Monday, October 29, 2007

Subang Airport restarts Passenger Service



LANDED TODAY… first Firefly flight at Terminal 3 Subang Airport from Penang. Seven years after the forced shifting of domestic passenger services to the then (maybe even now) under-utilized KLIA airport, Subang Airport is back in business.


Picture taken in 1973, unknown source

But of course, the old Terminal 1 was demolished to the ground earlier this year. This was a fine building in the modern style, to many a symbol of independent Malaysia. It was designed by BEP Arkitek – formerly Booty Edwards Partnership - and completed in 1965 at the cost of about RM50 million at that time (USD15 million at today’s exchange rate).

Imagine Firefly’s cute propeller aircraft at that grand old building. Retro, eh!


Another shot of my favourite ramp, from Encyclopaedia of Malaysia: Architecture


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Sunday, October 28, 2007

So you want to be an architect?

One of my favourite architectural blogs is by Calvin Ngan, an architectural student in Australia. He is certainly my favourite Malaysian blogger. This young man may not be as sophisticated as other bloggers, but he is by turn, funny, intelligent, and very angry. He reminds me of what it means to be a young wannabe architect, who’s not sure that that is what he wants to be. For a sample:

“So you want to be an architect?”


"Well, a lot of people say that their dream is to become an architect, but what kind of architect they want to be? If you’re talking about building a virtual world then I am sure that you know the guy from the matrix movie - The Architect."




"I don’t know why did the Wakiki(sic)Brothers name him simply as The Architect, but what I couldn’t understand is that how in the world did the people from the computer industry monopolise the definition for architect. Simply do a search for the keyword “architect” and chances are you’re likely to get a lists of computer related websites. No wonder Bill Gates called himself Chief Software Architect. Now, that is the kind of architect I want to be - filthy rich.”


His best posts are those where he writes about Malaysia, where he questions architecture, and when he agonizes about why the hell he should try to become an architect:


A glimpse into my past


What is architecture?



Happy Independence Day


Postcards from Malaysia


World’s Oldest Profession



Foster & Partners: Petronas University of Technology


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Saturday, October 27, 2007

Cite Berliet : more Quadruple Houses

Marius Berliet founded the Berliet vehicle manufacturing company in France.


A Berliet car, from Wikipedia

His company started manufacturing car engines in 1894, then trucks in 1906. In 1915, in order to meet military demand in the First World War, Berliet constructed a large factory in Venissieux and St. Priest, less than 10 km south-east of Lyon.





Location Plan

To accommodate the workers he also built workmen’s housing. A big proportion of the houses were “maison carre a Mulhouse”- quadruple houses like those in Mulhouse.


Site Plan, from Google Earth



Drawing of Site plan, from Dorothee Thevenon



Detail of Quadruple House, from Dorothee Thevenon

The first quadruple houses were designed in 1920. These were villas were dividedinto four units. In 1924, a new design appeared with separate units on the ground and first floors. Thus each block then contained 8 units. This was due to the financial difficulties of that period. However, later blocks reverted back to the earlier model; by 1925, Cite Berliet comprised 250 units.


Drawn Perspective, from Dorothee Thevenon



Perspective View, from Google Earth


Unfortunately for Berliet, after the Second World War he was condemned to two years imprisonment for collaboration with the Nazis, and his possessions were seized. However in 1949, the state returned them to the Berliet family, a few months after his death.

The Berliet marquee disappeared in 1978 when it was absorbed by Renault.

References: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cit%C3%A9
Dorothee Thevenon, “Mise en Copropriété d’une cité ouvrière de 354 logements : la « Cité Marius Berliet » à Saint Priest”, 2003. Pdf download 4.5 Mb

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Thursday, October 25, 2007

Floating homes on the Agusan Marsh


From timonera

In the north east of Mindanao is one of the most ecologically significant wetlands in the Philippines, contains nearly 15 % of the nation's fresh water resources in the form of swamp forests.

"Agusan derived its name from the local dialect, "agasan", meaning "where the water flows", referring to the great river splitting the land and meandering south to north in a 250-kilometer rush to Butuan Bay."



From: Ties Rijcken

"During the rainy season, when the water rises to create large lakes, vast number of ducks comes to Agusan Marsh to nest. In the dry months, thousands of birds come from as far away as Japan, China and Russia to escape the chilly winter winds of Northern Asia. Over 200 individual species have been known to spend at least part of the year in the marsh, making it one of Asia's most important transit points for wild birds.
In the very heart of the marsh is a semi-permanent lake where many square kilometres of lily pads, hyacinths and other hydrophytic plants spread out like an enormous green quilt. In the dark tea-colored waters live untold numbers of catfish, carp, soft-shell fresh water turtles, and crocodiles."



From: Ties Rijcken

"The tiny community of mostly ethnic Manobos have made their permanent homes deep within the marsh, living on floating homes. The small houses made of bamboo and nipa lashed to hard wood logs, freely rise or fall with the level of the marsh itself. The marsh provides virtually everything the Manobos need."



From timonera

Excepts from Wikipedia

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