Theories Project 1 final

1.
School
of
Architecture,
Building
&
Design
Bachelor
of
Science
(Honours)
(Architecture)
Theories
of
Architecture
and
Urbanism
[ARC
2224]
Project
1
Part
II
Analyzing
and
Theorizing
Architecture
Name:
Nurul
Jannah
Masturah
Jailani
Student
ID:
0310210
Tutor:
Dr.
Lakshmi
Priya
Rajendran

2. Content
page
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Ara
Damansara,
Petaling
Jaya
1.2 Building
–
Tropicana
Grande
Condominium,
Tropicana
Damansara
1.3 Christopher
Alexander
and
Urban
Residential
2.0 FACTORS
THAT
IMPACT
THE
BUILDING
2.1 Population
Needs
2.2 Technological
Advancement
2.3 Gradients
of
Space
and
Movements
3.0 SYNTHESIS
4.0 CONCLUSION
5.0 REFERENCES

3. 1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Ara
Damansara,
Petaling
Jaya
Ara
Damansara
is
a
small
township
in
Selangor
that
comprises
of
residential,
commercial
and
industrial
sectors.
It
is
located
near
to
the
Subang
Airport,
and
established
residential
and
commercial
areas
of
Damansara
and
Kelana
Jaya.
The
township
is
accessible
through
two
major
highways,
the
New
Klang
Valley
Expressway
(NKVE)
and
Damansara-­‐Puchong
Highway
(LDP).
(Simedarbyproperty.com,
n.d.)
It
was
first
developed
as
a
residential
and
industrial
district
but
commercial
activities
began
to
emerge
and
spread
in
the
area,
and
soon
after
established
a
commercial
sector
in
Ara
Damansara.
Due
to
the
rising
quantities
in
luxury
high-­‐rise
residential
and
commercial
buildings,
the
area
has
attracted
an
affluent
customer
base.
It
is
mainly
resided
by
those
who
belong
in
the
middle
to
upper
class,
as
a
result
of
the
area
is
in
a
strategic
location,
and
adapts
a
modern
architecture
style
that
uses
moderate
to
costly
designs.
Ara
Damansara
is
poised
to
be
developed
into
a
prestige
township,
offering
a
lifestyle
that
promotes
close-­‐knit
community
living.
(Propertyguru.com.my,
n.d.)
1.2 Tropicana
Grande
Condominium,
Tropicana
Damansara
Tropicana
Grande
is
a
luxury
high-­‐rise
condominium
developed
by
Dijaya
Group
and
was
completed
by
the
end
of
December
of
2013.
It
is
located
in
the
exclusive
Tropicana
residential,
and
neighbours
several
other
mid-­‐rise
and
high-­‐rise
residential.
Tropicana
Grande
Condominium
consists
of
four
blocks
of
38-­‐storey
and
39-­‐storey
towers
that
houses
over
300
units
that
overlook
the
view
of
Tropicana
Gold
&
Country
Resort
golf
course
through
full
height
glass
panels.
(Tropicanametropark.com.my,
n.d.)
Within
each
block,
there
are
many
different
types
available,
ranging
from
small
sized
units
such
as
the
typical
units
larger
sizes
such
as
the
penthouse
unit.
(Propwall.my,
n.d.)

4.
There
are
numerous
facilities
that
equip
the
Tropicana
Grande
that
allow
the
residents
to
conduct
different
activities
within
the
compass
of
their
living
territory,
instead
of
commuting
to
the
city.
If
they
choose
to,
Tropicana
Grande
is
merely
minutes
driving
to
large
shopping
malls
such
as
1
Utama
Shopping
Centre,
Sunway
Giza,
Tesco
Damansara,
and
Dijaya’s
very
own
shopping
centre,
Tropicana
City
Mall.
(Propwall.my,
n.d.)
1.3 Christopher
Alexander
and
A
Pattern
Language
The
chosen
architect
for
this
project
is
Christopher
Alexander,
an
Austrian
architect
known
for
his
theories
of
design
and
over
200
building
projects
around
the
world.
He
was
recognized
as
the
Father
of
the
Pattern
Language
movement,
and
various
contemporary
architectural
practices
were
resulted
from
Alexander’s
ideas,
such
as
the
New
Urbanist
movement.
His
noted
accomplishments
as
an
architect
and
author
are
his
books,
the
Timeless
Way
of
Buildings
(1979)
and
A
Pattern
Language
(1977),
the
latter
being
written
in
collaboration
with
several
other
authors.
He
explained
in
the
book
that
we
seek
out,
for
our
own
sakes,
in
our
own
surroundings,
the
quality
of
life
in
order
for
us
to
become
alive
ourselves.
This
then
leads
to
architects,
or
humans,
the
tendency
to
make
it
come
to
life
in
places
that
will
bring
out
the
quality
in
us.
His
theories
were
further
supported
in
A
Pattern
Language,
in
forms
patterns
through
explanations
of
diagrams.
Each
pattern
is
a
part
of
a
larger
pattern
through
the
forces
which
occur
there,
and
the
conditions
that
allow
these
forces
to
be
in
harmony.
According
to
A
Pattern
Language,
the
real
work
of
design
process
lies
in
the
task
of
making
up
the
language,
because
it
is
the
structure
and
the
content
of
the
language
that
determines
the
design.
With
the
power
of
depth
and
wholeness
of
the
language,
it
can
make
a
thousand
buildings
live.

5. 2.0 FACTORS
THAT
IMPACT
THE
BUILDING
2.1 Open
Common
Spaces
As
stated
by
Alexander
et
al.
in
the
pattern
#60
Accessible
Green,
people
require
green
places
to
go
to,
and
if
they
are
close,
they
will
use
them.
However,
if
the
green
place
is
too
far
away,
then
the
distance
overwhelms
the
need.
The
proposed
solution
was
to
build
one
open
public
green
within
three
minutes'
walk
-­‐
about
750
feet
-­‐
of
every
house
and
workplace.
This
means
that
the
greens
need
to
be
uniformly
scattered
at
1500-­‐foot
intervals,
throughout
the
city.
(Alexander,
Ishikawa
&
Silverstein,
1977)
Image
1:
Accessible
green
areas
in
Tropicana
Grande
(Source:
http://www.tropicanametropark.com.my/TropicanaGrande/siteplan.html)

6. As
seen
from
the
site
plan,
the
compound
of
Tropicana
Grande
is
abundant
in
greeneries,
which
are
accessible
by
the
residents.
Different
kinds
of
facilities
were
providing
the
greens
for
the
condominium,
such
as
a
Japanese
Garden,
Reflexology
Garden,
Gathering
area,
and
viewing
deck,
all
of
the
mentioned
are
within
walking
distance
and
in
the
center
of
the
condominium
compound.
Christopher
Alexander
believes
that
these
green
areas
act
as
a
mean
of
escape
from
the
city,
and
gives
a
relaxing
and
tranquil
quality
to
the
city
environment.
Image
2:
Sports
facilities
in
Tropicana
Grande
(Source:
http://www.tropicanametropark.com.my/TropicanaGrande/siteplan.html)
In
addition
to
having
public
green
areas,
the
pattern
#72
Local
Sports
insist
on
a
scatter
of
places
where
the
community
is
able
to
perform
sports,
and
is
visible
to
passers-­‐by
as
an
invitation
to
participate.
(Alexander,
Ishikawa
&
Silverstein,
1977)
Small
sports
facilities
are
integrated
among
the
green
areas
in
the
compound
of
Tropicana
Grande.
Such
facilities
include
gymnasium,
pool,
tennis
court
and
a
basketball
court.
These
facilities
are
scattered
(referring
to
Image
)
in
order
to

7. promote
the
residents
to
walk
through
the
compound
to
get
to
the
courts
as
well
as
giving
optimum
visibility
to
residents
of
what
sort
of
sports
community
are
available
for
them.
2.2 Technological
Advancement
Pattern
#207
Good
Materials
expresses
only
using
biodegradable,
low
energy
consuming
materials,
which
are
easy
to
cut
and
modify
on
site
such
as
concrete
and
earth-­‐based
materials
like
brick,
tile,
wood
planks,
gypsum,
plywood,
corrugated
iron
and
bamboo.
(Alexander,
Ishikawa
&
Silverstein,
1977)
however,
Tropicana
Grande
consists
of
mainly
steel,
concrete
and
glass.
This
is
possibly
due
to
the
technological
advancement
in
industrial
building
material
production.
Through
this
advancement
as
well,
it
allowed
the
building
to
be
built
at
a
height
of
38
storey.
Building
a
high-­‐rise
residential
may
pose
a
problem.
Even
with
the
advancement
currently
available,
high-­‐rise
buildings
still
contribute
to
sustainability
issues
since
they
are
very
difficult
to
compensate,
especially
in
really
tall
buildings.
Other
than
that,
pattern
#21
Four-­‐story
Limit
states
that
in
any
urban
area,
no
matter
how
dense;
keep
the
majority
of
buildings
four
stories
high
or
less.
It
is
possible
that
certain
buildings
should
exceed
this
limit,
but
they
should
never
be
buildings
for
human
habitation.
(Alexander,
Ishikawa
&
Silverstein,
1977)
It
is
contrast
to
the
condominium’s
height.
The
reasoning
behind
the
pattern
is
due
to
that
above
four-­‐storey,
residents
become
isolated
and
unattached
from
the
street
level
and
thus
the
environment
which
may
lead
to
depression
and
other
psychological
problems.
Despite
that,
there
are
many
high-­‐rise
residential
being
built
not
only
as
sign
of
progress,
but
in
order
to
accommodate
more
of
the
population
living.

8. 2.3 Gradients
of
Space
and
Movement
According
to
‘A
Pattern
Language’,
the
spaces
inside
a
building
should
be
arranged
according
to
their
degree
of
privateness,
to
enable
people
to
experience
the
dimension
of
added
meaning
for
activities
at
the
chosen
space.
Homogenous
spaces,
where
every
room
has
a
similar
degree
of
intimacy,
nulls
all
possibility
of
subtle
of
social
interactions
in
the
building.
(Alexander,
Ishikawa
&
Silverstein,
1977)
The
essence
of
the
Pattern
#127
Intimacy
Gradient,
is
that
as
you
move
in
to
the
unit
through
the
entrance,
there
is
an
increase
to
the
degree
of
intimacy
until
the
farthest
spaces
from
the
entrance
are
the
most
intimate,
such
as
bedrooms.
Considering
Tropicana
Grande
is
a
condominium,
there
are
limited
spaces
for
the
residents
thus
it
is
usually
small
families
or
a
handful
group
of
people
occupy
each
unit.
Constricted
to
the
finite
sizes
of
condominiums,
the
rooms
and
spaces
must
be
arranged
carefully
in
order
to
achieve
the
gradient
of
intimacy
stated
in
‘A
Pattern
Language’.
Image
3:
Arrangement
of
spaces
according
to
degree
of
intimacy
(Block
B)

9. (Source:
http://www.tropicanametropark.com.my/TropicanaGrande/images/floorplan_block_d_b.jp
g)
Through
observing
of
the
floor
plan
of
one
of
the
Tropicana
Grande’s
blocks,
which
is
Block
B,
a
pattern
could
be
seen.
Emerging
from
the
lifts,
residents
will
be
lead
to
the
unit’s
private
lobby.
Upon
entering
the
unit,
they
will
arrive
at
the
living
room
that
connects
immediately
with
the
dining
area
and
the
dry
kitchen,
while
the
bedrooms
are
located
further
in
the
unit.
The
architect
had
defined
the
gradient
of
intimacy
in
the
arrangement
of
spaces
within
the
unit,
with
the
private
spaces
are
from
the
semi
or
public
through
the
use
or
a
narrow
corridor.
In
reference
to
Alexander
et
al.,
in
order
to
create
a
house,
which
is
bright,
sunny,
and
cheerful,
the
right
rooms
must
be
facing
towards
the
south;
otherwise
the
house
will
become
dark
and
gloomy.
This
pattern
helps
to
place
the
rooms
along
the
intimacy
gradient
where
indoor
sunlight
is
needed
most.

10. Image
4:
Location
and
orientation
of
Block
B
(Source:
http://www.tropicanametropark.com.my/TropicanaGrande/siteplan.html)
Image
5:
Position
of
sunlight
coming
into
the
building
(Source:
http://www.tropicanametropark.com.my/TropicanaGrande/images/floorplan_block_d_b.jp
g)
From
the
site
plan,
the
chosen
block
is
orientated
towards
Northeast
and
Southwest,
which
means
to
say
that
the
spaces
are
receiving
sunlight
mainly
from
the
Northeast
and
Southwest
(referring
to
Image
).
The
Pattern
#128
Indoor
Sunlight
states
that
the
most
important
rooms
are
placed
along
the
south
edge
of
the
building,
and
spread
the
building
out
along
the
east-­‐west
axis.
Fine
tune
the
arrangement
so
that
the
proper
rooms
are
exposed
to
the
south-­‐east
and
the
south-­‐
west
sun.
(Alexander,
Ishikawa
&
Silverstein,
1977)

11. 3.0 SYNTHESIS
With
an
abundant
number
of
green
areas,
the
condominium
provides
relaxing
places
and
integrating
nature
with
the
compound
to
create
a
relaxing
atmosphere.
The
presence
of
greeneries
will
also
encourage
the
residents
to
use
the
areas
for
outdoor
activities.
Along
with
this
pattern,
the
different
sports
facilities
provided
are
beneficial
to
the
residents
of
Tropicana
Grande.
Not
only
does
it
encourage
outdoor
activities,
it
also
helps
promote
a
close-­‐knit
relationship
between
members
of
the
community.
Regarding
high-­‐rise
buildings,
although
Alexander
et
al.
recommended
the
height
to
be
less
than
four-­‐storey,
the
construction
of
high-­‐rise
may
be
dependent
on
its
contextual
conditions.
Since
Malaysia
is
a
still
a
developing
country,
many
high-­‐rises
are
built
to
show
progress,
especially
in
upper
class
residential.
In
spite
of
the
possibilities
of
psychological
issues
mentioned,
there
have
been
many
people
who
still
chooses
to
live
in
high-­‐rise
buildings
compared
to
individual
houses.
The
reasoning
behind
this
selection
is
due
to
high
rise
provide
better
security
in
terms
of
break-­‐ins,
as
it
is
difficult
to
steal
big
items
through
a
small
door
without
dismantling
it
and
the
fact
that
some
residencies,
require
access
cards
which
only
brings
them
to
the
resident’s
floor.
The
Block
B
of
Tropicana
Grande
does
not
fit
the
‘optimum
orientation’
recommended
by
Alexander
et
al.
exactly,
however
it
does
not
run
from
it
either.
Considerations
were
still
taken
by
the
architect
of
the
condominium
in
order
to
achieve
maximum
indoor
sunlight
in
while
keeping
in
mind
of
the
thermal
issues.
Which
is
why
Block
A
(referring
to
Image
),
the
only
block
that
is
facing
directly
towards
the
East
and
West
sunlight,
has
compact
shape
in
order
to
minimize
the
Eastern
and
Western
sun.

12. 4.0 CONCLUSION
In
conclusion,
Tropicana
Grande
Condominium
does
incorporate
patterns
from
Alexander
et
al.’s
theories.
However,
there
are
discrepancies
in
the
design.
This
is
mainly
due
to
contextual
conditions
like
population,
and
technological
progress
that
allow
for
more
modern
adaptations
of
the
patterns.

13.
5.0 REFERENCES
Albany.edu,.
notitle.
Retrieved
11
June
2015,
from
http://www.albany.edu/mumford/wtc/forgey.htm
Alexander,
C.
(1979).
The
timeless
way
of
building.
New
York:
Oxford
University
Press.
Alexander,
C.,
Ishikawa,
S.,
&
Silverstein,
M.
(1977).
A
Pattern
Language.
New
York:
Oxford
University
Press.
Lifewithalacrity.com,.
(2004).
Intimacy
Gradient
and
Other
Lessons
from
Architecture
-­‐
Life
With
Alacrity.
Retrieved
11
June
2015,
from
http://www.lifewithalacrity.com/2004/08/intimacy_gradie.html
Propertyguru.com.my,.
Ara
Damansara
Homes,
properties
and
houses
for
Sale/Rent
|
PropertyGuru
Malaysia.
Retrieved
10
June
2015,
from
http://www.propertyguru.com.my/selangor/ara-­‐damansara
Propwall.my,.
(2015).
Tropicana
Grande,
Tropicana
|
Propwall.
Retrieved
10
June
2015,
from
http://www.propwall.my/tropicana/tropicana_grande?tab=property
Simedarbyproperty.com,.
Sime
Darby
Property
-­‐
Ara
Damansara.
Retrieved
10
June
2015,
from
http://www.simedarbyproperty.com/township_ara_damansara.aspx