When discussing about From and function, it is probably the most hottest topic in contemporary architecture today. The debate on this topic started of when Louis Sullivan's phrase "form (ever) follows function" became a battle-cry of Modernist architects after the 1930s. As time pass skipping to the 20th century, and as buildings of historic aged with all its fragments of memories we can see how functionality and form “truly” comes to play as buildings during the precolonial era are being reused and renovated for the purpose of preventing urban sprawling in many crowded city areas.

 

In this context, a building can have more than one function over the span of time. For example if the owner of the building is switched or the program of the building is changed to a different one. This will ultimately change the function of the space and the form changes together. As to what Frank L. Wright said “ form and function should be built as whole”. For instance, a restaurant has a change of program to a Motel, of course there would be a change in its form and its functionality. The size may change, they might need to do some extension or “build up” in order to get that extra space that can cater for a hotel.

 

In Malaysia, there are tons of precolonial buildings that are being reused and renovated as they become commercialized. One current example that projects this situation clearly is a row of shop lots in Kuala Lumpur that was renovated or more of a “revival” as the architect describe, that was given a fresher and modern look without loosing the identity of the building.

 

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The Row comprises twenty-two 1940s shop houses along Jalan Doraisamy. Typical of traditional shop houses in Kuala Lumpur (KL) and the region; these long and narrow terraced units formed part of a bustling residential neighborhood up until the 1970s. In the early 2000s, the shop houses became a popular cluster of trendy restaurants and cafes, known as “Asian Heritage Row”. Fast forward a decade, these old shop houses are being readapted for mixed use and into spaces suitable for the businesses and lifestyles of today.

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The one main problem of traditional shop houses back then is that they do not much openings on both sides other than the front and back. All units had individual owners each doing their own services. The architect did a great job at balancing its functionality , form and aesthetic value by selecting the right materials to take on the adaptive reuse of this building. The architects main target when designing the spaces was to bring in more light into the spaces. To do that, they had to make skywells and skylights, some spaces are merged into 1 big room based on the new program, may it be a cafe, boutique or restaurants. To adapt to the modern vibe of KL, they changes all the frames, doors and windows into a simple black coated metal to give a industrial feel.

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In my opinion, this project shows a good example on how form changes as functionality changes too when there is a change in program. It also supports Richards hills idea of “purpose, funtion, use” in his article, that a good design is when it is designed for Aesthetic together with its usefulness.