Through the evolution of school design in Rwanda, from before the onset of the 1994 genocide until its present development stage, it is discovered that this conflict had opened up opportunities to reevaluate, improve and innovate the overall education system. This is clearly manifested in Rwandan Ministry of Education (MinEduc)'s adoption of Child-Friendly Schools (CFS) guidelines and collaboration with United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) to develop design strategies and assessment tools of students' performance. Recognizing this potential, this thesis aims to investigate the influence of learning environments affected by armed conflicts on children's resilience and cognitive development. Quality of learning environments has longterm effects on the national human resource development as it affects the effectiveness of learning among students. In regards to the attributes of physical learning environment in schools in Rwanda, the methods include exploring its five key aspects -planning, typology, construction, environmental and sociologicalwithin the timeframe of before, during and after the genocide occurred. Two case studies that bear substantial architectural and cultural significance have been reviewed in these aspects. Findings show that the potential of overcoming the qualitative challenges of school design in armed conflicts is highly relative to the interpolation of understanding natural surroundings, accessibility to suitable building materials and construction method, community involvement and policy making.

The COVID-19 outbreak has caused a massive increase in the number of Malaysians working from home. This scenario has put the living and working gap at disposal, questioning the relevancy of ‘living lifestyle’, particularly on the new housing township projects. This paper investigates the culture of working from home and its influence on the latest emerging township’s housing development model. Using the qualitative observation and comparative analysis approach, the findings suggest that integrating working culture into housing design will reinvent the spatial procession and quality of the living lifestyles, thus advocating for a new housing typology for the mass. Keywords: Working from home; Housing design; Spatial innovation; Living lifestyle eISSN: 2398-4287© 2021. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI:

The Chinese embodiment in most major cities in South-East Asia is widely being articulated through the existence of shop house. Its renowned status has overshadowed the "Attap" house that was built during the early Chinese migration. In Malaysia, evidence has shown that shop house was first derived as a simple "Attap" hut that was built by the Chinese merchant to service the tin miners. The "Attap" house is also said to lay the basis for shop house. This paper aims to explore the Chinese spatial and spiritual essence through the interpretation of the layering of the Chinese "Attap House". Certain perspective of Chinese family structure and their perception on cosmological epitome, profitability and growth, and the concept of flexibility through the creation of 'Kaki Lima' are thoroughly identified. "Kaki Lima", or five-foot way in English, is translated as "Ngo-Ka-Ki" in Chinese dialect. As such, the interpretations of the Chinese "Attap House" are edited and formulated into a scheme, which is not merely a house but rather incorporated as a manifesto. The "Ngo-Ka-Ki House" is a setting to investigate the paradox of Chinese essence that alters the spatial quality of a living quarter, thus anchoring the idea of Chinese living in a broader spectrum.

Performance and performativity are inherent to urban life and design. The idea of a city as "theatre of social action" according to Lewis Mumford has been contextualized through the roles of theatre and performance in urban life. The notion of theatre and performance here is more than metaphoric. In a parcel of Georgetown, Penang, the urban fabric provides historical spatial background as urban scenography; while in another sense, providing imagination of a performance through individuals' routine that embodies the community's collective values, desires, memories and aspirations. The deeprooted existence of performing arts and cultural expression is now ploughed by the diminishing community that contributed to this scenario. This paper attempts to formulate strategies and tools of an urban catalyst that will revive the parcel into an area robust with business, religious and cultural activities that it once was. The potential of the site lies within its heritage cultural practices, heavily signified by its long-standing history of performance and artistic expressions in the urban parcel, which is now a host for the Penang Philharmonic Orchestra. Historical settings function as new imaginative performance spaces for citizens who assume the colliding and interchanging roles of both the performer and the audience. The new series of urban scenography become various nodes throughout the parcel, accommodating diverse typologies of "urban stage" and "micro theatres". Subsequently, connectivity among these nodes is traversed by a network of "corridors". As such, this plexus of urban performance ultimately encourages a certain level of culturally charged resiliency and rebrands the parcel as a sustainable entity thriving on creative economy. This formula aims to be a catalyst to a chain of reaction in rejuvenating George Town through new programs of cultural contextualisation.