LECTURE 3: Characteristics of The Built Environment

Our 6 elements ( actor, intention, act, rule, site and product ) are continuously being used to see their effects and changes to the built environment.


ACTOR : Mr Wan Burhanuddin Wan Abidin, all 1st year HBP students (2007/08)
INTENTION : The Characteristics of Built Environment - SCALE
ACT : Use our senses by listening, seeing, thinking & follow our heart in making
decisions. Jotting down notes and informations.
RULE : Punctuality. Follow the rules, be in the lecture hall right on time.
SITE : E 48 B ( lecture hall of HBP )
PRODUCT : Getting informations about the characteristics of built environment.


Today, our lecturer discussed about the characteristics of the built environment. Our first discussed characteristic is SCALE. A scale of an object is range from small to large and it depends on which perspective and how far we look at the object. It is a set of levels or numbers which are used in a particular system of measuring things or are used when comparing thing. The scale must be relative to another measure and the measurer is human being. For a gigantic thing or a thing that is very small, scale is no longer important. eg: try to imagine what it would be like to the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk walking through a normal- sized village?


A picture paints a thousand words. Let us look at the picture and make a comparison.




The Milky Way,





The Sun,

Our Mother Earth,




A view of a beautiful landscape,

The plant cells,





The DNA helix,




Eventhough there are a lot of scales exist, but we only use 7 scales to see things - object, interior, building, premise, urban, regional and global. Ranging from the smallest to the largest.




Our production can happen at different scales. The invention of products are based on informations and knowledge. eg: the intention of creating a camera is to capture photos and food-colouring can increase the sales of a certain products because it may makes the food more interesting. So, to meet the demand of people, our products has to be changed from time-to-time.


Today, we have the Occidental and the Oriental in our world. The Occidental is the west and it is relating to the countries of Europe and America while the Oriental is referring to the east. In East, there are developing world and the third world countries. That is why we had the North and South Dialogue so that we can keep up the pace with the West. We have to use a holistic way of looking at the world in whatever scales we are dealing with. There are many layers in the built environment. To understand them, we got to uncover them layers from layers. We highlight, suppress and pick up what we want.

The spatial construction consists of nodes and paths. The node is a place where a path ends or changes direction and the path is always link to the node. eg: our human anatomy is a great way for giving an example. To walk, our brain can send impulses to the muscles so that we can move.

With all these informations, I hope that I can understand the built environment better.

LECTURE 2: The Sustainable Development Issues and Built Environment

Today, our lecture was conducted by Dr Faris and the title of our lecture was Sustainable Development Issues and Built Environment. According to Dr Faris, built environment can make a change to the environment by understanding the sustainable development issues. He then told us about Al Gore. Former Vice President, Al Gore is a cofounder and Chairman of Generation Investment Management, a firm that is focused on a new approach to Sustainable Investing. He raises awareness among us about how important is sustainable development to the environment and human beings. Sustainable Development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It means our current needs shall not jeopardize the future needs. It is a development that takes the impact on the environment into account and tries to minimize environmental damage.

"When there is LOVE, there is LIFE. "- a quote from Mahatma Gandhi.This was how Dr Faris proceed with his lecture. Mother Earth is our starship, we should care and protect her. This is a best way for us to show our love towards Mother Earth. We then saw a statistic about the relationship between National Gross Domestic Product and Construction Industry (from 1974 to 2000). From the statistic, we could see that the construction industry plays a great role in National Gross Domestic Product. When construction industry increases, National Gross Domestic Product also increases. Is construction industry so important that we ignore our environment? What is the use if we only have the concrete jungles everywhere? We then given an introduction to the United Nations. Most of us have heard about United Nations in peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance. But the many other ways the UN affects all our lives such as promoting respect for human rights, protect the environment, fight disease and reduce poverty in many countries.

At HBP, we learn about multi-disiplinary where all the 6 major courses are under one roof. So that we are able to interact and work with each other. Hand- in-hand, we can change the future. With the teamworks and co-operation skills that we learnt, we have the flexibility to work with each other. Sustainability development involves all the people around the world. This is where cultural shifts happen. Sustainability design recognizes the independence of the built and natural environment. We need the natural flows and biological process to eliminate reliance on fossil fuels and toxic materials.

What are the challenges ahead in the built environment? Population around the world is increasing. More people means more houses, shops, work places, roads and highways. More people also means increasing demand of products and services and greater demand for land. For example, China has a total of 1.3 billion people. The energy consumption of Building and Construction are rising. With the increasing population, new ideas, new paradigms and new approaches to Building and Construction are urgently needed. There are 7 factors which affect the building life cycle- site, water, energy, indoor environmental quality, materials, waste and recycling and transportation.

The real challenge ahead us is the GLOBAL WARMING. Year 2005 was being recorded as the hottest year.There are two major effects of global warming which are increase of temperature on the earth by about 3° to 5° C (34° to 41° Fahrenheit) by the year 2100 and rise of sea levels by at least 25 meters (82 feet) by the year 2100. Sea levels are rising due to the melting of land ice. It can bring us to extinction if we do not take this matter seriously. It's our own responsibility to prevent global warming. Actions should be taken to reduce or reverse future warming or to adapt to its expected consequences. Most national governments have signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol, aimed at combating this global warming issue.The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an amendment to the international treaty on climate change, assigning mandatory emission limitations for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. We hope that in such way, the global warming issue can be solved in long run. Therefore, innovations are needed to solve this problem in a shorter run. Dry-Masonry Brick House System (DBHS) is one one the innovation. In such way, we can cut down the usage of cement. Emissions of carbon dioxide in building construction is due the cement product. It is an adaptable building system where we can reuse and recycle the building materials. During the construction of DBHS in Japan, 98.34% of bricks used in the construction can be reused and the balance of 1.66% can be recycled. Parts like bolts and nuts are 100% can be recycled. The concept of 3Rs' - recycling, reuse and reduce can be applied in this project. This a great way for us to save our natural sources. Adapting DBHS in the future is relevant and significant because developing countries in Asian region highly regards bricks as the main building material.

Awareness of sustainable building and construction are very important for us to have a better future. Green built environment is a great tool to make changes. A world consensus has been reached on the need for sustainable development. Together, we shall do something to save our Mother Earth. We as actors should have sustainable intentions to have sustainable acts for sustainable production by following sustainable rules so that a sustainable site can be achieved.

I feel very grateful to have a great lecture from Dr Faris. I appreciate his sincerity, honesty and efforts in this sustainable development issues and built environment. I hope youths like us can change the future and have a better living place. In this lecture, I used my senses such as eyes, ears and brain to collect all the useful inputs and datas. I shall follow my instinct and heart to make a wise decision in creating a better future.

LECTURE 1: The Production of Built Environment

"What is build environment?" "Look at your surroundings, what can you see?" My professor asked. For me, build environment are those aspects of our environment modified by human such as residential areas, industrial areas, schools, workplaces, parks, roads and highways. It is a manmade surroundings that provide the setting for human activities. There are six basic elements that affect the build environment which are SITE, RULES, ACTOR, INTENTION, ACT and PRODUCTION.

Humans undergo millions of years of evolution from a tiny cell. We are gifted with a highly developed brain capable of abstract reasoning, language and thinking skills. Humans make full use of their ears, eyes and brains through observing and thinking. But people from all walks of life has different ideas, feelings and needs. Humans' needs provoked built environment. The main professions which involved in built environment are architects, planners, engineers and quantity surveyors.

Different people have different thoughts and mindsets. Some people wish to control the world, some wish to have a better living place. With all these intentions, they drive humans to another higher level where knowledge is needed to pursue their objectives. Knowledge is power. It controls access to opportunity, advancement and it can take a person to the realm of success. Everyone wants to have a better living places. Nowadays, we are slowly destroying the mother nature. Who are we to destroy the environment? Natural resources like petroleum are depleting because we are so dependant on it for our daily usage. Therefore, humans are the main culprit in destroying the nature.

Humans are abide by rules, customs, laws and ideology. We believe in what we are holding on. Whether the decision is right or wrong, it depends on which one we choose to follow. Let the mind do the thinking and follow our heart in making a decision. For example, Malaysia is a multi-racial country and this is where Malaysians first accustomed to the vibrant, indigenous cultures and customs from different races. In some ways, it influences our ideologies and lives. Rules and laws exist in order for us live in harmony and peace. A better understanding of these can ensure we live in peace. But some people are breaking the rules for their own good. As an example, there are thousands of illegal loggers are making their profits by cutting down the trees for development. Forests are being clear for building skyscrapers. All these acts are against the rules. The government should emphasize on the importance of environment to us which can raise awareness among the citizen. We should promote greener and less energy consumption development.

Although build environment is essential for us but terrestrial ecosystem sustainability should be maintained. A balance development and environmental protection are important for acommodating growth while preserving our mother nature. Humans often consider themselves the dominant species because their mental capability are well developed compare to other species. We think we are clever and have the ability to manage the environment. But if f we keep on destructing the environment, where can we live? Therefore, we shall think before we act and reflect what have we done.