The Unit, Block, Kampung


The kampung ties the studio back to the scale of the entire city and gives us the true measure and character of the place. The kampung consists at present of a combination of blocks of different sizes, populations and densities. The goal is to double the overall density of the Kampung in order to free some space given to the Ciliwung river. How do the different blocks combine to define a clear urban edge towards the river at the scale of the whole neighbourhood? The Kampung Melayu could become the first neighbourhood to propose the river as a landscape for the city – a landscape that can create much higher value and quality of living for its inhabitants while still being allowed to flood. The design scale of the Kampung ranges from the human dimension defined by the block to the scale of the entire neighbourhood. Students will propose a landscape strategy at the kampung scale integrating elements of local block design into a coherent urban whole. The perimeter defined by the Kampung should allow students to respond to greater urban connections and to make a clear landscape design that responds to the architectural choices that have been developed. Students will ascertain the scale of the site by assessing various edge conditions that reveal a variety of landscape elements in relation to the river. A critical assessment of these edges will lead to a better understanding of the site and its possible future orientations and potential. What are their qualities, permeability (visual and physical), and degree of resistance to flooding and water dynamics? By means of significant modifications along the river corridor, some edges will have the potential of being reconfigured to bring radical changes. The goal of this studio is to fundamentally change the way the river landscape is perceived and experienced by its inhabitants. Working at the scale of the entire Kampung will raise issues of materials, construction, separation and recycling. To do so it will need to define the kind of landscape space that needs to be developed in relation to the city. The kampung study will require several urban and topological guidelines following:Landscape: the river as park, Blocks, public buildings and space; Differentiated edge conditions, Connections, recycling and services

 

The Block

The condition of the kampung in response to the river edge is defined by the kampong block, which itself consists of a combination and assemblage of many individual units. Each block represents roughly one hectare of surface area that could house up to 500 units instead of the 250 units currently in use. This is the scale at which students must master the systemic organization of the city, whether for rainwater collection and storage as for water treatment and garbage. Each student team will be asked to reflect on the kampung block as a key to environmental sanitation and sustainability. The place and role given to the river at the scale of the block will be of critical importance in applying and consolidating these remedial measures over time. The understanding of local terrain in terms of water and topography will in turn inform the design of the block. This is first and foremost an exercise in the modulation of architecture principles and site planning, through the understanding of terrain, water and vegetation. Community gardens and ponds (wadoks) will be linked to specific blocks, depending on the location and the quality of the terrain. In order to work on new block typologies for the Kampung, students will need to transform the existing footprint depending on the conditions and location. There will also be the question of levels and circulation patterns to solve. The block will take into consideration both the adaptation of innovative architectural solutions and prototypes with the given cultural and “natural” situation of the river with its unpredictable temperament. In turn the block will also need to respond to its specific urban location in terms of services, continuities and connections. The block study will require architectonic and topological guidelines following:

Landscape: topology, the river system and its vegetation; Building densities and typologies; Rainwater collection, wadoks and communal gardens; Infrastructure: transport, recycling and services.