theories project 1 part 2
TRANSCRIPT
Theories of Architecture and Urbanism [ARC61303/ARC2224] Bachelor of Science (Honours) Architecture Project Part 1, Stage II: Reflective Essay (500 words) Name: Nurul Jannah Masturah Binti Jailani Student ID: 0310210 The chosen site for this project is Ara Damansara, a township that comprises of residential, commercial and industrial sectors. It is located in Selangor, right next to the Subang Airport, and is nearby established residential and commercial areas of Damansara and Kelana Jaya. Easy accesses to the site are through major highways, the New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE) and Damansara-‐Puchong Highway (LDP). First developed as a residential and industrial area, commercial activities soon found its way into the districts of Ara Damansara. The area attracts an affluent customer base due to it adapting a modern architecture style and is poised to be developed into a prestige township offering a lifestyle that promotes close-‐knit community living. The chosen architect for this project is Christopher Alexander, an Austrian architect known for his theories of design and over 200 building projects around the world. He was recognized as the Father of the Pattern Language movement, and various contemporary architectural practices were resulted from Alexander’s ideas, such as the New Urbanist movement. His noted accomplishments as an architect and author are his books, the Timeless Way of Buildings (1979) and A Pattern Language (1977), the latter being written in collaboration with several other authors. Although it was published later, the Timeless Way of Buildings is essentially the first book of the series and the introduction to A Pattern Language. The book presents a new theory on architecture and design based on the understanding and configuration of design patterns. Christopher Alexander believed that a balance should exist between the urban context and the greens in order to become a good city environment. People need to be close to shops and services for excitement and convenience but at the same time, people need quietness and to be close to nature. By preserving and nurturing this balance, a degree of comfort can be achieved by the people. This balance also determines the gradient density of housings in a city.
He explained in the book that we seek out, for our own sakes, in our own surroundings, the quality of life in order for us to become alive ourselves. This then leads to architects, or humans, the tendency to make it come to life in places that will bring out the quality in us. His theories were further supported in A Pattern Language, in forms patterns through explanations of diagrams. Each pattern is a part of a larger pattern through the forces which occur there, and the conditions that allow these forces to be in harmony.
According to A Pattern Language, the real work of design process lies in the task of
making up the language, because it is the structure and the content of the language that determines the design. With the power of depth and wholeness of the language, it can make a thousand buildings live.
Reference List Alexander, C. (1979). The timeless way of building. New York: Oxford University Press. Alexander, C., Ishikawa, S., & Silverstein, M. (1977). A pattern language. New York: Oxford University Press. Jacana.plus.com,. A Pattern Language -‐ GREEN STREETS. Retrieved 16 April 2015, from http://www.jacana.plus.com/pattern/P51.htm Libarynth.org,. (2007). the_timeless_way_of_building [the libarynth]. Retrieved 16 April 2015, from http://libarynth.org/the_timeless_way_of_building