Getting Lost

Way-finding in Honeycomb Townships

The concern about ‘getting lost in a maze' is one that I've been working on for a while. It's true that winding roads can be disorienting, but you would never say that that would justify railroading a straight route across hilly land.

In small scale development, maintaining a sense of location would be a smaller problem. Also, I think a bigger development that is composed of clearly defined sectors each with its own identity, would be easier to navigate.

If the issues of scale and monotonous repetition are handled badly, even grid layouts can be a problem to navigate, particularly where the sign-posting is poor (which is often true in Malaysia).


The State Secretariat and the State Assembly Hall define the main boulevard in this proposal

Landmarks help. I've been working on a honeycomb plan for a new district town layout, and thought about how zigzagging roads can provide opportunities for vistas. On straight roads we see only the road disappearing into the horizon, but prominent buildings where the road bends can become give each stretch of the road its own identity.



The edges of the hexagonal precincts become geographical markers that help provide identity to the roads that lead towards them