Talk Architecture

Send us Fan Mail In conjunction with the International Day for Disabled Persons on 3rd December, this is a special podcast focusing on 'what is embracing disability and designing for accessibility for an architect and designer?' Why is it important to design for accessibility as part of any design approach from the beginning? For further information, do join the Facebook Group: Smart Des...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when an architect meets a biologist and chat about "Genius Loci" [Sense of Place]? However, Dr. N. Hashim has been around architects most of her life and is familiar with architectural terms. As a keen geographer and writer herself, the discussion revolved around the kind of design approach needed and learning experience necessary to even understand what &ap...

Send us Fan Mail This two-part commentary and part review of an article by Zach Mortice found at the AIA website (American Institute of Architecture), tells a story of the current phenomenon on disability access and inclusion practice by architects and provides insights on how architects still need to 'own the process' of designing for inclusion from the beginning or as part of the desig...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the 1st in a new series of podcasts on the topic: Architecture Design with Design Empathy, Accessibility, and Universal Design. We start off with an introduction on: Understanding Barriers Understanding Disability For further information, do join the Facebook Group: Smart Design with Disabled Access in Mind © 2021 Talk Architecture, Author: Naziaty Mohd Yaacob Photo (ar...

Send us Fan Mail Reflecting on situations when we encounter the student is stuck and cannot move forward with his design, we ask why? A couple of conclusions based on some deliberations: 1) Lack of understanding 'context' for the first-degree student where there is too much fixation on 'form' learned in the first year; 2) Lack of design approach on dealing with the context and...

Send us Fan Mail You cannot take out 'people' from the context. Context is arguably very tangible, as we can assume that form is obviously tangible. Chris Alexander, 1971, said that: form is the design solution whereas, context defines the design problem. Context comes first, form later.  Defining the context well, understanding people and relationships, she is trying to be 'in the...

Send us Fan Mail Context is about people and relationships. “The ultimate object of design is form” (Christopher Alexander, 1977). He further stated that: “Every design problem begins with an effort to achieve fitness between two entities: the form in question and its context”. The form is the solution to the problem; the context defines the problem” But what is 'context'? We continue th...

Send us Fan Mail We continue the conversation around this quote: "Design is the Conversation Between Creativity and Context" (Kevin Mark Low (author) in Small Projects, ORO Editions (May 1, 2014)) Introducing on 'specific context', which later was often quoted as 'context specificities' (after Low), when dealing with a design project, may it be a real-life project or...

Send us Fan Mail Discussion on how to design for inclusivity, focusing on adaptive re-use and conservation practice, suggesting ways on how to go about this based on some case studies.  You would want your design to include as many people as possible, especially if it is a public building. But you do not want to make your building feel like it's a 'medical facility' with all those s...

Send us Fan Mail We continue with the readings from the next 3 pages of the book entitled: The Model and Its Architecture by Patrick Healy, where he examines the architectural model. The readings so far touched upon, metaphors, concepts, ideology and other assertions. What I find most useful so far with what was discussed in part 1 & 2, is how to think and argue the relationship between '...

Send us Fan Mail You would want your design to include as many people as possible, especially if it is a public building. But you do not want to make your building feel like it's a 'medical facility' with all those stainless steel railings, for example. What can you do? Some thoughts here on how to approach your design and achieve a balance in making it more functional and yet, aest...

Send us Fan Mail What are the pre-occupations that the architect has with the model? Is it always to do with depicting exactly what one needs to build? That depends on the context the model is being made for. And models are not always about architecture, as we have models of atoms and molecules in chemistry and mathematical models. The first 3 page reading of the book entitled: The Model and Its A...

Send us Fan Mail If students or architecture/graduates are not able to hold a conversation and be engaged with others such as their tutors and peers, their employers, the other consultants, the contractor and supplier, the design team members, they would not be able to form a connection and be able to do their job in a satisfactory manner. Extending our discussion on the topic of how to compete gl...

Send us Fan Mail What do you learn in architecture schools nowadays? There are so many things to learn apart from your studio work, you would have a few other classes going on concurrently. What has been gained and what is at a loss? Can a student/graduate be able to hold a conversation? Consistently, this point was made by Huat Lim in our podcast and clubhouse event [School of Architecture Sessio...

Send us Fan Mail The current practice of architecture may not be of concern with the theory of architecture, but more than 2,000 years ago in Rome, the theory of architecture was regarded the same as the practice of architecture. Quoted by Vitruvius on "Utility, Strength, and Beauty" as the fundamental principles of architecture, the architect, builder, and engineer in the Roman times in...

Send us Fan Mail In series 6, we continue with the discussion of how the theory of architecture includes the human perspective in terms of "function". Based on the Bloomberg City Lab article written by Anna Zivarts, on April 23, 2021, entitled "The ‘15-Minute City’ Isn’t Made for Disabled Bodies", we discussed how urban planners are not having the conversation to include disabl...

Send us Fan Mail In the second part of a recent podcast in series 6, we continue with the discussion of how the theory of architecture includes the human perspective in terms of "function". Based on the Bloomberg City Lab article written by Anna Zivarts, on April 23, 2021, entitled "The ‘15-Minute City’ Isn’t Made for Disabled Bodies", we discussed further how it is important f...

Send us Fan Mail This is a podcast outlining the questions and discussion points that will be addressed in this session: “Session #1 - School of Architecture ” the topic of "Can Malaysian Architecture Schools be like the AA School?" The host of Talk Architecture, Naziaty Mohd Yaacob will be discussing with Amna Emir, Cheah Ee Von, Huat Lim and moderated with Nur Izzati among others. You...

Send us Fan Mail Concluding part of the journey: Amna A Emir on "Can Malaysian Architecture Schools be like the AA School?" (Part 2) Amna related her Part 2 Diploma years unit journey as a student at the AA school of architecture and concluded skeptically on whether Malaysian Architecture Schools can be like the AA.  It is notable that the AA student even in the first year considered the...

Send us Fan Mail Special Guest 2: Amna A Emir on "Can Malaysian Architecture Schools be like the AA School?" (Part 1) Amna takes us on a  journey as a student at the AA school of architecture, in this podcast episode, bringing us, close to her experiences, from Year 1 to Year 3.  Some points discussed include - Amna using her intuition to find and fit into a unit, appreciating the total...

Send us Fan Mail Teaser: Our guest for the next interview session on  "Can Malaysian Architecture Schools be like the AA School?" will be: Amna A Emir, designer, architect and mother, and a director at Neuformation, and we shall have a really good insight on what happens to the student as Amna will take us on a  journey as a student at the AA school of architecture. Amna did say earlier...

Send us Fan Mail "The concluding part, with Huat Lim, AA Dip . The 3rd in our series on "Can Malaysian Architecture Schools be like the AA School?" In this conversation, Huat argues further on the need to "ask deeper questions", such as probing more about nature, when the topic is "bio-mimicry". We need to cultivate a questioning mind and not assume things. Other...

Send us Fan Mail Special Guest 1: Huat Lim, AA Dip . The 3rd in our series on "Can Malaysian Architecture Schools be like the AA School?" All the questions asked, including 'what is the difference between AA grads and non AA grads', 'is designing a kitchen as complex as designing a building', 'how AA school teaches you to think', and many more right here in...

Send us Fan Mail A teaser on the upcoming interview and conversation with Huat Lim, Managing Director of ZLG Design on the topic of "Can Malaysian Architecture Schools be like the AA School?" We will unpack a lot of stuff on the learning experience as Huat graduated from the AA school in the early 80s. Huat Lim contributed as a part-time tutor in my 3rd-year design studio back in 2000 an...

Send us Fan Mail Concluding part: Conversation with Nur Izzati Mohd Khairan "Can Malaysian Architecture Schools be like the AA School?" (Part 2) Izzati and I continued with the agenda of learning 'theory' in the design studio programs and whether Malaysian graduates can compete globally. We found out that in the Part 2 MArch course, learning theory is an option, and in an elect...