theorisss

1. THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM
PROJECT 2: COMPARATIVE ESSAY
TUTOR: NICHOLAS NG
CHONG YU XUAN
0317950

2. City, a concrete result of large number of people gathering in a location and making
it their permanent settlement. Defined by its inhabitants, it is the most accurate
representation of the state of the people and the country. Its layout and pattern
influenced by past growth, now in turn continue to influence the people living in it.
Each building comes with a function of their own generating social activities. But
when put together the built environment affects the behaviour and actions of human.
Comparing the Ropponggi of Japan and Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman (Jalan TAR) in
Malaysia. Both shaped by a different climate, culture, history, communication and
advancement in technology. The social behaviour and pattern of the inhabitants are
influenced by the different aspects of the two cities.
The urban patterns of Jalan TAR and Roppongi hills are fairly different. The vicinity
of Roppongi started since the edo era and housed the imperial army for WW2. The
post WWII land reform, saw lands force-purchased from landlords and sold to
tenants significantly reducing the individual size of holdings. This led to piecemeal
development with rather un-organized individual development initiatives and
composite mix of building types. The city is seemingly chaotic with a rather formless
urban structure due to it piecemeal developments on narrow streets, but it still keeps
its traditional urban patterns quite intact. Roppongi had a reputation as a
neighbourhood with a lot of foreigners, but that changes when its night life became
popular which draws Japanese elites to the area.
Jalan TAR however started along the Gombak and Klang rivers, as they were the
contact point of tin mining and the nucleus of the city. It started off as a linear city
depending on the two rivers but this slowly changed as the means of transportation
improved. The city started to grow in different direction as the dependence of river
declined. Jalan Tar is mostly occupied by the old that stayed there as the place
slowly grow and changes and the foreign workers that come here looking for
opportunities.

3. .
Figure 1 Roppongi sidewalk garden
Figure 2 Jalan Tar sidewalk garden
As stated by Gehl, the contact points of a city are the outdoor activities influenced by
the different conditions in public spaces such as necessary, social and optional
activities in relation to the degree of intensity as mentioned by Gehl in his “Life
Between Buildings”. Both cities do not have a very visible entrance that declares that
you entered it vicinity, but along the sidewalks greenery could be found along it.
People would encounter these sidewalk gardens as they enter a shop or walk on the
sidewalk. The greenery functions as a subtle entrance statement and a divider from
the sidewalk and the street giving a slight sense of safely to the sidewalk users, often
slowing down their pace and increasing the possibility of involvement, interaction,
and knowledge sharing in the place. In Roppongi the sidewalk greenery further
connects into small pockets of gardens, which may induce optional activities to linger
in the gardens from time to time

4. Figure 3 (left) Roppongi hills Maman (right) Semua house junction
Roppongi hills, a large modern complex combining shops, boutiques, cafes, bars
and traditional Japanese garden earning it the title ‘a city within a city’. There are two
bridges Art walk and west walk which merges together that serves as main arteries
of pedestrian traffic that necessary activity occur. Maman is the massive spider
shaped landmark that looms over the plaza. The plaza is also the crossroad of the
two bridges leading into building. This point of contact forces passive contact among
pedestrians as they pass by each other, they see and hear each other as they
proceed on performing their necessary activity. The sculpture itself is a node which
attracts people, it gives out a vague sense of protection to the people underneath.
Seating of long benches could be found around the edge of the sculpture,
encouraging the optional activity to sit, rest and people watch. Social activity
happens when it becomes a venue of art programmes, resulting in high contact
intensity.
The crossroad in front of Semua House mall is a contact point similar to the
Roppongi Maman plaza. Although it is more direct in approach, it stills creates
passive contact between the people passing the two busy street. The difference with
the Roppongi plaza is that it only caters to necessary activity of pedestrians. The
path is not shaded and due to the tropical weather of Malaysia people tend to not
stay there for long. Unlike Roppongi, there are also no seating or attractions in the
area that encourages people to stay and linger, majority of people only pass by to
get to their intended destination. The contact intensity is high, but it only passive
contact and necessary activity occurs.

5. Figure 4 (left) Jalan Tar shop extended to walkway
(right) Roppongi Tully Coffee café
The shophouses in Roppongi are neater in comparison to Jalan Tar. Only
restaurants extend their seating to the sidewalks of the street. It attracts pedestrian
who strolls along the shopping street. It offers social interactions, including meeting
people and sharing experiences which offers opportunity to maintain already
established contact. Shaded by canopies, surroundings exposed on all sides while
still maintaining a certain level of privacy from the public sidewalk. Social activity
takes place with moderate level of contact intensity between the people.
In Jalan Tar the shophouses extends towards the five-foot walkways, arranging their
products to slightly obstruct the five-foot way. This gives the pedestrians direct visual
connection to the shop and the products, the obstructions slow down their pace as
they observe or window shop. The shop owners encourage the optional activity as
the pedestrians’ pass. The hot weather relatively increases the intensity level as
people tend to use the five-foot way to hide from the sun.

6. Figure 5 (left) Roppongi hills square (right) Sogo front plaza
Roppongi is a city filled with high rise building rising up to 54 levels. The Ropponggi
hills square, fringed by these towering buildings forms an enclosed perimeter, open
towards the street of Higashi Dori, the place offers a sense of protection while
maintaining good connection and accessibility to the pedestrian and vehicular flow. A
variety of primary and secondary seating offers a diverse range of preferences for
the users. String courses give protection at the back while allowing user to view the
world from a lower standpoint, more intimacy. The open square is often a venue for
events, where the space is set up with chairs, tables and stalls. Thus, contact
intensity is high. The activities are a blend of three, landscaping soften the ambience
by inducing hue and freshness amidst the boxy glass and steel masses which they
lined at the building edges that blurs the stark demarcation.
Sogo square of Jalan Tar holds similar sort occasions. The empty space is privatized
by bands of ocal performers, street artist and stalls during the nights and weekends.
The vibrant energy fills the atmosphere of the night attracting more and more people
to gather on the steps and the sidewalk to enjoy the art and culture. Normal steps of
the square become informal seating to the public. The ecstatic music fills the air
which followed by the sound of people clapping. The intensity of contact is high as
human pace slows when they pass by this point of contact, the small gathering of
people lingering in the place further attracts more onlookers.

7. Figure 6 Jalan Tar business extend to edge of street leaving narrow passage
The tenso shrine of Roppongi is a drop-in building height along the area of high rise
building, a pocket transition that is necessary to pass by to get to the office building.
The intensity of contact here is high during peak office hours as white collars pass by
the area to get to their destination. The lust green of the shrine garden structures an
attractive environment that encourages optional activity that can develop into passive
social activity as white collars of the nearby office frequently use the space.
Masjid india is also a landmark of worship in Jalan Tar, but unlike the tenso shrine it
is not open ended and the gates discourages entrance to the pedestrians. Only
worshippers enter which causes the contact intensity to be low but intimate social
activities occur between the frequent worshipers of the place. The part of that makes
this a contact point is the front road of the mosque which is privatized by stalls. Due
to the lack of guidelines, businesses extend toward the edge of the street, leaving a
narrow space for circulation. This could not be found in Roppongi as the Japanese
are stricter in their rule, therefore resulting in the neat and tidy streets. However, the
privatization of the streets creates a sense of intimacy and robustness to the street.
This sort of privatization if followed by other businesses in the area resulting it as
part of a feature of the place now. The privatization of the sidewalk along the street
creates a concentration of people in a community. The contact intensity is high as a
mix of all activity occur here. The exchange of greetings, dialogs and negotiation of
the people creates a constant active social contact. The obstruction of the street by
business products, here became a feature of the place, creating an unorganized
space crafted by human behaviour.

8. As quoted by Jan Gehl “To be able to move about easily and confidently, to be able
to linger in cities and residential areas, to be able to take pleasure in spaces, building
and city life, and to be able to meet and get together with other people- informally or
in more organised fashion- these are fundamental yo good cities and good building
projects today as in the past.”
Humans activity are a major factor in the formation and completion of in between
spaces as dominant being in these spaces, being able to carry out our daily activities
easily and comfortably is a key importance in an urban city. An urban formation falls
closely within the assessment of this at which the development of a city move
synchronized with participation of the community.

9. Reference:
Gehl,J.&Koch,J.(2011).Life BetweenBuildings(1st
ed).Washington,DC:IslandPress.
Ministryof Land, Infrastructure andTransport,Governmentof Japan(2007) 2006 Annual reportof
capital regiondevelopment(Heisei 18NendoShutokenSeibi nikansuruNenji Houkoku)
NakamuraH, IedaH et al (2004) Infrastructure of Tokyo(TokyoNoInfurasutorakuchaa),2ndedn.
Gihoudou
Spaces,P.(2016). Jan Gehl – Projectfor PublicSpaces.Retrievedfrom
http:/www.pps.org/reference/jghel