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Chow Kit Community College

Part 1 Project 2013
Nur Syakirin Saharom
University of Malaya | Malaysia
The location of the site, which is situated at the bottom of Chow Kit, was a challenge. Surrounded by negative activities at nighttime, the aspect of security is always has been an issue. Besides that, it also effects the relationship among the community themselves; between the high educated and the low educated, a gap that separates them.

Most likely, the brief to design a vocational school for the community could be a positive action in a way to bring the community together, to help the low educated community to put themself at higher status of level, by gaining skills and knowledge, whether directly or indirectly.

What Chow Kit lacking right now is a space for the com- munity, to feel the sense of belonging and a space that could actually caters community activities, community interaction. Lack of open spaces, had led people to mingle at narrow streets contributing to negative activities. The ¬lacking of nature appreciation awareness. This can be seen from the unsanitary streets, vandalism, and not much green area to serve as the lungs of Chow Kit. Lack of contact with the nature, is part of the urban disease that causes depression, degradation of city life quality.

The design intention of this scheme started with the concern of lack of interaction between the public and the street people. Lack of interaction between modules, between students and public, between public and the students. Therefore, the main concern is the interaction itself. How can this scheme make people gather at a point and interact with each other? The idea of designing a space that brings people together had brought to the term ‘parklets’, and it was quite interesting that this parklet concept; with small space requirement, interesting experimental landscaping design, loose or flexible street furniture become a small node that brings people together. The idea of promoting people to interact with green area as background for social scene could be a new thing for the community of Chow Kit. This is what they currently do not have and it could be a positive thing to introduce to the community.


Tutor(s)

2013
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