By Sherry Koh | Oct 20, 2010
Venice Biennale Architettura photographs courtesy of PAM
Celebrating architectural excellence
PAM (Malaysian Institute of Architects or Persatuan Arkitek Malaysia) has recently launched an exhibition titled Architects Malaysia. The exhibition is in celebration of World Day of Architecture which falls on October 4 and it showcases beautiful and inspiring works of Malaysian architects until October 30, 2010. The masterpieces displayed highlight Malaysia’s architectural excellence all the way back from the 1920s to current years.
StarProperty.my speaks to PAM (Malaysian Institute of Architects) president Ar Boon Che Wee, 45, about the Architects Malaysia exhibition and the prestigious Venice Biennale Architettura 2010 which Malaysia is participating in for the very first time this year. Boon also shares about the importance of “branding and marketing” Malaysian architects and PAM’s upcoming events.
Tell us a little about yourself.
I have just started my second term (year) as PAM president. I have my own practice together with five other partners called GRA architects. I have been in practice for close to 20 years.
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Inspirational: PAM president Ar Boon Che Wee holds the ‘Shapers of Modern Malaysia’ book which highlights the lives and times of five PAM gold medallists
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What is the Architects Malaysia exhibition all about?
We really wanted to celebrate architecture in Malaysia and to celebrate the World Day of Architecture which falls on 4 October. This exhibition came about as an event that we can do. Firstly, it is to attract the public’s attention to the works by Malaysian architects. Downstairs, you will see the timeline or evolution of architecture in Malaysia until the year 2000. Upstairs, we feature works that have won PAM awards, which is actually the most prestigious recognition that can actually be given to architectural works in Malaysia. Doing this exhibition actually helps us keep track of what we have been doing over the years. This is a whole decade of works that demonstrates what excellence in design is all about.
In this exhibition, we reflect on our achievements in the last 90 years or so. Having said that, these achievements we attained in the past means nothing, if we cannot perform in the future. We decided to have Architects Malaysia exhibition in the PAM centre, our home, to demonstrate the potential of this historic heritage venue as a centre of contemporary architecture. We are proposing to the mayor of Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to allow us to help the City Hall study the potential of this Jalan Tangsi precinct to be developed as a centre for contemporary architecture and arts. That way, we can have a permanent showcase of the evolution of Malaysian architecture. It would be a sad thing that after this month, all these (displayed works) will be torn down. We think that there should be a permanent place for this.
How long has PAM been in this building at Jalan Tangsi?
We have been here since the 1970s. We are taking care of it on behalf of the KL City Hall. The building belongs to KL City Hall. Because it is a heritage building, we have walk-in visitors every day. They are impressed with our architectural works and these visitors bring back a good impression of our works to their country and more visitors will come. I feel that the potential is quite immense.
Where were PAM’s previous exhibitions held?
This is the first time that it is being exhibited at PAM. We have done exhibitions in other venues, usually in shopping malls. But we thought that it’s time we exhibited it here. It’s our home anyway. We want people to come and visit us at PAM and see that we do need to have something permanent like this, especially in Kuala Lumpur. There’s something like this as well in London and Paris.
The exhibition’s theme is “Better Cities, Better Lives –Sustainable by Design”. How does the Architects Malaysia exhibition reflect the theme?
The Better Cities, Better Lives – Sustainable by Design theme has been adopted by the international union of architects as a theme for the World Day of Architecture. The key phrase is sustainable by design. It fits in very well with what the council and I have been championing since last year. One is green and the other one is design.
Both green and design adds value to everything that we do. It would be a mistake for us to actually focus on one, green, and ignore the other one, because in tandem, their potential is immense. So having focused so much on green, we want to bring the attention back to the value of design. So what you see in this exhibition, other than the evolution of architecture, are sections of the exhibition that shows the best works by Malaysian architects, either those that have won PAM awards or international awards.
These are also meant to promote Malaysian architectural works. We have achieved some very groundbreaking effort in promoting Malaysian architects overseas, especially with the Venice Biennale Architettura 2010 that we have participated in. That international exhibition has firmly established Malaysian architects as a brand overseas. We were invited to exhibit as a group called Malaysian Architects. We have also been invited to enter international competition as a group called Malaysian Architects. For us to promote that brand, we ourselves have to believe in that brand. So this is one of the efforts that we have done to highlight to the Malaysian public what Malaysian architects are capable of. Our works and our design talent are on par with the best in the world.
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“In this exhibition, we reflect on our achievements in the last 90 years or so”, says Boon
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When we talk about exhibition, people usually have the perception that it is the likes of MATTA fair, property fair and so on. This exhibition is a bit different. This is a 2D exhibition, without any mini replica of buildings or booths.
It is a visual feast. As architects, we get excited by visual stimulation. Actually, when we were setting up, we had groups of tourists that came in and were amazed with the quality the works that we are doing in the Klang Valley and throughout the world. We are asking architects and architectural students to come and be inspired by the best works that our peers have done but more importantly, to ask the public to come and have a look at our achievements and recognise our potential.
Has the Green Building Index (GBI) changed? Has any additional criteria been added?
I think as far as sustainable design is concerned in Malaysia, we are still at the entry level. We haven’t revised any criteria. We want to take this time to remind ourselves, the architects as well as the public, to keep revisiting the works that we have been doing.
Any mistakes that we might have done, we are correcting them in the process. It is not too late and that’s why this building rating was launched. Buildings can actually be modified and renovated minimally so that it can perform better.
In other words, greening existing buildings…
Yes. Previously, people tend to think of green building as something that came out of fear of the changing environment. So we must do this or that, or the world will just end the next day. But I tend to see green building as the architecture of hope because at this point, we are aware, we have the knowledge, we have the skills, we have the technology and we have the opportunity to do it now.
As soon as we can implement certain green strategy, it will save you energy and make your building perform better. So that’s why I see green building as the architecture of hope. Design is something that adds value to the whole green approach as well.
Do share about the inclusion of Malaysia in the Venice Biennale Architettura 2010 for the very first time.
It premiered on August 29 in Venice. Venice Biennale is probably over a century old, but the Venice Biennale Architettura, started over 30 years ago. It is actually the most exclusive and prestigious architectural exhibition in the world. This is an exhibition that focuses on architectural design. The entire Venice city is an exhibition ground, although there are official exhibition venues and we are one of them. Participation is by invitation only. With MATRADE’s (Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation) assistance, we managed to get invitations for the first time. This year is our debut there, exhibiting together with 57 other countries.
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Unconventional beauties: Works by Malaysian architects that are exhibited at the Venice Biennale Architettura 2010. L-R: The Aerial Mumbai by Veritas Architects; The Crumple Zone by Design Evolution Architects; The Felcra Tower by Nazlan Baharudin; F5/F by Saifuddin Ahmad; and Nabihah Residence by Mohd Suhaimi Fadzir
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Why was Malaysia never invited before?
We have never participated because we have never received the backing. This time around, things just jived. On one occasion, I presented this idea to NAPSEC (National Professionals Services Export Council), which I sit in. It is an advisory council to MATRADE. The council itself thinks that we should support this idea of new design economy and participate in the Venice Biennale Architettura as it will put us on the international platform to showcase our design talents. MATRADE supported the idea and gave us the backing. For us to participate as international participants, we needed the Government to submit a brief for them to consider. We did that in a very short time, only in the beginning of the year. Other countries had two years to prepare. We had less than four months.
To our pleasant surprise, in April we received the invitation to participate. So far, the response has been totally overwhelming. On average, we have 240 visitors per day for a 6-hour exhibition. This means that we get about 40 visitors per hour. One of the highest numbers in early October where we received 562 visitors in a six-hour period. So in total, for 40 days we received 9,682 visitors.
When does the Venice Biennale Architettura 2010 run until?
It will end November 21.
REHDA (Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association) president Datuk Michael Yam recently launched REHDA Youth. Does PAM plan have such a programme as well?
We’ve always recognised that there’s talent in Malaysia and there are a few things we are doing. Last year, one of the council’s focus is to give as much as opportunity as possible for emerging practices to showcase their works. So we have design seminars which focus on new, young practices. A lot of times, we give opportunities to younger practitioners to showcase their works. Venice Biennale Architettura is also probably the first time we open the event to all categories of our members – students, young practices and senior practitioners. We have 26 participants and they include students, all practices right up to PAM gold medallists, and senior practitioners.
We have been calling to organise a lot more competitions. Just let us have the brief and the prizes. We will organise the competition because competitions are the best way to discover new young talent and we have them in this country. We recently concluded one competition, called the Three Stonor competition. Probably 90% of the entries were all young emerging practices and the winners were also young emerging practices. So we have demonstrated to the Malaysian public that this is the best way to discover talent.
Currently, we are working with a few corporations as well as the Malaysian Government to organise more competition. That is a more realistic way of involving our young talents into the market.
PAM has also launched a book titled Shapers of Modern Malaysia. Tell us about the book.
There was a delay and we wanted to launch this book a long time ago. The book profiles the lives and times of five PAM gold medallists. We started the gold medallist award in 1988. Since then, we have awarded to only five individuals (the late Datuk Ar Kington Loo, the late Datuk Ar Hisham Albakri, Datuk Seri Ar Lim Chong Keat, Ar Hijjas Kasturi and Datuk Ar Baharuddin Abu Kassim). This is the highest recognition to the Malaysian architect as an individual.
For the time being, we think that five is a good number for a collection, to publish and remember their contribution, especially at a time when we are reflecting on the advancement of Malaysian architects. The five of them have actually inspired all of us in our works, especially the current generation of Malaysian architects. The current generation of architects is probably familiar with their works but not the future generation. We want this to be another opportunity where we can pass this on to the next generation to see the heroic works during the late 60s, 70s.
Will the book be available in bookstores?
It will be eventually. This book is something that you really want to treasure. It is not a coffee table book by all means, because it is quite text heavy and you will begin to understand the trials and tribulations in pursuing their career. These are some of the pioneer architects in Malaysia. So hopefully, the book will inspire architects and the public.
The PAM awards are carried out yearly?
It is usually given during our annual dinner in August or September. But the nomination process will start probably after first or second quarter of the year. It is a very unique award scheme, in the sense that we alternate the categories. For example, categories for this year will not be repeated next year. It will appear the following year. In total we have 16 categories and we only feature eight categories per year. 16 is too many for one year.
The judging process is most unique because we include two international architects. We also have representation from the academics, practicing architects and public. So it not something that we take turns to give ourselves a pat on the back. It is a very stringent process. We have years where we did not give out any awards. If we don’t think that there’s any scheme that deserves to be a winner, we declare that there are no winners.
Is the PAM award for members only?
Yes, but most practicing architects are PAM members anyway. The recognition is not only given to the architect but the client as well. It is to recognise their support for the architect, as well as the builder for executing the work. So it does not solely award architects. It is to the team.
What’s next for you as president of PAM?
Basically, spending a lot of my time here (laughs). Like what I said in my concluding report for the last presidency. It has been a very exhausting year for us but I am excited because it has been a productive year. We been to areas that we have never been before , for example, Venice Biennale Architettura is one. Just imagine, where do you get the opportunity for more than 10,000 people to see Malaysia’s architectural works? The variety that we showcased impressed them.
We have also been able to work with the Government very closely to promote Malaysian Architect as a brand. We have launched a very thick profile on Malaysian architects and that would be distributed by MATRADE throughout the world. We have also distributed to a lot of foreign embassies. Of course, we are making a lot of progress in GBI; something that we have been driving for 16 to 18 months. And the response has been overwhelming, We continue to receive the Government’s support on that.
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Must-visit: ‘Architect Malaysia’ exhibition is held at the PAM Center at Jalan Tangsi from October 4 to 30, 10am to 6pm (near Bank Rakyat)
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Any activities or plans for the last quarter of the year?
The Last quarter of the year is a time of planning because that’s when we start our term. But we have already made a few programmes. The first one is actually through our own initiative. We are ogranising a so-called international version of Datum:KL (International Architectural Design Conference) in Colombo, Sri Lanka, supported by MATRADE. Datum:KL is an international brand. International speakers clamour for an opportunity to speak at this conference. So we want to bring a version of this, featuring Malaysian architects, to speak in Colombo. It is a trial. The idea came about just a couple of months ago. MATRADE supported the idea and we are working on it.
When is the target launch for the design conference in Colombo?
First or second week of December, before Christmas. We are trying to do to convince MATRADE and the Government to look at design-led conception rather than contractor-led. Otherwise, we will continue being executors of someone else’s design. With this design conference, we hope to bring together contractors, even developers and other professionals. But it would be headlining the architects’ design works.
That aside, Venice Biennale Architettura will close on November 21. In December, it should be back here, and that will be featured in one of the venues that we are currently considering to give the nation the opportunity to witness the work. After that, because of the invitations we received, provided that we have enough funding and sponsors, it will hopefully go on a tour to other countries.
We are looking at the possibility of going to South America because we received invitations to go there early next year. If we continue to receive invitations, we will continue to tour until we are ready to work on the next biennale. Other than participating in Venice, we will also participate in the arts biennale as well, held in Venice at the same time. The arts biennale alternates with architectural biennale. So next year, it would be arts. We should continue to maintain exposure in the biennale every year. We will be driving the arts exhibition next year.
Architect Malaysia exhibition is open to public from October 4 to 30, 10am to 6pm.
PAM Centre is located at 4 & 6 Jalan Tangsi, Kuala Lumpur (near Bank Rakyat).
For more information on PAM and its activities, visit www.architectsmalaysia.com.my, www.pam.org.my, call 03-2693 4182 or e-mail director@pam.org.my
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