Transcendence
The design calls for an architectural response to design an interpretive center, emphasizing a strong engagement and relationship to the site, spatial experiences and programmatic requirements. The interpretive center will serve two purposes, to provide a physical point of reference with visual significance that keeps alive the culture/history/memory/essence of the site, and to provide accommodation to house and display relevant material and interpretive material for public access and information. Solutions relying heavily on landscape are encouraged. Visitors should be inspired and informed in ways that express the spirit of the place (genius loci).
Building Program:
Visitor interpretive centre
Location:
Sungai Buloh Leprosy Valley of hope
DATE:
July 2018
Supervisor:
Ar. Sateerah Hassan
Sungai Buloh Leprosy settlement, a dying community that soon to be forgotten by the society. Lepers there are all old folks around age of 65 ~95. Imagine after 30 years when all the lepers there were gone, when no one left to talk about the story and spirit of the place. A Visitor Interpretive center will no longer response to the genius loci when the spirit are gone, it will just be a memorial. Why not we make a VIC that is temporary, and it will be gone once all our lepers here are no longer available. Became a legend of a place.
The VIC itself is not to build for the visitor, but for leper, become a center for them share their story and memories of their experience to everyone else. Let their story speak while they are there. Lepers have simple wishes, where they hope to meet their long lost family, and leave back to the heaven, but they always hope someone is there to remember, to continue their journey at the beautiful settlement.
Transcendence, act as a living VIC, where your story is not recorded as history, but the info is the life of lepers. Imagine the building are temporary steel structures, and the building materials are temporary, people visit the center they engage with lepers, and sit down to talk about story, the lepers give them one of the building material from the building as a gift. Representing that the beautiful memory of lepers stay with us and they transcend peacefully. After a long time, the building material slowly taken away, like how leprosy took their freedom, represent this settlement spirit will be gone forever and it is time, for the new start and better future for this settlement!