Urban Design (UD)
More than ever, the value of designing liveable cities is at the forefront of architectural practice because of the future challenges that all cities across the globe must face.
Urban intensification becomes the ‘hold-all’ term for such challenges cities must address such as: climate change, urban migration, the scarcity of land, cost of living, housing demands, social equity, environmental sustainability, economic opportunities and more. Although these challenges may be common to all cities, each of them will pose specific contextual needs.
These projects analyse, design and develop propositions for delivering high quality urban environments within the specific context that each city must face in the future. The quality of the public realm and the human experience comes to the forefront of design. However, it is the architecture and the built environment that begins to shape these liveable cities.
The production of the public realm is addressed across the different morphological layers: landscape and the natural environment; streets and mobility networks, urban blocks and plots, buildings and details within buildings. All these become design assets that each project works with to address the specific urban challenge and context.
Unit Tutors Names: Regina Lim, Laura Novo de Azevedo, Karl Kropf, Georgia Butina-Watson, Maurizio Sibilla
Guest tutors Names: Soham De, Roland Wong, Prachi Rampuria, Sebastian Baran, Stephen Haines
Student Names:
Zaim Bin Muhammad Zawawi, Florence Chau, Alicia Desmay Hernandez, Marcu Dinca, Vedant Ganediwala, Connor Heron, Marha Irdina Izzudin, Nurul Rihana KK Sihabutheen, Junghwan Kim, Dafanie Shue Chin Lee, Ying Yee Loo, James Mee, Liam Neville, Madhura Ramanathan, Ainie Shafeeu, Kilian Soudy
Ainie Shafeeu: Designed to address Mexico City’s severe water crisis, Water’s Edge is a multi-functional community hub located next to one of Iztapalapa’s largest parks. Rainwater harvesting systems are weaved into multiple levels of the site, from building to block, creating decentralised water sources and giving water security back to its diverse community.
Alicia Desmay Hernandez: Located in Mexico City, HOMEoSTAYsis is a dynamic neighbourhood with the ability to transform in response to the changing needs of the community. The flexible built environment fulfils the changing spatial requirements of the residents, allowing them to remain physically rooted with the place and fomenting a deep sense of belonging.
Alicia Desmay Hernandez: Located in Mexico City, HOMEoSTAYsis is a dynamic neighbourhood with the ability to transform in response to the changing needs of the community. The flexible built environment fulfils the changing spatial requirements of the residents, allowing them to remain physically rooted with the place and fomenting a deep sense of belonging.
Connor Heron: A Climatically Responsive Macallum Neighbourhood - The three specific local climatic concerns of George Town, Penang (high humidity, overheating from direct sunlight and monsoon flooding) have been addressed through strategic design actions at each morphological layer. This design approach seeks to produce unique place-identity and a strong sense of community.
Connor Heron: A Climatically Responsive Macallum Neighbourhood - The three specific local climatic concerns of George Town, Penang (high humidity, overheating from direct sunlight and monsoon flooding) have been addressed through strategic design actions at each morphological layer. This design approach seeks to produce unique place-identity and a strong sense of community.
Florence Chau: People often overlook the “little details” in life unlike in the olden days when village life was much simpler. My proposal seeks to bring back village life and make people slow down to enjoy beautiful things in life.
James Mee: Dubai Street Life: Climate and Culture - Dubai is a city known for its highrises, megastructures and extensive highways. My proposal aims to challenge the city's global identity and move towards a more culturally and environmentally sensitive design. The proposal is focused on the pedestrian Souk, which employs tight plot layouts and reactive street canopies to provide a culturally rich and shaded environment.
James Mee: Dubai Street Life: Climate and Culture - Dubai is a city known for its highrises, megastructures and extensive highways. My proposal aims to challenge the city's global identity and move towards a more culturally and environmentally sensitive design. The proposal is focused on the pedestrian Souk, which employs tight plot layouts and reactive street canopies to provide a culturally rich and shaded environment.
Junghwan Kim: Recently, Penang has been marginalised by young people due to ageing infrastructure and urban aesthetics. As a result, many young people are leaving, which is seen as a negative aspect. In addition, the historicity and identity of the place are disappearing due to development that emphasises only convenience and functionality. The project aims to redevelop the city into a youthful city and is expected to serve as a new tourist destination for locals and tourists with a design that mitigates population evacuation and reflects traditional Malaysian architecture in a modern way. We offer a variety of programs.
Junghwan Kim: Recently, Penang has been marginalised by young people due to ageing infrastructure and urban aesthetics. As a result, many young people are leaving, which is seen as a negative aspect. In addition, the historicity and identity of the place are disappearing due to development that emphasises only convenience and functionality. The project aims to redevelop the city into a youthful city and is expected to serve as a new tourist destination for locals and tourists with a design that mitigates population evacuation and reflects traditional Malaysian architecture in a modern way. We offer a variety of programs.
Kilian Soudy: West Kowloon Resiliency - To create a resilient future for West Kowloon by integrating people and local culture with ecological systems and build a community that can quickly recover, creatively adapt and absorb stresses without too much loss of investment.
Kilian Soudy: West Kowloon Resiliency - To create a resilient future for West Kowloon by integrating people and local culture with ecological systems and build a community that can quickly recover, creatively adapt and absorb stresses without too much loss of investment.
Loo Ying Yee: The Invisible: Red Light District of Kamathipura - Kamathipura has always been a popular place for red light district within the slum settlement. The project aim is to enhance the social balance between the sex workers, existing communities and future residents through urban design principles in coping with the development and growth of Kamathipura.
Marcu Dinca: Environmental Sensory Design in Dubai - Dubai’s extreme heat causes design to be primarily responsive to the climate. Due to this, sensory experience isn’t considered past the basic temperature level and when it is, it ignores the vernacular design methods to combat the climate. My project aims to incorporate environmental sensory design and vernacular style architecture as a solution to the sensory design deprivation Dubai is experiencing.
Marcu Dinca: Environmental Sensory Design in Dubai - Dubai’s extreme heat causes design to be primarily responsive to the climate. Due to this, sensory experience isn’t considered past the basic temperature level and when it is, it ignores the vernacular design methods to combat the climate. My project aims to incorporate environmental sensory design and vernacular style architecture as a solution to the sensory design deprivation Dubai is experiencing.
Nurul Rihana: As a little bit of a background of George Town, the city is used to be remembered as a place with a high ‘kampung’ spirit. ‘Kampung’ spirit means the neighbourly spirit and a sense of community where everybody looks out for each other with a strong connection with nature. However, due to both the increase of rent prices that contributed to gentrification of George Town and an increasing number of foreign workers that have been employed to meet the needs of the economy, the sense of ‘kampung’ spirit is gradually lost. The objective of this project is to rekindle the spirit that was once present.
Nurul Rihana: As a little bit of a background of George Town, the city is used to be remembered as a place with a high ‘kampung’ spirit. ‘Kampung’ spirit means the neighbourly spirit and a sense of community where everybody looks out for each other with a strong connection with nature. However, due to both the increase of rent prices that contributed to gentrification of George Town and an increasing number of foreign workers that have been employed to meet the needs of the economy, the sense of ‘kampung’ spirit is gradually lost. The objective of this project is to rekindle the spirit that was once present.
Vedant Ganediwala: KAMATHIPURA_THE SPLENDID CHAOS - The Site is located in Kamathipura, a neighbourhood located in the south of Mumbai, India. It is a slum settlement, famous for its red light district, although the number of sex workers has reduced since the 1990s due to police and government intervention. The aim of this project is to create environments that are resilient and adapt to the changing needs of their users. It has several typologies to meet the demands of different user groups staying in the area.
Vedant Ganediwala: KAMATHIPURA_THE SPLENDID CHAOS - The Site is located in Kamathipura, a neighbourhood located in the south of Mumbai, India. It is a slum settlement, famous for its red light district, although the number of sex workers has reduced since the 1990s due to police and government intervention. The aim of this project is to create environments that are resilient and adapt to the changing needs of their users. It has several typologies to meet the demands of different user groups staying in the area.