Talk Architecture

Send us Fan Mail A frank discussion on a commentary based on Seshan Design's post in a Facebook Group. They highlighted on systemic problems where "the burden of education has quietly shifted from academia to practice", and later gave comments on the problems specifically: the lack of fundamental skills on: 1. Drawing clearly 2. Understanding how buildings put together 3. Accuracy 4...

Send us Fan Mail We explain further in depth on the dialogic studio critique methods to explain how we can transform architecture education. In Part 2B, we delve into: Common Dialogic Critique Methods Round-Table or Harkness Method Peer Crits (Structured Peer Feedback) Group Crits or Panel Discussions with Student Involvement Formative Desk Crits as True Dialogue Narrative-Based Dialogic Design (N...

Send us Fan Mail We frequently speak of students as "products" or "graduates"—metrics to be optimized for Lembaga Arkitek Malaysia (LAM) Part I and II exemptions, high QS subject rankings, graduate employability rates, and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). But where is the student's voice?  Do aspiring architects truly seek personal and societal transformation through des...

Send us Fan Mail Dialogic studio critique methods shift traditional architecture design studios from 'hierarchical, tutor-dominated feedback' (often called "desk crits" or juries) to collaborative, multi-voiced conversations. These approaches, inspired by Donald Schön's "reflection-in-action," Mikhail Bakhtin's polyphony, and Vygotsky's socio-constructi...

Send us Fan Mail We dive into the conversation on "reforms in architecture education" to understand further how education affects the profession in a profound way. The principles from Mark Alan Hewitt's 2020 reforms explained in arch daily —emphasizing embodied cognition through hand drawing, physical model-making, haptic engagement, and sensory-rich practices—can absolutely be inte...

Send us Fan Mail Another “unfiltered” critic argues that architecture education is the root cause of the profession being undervalued and widely misunderstood. The defense of the profession, we contend, must begin in academia, where the core problem lies in situating architecture schools to comply with—and be dictated by—non-architects who neither understand nor uphold the profession’s essential c...

Send us Fan Mail This podcast episode is a one-off reaction piece to the discussion on "What makes a good studio master?" It refers to the Malaysian Architecture Education context and the premise from the problem of bureaucracy.  The assertion here argues that formal qualifications (PhD, Part 3 registration, 5+ years industry/teaching experience) proposed by the Malaysian Board of Archit...

Send us Fan Mail Architecture education and the problems of competent graduates have been discussed elsewhere in Talk Architecture podcast, but this topic shows how much things have changed in architecture education and how it affected the curriculum. So, this morning I asked Grok: Do you think that more and more architecture education and the ranking system serves the developer’s agenda than soci...

Send us Fan Mail The “research-framework” approach to design theses is a myth and must end. Best industry preparation: give the entire studio one real, complex, shared urban site and force students to solve 10–15 genuine, layered design problems from day one. This final episode of a 3-part series explains how using two cases almost a decade apart. 2008–09 (wrong way): 24 students → 24 different (o...

Send us Fan Mail In the second part of this three-part series on the “context specificity” approach, we explain a design thesis studio philosophy that insists on “real site + real community issues only,” with the focus placed on identifying and solving authentic design problems. The studio runs for a full academic year, structured as:   7 weeks of Special Semester (Brief proposal on site analysis...

Send us Fan Mail For a design thesis, context specificity approach is the answer, the only way to get students of architecture to be ready, equipped, going into the architecture industry because that's the way the industry works. There is no place for speculative design, prototypes or fantasy design, as you will not be able to overcome the challenges of the industry. This episode is the first...

Send us Fan Mail For Architecture Academics, a special podcast on: Why Research Framework cannot be used in Architectural Design, specifically in the Architecture Studio Design Thesis Curriculum. An introduction to a topic addressing what is currently wrong with the way we teach architecture in universities where research and publication becomes increasingly important and how we have lost our way...

Send us Fan Mail The seven principles of sensory-driven architecture, which focus on engaging human senses to create meaningful and immersive built environments, are often derived from the broader concepts of sensory design.  1. Sight (Visual Engagement) 2. Sound (Acoustic Harmony)  3. Touch (Tactile Experience) 4. Smell (Olfactory Design) 5. Temperature (Thermal Comfort) 6. Movement (Kinesthetic...

Send us Fan Mail The concluding part (Part 2) of this proposition of using sensory-driven architecture principles to achieve inclusive and therapeutic spaces as explained by Naziaty Mohd Yaacob, is based on a research to combine architecture, disability and phenomenology.  Based on an internet literature search, the 7 principles of Sensory-driven Architecture Principles are:  Sight (Visual Engagem...

Send us Fan Mail A new season on Sensory-driven Architecture principles and ideas. The first part of this proposition of using sensory-driven architecture principles to achieve inclusive and therapeutic spaces as explained by Naziaty Mohd Yaacob, started on a research to combine 'architecture', 'disability' and 'phenomenology'. Definitions and approach to how we could...

Send us Fan Mail The Concluding Part [Part 2] of the series on Women Architects in Leadership Roles, Ar. Lillian Tay discusses a variety of issues from gender roles in taking care of children and the challenges to women architects who decided to start a family, how the local government can provide for nurseries in office areas and whether there is the glass ceiling for women architects. Bio: Ar. L...

Send us Fan Mail In Part 1 of the series on Women Architects in Leadership Roles, Ar. Lillian Tay discusses on a wide range of issues regarding women architects, starting out in the beginning, the role of women in general, whether there is discrimination in architecture and architectural practice in reality. Bio: Ar. Lillian Tay is the Vice President of Veritas Design Group, est. 1987. She was tra...

Send us Fan Mail A Teaser introduction on a conversation with Ar. Lillian Tay in the series on Women Architects in Leadership Roles. (Part 1 & 2 - coming soon.) Bio: Ar. Lillian Tay is the Vice President of Veritas Design Group, est. 1987. She was trained at Princeton University and worked at Kohn Pederson Fox in New York. Lillian returned to Kuala Lumpur in 1991. At Veritas Design Group, she...

Send us Fan Mail The Concluding Part [Part 2] of the series on Women Architects in Leadership Roles, Ar. Almaz Salma Abdul Rahim discusses on how younger women architects need to find that balance in their profession, flexibility arrangements with your boss, having empathy with your staff, the importance of "me time" and resetting your mind over the weekend, the importance of learning fr...

Send us Fan Mail Commentary on the article entitled "Being an architect isn't worth it" says commenter published on 15 August 2025. Naziaty Mohd Yaacob argued that the connection to bridging the gap between architecture education and practice is to breakdown what exactly is the learning to acquire skills and knowledge to be an architect when it comes to 'design' as the stu...

Send us Fan Mail In Part 1 of the series on Women Architects in Leadership Roles, Ar. Almaz Salma Abdul Rahim discusses on networking at top management level, advice when fresh graduates started out in employment, stepping out of the comfort zone and keep on challenging oneself and even marketing for oneself, the importance of the right mentor, and how acquiring knowledge and keep on doing so help...

Send us Fan Mail A Teaser introduction on a conversation with Ar. Almaz Salma Abdul Rahim in the series on Women Architects in Leadership Roles. (Part 1 & 2 - coming soon.) Bio: Ar. Almaz Salma Abdul Rahim, Managing Director of Almaz Architect Sdn Bhd.  Throughout her 41 years of experience in the industry, she has been involved in over 250 design works in Malaysia winning awards. She was the...

Send us Fan Mail The Concluding Part [Part 2] of the series on Women Architects in Leadership Roles, Ar. Cheryl Quan discusses about the issues women architects face when "maternity leave" happens amongst other issues, the role of the institutions such as PAM, and more detailed deliberations on the Malaysian Architecture Week (MAW) and the awareness needed to get the public to know about...

Send us Fan Mail In Part 1 of the series on Women Architects in Leadership Roles, Ar. Cheryl Quan discusses about her experiences and challenges in her practice and recounted how she struggled in the beginning when there were clear gender-based biases she was up against. As one of the main curator of the recent exhibition and talks in conjunction with the Malaysian Architecture Week (MAW), after a...

Send us Fan Mail A Teaser introduction on a conversation with Ar Cheryl Quan in the series on Women Architects in Leadership Roles. (Part 1 & 2 - coming soon.) Bio: Ar. Cheryl Quan is the principal of Cheryl Quan Architect and partner in OTCQ architects, a practice focused on responsive, community-driven, and environmentally conscious design. She was named one of the 40 Under 40 Emerging Archi...