Theory Project Part B
- 1. SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Architecture THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM (ARC2224) (ARC61303) PROJECT PART B NAME: BENNY TAN SHIOWEE ID: 0315447 LECTURER: MS IDA MARLINA MAZLAN
- 2. 1. Site Introduction Figure 1: Location of Klang Valley (Source: Google Map) Klang or Kelang, officially Klang City, is the royal city and former capital of the state of Selangor, Malaysia. It was the civil capital of Selangor in an earlier era prior to the emergence of Kuala Lumpur and the current capital, Shah Alam. Port Klang, which is located in the Klang District, is the 13th busiest transhipment port and the 16th busiest container port in the world. Klang Valley is also known as Central region of Malaysia. The valley is named after the Klang River, the principal river that flows through it, which is closely linked to the early development of the area as a cluster of tin mining towns in the late 19th century.
- 3. Figure 2: Location of Little India (Source: Google Map) This essay will have more discussion and focus on the Little India and the surrounding in the Klang Vally. Little India is located at the South of Klang Valley. It consists of a colourful street from the striking saris hanging from shops to the snacks and sweetmeats on sale from shops and roadside stalls. The Little India enclave along Jalan Tengku Klang, Klang is the biggest Indian street in Malaysia. Fierce competition among shop owners translate into cheaper prices for consumers and people are literally spoilt for choice amidst the rows of shops on the left and right sides of the road, with stalls spilling onto the sidewalks and back lands. Variety of items such as saris, necklace, gold and flowers are sold here. During Deepavali event, the Indian festival of lights, the street is astoundingly transformed into a colourful spectacle of lights and booming sound of music.
- 4. 2. Introduction of Cognitive Mapping In this project, I used a cognitive map as a median to understand and orient myself in the Little India in Klang Valley. A cognitive map is a type of mental representation which serves an individual to acquire code, store, recall, and decode information about the relative locations and attributes of phenomena in their everyday or metaphorical spatial environment. 3. Analysis & Synthesis In the classic text of Kevin Lynch, The Image of the City introduces urban designers, planners and readers to a new way of thinking about the urban form of a city. With the normal method, people tend to use the professional maps and plans to understand the city. Instead of focus on the traditional way we understand and read about our city, Kevin Lynch emphasize on how people in the city actually use and perceive their physical environment. There is a common exercise in urban design and urban planning courses which are ask students to draw a map of their neighbourhood or city in order to develop a better understanding of the differences between the physical map and layout of an area and how people actually perceive the same area. Lynch argues that people will orient themselves in urban situations by means of mental maps which consist of five elements: paths, edges, districts, nodes and landmarks. The purpose of the mental mapping activity is rarely how well a student can draw a map but to start thinking differently about cities and their urban form. The task can easily be accomplished through different instructional media including drawings, written text, or oral presentations. In the project, I have drawn a cognitive mapping in order to help myself in understanding the Klang Valley.
- 5. From what Kevin Lynch stated in his book, The Image of The City, districts have various kinds of boundaries and are “medium to large sections of the city” (Lynch, p.47). Some of them are hard to be identify, definite and precise. They can be recognized internally when people walk by, and occasionally can be used as external reference as a person goes by or toward them. In a large view of Klang Valley, the building typology is defined by the typology of the building which is authority, central hub, religious, historical, sport hub, residential, institutional and royal. They are act as a main and key role on organizing a city and typically two-dimensional features, often held together by some commonality. As an observer, there are varieties of districts in Klang City. There is central hub where Little India Street and most of the commercial area gather right after the Klang River. The central hub is connected to other districts except royal districts due to its privacy characteristic. It is easy access from all others districts which make it a central hub in Klang City. In the Klang City, the district boundaries are seems to act as the secondary role. These edges provide the boundaries that separate one region from another, the seams that join two regions together, or the barriers that close one region from another. They may set limits to a district and may reinforce its identity, but they apparently have less to do with constituting it. They are linear elements, but are not the paths along with the individual experiences the built environment. They can be physical edges such as shorelines, walls, railroad cuts, or edges of development, or they can be less well-defined edges that the individual perceives as a barrier. As an observer, the Klang River is considered as one of the edge of the city in the North Klang Valley because it is impenetrable to cross movement by the people and it is continuous in form. Despite that, Kompleks Mahkamah Klang and Stadium Padang Sultan Sulaiman are considered as visible edge at the East of the Klang Valley because it is gigantic in scale that exposes an entire metropolis to people view. However, the Jalan Jambatan Kota is
- 6. served as an edge at West of the Klang Valley because it is the main highway and impenetrable to cross movement with the car passing in high frequency. Taman Bandar Diraja Klang is considered as an edge at South of the Klang Valley because it is continuous in form of vegetation and impenetrable to cross movement. From what Kevin Lynch states in the book, paths consist of the "channels along which the observer customarily, occasionally, or potentially moves" (Lynch, p. 47). These can include streets, paths, transit routes, or any other defined path of movement. The paths are often the most predominant items in an individual's mental map as this is main mechanism for how they experience their city. As an observer, when travelling in the Klang Valley, there are pedestrian walkways in the centre of the city which is the Little India Streets. Commercial and religious areas which have large amount of users are also surrounds with the pedestrian walkways. There are few main highways surround the city and an alternative vehicle road which is KTM for people to enter the Klang City. During the day I visit to the Klang Valley, the first identification of the Klang Valley which catches my attention is the landmarks of the city. As what Kevin Lynch stated in the book, the landmarks are easy to identify as they are more likely to be chosen as significant. They are always having a clear form, contrast with the background and some prominence of spatial location. Despite landmarks, Kevin Lynch states that nodes are points within the city, strategically located, into which the individual enters and which is often the main focal point to which she or he is traveling to or from. There are often junctions – a crossing or converging of paths. They often have a physical element such as a popular hangout for the individual or a plaza area. In many cases, the nodes are the centers of the district that they are in.
- 7. Figure 3: Police Station & Fire Station at Jalan Tengku Diaudin (Source: Google Map) As an observer, the first landmark I seen during my site visit is the Police Station and Bomba Station at the Jalan Tengku Diaudin right before turn into the Little India Street. It is very unique in blue and red colours and remains external features to me when I enter Little India Street. It is two detached building which erect at the entry of Little India. Figure 4: Restoran Seng Huat Bak Kut Teh near to the bridge at Jalan Besar (Source: Google Map) From the observation, there are several nodes and landmarks along the Jalan Tengku Kelana (Little India Street) from the Jalan Tengku Diaudin. On the left hand side of the Jalan Tengku Kelana, the Restoran Seng Huat Bak Kut Teh at Jalan Besar is considered as the first node in Klang City because of its strategic location which is under the bridge and become the popular hangout destination for the local community and tourists.
- 8. Figure 5: Cendol Stall at Jalan Stesen 1 (Source: Google Map) Few streets after the first node, there is a second node, Cendol Stall at Jalan Stesen 1. It is located at the alley in between shop house and car park. The reason of choosing this as node is because the local people like to gather and hangout at there for cendol especially in hot weather. The place is provided seating for the people to chatting and chilling. Figure 6: Masjid India Klang at Jalan Tengku Kelana (Source: Google Map) As an observer, the Masjid India Klang is the second landmark that I seen on the right hand side of the Jalan Tengku Kelana. It is one of the landmarks of Klang City because of its big scale and unique history background. It is easy to identify for tourist and local people due to its big scale and usually become the navigation of people.
- 9. Figure 7: Street Stall at Jalan Taliair (Source: Google Map) I found out there is a Street Stall as another node at the intersection of Jalan Tengku Kelana and Jalan Taliair. It is a place for people to gather due to the characteristics it has. The stall has provided food and drink for people to buy and chilling around. It is located at a strategic location because it is near to the tree which provided sun shading for the comfortable of users. Figure 8: Chennai Silk Palace SDN BHD at Jalan Istana There is the third landmark I found near the Little India which is located few streets away from Jalan Tengku Kelana. It is Chennai Silk Palace SDN BHD at Jalan Istana. It is located at a strategic location which is corner lot which make it attractive by its outlook and easy to identify. Therefore, the location itself makes it a successful landmark in helping user to remember the place. Local community and the tourist are come to the place because it is famous with its good, sarees.
- 10. 3. Conclusion In a nutshell, Lynch primarily emphasized the role of the visual sense and how people find their way in the city is relied on vision which is the basic forms in evoking a strong site image. The five elements (paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks) are defined as various techniques in optimising and creating the perfect city. With the five elements implemented by Kevin Lynch, Klang Valley is most recognizable by its edges which are the Klang River, nodes and landmarks generate along the Jalan Tengku Kelana. These three elements are easy to identify with the theories of Kevin Lynch. However, the paths and districts in the Klang Valley are not easy to identify to the observer and may need to improve. Moreover, “The Image of The City” is a classic work and can be use as a method to understand and read a city with its five elements.
- 11. 4. References 1. The Image of the City. (n.d.). Retrieved June 05, 2016, from https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/image-city 2. Image of the city, kevin lynch & case study. (n.d.). Retrieved June 05, 2016, from http://www.slideshare.net/rajapukai/image-of-the-city-kevin-lynch- case-study 3. Amir, R. (n.d.). BOOK REVIEW THE IMAGE OF THE CITY by Kevin Lynch. Retrieved June 05, 2016, from https://prezi.com/cffm7tasiolc/book-review- the-image-of-the-city-by-kevin-lynch/ 4. Introduction to Klang Valley. (n.d.). Retrieved June 05, 2016, from http://community.simtropolis.com/journals/entry/11832-introduction-to-klang- valley/ 5. M. (2012). Klang's Little India. Retrieved June 05, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSPGok37bRE