THE INTEGRATION OF OLD AND NEW ARCHITECTURE

We humans are always rushing forward to reach for new heights and some of us rarely look back. And at the rare times we do, we learn a lot from what we left behind and apply it in both the present and future.

When talking about the values of Old and New Architecture, we have a tendency of being very appreciative or being very harsh and cruel. Either we want to preserve it whole, untouched. Or wipe of its existence off the face of the Earth. This applies not only to the value of Architecture, but photographs, cars, paintings, media and so the list goes on. 

However, I am of those who fall on the middle ground such as the reader I chose. I believe in merging of the two where the old preserved buildings meets modernization and practicality.

There are those who believe that if a city is full of old buildings, the city wont draw the attention of the tourists that every country needs. If that’s the case, wont the same apply if the city consists only of modern buildings?

"The attraction of the modern city is the blend of old and new," said John Robertson Architecture (JRA) principal director John Robertson.

While reading the statement above, the meaning I derived from it was that for a modern city to be unique it must not only comprise of just one significant architectural type but the mixture of both.

Parasitizing the new into the old, mixing of the values of history and the beauty of it with functionality that makes sense for the present generation and architecture. This wont only increase the value of the city within the city people but it would also draw the attention of the tourists who seeks both history and also modern values.

The work on historic constructions is about respecting the past while providing a worthy legacy for the future.- John Robertson

And why is this necessary? When innovating historical buildings if we tend to change a whole lot, the beauty of the building itself diminishes and the value of it is not more than just an ordinary building. However, by respecting the historical value, we create a building that outshines and has more traditional and modern value to it than any other.

Why do we need to provide a legacy for the future?

Because we humans are living in a world where information and communication technology is a necessity and are a part of us. Air conditioning, heating systems and fire control systems are just as crucially important and if we were to go and live in an old building even for a day or two, without such necessities we wouldn’t be able to survive. And for such technologies to be provided the old buildings internal and external body must be upgraded. And by doing so, we are handing out the future generation a more meaningful outlook on history and the modern world.

                          

Lets look into old photographs When we see old black and white pictures or sepia pictures we get to see how it was back in the time, we reminisce and appreciate that we even have these photographs. But there is always the wonder what were the colors that the person was wearing or what was the color of the sky at that day, or the color of the eyes. We always wondered, or at least I did. But now with the use of modern technology we are able to colorize the pictures and see for ourselves. And we get to appreciate it more. But by doing this are we diminishing its beauty?, of course not. We are experimenting using the modern technology to make wonders with the old materials we have. So why shouldn’t we do the same for buildings?

                     

In conclusion, we don’t need to separate old and new but we need to integrate them together, which produces a more unexpected, charismatic and practical product for the future generations to ponder upon and maybe preserve and modernize too.

EXPERIENCING CULTURE 2: IPOH, MALAYSIA

hello there ladies and gentlemen :D

This post is in relation to my Experiencing Culture 2 subject. This subject allows us to travel to places, local or international to gain more knowledge of the cultural differences and the architectural values. Last semester we went to Europe for EC-1 but unfortunately this time it was local, Ipoh. In the land of Malaysia! :) Honestly, I didnt think I would enjoy much since there is vast difference compared to last sem. Surprisingly, i loved it :D Didnt feel like we were in Malaysia. Again, cultural differences! even within the same country!

DAY1 (7th February 2015)

Early in the morning at around 7 we were to gather in college since the departure of the bus was at around 8. The bus was filled with students, from sem (02 to 05) therefore the lecturers had arranged their own ride to Ipoh.

It was quite a long ride from Kl to Ipoh so we did stop twice for both breakfast and lunch. And by the time we reached Gopeng it was mid afternoon for a walk about tour in the Gopeng Heritage House. The heritage house was absolutely beautiful. I am the kind to love ancient products. And i had a wonderful time inside the place even when some of my friends abandoned me in one of the upstairs rooms which nearly gave me a heart attack! (no one likes to left alone in an ancient house? or is it just me? O.O)

And here we say goodbye to this beautiful heritage house to explore more of Gopeng :D OFF TO THE BUS! :D

Our next stop was to KRAF TANJUNG BIDARA. Which for me was one of the highlights of the trip! :) since we all got to experience something new, get a little bit dirty and more energised for the whole trip! This is where we made our own pottery. Well, not really from scratch though. We were already given a moulded vase and our task was to make it more smoother to clean out the rough edges using blades and sponges and then make our own decorative for the vase using clay. It truly was a very fun and great experience. getting dirty during the process made it more fun actually! :P

smoothing the edges of the vase! :D

Ms. Shar and her pottery skills :D

getting my hands dirty! :D

MY AWESOME TURTLE VASE
(initially a flower later evolved to a turtle :P)

After an awesome experience we headed back to the bus to finally go to IPOH and freshen up once we step into the boutique hotel :D also, TO HUNT FOR FOOD! was exhausted and too hungry! 

Once we checked in to the hotel, after another LOOOONG journey T.T we rested for a bit, just a bit since we were asked to gather back in the lobby to go for food hunting. The chinese students all went to eat the traditional Ipoh Mali food whereas the poor us, had to go look for a Mamak to fulfill our very hungry stomachs! :D 

DAY 2

This morning I woke up feeling a lot more exited to look around Ipoh! to see and experience more. And the reason for the excitement was mostly because we were going to visit the old Ipoh town some time later in the day. but obviously before that we had other plans! we had plans to visit the morning market, or as they call it the "memory lane" where you get to see all the old trinkets and the antiques. it was a quite unique experience since never have i ever gone into such a market before in Malaysia. It has always been the usual night markets or the "pasar malam". here are some of the pictures from the morning market :) 

Now after the morning market we were headed to the Old Town of Ipoh. We were asked to stick with our groups since we had to record all the fun and excitement that we were going to experience within that area. It was quite difficult to really look up for FUN stuff to do in the Old town since it was so hot. We were literally searching for shaded areas :P that was how fun it was! but as the time went on, we actually got used to it, and enjoyed searching around the place, interviewing the locals, peeking in to fantastic spots and taking pictures. it was really fun and totally a new experience, as we were walking around, something that really doesn't happen in cheras. :P 

while walking around we came across some fantastic murals, each with its own uniqueness. 

old man

humming bird

Merlin monroe

little girl

the cool people! xP

then looking around we came across Sekeping Kong heng, it was a different spot compared to others. the whole place gave out the feeling of being in both modern and old therefore a fused ipoh. We being interior students, were quite fascinated on how each and every shop/ stall had its uniqueness incorporated into the old building. This was one of the most amazing areas in Ipoh, a must visit for tourists. :) 

after walking around for so long and recording our every move (therefore the limited number of pictures :/) we were really exhausted and in desperate need to freshen up. no amount of ice water or ice anything was cooling us off. we really needed to lie down and just be *almost dead* for at least an hour to regain our energy! so off we went back to our hotel. where we rested for an hour. :)

For the night we planned to go to kinta riverfront, where the trees emits lights ;) *ofcourse with LED* but it was really beautiful. i am a sucker for different colours of lights and i get mesmerised by them easily :P weird! there were actually really cool things offered in the Kinta riverfront and one of them is that they provide rental facilities of bicycle, tricycle and scooters. I really wanted to get on a tricycle or a scooter, but unfortunately everyone i asked was either too tired or too afraid to take the responsibility of both mine and their own life :P *yes i really am not a good cyclist* but i really wanted to get on one, but my dreams *dreams made within seconds of seeing the tricycle* shattered right before my eyes, and we ended up sitting around and playing charades. HONESTLY, it really was fun! laughed till i dropped :P Thankyou SAMAHA for your awesome miming :P 

DAY 3 - THE AWESOMEST DAY!

OKAY, yes! i was pretty excited yesterday about walking around IPOH OLD TOWN! however the feeling i was getting today was much more than that! i was giddy! i was way toooo excited! maybe its a Maldivian thing! :P since we were going to the Tambun lost World which is a WATER PARK! haven't been to the sea in so long and at least going to a water park was good enough for me! this was a FUN DAY! yes, maybe not levelled up to the expectation, but it was still good enough. the problem for me was that the rides were not thrilling enough, it seemed to end too soon. but we did still enjoy. the generated waves made it almost similar to being in the sea. 

the only unfortunate part about this day is that i couldn't click pictures, since i didn't have a waterproof camera. but its all imprinted in my mind and that is still awesome! :D

DAY 4- THE LAST DAY!

For most people, when the trip is over it is filled with both relief and sadness, but in my case it was only sadness! :P for that fact that i was returning back to college to all the stress that was awaiting for me. but well, all good things should come to an end, and so did this wonderful trip. :) BUT, before we said goodbye to IPOH, we did go back to SEKEPING KONG HENG, this time with a guide and with the lecturers by our side, hence we learned a lot more than what we initially did on the 2nd day. :) and also we got to see the interior of the hotel which helped us in rebooting our minds back to Design04 where we are asked to design a themed boutique hotel. from here itself we took a lot of pointers and really had a grasp on what a boutique hotel is. :)

It was afternoon and it was time for us to say goodbye to Ipoh. sad, yes! but that doesn't mean our adventures comes to an end. nupe. we had another totally awesome spot to go to. KELLIE'S CASTLE. Ive been there once before during my foundation, so this wasn't a first time, but i was still very excited to experience this with new people and to make new memories. :) 

After being creeped out by our dear friends in a haunted mansion we were headed back to the bus to go to our next stop, which is the KINTA TIN MINING MUSEUM. Tin mining is one of Ipoh's main trade marks. Its a good place for people who has the interest in tin mining, but not for me. Maybe because i was really tired, i couldn't really get into the mood to looking around the museum. yes i did look around the outside statues and took pictures, but once entered the museum i was exhausted and i wanted to just sit. but yet, i was still a bit hyped up and we had a little fun just by sitting :P 

so here it came to an end to our little 4 day trip to Ipoh. :) it really was a truly adventurous trip and we even made new friends and had a loads and loads of fun! :D