Reclaiming Urban's Lost~gL'd9R~h£9B~iM~J~acesJury ReviewKhalilah Zakariya & Devendiran S.T.Mani

Mergence BlendingMohd Fairuz Shahidan, Mohd Fabian Hasna & Norsidah Ujang

Projection of PrismatismShureen Faris Abdul Shukor, Asraf Abdul Rahman& Mohd Vazid Mohd Vunos

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in New York in 1858, he argued an urban park with pastoraland country image is important to escape urban life forthe psychology and physiology benefits of human beings(Spirn, 1989).

community gardening and urban jungle. Her design titled"Mergence Blending" showed how urban g.reenerlesareas can be multiplied in simple and Innovative ways,However, for this type of landscape to be successful,careful consideration could be stressed on safety andsecurity as many of these types of landscapes are hiddenor away from main public spaces, Furthermore, a stud~about this new ecosystem could be explored to ensure Itcan fit into the overall urban ecosystem and urban open

spaces network.

Nur Adibah bold design entitled "Projection of Prismatism"in Kuala Lumpur Golden Triangle tries to reclaim the lostlandscape by proposing landscape spaces undergroundbecause she isconcerned with the lossof greeneries In thecities due to development, The underground landscapespaces act as a linkage tool between two multi storeybuildings, In addition, the underground landscapes alsobecome a ground floor for the garden above It, NurAdibah managed to show how city ,landscapes canbe reclaimed in innovative and creative ways but t~lelimitation is, to construct them may not be economiC a Y

viable,

In concluSion, landscape as a main component of. . I be appreciated and

urban greeneries will a ways .explored to be inclusive in the urban enVIronment, Theprojects mentioned are example how landscape canbe used in an exciting innovative ways, Clearly, thereare two dichotomies of design presented regardingthe urban landscapes; one in relation to ecology andanother is about fulfilling human needs, whereas, thesetwo paradigms are very far apart in approach. eventhough they are interdependent. Therefore, whilst v-:eare concerned with greeneries, how these greeneriescan fit into cultural and social aspects should be furtherexplored, It will be challenging because the meaning ofgreen to people differs due to cultural differences and toaccept the assumption that green is universal In values

might backfire to some,

Reclaiming Urban's LostLandscape SpacesAsraf Abdul Rahman & Suhardi Maulan

Due to many urban problems and issues, urban designerstry to look into various ways to improve our city. Urbanrenewal exercises have been carried out intensivelyaround the world since the end of World War II, butearlier urban renewal processes have been criticizedfor making our cities as we see today, Our cities havebeen planned to give priorities to cars, buildings andinfrastructures resulting much of our natural greeneriesbeeing destroyed.

Furthermore, modern movement in architecture hasresulted in buildings designed not in relation with thesurrounding landscape, They ignore the importanceof streetscapes, urban squares and garden and otherimportant outdoor spaces, leaving voids in betweenbuildings and many of these spaces have become lostspaces (Trancik, 1986), In addition, urban infrastructureshave been designed not in coherent with urbanlandscapes resulting in spaces within the infrastructureleft unused. Urban infrastructures are better designed sothat they are not static buf dynamic as well as usable forthe good of urban dwellers (Hauck & Kleinekort, 2011).There is also a call to turn our infrastructure from grey togreener concept (Center for Green Infrastructure, 2011).The lack of greenery in our urban environment has beenlinked with stress and urban dwellers' inability to copewith many demanding task of urban life (Suhardi, 2004;Ulrich,1983),

Without landscape, parks or greeneries in the cities, thecities will be dull and chaotic, It isdue to the fact that theycould provide fresh air, place contemplation, socialisationand relaxation as well as aesthetic values, whereas urbanspaces should be designed for these particular functions(Minguet, 2010). Landscape architects as a steward ofthe land are always at the forefront in championing theissues of urban greeneries in tandem with Frederick LawOlmstead's, a father of Landscape Architects, visionabout urban greenery, When he designed Central Park

Final year BLA project's objective is to allow students tochoose their own projects and they have to demonstratetheir abilities to work independently to solve design problemvia planning and design. Several students choose to dourban design exercise and the issues that they workedon were variy from one another ranging from urban heatisland to urban parks, Nevertheless, regardless of the varietyof issues, one of their project's objectives remains similarwhich is to add more greenery in the urban area, They feelthat the current urban landscape needs to be reclaimedor enhanced to make our cities better places to live,

Two artefacts representing various urban landscapesplanning and ideas are presented here.Nur Adibah in herbold design entitled "Underground Living Park" in KualaLumpur Golden Triangle tries to reclaim the lost landscapeby proposing landscape spaces underground becauseshe is concerned with the loss of greeneries in the citiesdue to development. The underground landscape spacesact as a linkage tool between two multi storey buildings,In addition, the underground landscapes also becomea ground floor for the garden above it. Nur Adibahmanaged to show how city landscapes can be reclaimedin innovative and creative ways but the limitation is, toconstruct them may not be economically viable.

Nurul Atiqah Ismail aimed to reclaim unused landscapesthat associates with infrastructures as a new urbanlandscape spaces, She looked into turning the spacesunder the Sungai Besi highway bridges as vibrantcommunity green spaces, She carefully studied theseuntapped urban natural resources and wanted to switchthe notion of grey infrastructure to become green corridorand green infrastructure with green walls, riparian plantings,

References

Center for Green Infrastructure. (2011). Why is GreenInfrastructure is Important. Retrieved October 11,2013, from Center of Green Infrastructure: www.greeninfrastructuredesign,org

Hauck, T., & Kleinekort, V. (2011), Infrastructural Urbanism.In T. Hauck, R. Keller, & K. Volker (Eds.), InfrastructuralUrbanism: Addressing the In-Between (pp. 9-17). Berlin:Dom Publisher.

Minguet, J. M. (2010). Urban Eco Park. Barcelona: InstitutoMonsa de Ediciones.

Spirn, A. W. (1989). Urban Parks. In National Thrust for HistoricPreservation, American Society of Landscape Architects,& W. H. Tishler (Ed.), American Landscape Architecture(pp. 206-209). Washington DC: The Preservation Press.

Suhardi, M. (2004). Physiology of Stressand the Influenceof Natural Environment for Stress Recovery. Alam Cipta,59-65.

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Trancik, R. (1986). Finding Lost Spaces. New York: VanNostrand Reinhold.

Ulrich, R. (1983). Aesthetic and Affective Response toNatural Environments. In I. Altman, & J. Wolhill, HumanBehavior and Environment. New York: Plenum Press.

Jury Review

Khalilah Zakariya

Thisproject is an interesting contemporary design approachto solve the issuesof unappealing infrastructures. The idea ofmerging the green corridor and grey infrastructure can createconnection between human use, environment and left-overspaces. The flow is well presented and the design process is,clearly articulated. The master plan images offer a creativealternatives to activate the infrastructure. The developmentarea of the open plaza however needs to respond to urbanheat and microclimatic needs of users.

Devendiran S.T.Mani

Overall content of background information and site analysisarewell defined and represented with good layout and charts. Thedesign process and concept are also acceptable. The use of'Permaculture' is a positive idea for sustainable development.The student however did not elaborate enough information indetail. The Master plan is informative and shows the designer'sintent. It would be better if the designer shows the overallpicture of ethno-Botanic Theme. The planting palette wouldneed to provide a very comprehensive list of species and arevery ornamental, which isvery vital for this theme.

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• Nurul Atiqah Ismail

Merging BlendingMohd Fairuz Shahidan, Mohd Fabian Hasna & Norsidah Ujang

The design focuses on the development greenery environment ofCommunity Park that integrates with the existing community andunusable space under large infrastructure such as flyovers andoverpasses. 'Merged' as a main concept isdefined as a combinationor blend two or more things gradually to become single entity. Inth6 ae5ign CQnc~pt, the merging of g.reen environment and greyinfrastructure will overcome the site issues of lack of community'sgreen spaces and impact of air pollution on site. Thus, the proposedlandscape design could give opportunity of transformation from noman's land into a thriving recreational park for the community. Thestrength of the project is based on the original concept that mergedtwo landscape entities into a new landscape paradigm of publicspaces. In contrast, the merging of water bodies into design is stilllacking from application point of view. The project would benefitfrom further study on the prospects of plants selection to reduce theimpact of air pollution.

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Projection of PrismatismShureen Faris Abdul Shukor, Asraf Abdul Rahman & Mohd Vazid Mohd Vunos

This project explores the ability andprobability of using the spaces underneathKuala Lumpur as a park and urbanconnector due to the lack of green spacesin the city centre. The concept 'Projectionof Prismatism' combines three elements:reflection, refraction and triangular shapewhich resulted in the use of lines and colours.The strength of the project lies in the boldand radical ideas projected during thedesign process. The proposal indicates in-depth exploration of ideas and thoughtsduring the process, especially in the area ofecology sustainable strategy in using swaleand rain garden. Aspects concerning safetyand security were also given considerations.It would be interesting for future study ifmore exploration could be carried out onthe type of plants species suitable for theunderground spaces.

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SITE READING_

1Local Analysis_urban greeneries

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• Nur Adibah Abdul Karim

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