Architecture

Hong Kong's very limited urban space brings that spectacular urban scheme where the high density of skyscrapers crammed into a small land is a phenomenal sight. Among Hong Kong's numerous remarkable architectures, its spatial typology of death is like no other. Due to the suffering from land shortages in the late 1970s, Hong Kong government had banned the construction of new, permanent cemeteries against mass public burial sites.

The hyper-dense vertical graveyards reach the heights up to 60 stories. The cemeteries carefully arranged and oriented in tiers, are carved into the city’s steep mountainsides like a sloped roof down to the island that offer views over Hong Kong’s residential districts just beyond the mountainside. 

Photos by  RIBA-nominated architectural photographer Finbarr Fallon

The photos by the RIBA-nominated architectural photograpgher, Finbarr Fallon captured the hyper-dense graveyards of Hong Kong, showcasing the sublime geometry of its mountainside burials in a series titled 'Dead Space'. Fallon's photo series of Dead Space explores how these vertical graveyard formed in contrasts with Hong Kong’s contemporary developments.

'I have always been intrigued by how city-specific cemetery design can be. While death is universal, its memorialization practices are not. I found it fascinating that extreme density and verticality continue to be a defining characteristic of Hong Kong’s dwellings for both the living and the dead.' -Finbarr Fallon , 2019

As acccording to Fallon, the images juxtapose residences for two diametrically opposed groups—the residential building for the live, and vertical graveyard for the dead. However, there is a conceptual tension between both environments, the geometric patterns that are reflected in both the skyscrapers’ gridded details and the cemetery’s uniform tombstones create a shared visual language.

The graveyards occupy the area's mountainsides as a response to its extreme urban density, as well as Chinese Feng Shui traditions. As congested as these tiered terraces may seem, but the graveyards are in fact extremely over-priced, making them unattainable to many. In addition to the expenses, there is also the obstacle of space constraints, which is why the Hong Kong government is now encouraging cremation instead of burials. Today, these graveyards represent an abstract intersection between tradition, eternal life, and modern-day demands. -Dima Stouhi , 2019

Despite the extremely cost of burial plots, the Hong Kong citizen still prefer the traditional burial. The people are willing to spend the expenses, as well as to make the arduous climb up to the burial terrace to pay their respect for their ancestors. It is believed that the uppermost grave plots are generally the most auspicious, one has to spare a thought for the relatives who must endure the long and difficult climb to reach the top!



reference:
Evan Nicole Brown (2019). Inside the High-rise Graveyard of Hong Kong. Fast Company. Retrieved from: https://www.fastcompany.com/90398412/the-high-rise-graveyards-of-hong-kong-in-photos

Lynne Myers (2019). Dead Space by Finbarr Fallon Documents The Hyperdense Vertical Graveyards Of Hong Kong. Designboom. Retrieved from: https://www.designboom.com/architecture/dead-space-finbarr-fallon-vertical-graveyards-hong-kong-08-23-2019/

Dima Stouhi (2019). Photographic Series Captures The Hyper-dense Vertical Graveyards of Hong Kong. ArchDaily. Retrieved from: https://www.archdaily.com/923847/photographic-series-captures-the-hyper-dense-vertical-graveyards-of-hong-kong

Anastasia Arellano. Real Estate Is So Expensive In Hong Kong That Some People Are Buried In Vertical Graveyards.Dusty Old Thing. Retrieved from: https://dustyoldthing.com/vertical-graveyard-hong-kong/

Least Affordable Real Estate Market in the World
No doubt, it's incredibly expensive to stay in Hong Kong than anywhere else in the world. Hong Kong has ranked as the world's least-affordable housing market in the world. The housing prices are now almost 20 times more than annual income. It means that an average household income of RM 50,000 annually would  be looking for a house that cost up to RM 1,000,000. It's absolutely difficult to own a home in Hong Kong. 

The Coffin/Cage Home

Coffin Home

The way the government zones and leases the land, as well as the low taxes policy allows them to make tons of revenue and proud to be top of the ranking of world's freest economy. However, I think it's really less human-centered for Hong Kong citizen and missing of sense of home for the people. Hopefully, the government of Hong Kong should look into less profitable solution and zoning reform, and put the interest of people above interest of market to be socially sustainable!

reference:

Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong

City of Darkness
Kowloon Walled City was a remarkable high-rise squatter camp where more than 50,000 people were crammed into a mass of 500 slum buildings, within the 6.4 acres land of Hong Kong. It was once the most densely populated spot in the world before the demolition by the authorities in 1993. Originally a Chinese military fort, the walled city became an ungoverned enclave in 1989 and controlled by local triads from 1950s to 1970s, with high rates of prostitution, gambling and drug abuse. Therefore, it comes with the name 'City of Darkness' in Cantonese.

Architecture without Architects
The unplanned walled city was a self-constructed autonomous district that grew without input from architects or planners, from a squatter camp inside an abandoned military fort to the most densely housing on earth. Despite its dystopian appearance and poor image to the outsiders, for thousands who called it home, Kowloon Walled City was a friendly, tight-knit community that was poor but generally happy.

Dogs & Architecture
Domestic dog has been man's best friend for at least 15,000 years. The close relations, loyalty, and companionship of dogs with humans is a mutually symbiotic relationship. Today, many of our best friends, the dogs, live indoor under one roof closely with their owners, the human especially in the western culture. However, the so-called home is actually the architectural environments that designed with concept of human engineering to fit human body. There's no such a thing as architecture for dogs or cats. The life of a pet has always been destined and governed by their owner's choices. What if we were to go beyond human scale, to imagine an environment based on the scale of dogs or cats?

Whenever we start designing a building, site analysis would be the very first step to understand the proposed context in order to synthesize and produce a context-respecting architecture. And, during the design stage architects are practiced to design an architecture which relate and respond to the context. However, due to budget and different perspective from the developers, we still able to found those development nowadays which is so 'international style'. I definitely not a supporter of that, just simply that it HAS NO SPIRIT.

Critical Regionalism and 'Place'

Critical regionalism is an approach to architecture that strives to counter the placelessness and lack of identity of the International Style, but also rejects the whimsical individualism and ornamentation of Postmodern architecture. - Wikipedia

As mentioned, the emerge of ‘critical regionalism’ is to counter the placelessness and lack of meaning in modern architecture. Critical regionalism adopt modern architecture critically in order to show its progressive qualities of development in one place, but at the same time it does show respond to the context. 
Based on my understanding, critical regionalism cannot be simply based on the visual indigenous form, but it should also emphasize on topography, climate, light and tectonic form of a site. I strongly agree that, a good modern architecture to relate the genius loci of a place, cannot blindly respond to its historical background, however, more focusing on current situation in term of the site context and the current culture there. But not to neglect the past, which means that, in critical regionalism, the past can be deconstruct into a more abstract but not a direct way, to make sense of its past in one context. 

Ningbo Museum in China by Wang Shu

Local Traditional 'wapan' Construction Technique

A good example would be Wang Shu’s Ningbo Historical Museum. Wang Shu from China used the concept of mountains and rivers which is very influential in Chinese culture of poetry, using Ningbo’s local demolished materials, to show the respect and memory of site culture. At the same time, his actual intention is to make statement against its surrounding context of developed skyscrapers which are violet against the people’s lifestyle there. The combination of the regional traditional construction of ‘wapan’ and modern technology, married together to achieve its desired height yet to reveal its authenticity.

I accept the strategies of Critical Regionalism which is to connect the impact of universal civilization with elements from characteristic of particular place. The hidden meaning can be occurred yet not to over highlight it, in order to show the current quality and condition of the place. However, I think that architecture might be complicated showing the critical regionalism of a place in future, as times goes, things change. When too much information has to be included in one architecture, it may be complex.

It will be challenging in the future to reconstruct an architecture in the way of Critical Regionalism. It is difficult to achieve strong emotive and cognitive but it will be the right way as well (to not too focusing the past). As an architects, we try to maintain a spirit of a place in details!



reference:
A Fortress Besieged by Critical Regionalism. Retrieved from:
http://www.oris.hr/en/oris-magazine/overview-of-articles/[121]a-fortress-besieged-by-critical-regionalism,1734.html

Critical Regionalism. Retrieved from:
https://www.slideshare.net/ar_suryas/critical-regionalism

Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, the Malaysian citizens are ordered to abide to the Movement Control Order (MCO) which is to perform social distance as a preventive measure towards the spread of Coronavirusas. And recently, there's an upset announcement regarding the extension of the movement which the citizens got to stay at home for about a month. This pandemic really makes everyone frustrated and distress staying home, as just like to stay in a isolated jail. However, while staying in my home, I have received this very interesting unexpected video showing the communal interaction during the quarantine period between built space. 

Quarantined residents in Spain take to their balconies for group exercise

Life Between Buildings
It's interesting to see social interaction and participation of life between buildings. And I do believe that the design of built environment has a significant effect on our mental health and well-being. Besides, the understanding of social sciences has to be applied thoughtfully to the sphere of design and architecture in order to achieve the improvements in social interaction and spaces that respond better to people’s natural psychological preferences.

“A good city is like a good party – people stay longer than really necessary, because they are enjoying themselves.” – Jan Gehl

As during the frustrated quarantine, the people are trying to break the stressful atmosphere with a positive and healthy 'party' by utilizing the courtyard within the apartments. The community activate the public space,creating positive physical environment and providing opportunity for meetings and interaction. Here, you can meet a new friend or greet an old friend. Such a low-intensity contact is an outset for growth of higher intensity interaction as well as to maintain an established contact.

In between the built spaces, we as a designer should always provide the opportunity for the people to discover the space. Just like walking in a city, you could just walk and walk and walk. However, walking is a mode of transport which can be very interesting. Walking is much more than just walking. You can walk and watch, or walk and talk. Life between buildings keep one in touch with social happenings. The opportunity to see and hear other people in a city implies an offer of valuable information about the surrounding social environment in general. Besides, it also could be a source of ideas and inspiration by seeing others in action.

As an architect, we don’t simply design a space but we should have to uncover the quality and emotion of one space. We don’t simply create a path but we reveal any positive possibility and value of the journey.




reference:
Gehl, J. (2011). Life between buildings: using public space. Island press. 

Quarantined residents in Spain take to their balconies for group exercise | GMA Digital Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2Rle1YS5Fs

The Eyes of The Skin: Architecture and the Sensess by Juhani Pallasma

The Eyes of the Skin by Finnish architect Juhani Pallasma is an interesting reading about the importance of including five senses in the art of shaping buildings. I've go through the article summary and review and I would like to conclude the reader as what the author mentioned; ‘What is needed most in architecture today is very thing that is most need in life - Integrity’ (Pallasma) which the quote originated from famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Architecture means to bring users’ consciousness into the space not in the central perspective, but reference, imagination, memory and integration.

The Geometry of Feeling
The meaning and feeling of a space can be sensed through the dominance of visual perception, at the same time also explored and assisted by the other senses (touch, smell, aural). I strongly agree that, architecture is not just to accommodate a person but it impacts the nature and feeling or architect in a way that the users view architecture as a whole or even effect the way they view their whole life. Which similar to his reader ‘The Geometry of Feeling’, Pallasma mentioned that architecture is no just about designing functional space, but we have to be poetic enough to create the feeling of ‘time’ which bring user’s memory within the space. I think, ‘The Geometry of Feeling’ can be achieved through ‘The Eyes of the Skin’. I would say that an architecture without the spirit is equal to a brain-death person who live for dead.

Meaning of Space through Our Eyes
Meaning of a space can only be accurately conveyed for those who have been through the experience. For examples, a small house can make the homeless feel touching and appreciate but not for those who are insatiable. That’s why my design studio projects always need us to make site analysis in order to understand better the users and genius loci of the region. Especially through observation, which I mentioned that our eyes are the core sensible perception.

However, our eyes of skin may be misleading as today’s science and technology is too advanced. In my own opinion, I am really disappointed and not encourage the design of buildings which go against its honest. Some designers or businessmen like to use those advanced artificial material which reach the same texture and visual effect, lying the user’s eyes. For example, the steel material which actually is an engineered particle board. It’s may be economic-friendly but this totally bring down the true value of a material.

In my conclusion, I would say that our eyes are strongest organ of perception in our body compared to others like skin, ear, nose etc. However, our eyes are also the weakest organ compared to others which our eyes can be easily cheated. Again, the 'Integrity' is the ker elements when we convey the message to the users’ eyes of the skin. We have to do understand the users and the context background, shaping the architectural design which shows the true perceptual experiences by its users.




reference:
Juhani Pallasma (1996). The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses. Chichester: Wiley-Academy 

Practicing in tropical region, we embrace the enthusiasm exploring various materials' applicability and there's the trend these days where the local architects favor to design with the raw feeling of tropical materials. So am I, in my design projects which I frequently presented the authenticity and beauty of tropical materials applied in my buildings. How about colour? Hmm...It is not primary consideration in my design, to be honest. But, after the readings, I found that I should have include the design of colour in my buildings. When it comes to architectural design, we tend to consider colours to be a mere element of decoration. In this blog, I would like to share my understanding about the 'colour' after exploring to the studies.

About the Colour
We all know the colours for the very first time when we are studying in the kindergarten. But have you ever really learn about the theory about colours? Let's me tell you briefly. Colour is a perceptual elements, a visual language which understood by all (of course, except those colour-disabled). Just like any other perceptual experience, visual colour has the effects that are emotional, symbolic and perhaps stimulation of our memory. According to Frank Mahnke, a colour-expert designer, he mentioned that colours and their perceptions are responsible for a series of consciousness and subconsciousness stimuli in our psycho-spatial relationship. Colour not just for decorative purposes but also responds to human's feelings.

Colour is an integral element of our world, not just in the natural environment but also in the man-made architectural environment. Color always played a role in the human evolutionary process. The environment and its colors are perceived, and the brain processes and judges what it perceives on an objective and subjective basis. Psychological influence, communication, information, and effects on the psyche are aspects of our perceptual judgment processes. Hence, the goals of color design in an architectural space are not relegated to decoration alone. - (Frank H. Mahnke, 2004)

The Role of Colour in Architectural Design
I do agree with Frank Mahnke about the importance of colour as it is kind of expressive elements of human mind in building space. Based on my understanding, colour helps in developing perspective and understanding the nature of a building. It can be applied to enhance the character of a building to create harmony and unity, or it can be intentionally contrasting to highlight certain elements. Colour also may affect the users' feeling of the space and enhance their mood (calm, relaxing, exciting or even frightening). Different colours have differents meaning when they react to the human mind.

The Red Square of Superkilen

The Black Market of Superkilen

The Green Park of Superkilen

And here's a brilliant example of colour application in the Superkilen by the Danish architect BIG in collaboration with the German landscape architect. The sprawling urban park Superkilen, wedges itself into one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in Copenhagen. The masterplan of Superkilen scheme is split into three definite sections characterised by colour:

The Red Square is directly connected to Nørrebro’s busiest street, Nørrebrogade, and thus, it is Superkilen’s link to the city. It is also an extension of the existing sporting center, Nørrebrohallen, and offers additional areas for outdoor urban sports and fitness – which coupled with the Jamaican sound system, gives the area a distinctly youthful vibe.

The Black Market plays a central part in the masterplan. Devised as “an urban living room”, it implies areas for more contemplative, introvert activities. But it also works as a setting for social gatherings and flea markets in the weekends.

The Green Park with its soft, grassy hills is family-friendly and an obvious picnic spot, while also directly addressing the desire of the locals to have more green spaces.

I think it's interesting to see how the architect apply the colour for different purposes like: red which encouraging activity and energy/ black which calming the interactive space/ green which naturally relaxing the bustle city. As an architectural designer, we should be doing the same, to be playful to explore and experiment with various characteristic of colours to enhance the spatial experience/atmosphere, to make our design integral as a whole.



reference:
Mahnke, F. H. (2004). Color in architecture: More than just decoration. Archinect. Com. 

Color in Architecture — More Than Just Decoration. Retrieved from:
https://archinect.com/features/article/53292622/color-in-architecture-more-than-just-decoration

THE IMPORTANCE OF COLOUR IN ARCHITECTURE. Retrieved from:
https://www.detea.es/en/the-importance-of-colour-in-architecture/

Superkilen by Jakob Harry Hybel, arcspace. Retrieved from:
https://arcspace.com/feature/superkilen/

Colour Case Study #3. Retrieved from:
https://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/article/1508854/colour-case-study-3

Traffic jam in urban area like Kuala Lumpur is a terrible phenomenon yet our government still promote more national car. When there're more cars means that the road is more congested and delays are getting longer. Constantly dealing with traffic jam can be stressful and have long-term impact on our physical and mental health. Wouldn't it be great if we could work, play and live in the same area without spending extra time in traffic?

Transit Oriented Development & Principles
Transit Oriented Development (T.O.D.) is an urban development which planned to maximize the density of diverse programme like residential, business and leisure space, forming a mix-used hub within walking distance (400 meter to 800 meter) of public transport. TOD have street design that encourage pedestrian walking and biking in a safe and attractive environment. Since fewer people need to drive, parking lots take up less space and usually incorporated into building. Besides, the feeder bus and other public transportation is provided for the convenience of TOD users in order to move around the city and reach to their final destination. In my point of view, TOD is definitely a good plan to reduce high dependency of car with smaller carbon footprint, at the same time to enable a more productive and livable environment.

Which Region are the Good Candidates for T.O.D.?
Have you ever wonder why these specific area like Bangsar, Mid Valley, KL Sentral, Bukit Bintang etc. are chosen as the candidates for T.O.D? Here i found the interesting articles showing why T.O.D principles cannot be applied uniformly across the entire city or transit network:

This World Bank report outlines three ‘values’ (3V) of neighbourhoods around transit stations which cities can use to identify which areas are good candidates for TOD, and what kind of development makes sense in each neighbourhood. The 3V Framework has been designed for use by both large cities with extensive transport networks, and smaller cities with only a few mass transit lines or a bus rapid transit system.

The three ‘values’ of transport hubs and surrounding areas are:

Node value (transit connectivity): this describes the importance of a station in the public transit network based on passenger traffic, connections with other transport modes and centrality within the network.

Place value: this describes the quality and attractiveness of the urban environment around the transport station. The factors affecting place value include diversity of land use, availability of essential services such as schools, accessibility of everyday amenities and the size of public spaces around the station.

Market potential value: this refers to the unrealized market value of transport station areas. It is measured by the major variables that can influence demand for land (such as current and future number of jobs in the vicinity of the station, number of jobs accessible within 30 minutes by transit, and current and future housing densities) as well as the supply (such as the amount of developable land, possible changes in zoning policy, and market vibrancy).

I think it's important to choose the right place for T.O.D. By identifying and addressing the values of the potential region using the 3V framework as mentioned above, it is possible to create new economic opportunities in the TOD neighborhood. And of course, a proper implementation strategies and policy should be considered during the planning in order to carry out these values.



reference:
What is TOD. Retrieved from:
http://www.itdp.org/library/standard-and-guides/tod3-0/what-is-tod/

Transforming the Urban Space Through Transit-Oriented Development Retrieved from:
https://www.c40knowledgehub.org/s/article/Transforming-the-Urban-Space-Through-Transit-Oriented-Development-The-3V-Approach?language=en_US

In my previous blog, I've mentioned the housing crisis issue we facing today. Housing crisis nowadays restrain the people especially the low-income groups in the urban city area from getting a cheaper and bigger house. The concept of 'co-living' then growing and become a trend in major city, against the high prices of real estates. And i think this concept can be effectively implemented in Kuala Lumpur metropolitan city which might help the low-income youngsters, providing them affordable yet sustainable living environment.


Brief Introduction about the Concept of 'Co-Living'
The idea of 'co-living', basically, is where you live together with a group of people sharing bigger space and common amenities. Unlike the traditional living lifestyle we used to have, co-living values openness, social networking, collaborative economy and the sense of community.

I know that the intention of 'co-living' tries to promote the sharing economy to reduce the living cost. However, there's one question emerged in my mind: 'Hmm...Does someone willing to share his/her bathroom? What if we like to watch different TV channel in one living room? I'm not going to watch a football though...'


What is a Good Design in 'Co-Living'?
I believe that conventional housing layout in tradition is definitely not applicable in this case where the co-living space should have fulfill its communal living lifestyle. In order to improve the quality of social connections in society, we may need to transform the way we live and how we design our homes and neighborhood in the col-living space. 

Therefore, to experience the full ecological, social, and economic benefits of co-living, research must be performed to understand how residents share, experience, and inhabit space. Understanding the realities of spaces is crucial in order to meet the balance between privacy and social interaction which is important to ensure the comfort in such semi-public space.


For example, in my point of view, sufficient provision of electrical plugs and seating is necessary in the shared living zone so that different individuals able to enjoy their gadgets and entertainment. Attached washroom is good, however it might cost more compared to a shared washroom. If designer tend to introduce the attached washroom, what should be taken into account like :
    'how to keep it more private and safe?';
    'who should keep it clean'; 
    'is there any weekly cleaning provided?' etc

As I go through the website looking for better design idea in 'Co-Living', I found this article talking about the concept of layered privacy and sharing ratio in one design.

''...I believe that the key to a well-designed co-living space is the concept of layered privacy. For every space that is provided we ask: how is it used for and how many residents have access to it? In a perfect world, a member would have their own private bedroom, share a bathroom with one roommate, a kitchen with 5 people, a living room with 12 people, a community lounge with 16-30, a movie room with 100, a game room with 200, a party space with 500, and a public lobby/cafe with the rest of the city. Successful layering of sharing ratios can provide everyone access to more types of spaces, all while using the same total amount of space.'' - Christina Yoh

It is good to always keep putting ourselves in the inhabitants' shoes while doing design process, thinking in the perspective of the users. A well-designed shared space not only focus on social interaction, at the same time control the privacy ration in order to produce a practical co-living space for all.




reference:
Coliving, defined from an architectural design perspective. Retrieved from:
http://www.common.com/blog/2019/03/what-exactly--is-coliving/

What are co-living spaces and why should you invest in them? Retrieved from:
http://www.lancor.in/what-are-co-living-spaces-and-why-should-you-invest-in-them/

What Today's Coliving Spaces Get Wrong. Retrieved from:
http://www.fastcompany.com/90161409/what-todays-co-living-spaces-get-wrong

Here are five lessons on the future of co-living. Retrieved from:
http://www.citymetric.com/fabric/here-are-five-lessons-future-co-living-3792

Economic System of Capitalism
Have you ever wonder why is it so difficult to get richer? Is it that rich people are smarter than us? Or is it that they're working harder than we once did? Both my parents working for life in 'kedai runcit'. My dad, who is now 60's plus, still waking up at 6 a.m. every single morning to open the shop, and back home at 8 p.m for seven days in a week. Why are my parents working so freaking hard yet so difficult to survive? Why? 


The contemporary economic system of capitalism promote private property, freedom of exchange, competitive market and limited government intervention. However, this economic system have transformed the 'welfare-state' capitalism into the so called 'predatory capitalism' or 'neo-liberal capitalism' which the dirty secret behind it, extremely focus on 'maximum profit' by any means.

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer

This motto which truly express the current society of inequality where the owner of capital accumulate wealth more quickly than those who provide labour. Only the capitalist who manage to control the market able to enjoy the prosperity at the end of the days. That's how inequality the current society is. According to Oxfam (an international confederation focusing on the alleviation of global poverty), in 2019, the world's 2,153 billionaires were richer than 4.6 billion people living on planet, where the richest 1% are twice as wealthy that 90% of the human population, and where one individual alone is worth some $130 billion. 

In the past, there's certain policies react to the capitalism that have been done, for example raise taxes on the rich, regulate powerful corporation or raise workers' wages. However, the neo-liberal economists would warn all of these policies would be a terrible mistake. Raising taxes always kills economic growth; and any form of government regulation is inefficient; and raising wages always kills jobs. In some ways, it could be said that 'Capitalism is buying the law'. 

Capitalism against Housing Development

'Under capitalism, housing provision is based on what will make developers, lenders, and landlords rich — not what average people need to survive. That’s why we’ll never get decent, affordable housing for everyone under the free market.' - Robbie Nelson, Jacobin e-magazine

Private property rights are central to capitalist economy, its execution, and its legal defense. Which means that under capitalism, the free exchange policy allows one's property to be trade freely without controlled. And today, you complain the too-damn-high rental or house price. The profit motive of capitalism will never meet our needs for high-quality, affordable housing.In other words, capitalists don’t run their business based on the quality nor quantity of their product, but based on their very own profit. 


Facing such challenging housing crisis, one of the effective approaches is the provisions of social housing (Projek Perumahan Rakyat, PPR & Perumahan Awam, PA) by our government aims to benefit the lower income groups and create a harmonious society, while promoting a sustainable living environment. I think the social housing is a very good fundamental approach for socialist reform. Besides, during the recent press by KPKT, our minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said one of the effective ways is the Rent-to-Own (RTO) scheme which offers buyers the option to rent their home for five years and apply for end-financing to purchase it in the sixth year. Houses under KPKT’s Rent-to-Own scheme can only be resold to the ministry to prevent speculation, said Zuraida. Furthermore, the Built-to-rent scheme also one good approach to control the property belongings as well as provide a temporary affordable housing for the poor.


In fact, I would concluded the neo-liberal economic theory is dangerously wrong which lead to the growing crisis of rising inequality and growing political instability. Besides controlling the current crisis, what would be the best solution to resolve the future's economic. Should we stop the Capitalism model? Should we adopt a new theory of economy? If yes, what would it be?



Reference:
Robbie Nelson, Jacobon E-magazine (Nov 21, 2018) Capitalism Can’t Give Us Affordable Housing. Retrieved from: https://jacobinmag.com/2018/11/capitalism-affordable-housing-rent-commodities-profit

Housing Un-Affordability in Malaysia
Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) claimed that Malaysia housing units are being 'severely un-affordable' by international standard. Housing affordability can be measured based on Demographia International's Median Multiple method, which a house is considered un-affordable if the house price is three times higher than the annual household income. According to Bank Negara Malaysia, the maximum affordable house price is only RM 282,000 based on the ratio and median national incomes across Malaysia. However, the market price of housing, particularly in city area is far way exceed the maximum affordable house of Malaysians. 

According to Qaiser Iskandar from Financial Surveillance Department, 80% of housing loan was rejected due to the low annual income ratio (more than 3 times) against price of the housing unit. Besides, the other minor reasons of loan rejection was due to the highly indebted of applicants, poor financial track record and documentation gaps.

Housing Affordability - Median Multiple Approach vs Median Price (2016)

According to statistic given by the National Property Information Center (NAPIC), the main oversupply issue for the first half of 2019:
     - approx. 33,000 overhang property units (which is totally new and unsold after six months)
     - around 43% are condominium and apartment units
     - cities with highest overhang units are Johor, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Perak
     - volume of overhang units are priced at RM200,000 to RM300,000 (22.3%) followed by homes 
       at RM300,000 to RM400,000 (17.5%), and homes bove RM1,000,000 (12.8%)

It sounds miserable looking at the statistic of un-affordability. However, our government is doing their best in promoting severe kind of policy and affordable housing scheme for the Malaysians. Various initiatives to facilitate home ownership particularity for the B40 and M40 household segments, including guarantee schemes (e.g. Skim Rumah Pertamaku & Skim Jaminan Kredit Perumahan), monthly payment assistance (e.g. Skim Perumahan Belia) and rent-to-own scheme. Besides, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) also launed the Fund for Affordable Homes recently with RM1 billion allocation for two years facilitate home ownership fpr B40 households.



reference:
New Straits Times (Oct 24, 2019) Malaysian homes 'seriously unaffordable', says BNM official. Retrieved from: https://www.nst.com.my/business/2019/10/532940/malaysian-homes-seriously-unaffordable-says-bnm-official

Birds and the Built Environment
Glassy facade of the high-rise development is very common in urban area. Glass is always the favorable materials often used by architects while designing high-rise building. The glazed perimeter of the modern glassy skyscraper have given access to natural light, better visual connectivity, sexier skylines - and lots of dead birds.

Bird flying high, you know how i feel.
Sun in the sky, you know how i feel.
...

But you never know my sadness watching birds died due to accidentally smack into windows. Glazed facade is a significant threat for birds-window collision due to the birds' poor depth perception causing them unable to distinguish the window barrier. 

Properties of Glass
Humans as well, sometimes, hardly see most glasses but we often aware and cued by context such as window frame, door or ceiling. Birds, however, unconscious about architectural signals as indicators of barrier or artificial environment. Building with glass which reflects the vegetation, sky and clouds attractive to birds. When birds attempt to fly through the reflected habitat, they smack into the window. Glare from the windows also interfere them from recognizing the difference between a reflective window and thin air. Besides, the transparent windows also dangerous when birds trying to fly through the window to reach an object behind the window like plants, food or water sources that seen through the window.

My Cats ready to Hunt

Birds Unconscious with Reflective Glass

Design with Visual 'Noise'
As a ethical architect, we should be aware with this environmental issues in order to protect the wildlife. According to 'Bird-Friendly Building Design' by American Bird Conservancy, there's the ways which designers can make to avoid the issue of bird-window collisions:
     - Awning and Overhangs: to block glass from the view of birds flying above
     - UV Pattern Glass: bird can see thru ultraviolet (UV) spectrum of light
     - Angled Glass: 20 to 40 degrees angled glass resulted less mortality according to research
     - Opaque and Translucent Glass: opaque, etched, stained, frosted glass and glass bock
     - Internal Shades, Blinds, and Curtain: to break up reflection
     - Decal: birds recognized decal as obstacles that they may try to fly around