E-Portfolio
Community Service initiative
E- Journal
Week 1 Introduction to CSI Module / Formation of groups
Module outline and projects briefing were given on the first day of Community Service Initiative (CSI)’s lecture. This module required us to integrate theories with design practise and come out with an Architecture design proposal to the real community. There are four different categories of beneficiary for us to choose for our design proposal which include Charitable Homes or Organizations (CH), Community Centre (CC), Street Community (SS) and Environment Enhancing (E2).
We had a short meeting after we formed a group of 8. We all have a great interest in the E2 Project which is a collaborative service project run by Junior Chamber International (JCI) and OCBC bank. However, we decided to do the final confirmation after the workshop on the coming Saturday to have more details and information about the project.
Week 2 CSI Workshop on 8th April / Topic Selection/ Site Visit
The workshop was conducted by the representors from JCI and OCBC bank. They have shared about their experience in charity work and a step by step guideline to formulate, plan and evaluate a community work. Through the workshop, we have a better insight on how to conduct a more organized charity activity. We had a short meeting with our group members after the workshop and decided to choose the E2 project. On the same day, we went for a site visit at Metro Prima, Kepong and have shortlisted 4 options for the site selection.
1. An alley between two mixed-use blocks
2. An open green space
3. A spacious bus stop
4. A pedestrian walkway with rows of trees
After the site visit, we came to an agreement to choose option 1. We have identified the issues of the alleys which are less of seating area, no sun shading and less interaction between the communities of the site. Therefore, we decided to tackle the issues by providing seating area and also sun shading to the site. We have also did some case study to explore more about the types of sun shading that we can included into our initial proposal.
Floating Umbrella at Empire Damansara
Batik Artwork in Chinatown of Kuala Lumpur
Seating made by recycle plastic bottles
Week 3 CSI Workshop on 14th April by VERITAS Architects
This workshop was conducted by representors from VERITAS Architects. Same as OCBC and JCI, VERITAS is also one of the collaborator. They have shared with us about the projects done by their company through a video and have briefed us about our community service project. Some example of the proposal done by the students last semester were also be shown.
During the Q&A section, Max and I grabbed the chance to present our rough idea to Dr. Miguel. We have presented our chosen site at Metro Prima, Kepong, which is an alley between two blocks and the ideas of sun shading and furniture through the pictures of case study. We got some feedback of the furniture arrangement, the material used and some suggestions for the sun shading device. Through the workshop and comments from Dr. Miguel, I realized that the proposal is not necessary to be very complicated. It could be just a simple and creative idea that could help or enhance the environment of the community.
Week 4 Submission of Initial Proposal
Bryan suggested the name of our proposal - VIVACITY which means liveliness that reflects our concept to create a lively and interactive space for the community by using furniture and sun shading. For the furniture arrangement, we decided to connect two planter boxes together with the furniture to create a more fluid movement pattern for the community. Bamboo was selected to be the material used instead of plastic bottle as bamboo is more durable and aesthetically pleasing. For the sun shading, colourful small triangle canvas are joined together with voids in between to allow sunlight to pass through and create a lively atmosphere with interesting patterns of shadow.
We segregated works (building 3 of site and furniture, construction methods, proposed layout plans, etc) among the groupmates. I have done the case study, material used and was in charged in the final compilation of the slide with another groupmate, Ke Ning.
Week 5 Discussion to Improve the Initial Proposal
Meeting was held after we got our feedback from our tutor, Ms Ann. We decided to simplify the arrangement of seating by just extend the bamboo seat from the round planter box instead of connecting between two planter boxes which will actually block the circulation. Besides, for the sun shading, we came to an agreement to increase the triangle modular size due to the ease of connecting the vertex of the triangle to the adjacent walls.
Week 6 & 7 Preparation and Submission of E-poster
After we have confirmed the changes to be done from the initial proposal, we started to segregate works among ourselves. I have in charged in the design intention and diagrams Photoshop. Ke Ning and I also took the responsible to collect and rearrange all the works from the groupmates to reduce the workload of the final compiler- Bryan.
I have sent our E-poster to Dr. Miguel and would like to listen to his comments. He is a very nice person and have given me a prompt reply after I have sent him the e-mail. He commented that our proposal looks much better as we have increased the size of the elements. However, he felt that the composition of the sun shading is quite rigid and suggested to overlap some of the shades to provide a denser shade in certain area, while in the other areas light can totally go through.
Week 8 Site Measurement/ Prototype preparation
We decided to do prototype of the bamboo seating so that survey could be done by asking the community to try on the seating. After I have called to the bamboo supplier at Chow Kit, we decided to separate into two teams. One team went for site measurement and another team went to the bamboo shop at Jalan Tar, Chow Kit.
I was in the second team that went to the bamboo shop. After we got the measurement of the planter box from team 1, we have discussed with the bamboo shop’s worker of which diameter of the bamboo are we using and how many are we needed. Due to the high cost of the bamboo, we decided to only do half of the prototype.
Week 9 Prototype Making/ Video Filming/ Final Presentation Board
Ke Ning and I went to collect the bamboo seat before heading to our site to do prototype testing and video filming with the rest of the teammates. We all started setting up the cameras and assembling the bamboo seat to one of the planter box after we reached the site. Ke Ning and I in charged in the surveying and prototype testing. We got several times rejected when we asked the community to try on our bamboo seating as most of them were not willing to be recorded. We felt quite upset when we got rejected. After several times of trying, we finally have our first “customer” to do the prototype testing. She is a very kind-hearted and pretty woman who willing to spend her times to try on the seating and listen to our introduction and explanation. The survey ran smoothly after that.
We got both positive and negative feedbacks from the community. The positive comments are they are quite happy to have more seating area, the seating is very firm and stable and the installation of canvas would be nice as the alley are very hot in the afternoon. However, some of community felt that the bamboo seats are very hard and uncomfortable to be sat.
Week 10 Final Submission of Video, Presentation Board and E-journal
We have did some changes for the final presentation board which is overlapping some of the canvas to create a denser shade. Besides, through the survey and prototype testing, the improvement we could have done for our proposal is the comfortability of the bamboo seating. Therefore, we have proposed to cover the bamboo seating top by using timber plates and have included it in our video.
Bryan was the video editor. Some discussion about the flow of the video have been done between us and I have helped him to do some diagrams of the furniture and canvas so that the viewer would have a clearer image about our design.
Reflection
This 10 weeks module finally come to an end. Although is a very short period, but I have learnt a lot through this CSI Project. From site visit, idea, proposal and finally come to a prototype and submission of poster and video, I have realised the importance of teamwork and cooperation from each of the group members. It was a great opportunity for us to do and design something ourselves that is out from the classroom. The prototype testing day was a memorable and meaningful experience as we needed to communicate and explain our proposal patiently to the community. It was a great activity and practice for us as there will be a lot of obstacles, problems and issue for us to solve in the real world.
Diagrams
Final Presentation Board
Prototype testing
Group photo
Final Video