At a recent site inspection, I climbed up the roof of one of our projects to ascertain the cause of a latent defect. Pu!ing the mundaneness of the unglamorous things we do as architects aside; I believe we are still blessed to be in a profession where our work takes us outdoors to construction sites where we have access to parts of buildings most others would not have experienced. Through secret passageways, climbing through service hatches, and atop the roof, I gained an entirely different perspective of the building I o#en experience through drawings. This made me reflect that as architects, we constantly crave the high from gaining new perspectives; we are curious to know what others see, how they see it, and how something could be approached differently.
In curating content for this issue of AM, we have brought together feature articles as well as projects to celebrate and pro- vide new perspectives and celebrate new highs. I would like to o”er my personal perspective on some of the contents of this issue: The Artist-in-Residence program at Rimbun Dahan will mark its 30th anniversary in 2024. The impact of this privately funded programme on the national discourse surrounding culture and arts deserves to be recognised and celebrated beyond the pages of our humble magazine. The interview with Ar. Lillian Tay, the latest PAM Gold Medal winner, should be read in tandem with Yasmin Rahman’s reportage of a recent event featuring many prominent practitioners who share their insights and experiences of architecture practice.
The feature article by Ar. John Koh on the environmental realities of climate change and his involvement with Earoph leading to the recent Pacific Urban Forum (PUF6) held in Fiji provides us with a different perspective on the role of the architect in the conservation of the ecologies we design and inhabit. This juxtaposes against Acacia Diana’s travelogue of her trip to Jerusalem in 2018, which transports us to a mystical place at the heart of the Abrahamic religions, and also to a region now embroiled in military conflict. Both o”er us a sobering perspective on the state of our planet today.
In this issue of AM, we celebrate the achievements of the latest cycle of ‘40 under 40 Malaysian Emerging Architects’. Inspiring work from this group of emerging architects selected by a jury convened under KLAF2023 has periodically graced the pages of AM over the past year, and we hope to see more in the coming issues. I wish to suggest that my fellow ‘emergents’ consider (where possible) undertaking the creative adaptation and renewal of existing building stock to preserve resources and avoid a complete demolition and building anew.
As we close o” 2023, we mark the fourth year since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time of writing this foreword, Malaysia is amid a spike in new COVID-19 cases, but that aside, we have by most accounts returned to the normalcy we enjoyed back in 2019. The social calendar of 2023 has no doubt forged many new relationships and rekindled old ones within our fraternity. It was a big year for the institute, made more significant by the contribution of the larger-than-life personality of Ar. Norzaini Mu#i as the Director of KLAF2023.
At the time of writing, KLAF2023 and its dedicated team have brought us 114 events marking the centenary of the Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM). For that, they have our gratitude for a fantastic year of memorable and inspirational events. On behalf of the team at AM, we thank everyone for their support and our dear readers a wonderful 2024 ahead!
Ar. David Teoh
Editor-in-Chief, Architecture Malaysia
