Introduction to Built Environment & Human Settlements

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri !

2008-09-30T10:04:00.002-07:00

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to all of my malay friends, course mates and lecturers! Have a nice Raya holiday and balik kampung safely ya!

Best regards,
Yenfei

The Dome Spine Production-7 Scale

2008-09-30T10:04:00.001-07:00

The Dome Spine can be discussed in different scales.

1. OBJECT SCALE:The components needed to construct our dome such as bamboo struts, ,metal eyelets and cable ties.

2. INTERIOR SCALE:The interior space upon assemble of the components.

3. BUILDING SCALE:Our 2V geodesic dome.

4. PREMISE SCALE:Our dome which is located at a specific site, in this case site no.39.

5. URBAN SCALE:The Dome Spine.

6. REGIONAL SCALE:
The Dome Spine affect the regional scale as USM is on the Penang Island.

7. GLOBAL SCALE:Our Photo blog in our respective virtual sites on the web which can be accessed by anyone in the globe.

Domes Day at The Domes Spine

2008-09-30T10:03:00.001-07:00

=DOMES DAY AT THE DOMES SPINE=
Date: 10 September 2008
Time: 10am-12pm
It's Domes Day today!

From 10am to 10.30am, Encik Wan give us some briefing about the site we need to construct our dome, checking the team list and team number.

Our team finally got the approval from Encik Wan.
=My group is no.39.
=ALL FOR ONE, ONE FOR ALL is our intention.
=EVEREST is a product! Because we gathered and formed this team!
=Actors are 5 of the team members.-Yen fei, Keem Bee, Jing Wen, Derwyn and Nazrul.

Other teamless course mates have to be absorbed into the BLACK WIDOW TEAM.

After the briefing, we went to the next stop which was the temple to take our team photograph for the TeamFoto Registration purpose.

Look! This is our "prefabricated" bamboo struts, looked very the different from other team's prefabricated domes.While we were waiting at the temple for the photo registration, we noticed that some of the prefabricate domes were almost completed and some even nicely constructed. We started to worry whether we can construct our dome in time. >.<
While waiting for team photograph registration. :-)
From left to right-Keem Bee, Jing Wen, me (Yen Fei), Derwyn and Nazrul.
We are the actors of =EVEREST=
ALL FOR ONE, ONE FOR ALL!

Photo Registration.
EVEREST team members taking photo with bamboo struts and toolbox.

Intention: Erected our dome within the given 30 minutes.
Site: Site no. 39
Actor: team members of =EVEREST=
Rule:
>It must be a geodesic dome.
>Build a dome correctly on the given site.
>Build a dome within the given 30minutes.
Act:
Site of team no.39. Building the dome from the bottom up.

All team members working together. ALL FOR ONE, ONE FOR ALL.
p/s: I'm the photographer of this photo. XP

By working together, we hold the joints up to prevent the bamboo struts from sliding down.

Almost finish. Photo of Nazrul and Keem Bee trying to connect the struts with cable tie together.
Left the final part of the dome. Almost..almost...
Yeah! after 20 minutes, we completed our EVEREST DOME! :-)

Product:
Taking team photos with our dome!

Our 2V geodesic dome at Dome Spine site no.39
Which is quite far from School of HBP, near the USM swimming pool. See the pool there! ^^
After that we walked along the spine to check out our fellow course mates' product.
This is my roommate, Bee Poo's team's dome. So colourful, so cool, so stable. :-)

Took this photo from far away after we took our lunch at the red house. The dome beside our dome is team no. 40's dome. Looked so colourful compared with our dome.*sobs*
=Our dome is like a camouflage dome as it's colour is similar to the surrounding.= :-)

Before this, everyone was very anxious about the Domes Day.
Now, everyone was very satisfied and happy that we managed to erect our dome.
Thank you Encik Wan for giving us the opportunity to experience building a dome and we really had a lot of fun in the process.

--Dome's Preparation--

2008-09-30T06:55:00.001-07:00

=How did I gather my 5 team members=

Intention: Form a group with 5 team member with team name and team motto to show team identity.
Act: To ask around, gather 5 people including me and write down their names and contact numbers.
Actor: Me and my course mates.
Product: A group of 5 people, team name & team motto.
Site: E48A lecture hall
Rule: Not more than nor less than, just 5 in a team.

We ask around, gather and write down their contact numbers after the lecture. Initially we got to gather 5 people in a team. 3 females & 2 males. But the next day, one of the guy informed us that he couldn't join us as 2 of his friends still did not belong to any group. So we just okay with it and continue to ask around. That day was also that last day to register through online. So in the end we can't find the fifth team member and sent the registration with only 4 team members. Sorry CikWan we don't mean to break the rule!

During the next lecture, CikWan reminded us about the rule which is compulsory 5 member in a team and asked those whose teams were less than 5 member to search for another member on that day and send an email to inform him. After the lecture, with some help from CikWan, we finally found our fifth team member.His name is Nasrul. All the team members of EVEREST were very cooperative, helpful and hardworking in the production of our BIG BAMBOO dome(as what Suriya described our dome as^^)Here I would like to thank Jing Wen, Keem Bee, Derwyn & Nasrul for being so helpful. You guys did a great job! And also this let us gather together, knowing one another more after the production of the geodesic dome. Thank you CikWan. :-)

After we gather the team members, we did our discussion before and after lectures in E48A lecture hall for few days. We decided to use bamboo from Jing Wen's house to make our dome. Because the rules state that it must be zero cost and recyclable! :-) And after we check out on the website about the dome, we decided to use the 2V geodesic dome with 1.5metre radius.
__________________________________________________________________

=1st Trial Preparation=

Date: 6/9/08 (Sat)
Weather: Rained whole day...Heavily :(
Time: 3pm-1am

Intention: Get the struts ready and try to construct our geodesic dome.
Act: Use the saw to saw desirable length to make our radius 1.5m dome. Stuff bamboo small pieces of bamboo into the hollow tips of the bamboos and connect it by using cable ties
Product: For that day, a very unstable dome.
Actors: Chan Yen Fei (me!)
Derwyn de Vosse
Cheng Jing Wen
Tan Keem Bee
Due to the heavy rain for almost the whole day, our team member, Nasrul was caught in the rain and the car was broken down. Poor thing. So we start work without him first. After all he help us a lot during the next meeting although he was fasting that day.
Site: Outside HBP workshops and Studio 100
Rule: Team Work and only our team members can help to finish the dome.

The material we used to make struts for our dome is the thin bamboos from Jing Wen's house at Sg. Dua, Butterworth. The bamboos were transported by van by our friend Keem Bee's sister. I brought 2 saws , a hammer, and some gloves all in a toolbox. Our friend Yao Bin from China said that the toolbox was our secret weapon.haha^^ Derwyn brought a hammer ,a saw and a parang too to chop the bamboos.

Derwyn brought cable ties, metal eyelets & glue gun from his house. He found this idea on the internet and suggested it. We find this idea was great and we already have most of the materials to make it.

As we did the 2V geodesic dome with 1.5m radius, we need to saw the bamboos into 35 struts with o.93m length and another 30 struts with o.82m length. We were busy sawing and stuffing small bamboos into the tips the whole afternoon until 8 something in the evening. We went for dinner and after that we carry the bamboos to Studio 100 to stick the metal eyelets firmly at the tips of the struts.
Although it was late, but we were still excited hoping we can construct the dome once before going back to rest. So we try to do it by arranging the struts that is taught in the internet.
This is how it look like...a...Star!! ^^
Gluing, arranging and connecting...la la la...It was midnight and there were just 4 of us in the studio.
Me standing inside the big STAR arranging and thinking what was the next step.
We, busy constructing. 1 person was not enough to connect the bamboos at a time. So we have to cooperate, hold it into a right angle so that it can be tied nicely without applying to much tension to the eyelets.
But, anyhow, after a few minutes, some of the eyelets came off from the bamboo tips. Maybe we pull it too strong when we connect the bamboo struts together...OR...we didn't wait for the glue to dry and solidify completely so it came off easily. sob sob :-(
We continue trying, hoping something that looking almost like a dome can be constructed that night.
We keep on trying. Eyelets coming off again >.<||| As the place we construct the dome is a bit far from the socket. So i have to wait for the glue gun to heat, and then pull out the plug and faster stick the eyelets back to its original bamboo tips. That's quite tiring and I was sweating in the air conditionered studio 100!!! Connect connect connect..As nobody say they were tired. hehe^^So we faster continue our work to make it more like a dome shape. Almost..almost..
Yes yes a dome shape!

But the dome still need 3 members to support it.
=FAILED=
Anyway that was a good try and we need to repair the struts and construct it again during the next meeting.

After the 10 hour preparation :-
Jing Wen's sleepy face.
Derwyn and Yenfei's sleepy face. (I did not notice that somebody took my photo that moment! Must be Keem Bee)
Seee! She's still so energetic there.haha XD
___________________________________________________________________

=2nd Trial Preparation=
Date: 8/9/08 (Mon)
Weather: Cloudy and start to rain when we were going back.
Time: 2pm-8pm

Intention: repair the struts and try to construct our geodesic dome again.
Act: Repair struts by stuffing bamboo small pieces of bamboo into the hollow tips of the bamboos again,try to pull the eyelets to make sure it wont come off, glue the eyelets that came off, wait for it to dry. Construct the dome again to make sure it can stand on its own without anyone support it.
Product: A stable 2V geodesic EVEREST DOME!
Actors: Chan Yen Fei (me!)
Derwyn de Vosse
Cheng Jing Wen
Tan Keem Bee
Nazrul Azwa
Site: Studio 100, inside and outside HBP workshops
Rule: Team Work and only our team members can help to finish the dome.

We forgot to take photos on that day until we finish repairing the struts. Before that we were checking the strength of the eyelets on the tip of the bamboo struts, pull out those which already loosen, saw new bamboos to replace those bamboos which their tips already cracked, used glue to glued the eyelets back and wait for them to dry!
So this is what we took after busy doing the repair.
Chairs are needed to support the bamboo struts during the construction. If not some of the struts will slide and fall on the floor and we won't be able to make a dome shape. Also, some of the eyelet may be loosen due to stretch and pulling effect like what we did during the 1st meeting.
Yeah, finally we got our dome constructed! ^^V
~EVEREST DOME~
By the time we finish, it was already 7 something. So we faster take down the dome, arrange the struts, walk back to studio 100 and we keep our materials in the studio.

Lecture 3-Product

2008-09-17T06:26:00.000-07:00

Lecture 3 is on the view of a product on the 7 scales. It can be form & space, nodes & paths and illusions.

HOW DO WE LOOK AT A PRODUCT?

Attributes of Form:

SHAPE

Shape is the primary identifying characteristic of a plan. The essential aspect of form that governs its appearance-configuration or relative disposition of the lines that delimit the figure

SIZE

This refers to variations in the proportions of objects, lines or shapes. There is a variation of sizes in objects either real or imagined.

FORM & SPACE

Form is the shape & structure of something as distinguished from its substance or material. Also, the manner of arranging & coordinating the elements & the parts of the composition so as to produce a coherent image; the formal structure of a work of art.
Space is the empty of the open area between, around, above, below or within objects. Shapes & forms are made by the space around and within them. Space is often called three-dimensional or two-dimensional. Positive space is filled by a shape or form. Negative space surrounds a shape or form.

COLOUR

Colour is a phenomenon of light and visual perception that may be described in terms of an individual's perception of hue, saturation & tonal value.

TEXTURE

Texture is the way a surface feels (actual texture) or how it may look (imlied texture). Texture are described by word such as rough, silky or pebbly.

VALUE

Value is how dark or how light something looks. We achieve value changes in color by adding black or white to the color. Chiaroscuro uses value in drawing by dramatically contrasting lights and darks in a composition.

BALANCE

Balance is a state of equilibrium between contrasting, opposing or interacting elements. Also, the pleasing or harmonious arrangement or proportion of parts or elements in design or composition.

CONTRAST

Contrast is the juxtaposition of opposing elements

PROPORTION

Proportion is the comparative, proper or harmonious relation of one part to another or to the whole with the respect to magnitude, quantity or degree. Also the equality between two ratios in which the first of the four terms divided by the second equals the third divided by the forth.

PATTERN

Pattern is created by repeating an element (line, shape or color) over and over again.

NODES & PATHS

A space may be structured as nodes and paths.

OPTICAL ILLUSIONS

*References: http://www.inkscape.org/doc/elements/tutorial-elements.html
http://www.hbp.usm.my/1b/RAG132/2008/L3product.htm
___________________________________________________________________

The 7 scales theory in the built environment can also be related to the production of our geodesic dome.

1. Object: The materials we used in producing the dome. For example: the bamboo struts, eyelets and the cable ties.

2. Interior: The interior space of the dome (inside the circle) that we occupied upon assembly of the components.

3. Building: In this case, building is the geodesic dome that we produced.

4. Premise: Our dome should be located on a site. The site we are taking about here is the site on the HBP premise.

5. Urban: By the time all 40 teams of us produce 40 geodesic domes, it will be scaled as an urban scale-The Dome Spine!

6. Region: Regional scale is not applicable for our production of the domes.

7. Global: The production will be documented and will be posted onto the virtual website.It will be available online and peoples from all over the world may read it. This is how the production of our geodesic dome contributes to the change in the built environment on different scales.

Another product we have to produce is our team's identity. What we produced shouldn't be identical with what another had produced. We can be different in terms of sketches, report, logo, motto, construction method, materials and etc.

Our team name is EVEREST.
Our team's motto is ALL FOR ONE, ONE FOR ALL.
Materials we are going to use are mainly bamboos, eyelets and cable ties.
The construction method we used is also different from other teams.

Assignment B---Real World Construction

2008-09-17T02:46:00.000-07:00

Real World construction=A Geodesic Dome

=>The INTENTION of this assignment is to experience a Holistic and Simulative learning of building something in the built environment.

=>What we have to ACT is to design, build and assemble the dome. The second ACT we have to produce a paper report on what materials we use to build the dome, what the materials can be recycled into, the lifespan of the proposed dome and a sketch of proposed dome. The third ACT we have to do is to blog out our production of the dome.

=>The "something" is the PRODUCT that we have to do in this assignment is a geodesic dome. The second PRODUCT is the paper report about the geodesic dome. The third PRODUCT we have to produce is a post on our own website regarding our production of the geodesic dome.

=>SITE of the geodesic dome is the Dome Spine on HBP Premise. SITE of the paper report is on the 210mmX210mm papers.XD.And another SITE is on this virtual site on our website!

=>The ACTORS are 5 team members of EVEREST standing by the motto ALL FOR ONE, ONE FOR ALL which exhibit the unity of our team.

Team Members Name:
1. Chan Yen Fei- Architecture
2. Derwyn de Vosse- Building Technology
3. Tan Keem Bee- Construction Management
4. Cheng Jing Wen- Building Technology
5. Nazrul Azwa Bin Mohd Azizan- Quantity Surveying

=>RULES are:- Zero cost, package, prefabricated, accommodates 5 peoples, carryable by 3 peoples, assembled in 30mins and only by team members. Must show team identity, materials must be recyclable.

=> Assemble date: 10th September 2008 (11.30-12.00noon)

HOW DO WE BEGIN TO LOOK AT THE GLOBE?

2008-09-17T01:15:00.000-07:00

New World Order refers to a conspiracy in which a powerful and secretive group is alleged to be plotting to eventually rule the world via an autonomous world government, which would replace sovereign states and other checks and balances in world power struggles. In this theory, many significant occurrences are said to be caused by a powerful secret group or groups. Historical and current events are seen as steps in an on-going plot to rule the world primarily through a combination of political finance, social engineering, mind control, and fear-based propaganda.

This is an Eurocentric view of a world map.

According to Encik Wan,we can look at the globe in a different way. As the East is considered the third world countries by the West, there are some mistakes because Japan and Australia are also a developing countries same like the Middle East and some other developing countries.They are developed countries close to the Pacific Rim. Thus Encik Wan suggests that the real map of a globe should be drawn like the map shown below.This sounds interesting to me! :)

There is another alternative to look at the globe.

The Buckminster Fuller's view
=Spaceship Earth=

Earth-The Dying Planet

By using the Production Model, earth described as a dying planet can be explained.
Firstly, what we are going to discuss is the SITE. The Earth is the site that we are going to discuss. We, the human being, earthling, inhabitant of earth, global villager, designer, builder, developer and so many other names to be called, are the ACTORS on the Earth. The INTENTION of the actors is to have gold and glory.This sounded so materialistic but this is how the actors living their life. The ACT to the earth is to design and built. The RULE that have to follow by the actors is the economics. When there is a demand, there is a supply and this produced the main product by the actors-DESTRUCTIONS of our Earth.

Deaths annually got something to do with the term IATROGENOCIDE?

IATROGENIC caused by treatment or diagnostic procedures. An iatrogenic disorder is a condition caused by medical personnel or procedures or through exposure to the environment of a health care facility, including fears instilled in patients by remarks or questions of examining physicians.

A recent study published in The Journal of The American Medical Association (2000:284:94) by Barbara Starfield, MD, MPH, showed that in the U.S. there are:

· 12,000 deaths/year from unnecessary surgery
· 7,000 deaths/year from medication errors in hospitals
· 20,000 deaths/year from other errors in hospitals
· 80,000 deaths/year from nosocomial infections in hospitals
· 106,000 deaths/year from adverse effects of medications

This totals 225,000 deaths per year from iatrogenic causes, placing iatrogeny as the third leading cause of death in the U.S., second only to heart disease and cancer. The scary part is that this does not include disabilities and disorders; just deaths in hospitalized patients. In any event, when one ponders that more than four times as many people die in one year from doctors' mistakes than died in the entire Vietnam War, one is aghast at why this information isn't making headlines or why huge think tanks funded by medicopolitical interests haven't formed.

References:
=Wikipedia,

=http://www.hbp.usm.my/1b/RAG132/2008/L2sitescale.htm

=http://campaignfortruth.com/Eclub/130902/idahoobserverdeathbydocs.htm

Site (Scale of the Built Environment)

2008-09-16T22:27:00.000-07:00

Every product has a producer.The producer can be from any fields and any professions.The products can be as small as a sweet, as virtual as an website, and it can also be as big as a factory or some mega projects of the construction industry.

Therefore, production is a factor of SCALE.Scale can be from the examination of quarks at 100 attometers to 100 million light years away, it is very hard for me to imagine how small it really is on something which scaled 100 attometers and how far it really is on something stars, planet or nebulas which scaled 100 million light years away.

Only 7 scales are used by the various proffesions in the built environment.(Luckily I can still imagine it.)

1. The smallest scale in the built environment is an OBJECT scale.
2. The second one will be an interior space of a building which is the INTERIOR scale.
3. The following one will be the building itself.The BUILDING scale.
4. the fourth one will be a PREMISE scale.
5. And the fifth one will be the URBAN scale.
6.Second last, the REGIONAL scale.
7. And the last one will be the GLOBAL scale.

The 6 elements of production can be discussed together with the 7 scales as there are some relationship between.

Intention: Ideologies and design theory must exist in order to produce something that can be categorized in one of the scales in built environment.Different ideologies and design theory would cater different scales of products.

Act: The scope of work(development and procedures) of every product are also different in order to produce different scales of products.

Product: The product is the physical objects to the physical world.In built environment, the physical can also be categorized into the 7 scales.

An object.

The interior space.

A building.

A premise.

The Urban.

A region.

And last, our earth.

Actor:
1. Industrial designers produce product categorized as object scales. The role of an Industrial Designer is to create and execute design solutions towards problems of form, usability, user ergonomics, engineering, marketing, brand development and sales.It can be aesthetics, usable and it can be mass produced according to the demand.

2. Interior architects emphasize on the interior space which categorized as the interior scale. An interior architect is concerned with anything that is found inside a space - walls, windows, doors, finishes, textures, light, furnishings and furniture. All of these elements are used by interior architects to develop a functional, safe, and aesthetically pleasing space for a building's users.

3. Architects who in charge of the building scales taking the responsibility in planning and the design of buildings and participates in oversight of the building construction. An architect is a person who translates a user's requirements into the built environment.

4. Landscape architects who in charge of the premise scales is a person who involves himself/herself in the planning, designing and oversight of an exterior landscape or space.

5. Urban designer who in charge of the urban scales involves understanding how the planning system operates, how developers make their sums add up, how to assess what makes a particular place special, how to make places easy to move around by foot and vehicle, how to bring life to places that have become run down, how to conserve historic buildings, how to make the most of the landscape, how to think about the future of small and large development sites, how to involve local people, how to make sure that projects actually happen, how to communicate effectively, how to negotiate, and how to write design policy and guidance.

6. Planner produces a regional development as a product categorized in regional scales.regional planners develop long- and short-term plans for the use of land and the growth and revitalization of urban, suburban, and rural communities and the region in which they are located. They help local officials alleviate social, economic, and environmental problems by recommending locations for roads, schools, and other infrastructure and suggesting zoning regulations for private property.

7. The global scales is taken care by the "Governor" which CikWan stated during the lecture and ask us to find out more about the term "New World Order". A governor is a governing official, usually the executive (at least nominally, to different degrees also politically and administratively) of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the Head of state. In federation, a governor may be the title of each appointed or elected politician who governs a constitutive state.

Rule: There are legal aspects of development that actors have to follow in producing any product on any site. There are rules to be follow in producing anything scaled from object to global scale.

Site: The site may be from factories to the virtual sites on the internet.

USM 37th Convocation 2008

2008-09-02T05:56:00.000-07:00

USM 37th Convocation 2008 From Event to Oval: The Production of a Built Environment

We can discuss the 6 elements of production through the USM Convocation Carnival.
The INTENTION is to hold Convocation Carnival or Pesta Konvo in conjunction with the USM Convocation at an outdoor area near D.T.S.P.

The actors which are the workers here were dismanting the temporary tents.
Everything become so gloomy after the big event of convocation carnival on the oval.
ACT is the production by some ACTORS. Actors are the workers who build up the tents on the site.The actors play an important role to make the event a success.There are RULES that have to be followed by the actors.

Many booths were built temporary for the convocation event on the oval.

The above are the PRODUCT of the act which is the convocation carnival itself.

Rows of green trees on both side of the path making the scenery looks green and beautiful.

At last, the event ends and the tents are all removed from the oval.It is back to its normal green and peaceful condition.

Production Model

2008-08-31T23:58:00.000-07:00

=INTRODUCTION TO PRODUCTION=

Production is a process of producing something.
Production consist of 6 elements.
*INTENTION---->ACT---->PRODUCT
*ACTOR---->RULE---->SITE

Prior to intention, we must first have KNOWLEDGE.
We must:-LISTEN rather than hear.
SEE rather than look.
use HEART to understand.
put what we learn into the head to THINK.
Intention can be EXPLICIT or IMPLICIT.It can also be CONSTRUCTIVE or DESTRUCTIVE,GOOD or BAD.
=People who practice ALTRUISM feels that nothing is right and nothing is wrong.
=People who practice CYNICISM feels that everything is also wrong.
=RELATIVISM promotes that everything is right.
=TRUTH-SEEKERISM feels that they should find out the truth.
=TAOISM states that the truth need not to be found,we just have to eliminate all the lies within us.
In my opinion, some things are right,some things are wrong.Some truth should be seek but some are irrelevant=ABSOLUTISM.

Everything begins from an INTENTION which will bring to an ACT to produce a PRODUCT.ACTOR is the one who acts on the intention.In order to produce something,actors have follow the RULES.Lastly,a SITE is needed for the product to exist.

=Evolution of Man=

I believe that human originate from ape. I believe this is true because evolution do happen. For instance, elephants are believed to evolved from mammoths, tigers are also believed to evolved from saber-toothed cats. I believe in this world, everything undergoes evolution to suit the current condition. However, the evolution process may take tens of thousands of years.