Design Village mall Pulau Pinang

Assalammualaikum all
so this entry will be about Design Village, the open air concept mall at Bandar Cassia, Batu Kawan, Pulau Pinang.
The entry will mostly about architecture. Being me who hates shopping and an architectural student. That topic is the only thing that can be discussed here.

Design Village is a new concept of outlet mall, macam kt JPO. never been to JPO, but thats what people said. its an branded outlet. You can find all sorts of branded boutique here with a lot of choices with quite cheap too. or so they said. lebih kurang macamtu.

What interesting is that the design itself. a outlet mall with interior/exterior concept. open air. Setahu aku, takda lagi this kind of thing kt Malaysia ni. tapi kt luar negara its quite common.
Design yg cantik, lain dari yg lain.

For this entry not really going to talk about the aesthetic so much, but more to practicality. Honestly its an interesting concept, but its not really going to work.  WHy? ok takpe kita tgk dulu out look dia.

I went there not because i want to go shopping or what. Just following people. Want to see whats all the hype. Orang bercakap ttg benda ni, so might as well go look myself. For us in built environment people, theres been quite a lot people talking both good and bad things about this. orang biasa akan cuma cakap cantik & style. certain2 org akan cakap benda yang tak elok pasal design dia. cth bocor la, tak elok la, surau kecik la, jauh la etc. well im going to tell you just that.

Kt depan ni tak nampak welcoming sgt. Maybe sbb yg depan ni tak bukak lagi

 Between the blocks, the space filled with greeneries, can also be used as communal space

There are one or two that is both empty, spacious and covered with roof structures. can also act as exhibition or promotional mini expo.

 Theres plenty of kiosk selling snacks. Chatime is one of it.

The overall layout. Banyak lagi yg kosong tak bukak lagi 

Ada food court yg macam nak taknak aje. ada gak beberapa food truck. Proper eateries mcm starbuck, coffee bean, wendy's

Theres plenty of parking. Tapi yg banyaknya dlm building(multilevel) yg berbayar. sadly takda touch & go. koman betul. This layout yg dibuka. There another wing yg belum bukak. maybe tak siap sepenuhnya lagi. lagipun yg ni pun belum semua lot operational lagi. Hopefully wing yg baru tu ada proper food court dan bnyk lagi F&B outlet.

 basicly its just like shophouse. shop and corridor. With a few building blocks.

Boleh kata mcam nilai tiga, tapi compact & moden. Kt corridor pun ada kipas. sbb panas kan takda aircond.

The corridor lacks overhang or shading device. Waktu ni tak panas, redup je. Just imagine when its super hot noon/evening or its heavy rain. mesti panas. Bila, hujan pulak, mesti tempias.

 Theres quite a lot of seating which is good. But a lot of them kt luar. so kalau panas terik/hujan dah tak boleh duduk. silly isnt it? Thats why i said that this design did not consider the climate factor.

 ada byk kipas along the corridor. Ada la rasa berangin sikit.

 Certain ruang tengah (a bit like courtyard) have roof structures covering them.

Again the roof structure is so high and its not wide enough to cover the place if there is heavy rains with heavy winds, or evening sun.

 Waterbodies are well placed all over the mall. This one is a little too big isnt it? what for?
cooling effect maybe.

 There plenty of lots that still not open yet.

 Theres even a playground. That green is not grass, its artificial turf if im not mistaken. 

Masa pegi ni weekdays so, tak ramai sgt org.

This is the deco for CNY.

Surau dia kecik. tempat wudhuk kecik. dgn lantai dia bertakung air. FAIL!.

aku plg benci kalau org buat surau tak betul ni. Kalau pegi sini, baik takpayah solat sini. cari tempat lain. mmg kat situ tak masjid or surau. tmpat baru tu. mmg takda apa. kena pergi jauh sikit.

Building envelope ni style. its like a mesh/fabric.

So for the conclusion, its a great design but it will not be a 100% workable. Of course its so hard to achieve it with all sorts of problems and factors. But things like that shouldnt be overlooked. its so simple kot. I know the problem is budget constrain. But if you wanted something beautiful and it works, its not gonna be cheap. if its cheap and beautiful, it probably wont work. if its workable and cheap, it ain gonna be beautiful. So, theres no helping it. nak buat, buat betul2. for me whats the point of really flashy design if its not practical? For me its form follow function. you invest on the more important stuff, bab cantik tu letak tepi jap. kalau ada duit, then proceed.

I know that, if we did not at least try to be creative, sampai bila pun malaysian architecture tak akan maju, tak akan evolve. But in the long run, can we cope with the maintenance? Climate is a really important factors in design. Thats why it will not be the same to apply design of other country which have different climate to put here in malaysia.

kalau nak tahu a bit more boleh visit page ni.

http://www.kenhuntfood.com/2016/11/design-village-premium-brand-outlet.html


ok all thats it for now.. untill then

p/s: im still working on the travelogue. I didt forget. i know i promised. stay tune yah.