Project 2A: The Discovery Centre
Genius Loci
Society, culture, history, memory and the landscape of a particular place echoes the meaning of that ‘place’, or its ‘genius loci’. These qualities will inform the architectural concept and generators for Project 2 as the aim of the project is to design a Discovery Center (aka visitor center) for Kampung Sungai Haji Dorani in Sungai Besar, Selangor. The project design brief calls for an architectural response toward the sense of place with a strong engagement and relationship to the site and programmatic requirements.
Project 2A requires an analysis of the site context as a starting point. It is a fundamental need for any design project as it will suggest a series of parameters to suggest architectural solution, one that will be appropriate to the place and its meaning, and contributes to its context. The site needs to be understood, in both intuitive and personal ways, as well as quantitative and measured means. Techniques to record and understand the site are varied, from physical surveys to qualitative aspects of experience and personal interpretation of the place.