Fadzidah Abdullah

Naturally ventilated colonial school classrooms in Malaysia are conducive to learning environment

The study is intended to evaluate the comfort level of learning environment in three naturally ventilated colonial schools in Malaysia through the voice of students aged between 13 and 17. This study focuses on the influence of the colonial school classrooms physical environment towards the students’ comfort and behaviour. The research has two objectives: To evaluate post-occupancy comfort level and behavior in the naturally ventilated colonial schools and to suggest design elements that could improve the comfort level of a school classroom. Observations and investigations were conducted in three colonial schools; Victoria Institution, Methodist Girls Secondary School and Maxwell Secondary School in the morning session, between 7:45a.m. and 1:00p.m.. Survey questionnaires were distributed to one classroom of each school and simultaneously, an inventory of each classroom physical environment was recorded. It was found that the observed classroom differs slightly in the window-to-wall ratio, window size and occupancy density, which have an impact on the indoor environment and the students’ comfort and behaviour. From the survey results, among the three schools, the students in the Methodist Girls Secondary School are mostly comfortable throughout the morning session. In conclusion, several design elements, which can be adopted from the architecture of the colonial period, that make them conducive to learning environment are window-to-wall ratio, window sizes and occupancy density.

Sustainable heritage: Analytical study on the viability of adaptive reuse with social approach, case study of Asia Heritage Row, Kuala Lumpur

Historic buildings maintain the local characteristics and preserve the culture and history of a country. This historical and cultural significances as a legacy can be passed to next generation by conserving the historical buildings. Nowadays in the process of conservation, Adaptive Reuse Practice has been necessary, especially when historical buildings are no longer functioning its original purpose. Moreover, adaptive reuse holds different dimensions of sustainability that of economic, environmental and social. In the pursuit of the sustainable development, social sustainability has been the new parameter to investigate the viability of adaptive reuse. In this regard an attempt has been made as a main objective to investigate the viability of adaptive reuse and its social sustainability. Asia Heritage Row located in Doraisami Street and Jalan Yap Ah Shak, Kuala Lumpur is used for the hypothesis testing. The variables that are measured as parameters in achieving social sustainability are categorized into cultural, aesthetical, social and human comfort. The data is mainly collected from literature review, case study and questionnaires distributed to the users of the case study area. The data is analyzed by determining the statically reliable relationship between adaptive reuse and social sustainability parameters. The associations between variables are examined by correlation. The result show’s that adaptive reuse of Asia Heritage Row Building not only have a social value but preserves the heritage significances as a place of social interaction and also ensures its sustainability. Hope this study would be worthwhile for those who are intending to know or carry out research about the socio-sustainability of readapted heritage buildings in future.

Go Virtual: Exploring the Potential of Adaptive E-Learning Platform for Dissemination of Architectural Knowledge

Architectural education is considered unique in the sense that it is built on the principle of learning by doing, and associated with apprenticeship, where knowledge dissemination and skill development requires face to face interaction between learners and teachers. Hence, attempts at changing the established method would require thorough investigation especially on its impacts on architectural education. This requirement explains why while many disciplines have explored the e-learning environment; yet architectural education remains with its apprenticeship method despite the advance of current digital technologies. The objectives of the research are to examine the effectiveness and relevancy of i-Ta’leam as a platform for knowledge dissemination in architectural education. This research employs quantitative approach where survey questionnaires were distributed to architecture students to seek their opinions on their experience of using i-Ta’leam as their e-learning platform. Generally, albeit its relevancy, students gave negative feedbacks on the effectiveness of I-Ta’leem as an e-learning platform. Suggestions are given to enhance its functions and potential as an efficient interface for architectural education.

Developing Graduates' Collaboration Skill Based on Islamic Perspective through Integrated Multi-Disciplinary Course in the Built Environment

Islam encourages collaboration in all aspects of life, in which leadership and teamwork play important roles. This Islamic obligation is pursued by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education’s “Teaching and Learning Taxonomy;” in which leadership and teamwork are among some of the basic soft skills that must be developed throughout the students’ study duration of the Malaysian students in tertiary educational institutions. Thus, the architecture faculty takes the challenge by instigating collaborative setting in most of the courses offered. This paper aims to discuss on Islamic perspective of collaboration, with special reference to the Integrated Multi-disciplinary course. It has the objective to examine the effectiveness of the Integrated Multi-disciplinary course, in instilling collaborative capability of leadership and teamwork, among undergraduate architectural students at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). This research uses quantitative method to achieve its objective. Questionnaires were distributed among all architectural students who took the course, with n=105. Two-third of the respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that the Integrated Multi-disciplinary Course has effectively developed students’ leadership and teamwork skills. Indeed, the application of the Islamic standpoint on collaborative setting of architectural education would develop better graduates to lead the ummah, particularly in the Islamic built-environment.