6 Mar 2009
a quest for malaysian architecture
after two years or so, my knowledge in architecture has substantially increased. therefore, I think my opinion towards malaysian architecture I wrote few years back isn’t really valid anymore. therefore, I’ve decided to update my view towards malaysian architecture while still continuing the quest.
architecture is not as simple as we think. it is bounded by so many overlapping borders, from budget, clients, policies and laws. on the other hand, general malaysians’ ignorance of architecture is a result of our cultural thinking developed over the decades.
if you begin to compare like; france and italy against malaysia in example- the french are generally more aware of architecture.
look at im pei’s louvre pyramid, when the design for the new entrance for louvre is revealed, somehow all parisians has become ‘architects’, they criticized the design as resembling egyptian pyramids. simultaneously im pei has became the most infamous criminal of paris- well since louvre is critical to paris. there are even instances that the parisian spitted on im pei for what he did then.
in malaysia however, nobody seems to know who the hell are the architects behind the buildings theyre sitting in. of course, france had centuries of history in architecture- but that shouldn’t be reason how malaysians deal with architecture in general.
how about malaysian architects, you ask? I believed they all have learned to be aware of architecture and why they still produced crappy houses?
crappy malaysian houses
well, during their studies, we, architecture students aspired to be outstanding, the new generation that is going to transform and beautify the surroundings with a sense in design. but the more we travel deep into architecture, the more difficult such dream is.
that in particular coupled with the working environment; which is far more different with what we studied to. young graduates tend to become drafters of senior architects before they gain the momentum of their own. such way the thinking of young minds is bounded by the seniors which ultimately leads to money.
and that system reincarnates every generation. and they produce the same crappy houses.
in the end, they all came back and say, “ultimately architecture is a business, it is essentially a money game.” and that my friends, is the worst sentence you can say to degrade architecture. so, stop using it, and go back to the dream we all aspire to realise – designing buildings with a sense of creativity.
a very good quote from one of my lecturers;
“in the end of the day, architecture offers unimaginable rewards. many of them got rich, by making shit. so, I hope you do not become one of those- but make beautiful things instead.”
p/s: read my previous version of “a quest for malaysian architecture” here
An architectural student from malaysia, studying in Curtin University, pursuing his Master in Architecture. Contact at yang(at)yangsquare.com
Agree.That’s what people think about and their excuse is they don’t have a choice but to earn money.Well I’ll say,”Why u come to study architecture in the first place?”
Paul
March 16th, 2009 at 9:18 pmpermalink
Haha! So true! most malaysian houses look crappy
cho
March 31st, 2009 at 4:01 pmpermalink
I agree with you that in Malaysia there are loads of ‘crap’ architecture and many architects design ‘shit’, but think about this: the architects profession is highly overated, and the average architect in Malaysia gets paid ‘crap’ money not just to design the buildings, but to administer the building contract and to take on the liabilities, so many a times it is really for survival and to earn a living. Perhaps the architectural profession as a whole need to be a bit more assertive with their clients in order to convince them with better design. But there is also a lot of ‘crap’ architecture in France and Italy. It is unfair to talk about the Louvre when you are talking about France and to show Malaysian terrace houses when you talk about Malaysia! That is really funny.
bakh
April 17th, 2009 at 6:30 ampermalink
being paid crap is not just the case in malaysia, while we cant change that ‘nature’ yet (hopefully), we should take every chance we have to design.. to be critical to ourselves.. our environment… and to look for opportunities… why is there less awareness in our nation… nevermind the why.. as we can go on tracing backward to blame our past or system…. why not chanel our energy to change the mentality of our society… why not feed them with.. dont you think this could be better?…. LITTLE BY LITTLE, as the society has the power to provide us, the architects a more positive field to play with…
all the best in your work..
cheers…
hp
June 7th, 2009 at 12:09 ampermalink
to not be a crappy architect who design crappy stuffs, u gotta know what is yr ultimate goal, what u want to achieve in this field, and how much u know about architecture? it aint easy to sustain one’s passion when comes to real life, but most important thing is to know what u want to do in this field? not just simply say i want to design something creative thats all..what is the creative meaning behind?
yadayada
June 7th, 2009 at 4:38 pmpermalink
its malaysian architecture mate… we’re only assisting in building the environment needed by our society… if we want to solve this quest for malaysian architecture its not through the profesion…its through education, but not the formal education in school….think of education that happens on the streets…hmm..lets be creative… we are architects
anas
July 11th, 2009 at 9:01 pmpermalink
I don’t have any experience in architecture works. But, I use a software so call sketchup to work on the office furniture layout & just want to share with you about using this software & the rendering software. Wish to learn & share your experince on that. Here are some works that I had done using sketchup http://www. dkoe.com.my/3d.html.
Thanks!
Shirley
October 15th, 2009 at 1:02 pmpermalink
Hi, I’m too a student of Architecture. Nice site you got here. Thanks.
Hossain
October 19th, 2009 at 10:54 pmpermalink
Hi every body
am Rowan Tarik Soliman from Egypt
i want to study architectural design technology and arts in Malaysia
can any one help me about what can i do to have it
any one van help me ?
please, answer me about what can i do or any information about this
Rowan Tarik Soliman
September 19th, 2010 at 11:34 pmpermalink
no malaysian architecture,just creating space to breath and live miserably.money first and money last!!
amruskha
December 2nd, 2010 at 1:08 pmpermalink