The evolving architecture scene in Sarawak
The architectural scene in Sarawak has flourished over the years changing and evolving as trends come and go.
With just mundane ‘rectangulish’ buildings dotting the landscape 40 years back, the architectural landscape in Sarawak has witnessed an evolution with more refined ‘state-of-the-art’ design concepts being applied.
“One has to know the history of architecture in order to appreciate each phase of the design.
Since most architectural designs are an influence from the past, we are now witnessing old architecture coming back into play melding with the modern architecture that exists today,” said Akitek KDI Sdn Bhd (AKDI) director Datuk Sri Ar John KS Lau when met by BizHive Weekly.
“The bidding scale of projects are getting bigger in terms of scale here and the involvement of the private sector in architecture is slowly being given prominence,” he said.
Lau pointed out that back in the 70s, there were merely 10 architects in Sarawak and now, there were more than 200 achitects pitting their talents against each other.
“Architects in the past used their hands to draw, but now they use computers.
To me, that has really transformed the way a building is conceptualised and the way it can be built.”
“During our time, we did not dare to dream of building something which was too risky or complicated because it was limited to how much a hand was capable of drawing.
If the building was curvy, it was almost impossible for a human hand to draw,” he shared.
“However, the advent of computers have stretched the boundaries and broken down the limitations,” he added.
In Sarawak, Lau said the general public are now more aware of architecture design and are more ‘choosy’ in terms of architecture concept that reflected their needs.
He, however, pointed out that when buildings were ‘too’ radically different or outrageous, the majority of the public still found it difficult to accept.
With Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (Score) a thriving reality, he foresaw that there would be more massive industrial buidlings coming up in Bintulu and Mukah.
“Also, high density condominiums were already being built in major towns in Sarawak including Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu and Miri.
With that, do not doubt the local architecture design standard as we are comparable to our neighbouring countries, especially Singapore.
“We have local architects who have won international awards and are being featured on the global architecture design stage,” he stressed.
“With more competition and architects, buildings were bound to get better and more sophisticated.” However, Lau pointed out the two main challenges faced by local architects – constrain of budget allocated for building construction and timeframe for architects to complete designs.
“I believe while we can let the computer to do all kinds of forms, the architect himself has to be responsive to the needs of the society and also take into account the selection of technology in design,” he concluded.
“At A Glance” AKDI commenced operations on July 4, 1977 in Sibu.
Having established a foothold locally, it ventured into setting up an office in Kuala Lumpur in 1989 armed with a wealth of expertise that it had garnered from its humble beginnings.
In 1996, AKDI successfully established its office beyond Malaysian shores in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
It currently has a workforce of 25 people including 24 architects who are specialising in the various disciplines of architecture.
AKDI is active both within and outside Malaysia with projects in 10 countries.