Community Library

This student project is sited within three shophouse lots in Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown, directly facing an Indian temple, with a local market at the rear and flanked by shop houses and restaurants.

The social demographics comprise students, locals and transient groups, namely tourists and white-collar workers. These urban dwellers seem to be ‘locked up’ behind grilles in their units for protection—even a religious altar is ‘caged’ to prevent theft. The area seems to have lost its community spirit and sense of place.

The community library seeks to change that by providing a place to stop, relax and ponder.

By negotiating the tectonics and massing of built forms, grids are deformed via intersection of spaces and the creation of voids to stimulate passive contact among users. The spaces are arranged to capture the ‘intangibles’ of the site, the natural elements, sounds, colours and smells. All these are amplified and framed to make people appreciate and realise what they have missed in the hustle and bustle of city life.

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PROJECT DATA
Student Name: Tan Ling Rong
School: Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus, Malaysia
Programme: Bachelor of Science (Hons) Architecture
Supervisor/Instructor: Ar Fadzwin Hashim
Project Name: Community Library
Project Year: 2016
Location: Jalan Tun H.S. Lee, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Site Area: 500 square metres
Gross Floor Area: 1,500 square metres
Building Height: 5 storeys
Client/Owner: Local council
Images: Tan Ling Rong