Inspired by the multicultural context of Malaysia, and its world-renowned food scene, the project Rojak Central looks at addressing the ways in which the everyday collective ritual of eating can help bring people together under one big roof – in an attempt to represent the larger picture of the complexity that lies within the cultural, social and political aspects of a diverse nation.

The proposal uses the symbolic nature of an unusually large metal roof in the context of an urban, messy environment as a means of staging the tension between the modernisation of Kuala Lumpur as an urban city with that of the local traditional, popular culture that is still alive and that we don’t want to lose with the threats of urbanisation and gentrification. The architecture in this sense is immobile and merely provides a framework of materials for the life and rituals that occur around it to inhabit and occupy it.

A key objective of the scheme is to do with the temporal nature of time, space and collective movement within the Malaysian culture. The spaces within the scheme were therefore designed to be changed and manipulated by the community according to what eating ritual has to take place at that particular time of the day.

The project was developed at the Royal College of Art.

KOOZ What prompted the project?

SS The project is a direct response to ADS10’s brief of a ‘Savage Architecture’ that is part of the MA Architecture program at the Royal College of Art in London. ADS10 proposes an ideology that rejects the domestic nature of using architecture as a form of shelter for comfort and wealth. Instead, the studio uses the hypothesis of a ‘Savage Architecture’, which focuses on the primitive nature of humans as collective subjects that come together and perform rituals on a daily basis, as a fundamental part of their everyday life.
For the academic year of 2020/21, the studio turned its focus onto the idea of the ‘Museum of the Everyday’, which challenges the institution of a traditional museum as a collection of artefacts and objects from the past. Rather, it proposes a radical shift towards the idea of a public space that is able to stage the savage power of being human together.

KOOZ What questions does the project raise and which does it address?

SS Set against the backdrop of Malaysia’s most iconic skyscrapers such as the Petronas Twin Towers and the KL Tower, the project is based around Kampung Baru in the heart of KL’s city centre. Kampung Baru is a traditional Malay enclave that has held out against all forms of development for the past 120 years. The traditional Malay vernacular houses which populate Kampung Baru have a very distinct approach to architecture and its tropical climate when compared to its 50-storey high steel skyscraper neighbours. The site therefore sits on an urban fringe of the city whilst still interacting with the vernacular village-like settlement of Kampung Baru. The project therefore aims to act as an intermediate life that navigates between the modernisation of Kuala Lumpur as an urban city with that of the local traditional, popular culture that is still alive and that we don’t want to lose with the threats of urbanisation and gentrification. Given its historical significance, the project uses Kampung Baru as a testing ground to showcase the richness in having a diverse community as well as to highlight the importance of coming together and conversing with one another, irrespective of culture and race.

KOOZ How does the project approach the act and value of food and "eating"?

SS The brief of the project is based within the realms of Malaysia’s capital city of Kuala Lumpur. Known as one of the most ethnically diverse nations in the entire world, Malaysia is a multicultural country, which means that there is not just one race and culture that is predominantly practised throughout the country, but it is a really unique environment in which it’s made up of a few main races which consist of the Malays, the Chinese, the Indians, the Kadazans and the Ibans, to name a few.

Because the population is so diverse, the Malaysian food culture essentially becomes the point of interaction between all these different cultures and communities that are present. The proposal, Rojak Central therefore looks at addressing the ways in which this everyday ritual of collective eating can help bring people together, in an attempt to represent the larger picture of the complexity that lies within the cultural, social and political aspects of a diverse Malaysia. The proposal focuses on housing 6 main forms of collective eating in Malaysia that are unique to the local food scene. Each of which have very different eating atmospheres and subsequently different numbers of people who eat at these spaces at different periods of time during the day.

KOOZ How does the design engage both architecture and the local community in preserving the "local" and "traditional" culture of Kuala Lumpur today?

SS The proposal, Rojak Central, uses the symbolic nature of an unusually large metal roof in the context of a messy, urban environment as a means of staging the energy of a diverse community coming together to participate in a public exchange of knowledge and rituals of the everyday. The architecture in this sense is immobile and merely provides a framework of materials for the life and rituals that occur around it to inhabit and occupy it. A tension is thereby created between the building as an architectural form and the collective life that happens within it.

KOOZ What are the biggest opportunities which can arise in this mobilisation?

SS The key objective of the scheme is to do with the temporal nature of time, space and collective movement within the Malaysian culture. The spaces within the scheme were therefore designed to be changed and manipulated by the community according to what eating ritual has to take place at that particular time of the day. The design hence revolves around the idea of finding a balance between flexibility and rigidity in terms of its occupation and structure. The epicentres therefore provide the rigidity for the rituals to take place whereas the series of catalogues of ceiling mechanisms and objects provide the flexibility for the community to manipulate it as they see fit – allowing for maximum control to be given to the user at hand.

KOOZ What is for you the power of the architectural imaginary?

SS Architecture has the power and the ability to shape and influence the world that we live in. As designers and architects, we bear the responsibility of proactively creating and imagining a better world in which we are able to foster more positive relationships between communities and the built environment. The architectural imaginary in this sense allows us, as designers, to pose a hypothesis of a better world that we believe we can create, given the community and brief at hand. Only through imagining and visualising an environment that we believe can generate a positive impact on society, can we convince the public and the authoritative decision-makers to follow through with our ideas and beliefs for a better tomorrow. The architectural imaginary therefore becomes the idealistic link between us as dreamers and the realists of the world we live in.

Bio

Sweta Sanker is an illustrator and architectural designer based between her hometown of Kuala Lumpur and London. She graduated from the University of Bath with a First-class Honours degree in Architecture in 2020 and is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Architecture at the Royal College of Art in London. Sweta is a keen advocate in empowering childrens’ and women’s rights. Through her illustrative work, she hopes to be able to give back to the community by donating to various charities across the globe which primarily focus on struggling groups of women and children. Over the past 2 years, Swetects has managed to raise and donate over £1000 GBP in total to charities such as Women for Women UK, CRASH, Dignity for Children Foundation Malaysia and GOSH Children’s Charity.