Room x Living ASEAN Design Talk 2024 at BITEC, Bangkok

Sunday, August 4, 2024
10:00 AM 12:30 PM 10:00 12:30

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"room x Living Asean Design Talk 2024" event with the topic "(Re)Thinking Inside the Box: Vol.1 Living in Small Urban Spaces" will be held at the Baan Lae Suan (Home and Garden) Fair Midyear 2024 on August 4, 2024.

Our topic: Interplay between urban and landscape

Activity: Design Talk - (Re)Thinking Inside the Box: Vol.1 Living in Small Urban Spaces

- Date: Sunday, August 4, 2024

- Time: 13:00 - 17:00

- Location: BITEC Bangna, Bangkok, Thailand

- (https://goo.gl/maps/tJkTepDgUVSBUatH9)

- Language: English

Theme: Exploring small living spaces that reflect the challenges in the context of urban areas.

https://www.formzero.net/

https://www.facebook.com/livingasean/posts/pfbid02W56TEFu6V8arrde8HBhp55De6ATam13GXwWGfAAQpAk7xhAedLTd675kDspbfWbVl

https://livingasean.com/culture/formzero-tropical-design-integrates-greenery-into-the-urban-landscape/

The following are the excerpts from the Living Asean FB and living asean website page above:

”…PEOPLE / Lee Cherng Yih and Caleb Ong, of Formzero

A Modern Tropical Design Duo Integrates Greenery into the Urban Landscape

PETALING JAYA, MALAYSIA / Room and Living ASEAN have the pleasure of introducing Lee Cherng Yih and Caleb Ong of Formzero, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, an architectural practice specialized in contemporary Tropical design. The two architects are renowned for their untiring advocacy of sustainable residential design and creative ways to decorate with plants.

Their eager embrace of green concepts has enabled the works of Formzero to stand out from the crowd. Worthy of attention are homes carefully thought out to blend beautifully with the surroundings and Tropical climates prevailing in peninsular Malaysia. In a few words, it’s about creating urban living spaces where people and greenery thrive in close physical association.

In addition to a distinguished career in design, the pair also teaches architecture at a university in Malaysia. Their working life in academia has given them the opportunity of combining formal knowledge with hands-on experience in the fields. One of their signature works is the “Planer Box House”, a narrow front home in Kuala Lumpur adorned with edible gardens growing luxuriantly from the ground up all the way to the rooftop deck. At the risk of stating the obvious, it’s designed to answer the need of a homeowner who has a preference for growing plants.

Together they give the home instant curb appeal that’s quite a departure from what people expect to see in a residential neighborhood. From architectural perspectives, it’s about finding a balance between sustainable living and overcrowding in the big city, a new conceptualization of design that “goes beyond the typology”.

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𝐐: 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐳𝐞𝐫𝐨?

𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐢𝐡: Formzero is a design studio under the leadership of myself, Lee Cherng Yih, and Caleb Ong. Besides the two of us, we also have a five-strong design team. Established in 2012, our office has been up and running for 12 years now. As an architectural practice, from day one we’ve focused our attention on creating designs that could effectively respond to the challenges of Tropical climates. We looked into how green spaces could be integrated in building design. In central respects, that’s pretty much the heart of our studio.

𝐐: 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞?

𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐢𝐡: In my opinion, Tropical architecture can be seen from two different points of view. First, it’s an architectural style that embraces climatic conditions prevailing in the locality. I’m not saying that everyone can live in a place without air conditioning. Rather, I’m talking about finding a balance between sustainability and energy consumption in homes. That said, we need a design that works, one capable of dealing with weather that changes seasonally.

Secondly, we cannot trust everything in the physical world, and the built environment on top of that. As humans, we are part of nature. We should make appropriate adaptations to fit in well with a new environment, rather than trying to change the environment to suit our needs. I think that these two points of view are of the utmost importance as we try to understand and reap the benefits of living in Tropical climates.

𝐐: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐮𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐚? 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬?

𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐛 𝐎𝐧𝐠: Nowadays, urban areas across the region have become more densely populated, giving rise to the problem of lack of privacy. That said, we have to create spaces where people can live without being constantly observed or disturbed by others. Everybody wants to feel safe and protected from disruptions that come with living in a crowded place.

𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐢𝐡: In my opinion, it’s obvious that population growth only exacerbated the problem of overcrowding in urban areas. At the same time, there’s a need to protect the ecological sustainability of the planet. And that’s where well-thought-out design comes into play as we adapt to changes in our lives. It’s a challenge that tests the abilities of architects like us. We have to find a balance between urban living and saving the environment.

𝐐: 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨, 𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧?

𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐘𝐢𝐡: The first project, called Windows House, is a home in Kuala Lumpur. It has double layer façades for two reasons. First, they are designed to keep direct sunlight out of the rooms during the hottest hours. Then, because the homeowners had expressed privacy concerns, we solved the problem for them by putting in architectural elements extending outward from the building facades. As a result, the inner walls perform a dual function providing sun protection while creating semi-outdoor room that’s snug and cozy. Meanwhile, the facades built of perforated materials make the home feel light and airy.

The second project, known as Vertical Park, is a high-rise building, which we entered into a competition. It’s located in a city where open public spaces are few and far between. So we experimented with the idea of incorporating greenery as the integral part of the building’s communal areas, business spaces, even children’s playgrounds. Together they form the building façade overlooking the street below. It’s an idea that begs the question. What is the façade, anyway? Is it a public space? Or is it a business venue? It’s both. We incorporated fun ideas in the design to invite people to visit for pleasure.

The third project, called Planter Box House, is a home adorned with edible landscapes thriving on the front façade and rooftop deck. The principal face of the building holds planter boxes of concrete made for growing vegetables and fruit trees. It’s designed to blend in with other homes in the area, giving rise to conversations and promoting neighborly relationships. Needless to say, it caters to the homeowner who loves growing plants. Like a farm, it even has a place to store water for growing crops.

𝐐: 𝐓𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐩 𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐩, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞 “𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲” 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞? 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤?

𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐛 𝐎𝐧𝐠: I think that, viewed in its essential qualities, sustainable design is about finding ways to reduce energy use and creating a living space that’s easy to care for. In the big picture, sustainable design requires less energy to build and is flexible in terms of building performance. These are qualities that enable the building industry to thrive while causing the least impact on the environment….”

Video recording of the panel discussion could be viewed at:

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/bT9qZGqbA5aABiDW/

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Room x Living ASEAN Design Talk 2024 at BITEC, Bangkok