QUOTE(verz84 @ Feb 2 2016, 10:54 AM)
Good morning fellow academicians and everybody.
I am a lecturer teaching Architecture in a local university in Sarawak.
We are planning to bring the students for a study visit in West Malaysia & we decided to go to Johore + Singapore.
Our aim for the visit is to give exposure to the students on urban surroundings.
I am not familiar with Johore but i do have some idea what to proposed for the Singapore trip.
If possible, we would like to have a good site for their project in Johore since our next project will focus on urban context.
Thus, i hope to get recommendations from fellow friends here about where can i bring the students for a good architectural trip. But not to forget about sustainability...
Thank you for all your positive feedback.
well, JB is currently under extensive development. i would say if u wanna visit here in 3 years time we'll have double the amount of things to show u than today
.
anyways, at the moment, one the things my fellow architects love about JB is about its colonial architecture. u see, unlike most colonial towns, johor approach to colonialism is unique: they embrace it rather than say "ini semua penjajah". the sultanate have a long history with the british in terms of partnership and collaboration, so instead of the usual "british architects doing what they want in malaya", johor had "malayan builders working collaboratively with british architects". so the architecture is more localized.
this is also evident the local johor culture. johoreans seems to love history and culture and they learned a lot from singapore. they dont bulldoze old buildings unless it cant be salvaged. they develop things around it. so the JB oldtown now is rife with adaptive reuse - things that 10 years ago we only read in european cities. so where colonial shoplots with dying businesses used to be, now grows vibrant hipster joints where young people love to hangout.
so i recommend spending a day in JB oldtown - plenty to experience and eat, and it's all within walking distance. the big shopping complexes are just next door, if the students need to go back to their comfort zone
.
also, there's also the massive development around danga bay-lido area. some has been completed, but plenty still yet to be completed.
but yes, u will need a local to guide u around. walking in smaller groups is better. if u need it, i can organize my student groups to take ur students around.