SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN (SABD)BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONS) ARCHITECTURE

THEORIESTHEORIESTHEORIESTHEORIES OFOFOFOFARCHITECTUREARCHITECTUREARCHITECTUREARCHITECTURE &&&& URBANISMURBANISMURBANISMURBANISM(ARC(ARC(ARC(ARC 61303)61303)61303)61303) (ARC2224)(ARC2224)(ARC2224)(ARC2224)

PROJECTPROJECTPROJECTPROJECT 1:1:1:1: THETHETHETHE IMAGEIMAGEIMAGEIMAGE OFOFOFOF THETHETHETHE CITYCITYCITYCITY

WRITTEN ESSAYAND COGNITIVE MAPPING

NAME:NAME:NAME:NAME:NG WEI YING

STUDENTSTUDENTSTUDENTSTUDENT ID:ID:ID:ID: 0316366TUTOR:TUTOR:TUTOR:TUTOR: MR. LAM SHEN FEI

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1.01.01.01.0 IntroductionIntroductionIntroductionIntroduction

The selected site for this project is located at the area in between Jalan Dang Wangi andJalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman (Jalan TAR). The area is located just about the Northeast fringesof Kuala Lumpur City Center. Jalan TAR is one of the major road connecting Jalan Sultan Ismailto Jalan Tun Perak, where the LRT Masjid Jamek Interchange Station is located. Jalan DangWangi crosses through various business districts within the area, running from Jalan BukitNanas to Jalan Raja Laut, where the City Hall of Kuala Lumpur is located (DBKL). Theintersection point between Jalan Dang Wangi and Jalan TAR creates a major node within thatarea with Sogo Department Store acting as the assembly point for various activities in KualaLumpur. Along with the city's recent development, the area had transformed entirely into acommercial and business hub, along with pre-war shophouses still flanked on the sides of JalanTAR.

To carry out this project by obtaining at least 3 cognitive mappings of the selected significanturban spaces in Kuala Lumpur City, various forms of verbal, written and drawn interview andbrief explanations of the site are carried out with several people, each with a different socialbackground. The cognitive mapping produced by these people are then analyzed based on theimage and impression of the site drawn. Each interviewee produced a map with slightdifferences and similarities, based on their personal perception of the site and their dailyactivities on site. These similarities and differences are then evaluated based on their socialbackgrounds and Kevin Lynch's theory on The Image of a City. Cognitive maps are mentalmaps, a type of map drawn by people to represent the personal interpretation of a place. It actsas a form of mental representation which serves as a platform for the individual's to acquire,store and decode information about the locations and attributes of phenomena in their everydayor metaphorical spatial environment. Kevin Lynch stated that a perception of a city is not onlybased on the physical environments where the tangible elements are, but also the intangibleelements of a space. The intangibles include the memory, perception, impression, emotion andculture of the city.

The three subjects that are acquired for this project include a white-collar assistant executiveworking at the AIA Cap Square Tower, a local food store vendor operating his food truckbusiness along Lorong Tuanku Abdul Rahman as well as an Australian tourist who is on anearly summer break. The chosen subjects each have a different social background and may befamiliar or unfamiliar to the site. They each have different agendas for appearing at the selectedand their intentions are often clearly shown in the mental map produced.

2.02.02.02.0 CognitiveCognitiveCognitiveCognitive MappingMappingMappingMapping

2.12.12.12.1 SimilaritiesSimilaritiesSimilaritiesSimilarities ofofofof thethethethe MentalMentalMentalMental MapsMapsMapsMaps

Based on the three cognitive maps acquired, the mapping of the path is clearly defined. Theprimary and secondary paths are clearly identified by each of the subjects as each based on

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their intention in the site. They have clearly identified the LRT railroads and they have alsoidentified the cross-intersection between Jalan TAR and Jalan Dang Wangi as one of the majorpath circulating the site. The intersection lies in between the Government district of Jalan RajaLaut and the Business district of the high-rise towers of Capsquare. The hierarchy of roads areidentified by the subjects as each three of the subjects did a fair share of traveling on foot totheir various destinations. The path system of the site are jagged and "cut up" as the space inbetween lorong Tuanku Abdul Rahman and Jalan Bunus 6 is often closed and limits thevehicular access in between these areas to prevent traffic congestion as the swarming amountof shoppers during the weekends and roadside vendors would take up most of the vehicularpathway. This is where things start to get confusing to the tourists as he would recognize thepath not by the street name but the types and color of the building around it. He has identifiedLorong TAR as the wide alleyway full of red buildings and Jalan TAR as the major road full ofcolorful shophouses with pre-war style gable wall facades. The similar reaction goes to theassistant executive worker as he concluded that the area between Lorong Bunus 6, JalanMasjid India and Lorong TAR as Little India, familiarizing himself with the names of the textilesretailers and fast food chain restaurants around it, rather than the street name itself. Tough thefood truck vendor is familiar with these road names, he still address the area as Little India,rather than the road names. The lorong TAR holds an important memory to the food truckvendor as he has been selling pisang goreng and various other snack and eateries at thisparticular lorong. He also noted that a friendly sense of "neighborhood" is formed among thefood vendors as they run their everyday business together for quite a number of years. LorongTAR also holds a special memory to the tourists as he have been staying in the bunker's motelin one of the many red buildings at Lorong TAR.

The intersection between Jalan Dang Wangi and Jalan TAR.

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Another similarities that can be analyzed from the map include the presence of several strongedges or isolating boundaries. The overhead lines of LRT railroads, the major vessel of KualaLumpur Jalan Tun Perak and the reserved forest boundary of Taman Eko Rimba Kuala Lumpurat the Reserved Forest of Bukit Nanas are identified as the clearly defined boundary of place.This can be concluded from the map drawn as they all tend to start at the Dang Wangi LRTstation and ends at Jalan Tar, before the major vessel of Jalan Tun Perak. Similarly, thepresence of Klang River and Gombak River acted a a less-define edges according to theassistant executive worker and the food truck vendor and the rivers are bridges over with roadsthe presence of the river are less obvious as compared to the boundary of Bukit NanasReserved Forest and Jalan Tun Perak. The Dang Wangi LRT Station located at the fringe of thesite near the reserved forest also help to strengthen the identification of perceived boundary bythe two local subjects. However, the boundary perceived by the Australian tourist appears to befragmented. The perceived boundaries by the tourist tend to focus on the traveled route andcommercial district of the site as there is where he navigates around during his stay in DangWangi. One similarities can be identified via the three cognitive map is that they had all drawnhigh-rise buildings into their maps surrounding the central commercial district of Jalan DangWangi and Jalan TAR. Therefore, this high-rise buildings can be identified as their perceivedboundaries of the site as these multiple high-rises as made a major impression towards them.Another notable similarities between the cognitive maps drawn by the three subjects include thenodes identified. By observing the 3 maps, it has come to an agreement that all 3 subjects hasdrawn in the intersection between Jalan Dang Wangi and Jalan TAR, making Sogo DepartmentStore and the Harisons clothing retailer as the major landmark on the site. The large gatheringcrowd of shoppers and passersby on the front steps of Sogo had garnered the attention ofthese subjects. The food truck vendor had drawn in a couple of trees surrounding the plaza infront of Sogo, which is then interpreted as a shady place for the shoppers and passersby togather around. The tourist, however has identified Sogo and Harisons clothing retailer as thenodal point of the site as the Harisons building is a neo-classical influenced building that sits atthe vital point of intersection between these roads. Sogo is also identified as he explained that itis known as the local landmark as the locals always point to whenever he asks for directions. Itis also identified as the node for all three subjects as it is near the edges of the high-risebuildings drawn on the maps. The assistant executive has pointed out the intersection of JalanDang Wangi and Jalan TAR as the major node because of the plaza in front of Sogo acts as thegathering point various activities, including street musicians and political-driven activities. Therally of Bersih 4.0 had also taken place on the front steps of Sogo and the plaza where it wasone of the major gathering point for the rally-goers before dispersing to Jalan Tun Perak. Hisimpression towards this node point is formed as he took part of the rally on the eve of Merdeka.As pointed out by him, it is one of the iconic local landmarks where almost all of the KualaLumpur locals would know and gather.

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Cognitive map drawn by the Australian tourist to show the intersection point.

Cognitive map drawn by the Assistant Executive shows the intersection point as well.

2.22.22.22.2 DissimilaritiesDissimilaritiesDissimilaritiesDissimilarities ofofofof thethethethe MentalMentalMentalMental MapsMapsMapsMaps

The imageability of a particular place, as coined by Kevin Lynch is the comparison of image withvisual reality to learn what forms make for strong images, thus to suggest some principles tourban design. The image of each indivudual however is different with regards to his/her socialbackground, memory and perception of a place based on experiences. Kevin Lynch also

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discussed about how the image of a given physical reality may occasionally shift its type withdifferent circumstances of viewing. This being said that, a major highway may be a path for thedriver, and the edge for the pedestrian. He also noted that districts are structured with nodes,defined by edges, penetrated by paths, and sprinkled with landmarks.

Based on the cognitive maps by the three subjects, these elements often overlap one another,forming the general mental image of a particular subject based on his/her memory and intentionin site. Lorong TAR is considered a node for the food truck vendor whereas the Australian hasperceive the wide alley way as a pathway in segregating the commercial districts. The foodtruck vendor is a native where he was born and raised in Chow Kit. Lorong TAR is considered anodal point where he has runs his food truck business here along with the strip of food vendorsfor the most of his life. Lorong Tar and Jalan TAR hold a significant amount of memory to thefood truck vendor as he stated that the Little India area was where the locals do their retailshopping before the development of shopping complexes in Kuala Lumpur. The place is usuallyswarmed with the locals and Indians from various part of India to do their clothing and groceryshopping. The Coliseum Theater down the road of Jalan TAR is another node identified by thefood truck vendor. The Coliseum Theater has been running since the 1920s and is one of themajor hang out spot for the locals of Kuala Lumpur back then. Another node identified by thefood truck vendor include the intersection between Jalan Masjid India and Lorong TAR. This iswhere the daily market selling textile, traditional Malay, Indian and Punjabi clothing and variouspirated goods is located. The market will be running on full-scale during the evening ofweekends along with the pasar malam. Locals and foreign workers alike will swarm aroundthese places during the weekend to get some bargained goods. The food truck vendor alsonoted the Little India is the place where he does his clothing shopping. When referring to placesin Little India, he would give directions of the venue using the various shop names as guides,rather than the shophouses style, color and street name. For instances, when giving directionsto his fellow vendors to identify his current location, he would say: "I'm at standing in front ofHari Hari boutique with purple signboard behind the row of A&W." The fellow local vendorswould then easily spotted his location with the directions given.

The edges identified by the Australian tourist seemed scattered and fragmented. He hadbasically identified the major roadways as edges as he tend to travel around by foot. Thesemajor roads like the intersection between Jalan TAR and Jalan Dang Wangi are perceived asboundaries to him. Various building styles also aided him in identifying the boundaries of thesite as he has point out that the shophouses in Jalan TAR are vaguely different from the rest ofthe shophouses in Jalan Dang Wangi. The high-rise building surrounding the site also aided himin identifying the boundaries between tourists spots with attraction and non-tourists spots. Forinstance, Jalan Raja Laut is left blank as a result of lack of knowledge of the local Governmentdistrict without any attractions for the tourists. The nodes identified by the Australian touristinclude the point of intersection between Jalan Masjid India and Lorong TAR. This is the pointwhere many tourists gather around due to the abundance of budget hotels and motelssurrounding the streets. It is also a place for them to shop for bargained goods within the city.The map also shows that he has little or no knowledge of what happens at the edges of JalanDang Wangi as it is left empty. The pathway drawn by the tourists also indicates the pedestrianshortcuts that he had taken in order to navigate around the streets of the site to avoid majorstreets with high density of vehicles. These pedestrian shortcuts are only accessible via foot

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and motorcycles. These shortcuts proved that the tourists are a little more adventurous ascompared to the locals. The locals often dub these alleyways as dodgy areas and tend to avoidthem when traveling alone.

The districts identified by the assistant executive worker include the business, commercial andgovernment districts. The business districts are describe as the circular capsqaure of severalnotable high-rise towers at the East part of the site. This is where her workplace is as she alsoidentified the capsquare as one of the major node on site. This being said that the circular plazain front of the high-rise towers are the gathering spot for the white-collar workers. The mentalmap produced by the assistant executive depicts the daily route to work in the AIA building. Theroute include Dang Wangi LRT Station as the nodal point and the pathway identified include thealleyways and secondary pathways with lower density of vehicles. This is the route where sheusually takes when walking from the station to the AIA building. A a younger generation of thenative KL, the assistant executive worker also does her shopping at Sogo Department Storesrather than the shops in Little India. Various fast food chain restaurants are identified in LittleIndia, rather than the shop names of the textile and clothing shops. She and her colleagueswould identify their location in Little India by stating the fast-food restaurant chains. Parts of themap are left blank as her knowledge and memory towards the site is appears fragmented andshe often travel around the site to the few familiar places to attend to her needs. However, oneof the major pathway identified by assistant executive worker include the plaza in front of Sogoand the intersection road in between Jalan Dang Wangi and Jalan TAR, all the way until the endof junction where Jalan TAR is connected to Jalan Tun Perak. The plaza in front of Sogo iswhere she usually takes the bus from to the Dang Wangi LRT Station if she were to do hershopping there. It also holds a significant amount of memory to her as she stated that the plazain front of Sogo acted as one of the major gathering point during the Bersih 4.0 rally. Mixedemotions where felt whenever she visited the place as she was part of the rally that was held onthe day before and the eve of Merdeka. The general impression of the site include the business,banking and finance district of the capsquare area where her work place is and various coffeeshops in the area where she and colleagues would have their lunch together. It also leaves apolitical-driven site to her impression as various rally activities has took part in the site from thepast.

3.03.03.03.0 DiscussionDiscussionDiscussionDiscussion inininin relationrelationrelationrelation totototo KevinKevinKevinKevin Lynch'sLynch'sLynch'sLynch's TheTheTheThe ImageImageImageImage ofofofof thethethethe CityCityCityCity

Kevin Lynch discussed about the legibility and imageability of a city. The legibility of the cityrefers to the ease with which its parts of the fragmented city can be recognized and assembledinto a logical and systematic setup. So a legible city would be one whose districts, landmarks orpathways are easily identifiable and are easily grouped into an all-over pattern. The imageabilityof a city could be identified in three components. Namely, the identity, structure and meaning.Based on the results on the research conducted, the intersection between Jalan Dang Wangiand Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman has high imageability in a sense that it is easily grasp by thelocals who are familiar to the place and the tourists who are new to the place. However, thestreets leading to Little India appears to be introverted, turned in upon themselves with littlerelation to the city outside them. The market area of in Little India, in between Jalan Masjid Indiaand Lorong TAR seemed to be confusingly shapeless, with no defined boundaries and edges

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within. A different kind of city seems to form within these market area, leaving the people to feellike they are navigating through a city within a city with little relation to the outside roads.Though Jalan TAR is highly extrovert as the converging point of Jalan TAR to other major roadslike Jalan Tun Perak and Jalan Raja Laut seems to form seamlessly.

The transitions of buildings between the commercial district to the high-rises in Capsquare isabrupt. Apart from the low imageability of the Little India district, each and every districts in thesite have clearly-identified edges, marking the transition of one to another, drawing several cuesfrom the existing site. From observation, the market area of Little India seemed to be secludedand cut off from the rest of the site, with the roads and lanes jam packed with street vendors.The plaza in front of Sogo Department Store forms high legibility as the plaza is able to draw inpeople and acted as one of the major public gathering points within the city. However, the backalleys of the Little India often produce pungent and unpleasant scent of rubbish and poorly lit.These areas are deemed dodgy by the locals and are usually avoided. This negative perceptionof the site has discourage the locals to further explore the city and therefore, the mental imagesformed are somewhat disconnected and fragmented. All in all, the area between Jalan TAR andJalan Dang Wangi still holds a significant mental image by the locals as the textile andtraditional clothing business along Jalan TAR and Little India are relevant to them till this day.

4.04.04.04.0 ConclusionConclusionConclusionConclusion

The image I have obtained upon visiting the site is that the major roads and various districts arewell planned. The vividly painted Art Deco Gable Wall of the shophouses along Jalan TAR formsa distinct and vibrant image to me. However, I find Jalan Dang Wangi with low imageability anddo not leave much impression to me as it looks like any other streets in KL city center with thetactile pattern on the pedestrian pathway and local branch of police station. Jalan Dang Wangiis a major pathway for the drivers, however it does not bring much memories and impressiontowards pedestrain as the road acts as the edge which segregates the buildings on both side.The entrance of the buildings also tend to be introverted, with the entrance facing the other side.All the pedestrian could observed all layer and layer of walls and the visual permeability is low.However, the intersection between Jalan Dang Wangi and Jalan TAR has high imagebility to meas the neoclassical Harison clothing retailer flanking on the left side of Jalan TAR successfullycreate a vantage point of view towards the site. One the right, Sogo and its plaza could beeasily identified as well as large crowds tend to gather in front of the building, along with theroad leading to Jalan Raja Laut where several high-rise government building could be seenpeeking around the skyline such as the DBKL and MARA building. However, I find the cityarrangement within Little India to be chaotic and unorganized. The marketplace of Little India isintroverted, where it has very little connection towards the city outside. The densely packedroads are sprawling with vendors and marker-goers alike. The road leading to the outside isobscure and each corner of the market is vies for attention. The road within the market are cutoff and severely disconnected with the presence of the marketplace. Namely, Jalan Masjid Indiais closed during the weekends to make way for the market. The circular capsquare plaza thatholds several high-rise towers appears to be formidable to the pedestrian who does not work in

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those buildings and the plaza is usually crowded with white-collar workers only.

In conclusion, the happenings of the site generally focuses on the intersection between JalanTAR and Jalan Dang Wangi. The plaza in front of Sogo Department Store creates a sense ofvisual identity to match its functional importance. The various colorful shophouses along JalanTAR creates a vibrant image to its visitors. The place certainly holds a significant value as it is apolitically-driven gathering site and is known to almost every locals of Kuala Lumpur.

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