COMMUNITY SERVICE INITIATIVE
Community Service Initiative is an elective module with the intention to reveal the students to the real community and work together as a team for architectural, culture and environmental enhancing activities in the communities of different social economic status and social groups.
Individual E-Journal
This E-journal is the individual component of our final submission, documenting the entire process of our project from the start till the end. All observation, individual contribution and personal reflection is included into the journal, along with the documentation of other submissions that lead up to the final outcome.
[ Week 1 ]
This semester we have been given an opportunity to work on an ongoing project, Social Transformation @ PPR Flats, undertaken by DiverseCity. The site is at a low-cost flat, Sri Tioman 1, Taman Melawati. The aim is to show the change in lifestyle quality of the occupants and upgrading the facilities at the site; provide gentle guidance to the residents and community; demonstrate deep thinking, respectful conversation and close collaboration on how we can use skill sets such as architecture, design, landscaping, activities to create a living space which nurtures dignity and self confidence.
The site will be showcased during the Kuala Lumpur Arts Festival in September 2018.
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During the official briefing, students are given 4 aspects to choose one to work on:
1. Greening / Urban Farming
2. Mural / Public Art / Painting
3. Playground / sclupture
4. Wayfinding / Environmental Graphics
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Subsequent to the official briefing of the project, we have formed a group of 7 students. But before we could proceed with our proposal, we first had to visit the site and identify the problems that the site had.
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My team and I visited the site for the first time, and conducted a site analysis to better understand our site. The analysis was carried out efficiently as tasks were delegated clearly prior to the visit. Teck Poh, Shazleen and I were tasked with taking photographs of the views and conditions of the site, while the others took notes of the condition and problems on site.
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The following photos shows the condition on site:
Site Visit
The flats are accessible via RapidKL bus and LRT as the bus stop and LRT are just opposite the building.
An open space beneath the flats where kids play around.
Some of the trash are just left next to the stairs as the block is far from the waste collection center.
The flats are accessible via RapidKL bus and LRT as the bus stop and LRT are just opposite the building.
[ Week 2 ]
Saturday//7th April 2018
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We were asked to assist the PPR team to install a pegboard. The site plan of Sri Tioman 1 will be drawn on the pegboard. The aim of the pegboard is act a medium and platform to list out their needs and wants and indicate it on the map on the pegboard. Representatives from each group were asked to come and help to install and paint the pegboard.Meanwhile, some of the representatives were also tasked to measure the site to make the site plan for the pegboard and further planning purposes.
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As many children were interested and hung around, an engagement activity with the children was happening at the same time, mahjong paper and color marker pens were provided for the children to voice out their suggestions of what they want and need on site.
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Hakimi drawing on the mahjong paper
The children freely expressed themselves on the paper.
We completed the pegboard in the late evening. Now to wait for it to dry...
Hakimi drawing on the mahjong paper
Sunday//8th April 2018
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This time when we returned to the site, we were introduced to the rest of the PPR Team. Then we returned to the pegboard to draw the site plan (road map) on the pegboard. While we were drawing, many of the children were crowding around. This time we offered them colored satay sticks to stick into the holes in the pegboard as well as colored pens to write on the pegboard.
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As we finished our task early, we decided to continue our observation of the site. We observed the children and how they interacted with the open spaces and what they play. We also carried interviews with the residents on site on what we could improved on site. The resident that we interviewed is Mr Zulkarnain. He mentioned a few aspects that we could worked on:
1. The play area for the children don't look sufficient. Should have more play structures for the children.
2. Unused staircase due to being dirty and smelly. Many things can be found on the stairs: mattress, bottles.
3. Signage- Eg. welcome signage at the entrance (to not look conventional).
4. Recycling program.
5. Urban farming. He is ok with this idea. As of now, the vegetable garden is taken care by the person in charge of the refuse collection center. Mr Zul says the community could contribute money to upkeep the garden, for example the fertilizer.
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But for our group, we decided to look into the signage indicating different floor levels as the lifts do not bring occupants to every floor.
Starting from the left: Ms Sze Ee (our lecturer), Dr Suzanne (in charge of urban farming), Vivien (to interact with the community), Sheena (to interact with the community), Kamen (ZLG Design), Lily (Volunteer).
The road map coming into existence by members of the team.
Mr Huat Lim briefed us on what is happening in the weeks to come.
Starting from the left: Ms Sze Ee (our lecturer), Dr Suzanne (in charge of urban farming), Vivien (to interact with the community), Sheena (to interact with the community), Kamen (ZLG Design), Lily (Volunteer).
[ Week 3 ]
Sunday//15th April 2018
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As an effort to help all of us understand the flow of the project in more clarity, Mr Huat, the project coordinator organised a meeting at Tommy Le Baker Bakery Cafe. As the group leader, I represented my group at the meeting and participated in the discussion. We also met Datin Sunita Rajakumar, the beneficiary funding the social transformation project. She explained that our community service projects should a form of inspiration and guidance for the residents to beautify and make livable their living quarters; our projects will be adopted by the community as their own to develop upon.
We also talked about the following during the meeting
1. our timelines
2. our project expectations and outcomes
3. how to deal with residents and communities
4. when to make your proposal heard
5. how to execute our teams proposal
6. how to scale and measure up our engagement with the community
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We met with the PPR Team to meet the rest of the volunteers and leaders in the PPR Team.
All of the individual CSI group leaders and volunteers of the PPR Team.
Jotting down important points suggested by the team.
We met with the PPR Team to meet the rest of the volunteers and leaders in the PPR Team.
Thursday//19th April 2018
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Tutorial with Ms Sze Ee. We presented to her several versions of a recycling bin and green floor level indicators. As we have presented to her many ideas, she advised us to narrow down to just one idea and continuously work to refine that idea. The following is the slide that we presented to her.
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[ Week 4 ]
Wednesday//25th April 2018
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Presentation of proposal to the PPR Team at ZLG Design office. All 8 CSI groups were invited to ZLG Design to present their proposal to the other groups as well as the PPR Team. The aim is to let all groups to know what other groups are proposing. This is important as all parties are aware of what others are doing. This also ensures that the message mentioned by the PPR Team is passed to all the teams without any miscommunication.
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Our group presented the idea of floor level indicator and an interactive recycling bin. The PPR Team were more in favor of the floor level indicator and encouraged us to develop on that idea.
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All 8 groups were invited to Mr Huat's office to present each of our proposal's to the PPR Team, consisting of Mr Huat, Lily, Kamen, Faiz, and Dr Susan.
We presented our proposal to the PPR Team and the other groups.
At the end of our presentation, we confirmed our chosen proposal and indicated the location on the site plan of Sri Tioman 1.
All 8 groups were invited to Mr Huat's office to present each of our proposal's to the PPR Team, consisting of Mr Huat, Lily, Kamen, Faiz, and Dr Susan.
[ Week 5 ]
Sunday//28th April 2018
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Engagement session with the children of PPR Flats. During this visit, we were to have an ice breaking session with the kids of the PPR Flats. Sheena was leading in this session and we were to assist her, So the session started with guiding the children to cut out 10 images of what they wished to be in the future from the magazines provided. It was really fun interacting with the children, seeing them come out of their shell and expressing themselves through what they cut out.
But what touched me the most was this incident, I was lending my camera to one of the children, he played with my camera for a while. After 5 minutes, he put down my camera and requested to find to find a picture of a camera similar to mine. It just opens my eyes how important it is to inspire this young kids who have so much potential to learn. This small incident just made up for the trip.
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The next part of the session is for the children to form groups of 8 to 10 and create a story with all the images that they have cut out. Soon afterwards, they will present to the rest what the story was about.
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When we were done with the engagement session, we took this opportunity to measure and take more pictures of the sites that we are using on site- lift lobbies. During this trip, we were trying to decide where to place our floor level indicator, whether is the location suitable or the placed at eye level for the users. We also confirmed the floors that the lift brought occupants to, as it does not bring occupants to every floor.
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The location where the engagement with the kids were held.
Engaging with the children, asking the children of their opinions and suggestions.
There is no indication of unit number of each unit.
The location where the engagement with the kids were held.
[ Week 7 ]
Sunday//6th May 2018
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Tommy Le Baker again. More meetings. More collaboration.
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Wednesday//9th May 2018
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Submission of confirmed proposal to Ms Sze Ee. In this version, we are completely using timber to construct the signage.
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[ Week 8 ]
Thursday//17th May 2018
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Feedback from the tutors and the PPR Team.
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1. Preferably a fixed signage to the wall to prevent vandalism and theft.
2. Consider the alternative construction methods, not neccessary to use timber frame.
3. Maintenance of the plants.
4. Consider the container for water beneath the potted plants.
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[ Week 9 ]
Sunday//20th May 2018
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Door to door survey. Opinions from the residents. Advice from Faiz: use timber framing with wire mesh backing instead of timber frame.
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Representatives from every group gathered to assist in getting the surveys from residents each level of Block 32.
Each group is given survey forms and instructions to approach the residents.
The PPR Team informed us of what will happen in the weeks to come.
Representatives from every group gathered to assist in getting the surveys from residents each level of Block 32.
[ Week 10 ]
Monday//28th May 2018
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This version shows the finalized signage with construction details with much consideration of the comments of the tutors and PPR Team. We met and showed it to our tutor Ms Sze Ee, who approved and allowed us to proceed.
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We decided that we will complete 3 versions of the green signage as to discover the suitability of the design to the flats in terms of size, visibility, color and aesthetic. We hoping this models to act as a trial and error and the residents could identify the pros and cons of each design and act accordingly in the future construction of the signage.
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Tuesday//29th May 2018
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Started with construction of the floor level signage. I was in charge of taking footage of the construction of the signage. However, I did try to help whenever I put down my camera, esp with the construction of the timber frame and connecting the wire mesh to the timber frame using nails.
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Each of the group members contributed to the completion of the green signage, up from the purchase of materials to the finishing of the timber frame. Tasks involve painting the pots, drilling together the timber frame, nailing the wire mesh to the timber frame, shellac-ing the timber frame, re-potting the plants, attaching the pots to the wire mesh, creating number 8 and 12, painting the number 8 and 12 and finally attaching number 8 and 12 to the wire mesh.
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Saturday//2nd June 2018
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Completed signage.
[ Week 11 ]
Sunday//3rd June 2018
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The D- day. Joy and Shazleen presented our completed signage to the residents with the cookies stuck onto the road map. After we completed our presentation, the residents gave their feedback. They mentioned that the number 12 should be painted in a darker color as it is not very visible. The ground floor is very aesthetic, but they expressed concern of who will take care of the plants. However, number 8 was very clear and visible.
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Our signage were moved to their respective places on Ground Floor, 8th Floor and 12th Floor. The signage will remain at the flats for a trial period until September. And with that we have successfully completed our Community Service Initiative Project.
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Video
The following video describes our process and experience when completing this module.
Reflection
From this CSI project, as a leader of the group, I have definitely learnt a lot of things. But of all the most important thing I realized was communication. This is because we are collaborating with people from outside, the 3rd party groups. We were collaborating with people from different working backgrounds, we worked with psychologist, with residents of the housing community, artist, photographers, the Datin Sunita, who was funding this Social transformation at the PPR Flats project, so its not just architects. So for this project to work, frequent meetings was a must, constantly informing each other via Whatsapp and email is a must. This is to ensure that we constantly updated with each other's progress. Not just with 3rd party groups, even among ourselves, our own group members, I had to make sure the message passed from one party to another so to know whether to proceed with our proposal. And thanks to the speedy reply and alertness of all parties involved, our project is a success.
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Besides that, humanity is a big part of this module. Due to the nature of our course, we always remain in our classes, constantly looking at a laptop screen, trying to finish up our assignments, cut off from the world. With this module, we are reminded that whatever we are designing and building are for people, sentient beings with emotions and needs and wants. We need to first to know what they need and prefer before designing for them. Once that requirement is fulfilled, then only we can say that we are designing for humans and the building is a good building.
Moreover, I have received a lot of exposure through the DiverseCity: Social Transformation @ PPR Flats, and earned many connections with individuals of different parties and working backgrounds. It is like working in the real world where we had to consider the party instead of being aware of own work only.
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In conclusion, I do not regret participating in this choice of project in this module. Yes, a lot of effort to attend meetings and travel 40 minutes to the site almost every week, especially when we are busy with other subjects, but I guess no pain, no gain; learning happens most effectively when one is not in their comfort zone.
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