This article first appeared in City & Country, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on March 11, 2024 - March 17, 2024

Both young and veteran architects came together at a new community centre in Jalan Raja Chulan, Kuala Lumpur, on March 2 for the launch of Visionary Architects of Monsoon Asia by UK-based architect Robert Powell. The book is a culmination of his 40-year odyssey, exploring Asian architecture and a compilation of his experiences, learnings and insights.

Powell’s journey to Asia started in 1979 when he visited Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, to assist with a survey and draft a management plan for the proposed Morowali Nature Reserve. During his travels, he learnt about vernacular dwellings in the tropics after meeting with the Wana tribe, whose houses are built with local materials and raised on stilts.

After several months, Powell returned to the UK and his architectural practice. Yet, he yearned to go back to Asia.

Four years later, he got the opportunity to return to this part of the world when he was appointed senior lecturer at the National University of Singapore, teaching urban design and urban planning to undergraduate and postgraduate students.

“All the books on urban design at the time were written by western academics such as Kevin Lynch, Leon Krier, Christopher Alexander and Jane Jacobs. How could their theories, which are based on European and American practices, be applied to the great cities of Asia?” Powell recalls.

“I was determined to visit as many cities in Asia as possible. I set out on an odyssey, in search of an answer to the question — how to design a city in Asia?”

He visited many countries in Asia, met up with architects and learnt about their practices. In his book, he features five architects from five countries: Tan Loke Mun of Malaysia, Malaysian-born but Singapore-based Rene Tan, Duangrit Bunnag of Thailand, Andra Matin of Indonesia and Vo Trong Nghia of Vietnam. During the book launch, the featured architects had the opportunity to share their notable projects.

Loke Mun, a former president of the Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM), is no stranger to Malaysia’s architecture industry. In 2009, he played an important role in introducing the Green Building Index (GBI) tool and has continued on a green trajectory across his projects.

To prove the case of green buildings, Loke Mun went on to design his home, notably known as S11 House, based on the GBI tool. S11 House is GBI Platinum-certified.

S11 House features a large canopy roof and cross-ventilation for a cooling effect in the house. The house runs on 25kWp generated from solar panels, which is its main source of electricity. Wind turbines were also installed.

“When I was in Vietnam for work, the suppliers of industrial turbines told me that the turbines would turn and suck out the hot air when there was a three-degree differential in the space below,” he said.

Loke Mun has integrated evaporative cooling into the house by having water features in his home. “These are the things I learnt from the Thais and Balinese — they have water features around the lobby.”

Meanwhile, Rene offered pearls of wisdom to the audience. “Never think like an architect, because if you do, the window will always look like a window, or the door will always look like a door.”

Instead, he advocated drawing inspiration from anywhere and everywhere. And that is exactly how he came up with the design for The Capers and The Fennel in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur, where he noticed abundant lalang and painted zig zag road signs in the area. Today, The Fennel and The Capers are landmarks of Sentul, thanks to their distinctive architectural design.

Duangrit talked about his project, The Naka. Located on the west coast of Phuket, Thailand, it features 94 villas with bedrooms overlooking the Andaman Sea. The villas were designed with a cascading scheme, following the contours of the mountain slope, while the bedrooms protrude from the slope terrain.

Meanwhile, Omah Jati, designed by Andra, features a one-bedroom, single-storey villa in the lush teak forest of West Java, Indonesia. An entrance to the villa is led by a raised timber walkway, with ponds on both sides. All these elements are fused together to create a tranquil environment.

As the book showcases the projects of each architect, Architects Regional Council Asia president Saifuddin Ahmad pointed out that many architects in Asia deserve as much recognition as those in the West.

“It’s about time that we, as Asians, look up to our own people. We should appreciate our own architects. If we don’t do that, who will?”

Save by subscribing to us for your print and/or digital copy.

P/S: The Edge is also available on Apple's App Store and Android's Google Play.