To be an Architect

For this assignment, we had to apply Calvino's perspectives of Hidden Cities on a real site in Kuala Lumpur. Then we had to identify the issues of the site based on Calvino's view. Based on the text, Calvino views Hidden Cities through the soul of the community. He mentioned very little about the tangible aspects of the city but he uses the activities, the hopes and attitudes of the people towards life to portray hidden cities. We choose Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman as our site because this street has many heritage buildings and still coexist with various modern styles of buildings while surrounded by skyscrapers as if it is like the concentric circles of Olinda where the newer cities are growing around the old in the centre. Batu road used to be the “hip” shopping district of Kuala Lumpur in the early days. Some of the business still operates since establishment as early as 1920s such as Colisuem cinema, hotel & café, Capital café, Harrisons, G.S gill and many more. We perceive this situation is similar to Raissa. The business could sustain for such a long period because of the steady stream of old customers that patron Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. Hence, we could induce that the community here are fond of this place especially the older generations due to its nostalgia experience.