Community Service Initiative

COMMUNITY SERVICE INITIATIVE | E-JOURNAL

Clare Tsisika Ayisi (0325787)

Community Service Initiative (CSI) module is a form of service learning for us to make a change for the community with our skills. It aims to provide a platform to foster a sense of care and to engage with the community which are often neglected in our daily lives. As an Architecture student, we are required to propose a design that is both sustainable and architectural, that will benefit the local community. Despite having various 'virtual communities' throughout my journey in Design Studios, it was my first time ever to have contact with a real community in a real life scenario.


WEEK 2 | MODULE BRIEFING + GROUP FORMATION
For this module, we were to work together as a team for architectural, culture and environment enhancing activities in the communities of different socio-economic status and social groups. In the span of 10 weeks, there are a great extent of tasks that were to be carried out to produce the final outcome.

We formed our group of 7, with Charlene as our team leader.


WEEK 3 | DISCUSSION ON CHOICE OF SITE AND THEME
Each group was meant to choose any organization they would wish to be part of. My group mates and I, with the approval of our tutor, chose the Agathians Shelter (Pertubuhan Kebajikan Agathians Malaysia) located in Petaling Jaya. It’s a children’s home that provided shelter for around 33 children from age 7 - 18.

We also further divided different tasks amongs ourselves, for instance, videos team, boards team, materials, designing and building etc.


WEEK 5 | SITE VISIT + SURVEY
On the 26th of September, we conducted our first Site Visit to the children’s Shelter. Prior to the visit, we researched on the shelter and their existing conditions so as to have an idea on their issues, and how we would come in to help them.

We measured out the site, so as to get the accurate dimensions before beginning our construction. We suggested some of our proposals to one of the staff members, Ms. Lotus, such as, a shoe rack, new shelves, etc. and she said most of the things are already built of metal due to its durability and its robust nature unlike wood. She then informed us that the main concern is the cabinets for storing the files of the children, as they had no storage space assigned for that and at times, their files could easily get mixed up or go missing.

She also advised that we should be careful in our material selection and choose a material that is rather durable and won’t easily fall apart.


WEEK 6 | DESIGN PROPOSAL
We drafted out our design proposal, a sketchup of what we were going to do for the children as a solution to cater fot their storage needs. We were going to make sizeable overhead cabinets for them, that would fit into the allocated room. This was following their request whereby they wanted overhead shelves for storage, suitably for an A3 sheet size file.

The link below leads to our initial design proposal: http://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/77320f_bee51e47879c45db9a77090a1f12046e.pdf

WEEK 7 | FINAL DESIGN PROPOSAL
On closer scrutiny, we amended the design quite a number of times, so as to fit the space provided to us and to also meet their needs. Due to the positioning of the lighting system at the Agathians Shelter, we were unable to do the overhead cabinets, and instead opted for ground cabinets, which was rather more efficient.

Also following the space provided, and the fact that there were many things already squeezed up in the room, we opted for the ground cabinets as a more flexible option for them.



WEEK 8 | MATERIALS + CONSTRUCTION
Having confirmed all our ideas with our tutor, we proceeded to purchasing the wood material and gathering of construction paraphernalia for the tables and cabinets.

We first began with constructing the tables. Working in a team gave us an upper hand, as we were able to work fast and together towards a nice outcome.





WEEK 10 | CONSTRUCTION + SITE VISIT
After finishing with the tables, we moved on to constructing the cabinents, as that was what was left in the construction part.



On completion, we assembled the cabinets and tables on the following day and delivered them to the shelter, making this our final visit to the site. We then conducted our feedback interview with Ms. Lotus. We also compiled all the videos and photos taken throughout the project, as part of our video compilation. Aside, we worked on our project design boards.

The link below leads to our video : https://youtu.be/0RcitvQVzWI

REFLECTION

This project was more of a learning experience and a chance to give back to the community simultaneously. We were able to work together in a group, come up with a design and construct it for the mere benefit of the shelter and the children, who were actually rather happy with the outcome. I’m grateful to Taylors for this wonderful opportunity of helping out the community, and always happy for a chance to know more about designing and construction. Lastly, I learnt on the importance of group synergy.

Special thanks to Agathians Shelter for giving us to this chance to help the kids to improve their daily life.