how city planning for the future should be, but there will only be many options that must be carefully selected before being implemented in each different context of a place. Many urban places in Bandung have experienced unprecedented growth, urban growth and radical changes in recent years. In the process, much of the traditional urban areas have been either damaged, destroyed or badly mutilated, with policy makers often arguing that conserving these areas as being a luxury, which emerging economies can ill afford during the early stages of their development. This is what exactly had happened, and will continue to happen to the downtown area of Jalan Jenderal Sudirman and its surroundings. Once was one of the most important district in Bandung, with all of its potential and rich tissue of urban components, the area is being left to suffer decay and lack of attention, both from policy makers and those involved in the industry of built environment. Click here to read more.

Diskusi 'I am Always Stammering!' Vol.1

Diskusi 'I am Always Stammering!' Vol. 1
Discussion Panels:

Kumiko Homma (Stammerer)

David Hutama (Moderator)

Asti Goenawan, Hafiz Amirrol and Henry Gunawan Tjhi

Date: Friday, 25 March 2011

Time: 19:00 - 21:30 WIB

Venue: The Painting Garage, Hegarbudhi 2, Jalan Setiabudi, Bandung 40141, Indonesia

Entrance Fee: IDR 20.000*

* Entrance fee will be fully donated to the victim of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami tragedy in Japan via Shigeru Ban Architects

Preserving History, Collective Memory and Locus through Incremental Design Strategies

History is the collective memory of the people of the city, and it has important influence on the city. History expresses itself through urban artifacts and monuments, thus city become the reflection of the collective will through out the time and its existence. Aldo Rossi (1966) believes that urban history is a useful tool to study urban structure. For example, urban aesthetics constitute mnemonic meanings inherent in the pre-existing urban artifacts and buildings of the city, and through this collective memory, people engaged to discover their meanings and beauty. Rossi also viewed the city with emphasis on cultural stability that somehow will inspire further developments. The city itself became a locus of the collective memory. The value of history seen as collective memory is that it helps us to grasp the significance of the urban structure, its individuality, and its architecture, which is the form of individuality. Locus in the context of Rossi’s study on the city is conceived of singular place and event, which bridge the relationship of architecture to the city’s constitution, and the relationship between context and monuments. Locus is regarded as conditions and qualities of space. On the other hand, architecture shapes a context, which again constitutes changes in space, thus contributing to the city’s transformations.

Rossi, A. (1966) Architecture of the City. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Life on the Street

"Streets and their sidewalks, the main public spaces in the city, are its most vital organs." - Jane Jacobs, in The Death and Life of Great American Cities: The Failure of Town Planning (1965).

Click to download the presentation.

Kampus Selasar ATMI Cikarang

The driving concept for the design of Kampus Selasar ATMI is to comprehend the elements of ‘Competency’, ‘Conscience’ and ‘Compassion’. These three keywords were translated into design approaches that would respond to the similar spirit and characteristics of the ATMI Campus by creating Kampus Selasar ATMI.

Selasar, Vegetation and Water

The new building blocks were connected to the old existing production blocks, integrated with landscaping that characterize the tropical condition of the area. This concept of connectivity, besides providing shades and comfort to mobilize people and goods around, also function as ‘tunnels’ to channel wind around the site. The shaded corridor (selasar) connects all building blocks and were integrated with lush landscaping. The landscaping strategy was designed to circulate air movement. Different pressure by means of temperature differences mean fresh air will flow from one place to another place, thus creating comfortable environment with natural ventilation. The inclusion of ponds and water elements help to create this micro-climate condition for the site. These water element also function as fire-fighting tools and enhanced aesthetical values for the design and planning.

Environmental Ornamentation

Generated from a meticulous study on the site’s natural environment (sun and wind), the unique building facade’s fins are also a statement for innovative sustainable construction. In this case, the facade components can be produced by the ATMI Campus itself, and will demonstrate a new kind of participatory development process that will not only reduce construction cost, but will create stronger engagement between the building and its users. The façade design was generated from parametric studies, utilizing latest digital tools available in the market.

Zero-Discharge Building

The design utilizes local materials such as clay brick and steel plates from the campus’ production stocks. It incorporate building elements that celebrate the redundancy of natural resources such as sunlight, water and wind in achieving the target of having a zero-discharge building. Building in tropical climate means embracing these elements into useful elements. The integrated façade design, stack effect chute, naturally-ventilated corridors and other systems function to conserve and reduce energy usage, and at the same time recycle most of the energy and natural resources used. The simple design is to ensure buildable and easy construction method, bearing in mind that the construction might employ local community from the nearby kampung. This community-based development is a statement of the development’s responsibility towards social empowerment and capacity building.

Design proposal for the ATMI Campus Design Competition

Design Team: Baskoro Tedjo, Hafiz Amirrol, Chichi Asda and Edy Subangkit

Green Design Consultant: Donny Koerniawan

Jalan Jenderal Sudirman - Design Principles and Frameworks