By Lin Chua and David Koh | Sept 3, 2009

Environologically Compliant Building

Last week, we discussed at length a unique, one-of-its-kind project to give senior citizens a sense of purpose in their lives. The Aged Unite To Organise Rest & Recreation (AUTORR) Foundation is setting up a centre in Ampang for them to spend their days in engaging activities.

They can learn tai chi and meditation; develop hobbies such as floral arrangements and bonsai; and share their life experiences and knowledge with others. The centre will be open to all senior citizens, regardless of race, culture or religion.

AUTORR founder Lin Chua bought four acres of land in Ampang and donated it to the foundation for the construction of the centre. So far, only two acres have been developed with a main hall and several smaller buildings to be used for therapy and conducting meetings.

The construction costs are covered by donations and various fund-raising activities, which are still ongoing. As our contribution to this worthy cause, we are presenting a seminar on “How to Maintain Your Wealth During This Economic Downturn” this weekend at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. All proceeds from this event will be donated to the AUTORR Foundation.

Like most people, we wondered how on earth a non-profit charitable organisation like AUTORR got its hands on such a large piece of prime property in Ampang?

Fine Timing
Apparently, the original landowner wanted to build several blocks of condominiums. However, every attempt was somehow thwarted due to unforeseen circumstances. This went on for 12 to 15 years until he finally gave up and decided to sell the land instead. Along came Lin who even got a special price for it.

However, another interested buyer came into the picture offering significantly more money. Fortunately, a downpayment had already been made and the owner could not get out of the deal, unless the sales and purchase agreement was not signed within the stipulated time.

On the night before the signing, a family emergency almost stopped Lin from keeping her appointment. Her daughter fell sick and had to be rushed to hospital at 3am. Somehow, she felt she had to keep her 8.30am appointment. By 6am, her daughter’s condition had stabilised and she left for home to freshen up before going to her lawyer’s office.

“I was surprised, when I walked in at 8.30am sharp, to see a lot of people waiting in the office. “The seller told me, if I had been late by 15 minutes, the deal would have been called off. All those other people there were the other party waiting to jump in and seal the deal if I was late!” she recalled.

“Ordinarily, for something as simple as signing an agreement, a few hours would not make a difference. I could have postponed the appointment or gone home for a nap. If I had done so and overslept, we would have lost the land!” she exclaimed. “Somehow, I knew I had to be there on time.”

Vase
The main hall of the AUTORR Centre is shaped like a reclining vase, half embedded into the ground. Actually, it appears that slightly more than half is underground. This is a unique design, possibly the first of its kind to reflect the first-of-its-kind nature of the AUTORR Foundation. Bear in mind, this is not some multi-billion dollar high-tech iconic complex in downtown Kuala Lumpur!

The vase theme was chosen because it is associated with life. Vases and amphorae have been used as containers for water, milk – even seeds – since ancient times by people from all cultures.

The design is also fascinating to us because by design or coincidence, it somehow conforms with environology principles. As we have observed in our tour of the Klang Valley thus far, properties with a high back and low front tend to do well.

Imagine earth energy to be flowing like a river. If one were to stand neck-deep in this river facing upstream, one gets a feeling of danger and being overwhelmed by the onrushing river. However, if one were to face downstream, he would notice that the water immediately in front is calm. The river runs against the back of the head and is forced to travel around it, thus slowing down. Little eddies are formed around the face, a gentle pool that gathers before continuing downstream.

We think it is by no accident that vases take the shape they have all across numerous cultures throughout the world. Somehow, there is harmony or synergy in its shape and proportions, which lead people to create it as such. Only modern-day designers would come up with bizarre and odd-shaped vases!

The Value of PHI
The general shape of a vase lends itself easily to the proportions of the Golden Mean (or Golden Ratio). The Golden Mean has fascinated Western intellectuals for more than 2,000 years, from the time of Pythagoras. It is not just a mathematical formula: biologists, artists, musicians, historians, architects, psychologists and many others have found applications of the Golden Mean in nature – the shapes and proportions of leaves, our ears, our body, seashells, and so forth!

Believe it or not, way before these people, the ancient scribes already recognised the Golden Mean, and it was used over 3,000 years ago in feng shui. The sequence of numbers according to I Ching, the Lo Pan compass, “ideal ratios” of houses and buildings are all related to the Golden Mean.

Even Noah’s Ark, as described in the Bible, is built in dimensions that conform to the Golden Mean. There is some universal harmony in this number. The golden mean, phi, is such that (a+b) divided by a equals a divided by b

(a+b)/a = a/b

The value of phi is 1.6180339887... and interestingly, the reciprocal is 0.6180339887... In other words, the decimal numbers are exactly the same!

Golden Ratio
The vase-shaped hall of the AUTORR Centre is such that the ratio of the highest point against the longest length is approximately 0.618!

If one were to draw out the entire vase on the design plans, one would also find that about 61.8% of this vase is “embedded” underground, and the hall looks like the remaining 38.2% above ground. The coincidence is so uncanny and we get goosebumps thinking about it!

The initial plan was to support the structure with pillars. However, the architect and builder managed to figure out a way to construct it without pillars. Not only does this enhance the functionality of the hall as a meeting place or banquet venue, it also contributes to the energy collected here: there are no pillars to distort the energy patterns.

Constructing such a structure is neither easy nor cheap. The materials and design for the walls and roof are exactly the same – they must form a contiguous curved shell. Poorly fitted panels can cause leakage problems, too.

The curvature for each panel varies from one section to the next, so bending the panels is no easy task. As providence would have it, a Swiss construction company had the expertise to do it. We are told that the company, upon learning the charitable purpose of the centre, voluntarily slashed 70% off its bill, practically doing the job at cost price (and possibly even less)!

Positive Symbols
The hall’s entrance has a marquee with a transparent roof. AUTORR wanted the entrance to be bright and cheery. The beams holding up the roof are inlaid with blue mosaics to symbolise the sky; the front columns use golden-coloured mosaics (“the golden years”) while the entrance wall’s pillars have silver-coloured mosaics (“silver-haired senior citizens”).

The length of the main hall (excluding the back storage area and office) is approximately 43m (140 feet). This will be partitioned off with a wall to create a front reception area. By happenstance to conform with the neck of the “bottle” this reception area is about 12m (40 feet), with the hall occupying the remaining 31m (100 feet).

Approximately 19m (62 feet) from the back of the hall – the Golden Mean – there appears to be a focal point in the hall. Standing on this spot, one can hear sounds from all over the hall; even speaking from this spot has a certain rich timbre. The sound would appear to be coming from the ceiling.

Step away from this point, one can still hear sounds loudly, but this time it comes from the floor where the focal point is located. Don’t worry: if you are visiting the hall, this spot is marked by different colour tiles.

This could explain why vases or amphorae were popular in ancient times. They could have a way of harnessing and focusing energy.

In the 1970s, excavations at Herod the Great’s palace on Masada uncovered 2,000-year-old Judean date palm seeds stored in an ancient jar. Three of these seeds were planted 30 years later and one germinated successfully. If the plant – dubbed Methuselah – is female, it should bear fruit sometime next year.

Scientists say the extreme dryness helped preserve the seeds, but desiccation may not be the only reason. Perhaps the vase-shaped jar or amphora collected energy that kept the seeds viable.

Median Line
Given the curved parabolic shape of the hall, the median line is also a natural focus point for energy. When we visited the site – the building has been completed but there are no interior fittings done, pending regulatory approval – we noticed a number of dead insects such as dragonflies, butterflies and moths on the floor. Interestingly, they were all in a line down the median!

It is likely that this area of concentrated energy attracted the living creatures, which stayed on until they eventually expired. Perhaps they were nearing the end of their short lifespan. We don’t think the energy killed them: if so, there would have been hundreds, if not thousands more dead insects here.

So, the sequence of events leading to the creation of AUTORR and its centre, tell-tale signs from Mother Nature, all suggest a higher power is at work to make it a reality and a success. The conducive environology factors the Centre enjoys should also contribute to its success.

You, too, can contribute by attending the “How to Maintain Your Wealth During This Economic Downturn” seminar this weekend, and participating in many other ways. Contact the AUTORR Foundation for more details.