Design 21: Social Design Network

OSM DISTINGUISHED LECTURE SERIES

Huat Lim 12th September 2008 Singapore NUS.

EVOLVED TYPOLOGY : BLUEPRINT AND PRIMER FOR A SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURAL WORK

We start by asking the question: What is typology, and why has this anything to do with Sustainability? Why Type?

I commence by saying that architecture is largely about people. I learnt this from Norman Foster, the one thing I remember him saying to me when I was working on the Stansted Airport project, amongst many others.

We look back to an early village scene, and we reflect on our countryside and the villages. We see here the blueprint for a new evolved typology. One which takes us back to an awareness of of environment one that begs the question of how much we really need to put into our ecological and typological models before we stop and ask, is this what we want, is this enough or have we gone too far with development.

Building typology has always been of interest and as a study for architecture, because it begs the question of whether works of architecture need for classification and grouping to serve its their purpose or if types are necessary in order to validate their functions. So we ask, what is type? Are private houses a building type and do typifying shapes and built forms add any value to buildings? Indeed none whatsoever. By conforming it to any one type of building does not make the work any different or better in any way, let alone give it any more meaning or validation to its functions.

What of t...

the skate park facility responds to our need to keep the young thinking about their environment, constantly and responsibly, always engaged emotionally to buildings we give them to count as their own.

made entirely of concrete, a sustainable resource and material, we place emphasis on utlising the simplest material, and once completed, requiring the least amount of energy to maintain and upkeep the finishes. young persons do not necessarily care for expensive materials, irresponsible use of energy and waste of resources, an awareness we want to propagate and demonstrate through humble architecture.

skatepark

©2008.huatlim

am not one for specifications, but if there is such a thing , and I thought I knew, green concrete should be specified to mean aggregate sources are from recycled chippings and on site stone binders or raw materials taken off secondary sources as demolition sites and recyclable waste grubs and so forth. if this is organised and done there can be opportunities to reduce hacking river beds and mining sand beds to provide the resources for concrete aggregates and rock work admixtures from primary natural sources.

i remain to be corrected for using this term.

huat lim www.zlgdesign.com

plastic is largely an invention in the days of the old luxury where material objects represent wealth and successes...in today's terms and indeed for the future, the new luxury will largely be about examining one's wealth through minimising impactful waste and one's use of technology to attain any form of contentment... such as to won a large piece of land only to build the smallest unit of accommodation, anything that looks no more than a shed, with absolute minimal provisions as a bath a pantry and perhaps no bed. the basic necessity is all that is required to achieve the new luxury..avoid all manufactured products at all costs.

zlgdesign.blogspot.com

boh was created to spell a corporate care program for visitors to appreciate the tea estate and its economic importance for malaysia: a visitor centre was derived from minimising impact to the environment, special care was taken to employ readily available materials, and using the most economic construction techniques. to this day the tea made from this estate are plucked by hand and made entirely by hand.

http://www.zlgdesign.com

I don't mind the design as much as the colour, the blue and pink is boy and girl mentality, and it does little to give the event its more generic quality. The shapes are great, very sporty, dynamic and so on, but I think many could do a better job.

Out of 10 this one gets 4.

H

zlgdesign is proud to receive the 2007 International Barbara Cappochin Foundation Special Prize Award for their BOH Cameron Highlands Visitor Centre. The building is located in the Highlands Tea Estate of Malaysia.

The International Biennial “Barbara Cappochin” Prize for Architecture is launched in Paris. The purpose of the Foundation is to remember Barbara, a young student of the Faculty of Architecture I.U.A.V of Venice by promoting high quality architecture. This quality can only be obtained if the three essential figures, the Contractor, the Designer and the Constructor, work together to identify that thin line that connects life and architecture, by focusing on choices, ideas and materials in order to attain high quality results. This is the objective of the Foundation.

zlgdesign | bohvisitorcentre | contact

There is an older link to the tecnopod, published many years back, we have to date not found a finance proposal nor partners but our hopes are still high to have a way with an aluminium version as the steelwork used for the original although cheaper is far more cumbersome due to its weight.

The architecture firm ZLG Sdn.Bhd., of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has developed a prototype for a lightweight, movable building called the "tecnopod." The main criteria for its design were that it be modular, easily transportable, and able to be erected within a day.

The idea of a prefabricated, modular structure is nothing new. What is new in the case of the tecnopod is the application of such a structure in Asia, home to half the world's population, of which half is displaced or without adequate shelter.

The humanitarian ideal, to provide quick and simple shelter for the growing population of Asia, was the original motivation for the tecnopod's development.

The rapid assembly of a tecnopod is possible because of its component-based design, which allows the elements to be efficiently fabricated, packed, and shipped out.

Once it is at its destination, the assembly process begins with the alignment of a set of footings, which do not require deep foundations. After placing these four base elements, the assemblers then bolt together the main frame, which comes in three large sections.

They then apply the side panels, floor, and glazing. When these elements are assembled, the "accessories" ...

As a means to share and develop a strategy for design awareness and formulate a basis for good primer for processing information for the aesthetically inclined, we have commenced on a blog at designmatters. I have yet to devise an entry system to encourage wider participation. However comments are welcomed and reviewed as and when I am available to address visitor remarks.

www.zlgdesign.com

This is a project our organisation has developed for a teaching facility for the homeless and those underprivileged for the East Coast of Malaysia. We envisage as many as thirty or more of these units to be deployed to the poorer states of Malaysia particularly the Malays who are less fortunate to have access to good teachers and education.

Today we hope to find finance for this humble tecnopod to be deployed to emergency areas where flooding is prevalent, and medical facilities become urgent. To erect any one of these units require very little technology, and the unit is transportable on the back of a truck. Assembly can be organised by a team of semi-skilled labourers.

zlgdesign