THE NEX T STEP TO A RCHITECTA Great Talk with architect f rom CLAD

THE TA LKOctober 2015 Issue 01

IN THIS ISSUE

03 CLA D THE OFFICE

04 M EET THE A RCHITECT

06 THE A RCHI-FA BULOUS

08 M A RINA SQUA RE

10 THE EDITORS

09 K GA LLERY

07 THE EX PERIENCE

CLA D THE OFFICEWhy CLA D?

CLAD is a playful name that comes out by the both architect, Mr. Chung and his wife. He took the f irst letter of each word as the name - Coffee, Latte, Alcohol, Drinks. He wants to build a working environment which is more relax to work in.

When CLA D f i rst started?

It started at the year of 2006 by Mr. Chung and his wife. Both of them are trained in architectural f irm before they came out to run their own company. There is just two of them in this company. The company is registered under Mrs. Chung's name. It is because Mr. Chung is not a registered architect. Both of them work from A to Z throughout each project. Namely, the design process to the hand over project to the owner.

Why don't h i re?

Mr. and Mrs. Chung f inish all the work by themselves. Although architecture job is very tiring, they do not hire any staff including draftsman because towards the end of the day, the one who gave ideas are them. They said draftsman is only needed when thinking and drawing is required. They do not think that it is necessary to hire a draftsman since they both can do that.

What is the w ork f low ?

There is no hierarchy and strategies for the company since there is just the couple work in that company. Mostly, they deal with small projects such as residential buildings and commercial buildings. Their job is exactly the same as the other licensed architect. They come out with design drafts, building models and detail drawings. They deal with manufacturers and contractors too. Whatever it is, it 's all under them.

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PROFILE

Name : Chung Kok Hung

Age : 42

Occupat ion : Architect

M EET THE A RCHITECT

Q: May we know your educat ional background in architecture?

A: I started my architecture study in a college called Federal Institute of Technology (FIT) in Cheras. This is where I learned my basic in architecture. After f inished the course, I went Sydney to continue my degree. I did my degree for 4 years in University of New South Wales.

Q: So, did you work in Sydney af ter you graduated f rom the University?

A: No, after my degree, I went Singapore to work for 2 years. I worked in an architecture f irm called DCA Architect. I learned most from this architectural f irm. The experiences that I have in this 2 years is the most important architecture progress I have.

Q: You said you work in Singapore for 2 years, so where do you go af ter that ?

A: I came back to Malaysia to work because I found that there's not much opportunities in Singapore. I joined GDP Architect, a famous architecture f irm in Malaysia. I stil l can remember that my f irst project in GDP is UiTM. Mostly, I involve in the conceptual stage for most of the projects.

Q: Why you wanted to start your own company instead to have a high salary in GDP Architect?

A: I wanted to start CLAD because I feel t iring in f lying. Before I quit GDP, I was involved in a big project in Abu Dhabi. That involved f lying to and fro regularly and it was tiring. I eventually got bored of travelling, so I started my own company.

Q: You have more than 10 years of experience in the f ield of architecture, what actual ly inspires you to become a good architect?

A: Well, there's no inspiration at the f irst place. I did not do well in my high school. It just happened. I began studying architecture and I did not what it was at that t ime but as it went along I started to enjoy it .

Q: There may be dif ferent ideas between you and your col leagues, wil l you f ind a hard t ime to work with them?

A: Well, in DCA and GDP, my colleagues are nice. Although sometimes we may have dif ferent opinions, but that is not a big deal. All of us have an objective , "To achieve a good piece in architecture".

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Q: Do an architect real ly to be good in drawings ?

A: That is not necessary for a good architect to be good in drawings. I f ind it quite challenging in drawing as well. It is all about ideas, how you conceptualize things, how you see your everyday lifestyle , how you blend all these things together to make it works. That is what the f irst stage that an architect should have.

Q: Wil l you come out with many ideas in designing?

A: Ideas need to be tested and must have a strong reason to support your idea. Ideas can be small but it can grow big. You can have many ideas, but it does not mean that you can implement all the ideas into the same project. That is one thing that you have to be very smart about. Sometimes, too many ideas will destroy the outlook of your design. So, 1 or 2 ideas I think is far enough in designing.

Q: Is your design fol lowing the K.I.S.S. principle?

A: Yes, Keep It Simple Stupid. Your idea can be very simple but simple sometimes may be dif f icult.

Q: What is the hardest problem that you have met t i l l now?

A: Well, the hardest task that I have as an architect is dealing with clients. For example, you are asked to design a bungalow. You have to listen to the client's brief . Most clients do not know what they want, they just know how many rooms they want to have in this bungalow.The most challenging part is to create the lifestyle. You do not know what kind of l ifestyle that your clients want . So, I always asked my clients about what they do when they are at home. From there, I have to design the building from their l ifestyle.

Q: What is the biggest achievement that you think you have?

A: The biggest achievement is I put effort in my projects.have been keeping all my projects as a good practice which means I am very concerned with all the projects I deal with. I'm very proud that I put 100% commitment in it. I do not simply design something just for the money. Some developers just want to maximize the whole plot of the plan but I do not see it that way. By maximizing the whole piece of land does not mean it has the quality. I am very concerned about how public space is used. That is what I called the give and take attitude. You have to practice this attitude so that your project will be beautiful.

Q: Do you have any quote to keep you mot ivated?

A: " To do a good piece of work"

Q: What advice do you have for the future architects?

A: Enjoy. Architectural job has a lot of work.You have to continue your work until the last minute. For example, tomorrow is the deadline and you have to f inalize your work today and work until the last minute. That is quite sad about an architect's l ife. There's no cut off l ine, you have to work continuously all the time. There is also no right or wrong in architecture as long as your design works.

One of Mr. Chung's project

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Richard M eierHe is the one that Mr. Chung looked at when he was in university. Look at how he works, related his ideas to drawings, how he produce beautiful drawings. He is very good in playing forms, ideas of public spaces especially open spaces.

Mr Chung admire Peter Zumthor because Peter is very good at materials. With just using one material, he can make the material f ly. That is how he deals with spaces. The choice of materials and texture he made is all about senses.

The reason Mr. Chung admire Steven Holl is that Steven is very good in conceptualization. His artwork will always amaze people by the outcome. The buildings that he designed is unique but at the same time, it will blend well with the surroundings.

THE A RCHI-FA BULOUS Mr. Chung has architects that he looks up to. Let us meet them.

Peter Zumthor

Steven Hol l K ev in M ark LowKevin Mark Low is a Malaysian architect. He is a master of small tricks. He tried to do things as cheaply as he can managed. He focus in an issue or a content when he is designing. When he touched on that issue, he will deal with the word Economy

Bellevue Arts Museum by Steven Holl

Getty Center by Richard Meier St Benedict Chapel by Peter Zumthor

Gardenshell house by Kevin Mark Low

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2009Adora 38 DK House C.K.S.AyveeK Shop T Factory M- House S-Comm

2010Tony Liew Residence

2011W Off ice L.C.H.Zen Park Winnie Villamanja Harmoni Tiger Off ice Long House84 Damansara

2014Car ShowroomGcove

THE EX PERIENCEThe 14 years in architecture f ield, Mr. Chung has involved in a lot of projects. These projects let him learn new things and gain more experiences.

Mr. Chung involved in many projects during his time in DCA Architect and GDP Architect. After 2006, when he started his own company, he runs more projects with his wife. Here are the list that the projects ClAD have done so far.

2005Tamarind K Gallery

2006Desa Park T28PJS17

2007NadiaSimonLake FieldBlueboy Lumbermart L Gallery

2008T.Y.L.FokJoseph YuAdora 26Sri MurniN House CR3Desa PermaiFac 8065Fac 7772

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CA LLOUT GOESHERE

M A RINA SQUA RE-

The most t iring project that Mr. Chung have ever had. It is also one of the big project that Mr. Chung involved in. Let us look at what role that he played in this project .

Marina Square was a big project that Mr. Chung involved in when he was working in GDP Architect. Mostly, GDP Architect will be involved in big projects, that was one of the reason that Mr. Chung chose to be in GDP Architect. He wanted to get out from the comfort zone and be better at what he does.This specif ic waterfront project, Marina Square gave him the opportunity to gain experiences.

Marina Square was a big project that held in Reem Island, Abu Dhabi. It took years to be completed. It covered an area of 50 acres containing residential blocks with 2,000 units of apartments, off ice towers, a 700 rooms hotel block, commercial and retail spaces. Marina Square also anchored by a yacht club with a total development of 10 mill ion square foot.

Mr. Chung had to come up with ideas in planning the 50 acres of land. He was involved in the conceptual stage up until the construction.He had to plan on what buildings to be placed at the 50 acres of land. He and his colleagues did not sketch out the f inal outlook at the starting of the project. The f irst stage of this project is more on how to lay down the buildings in this big space. They studied about what kind of things to be addressed in the terms of public interest and how the buildings relate to each other.

The main idea of planning the land came from the

site. Mr. Chung had to visit the site to understand that crit ical area depending on the topology of the surroundings . Good town planning will attract people to stay here. Hence, Mr. Chung and his colleagues had to understand which building to be located here. They had to decide to turn this area into a residential area or a commercial area. "This is one of the reason that site study is carried on.", said Mr. Chung. Besides, he had to understand his client's requirements as well. Based on the three concept which are the topology of that area, the lifestyle of the people and the client's requirement, Mr. Chung had to conceptualize the area.

Mr. Chung said that working at Abu Dhabi was very hard. As it is a large scale project, he and his colleagues worked for about 24 hours per day. The lack of proper facil it ies and f lying between Kuala Lumpur and Abu Dhabi made him tired and feel bored about his job. The rules and regulations from the authorit ies were not clear too. He had to decide the materials to be used for the buildings with no proper brief. Therefore, there were a lot of pressure about completing the work on time. This is the reason that he quit GDP Architect and started his own company - CLAD.

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K GA LLERY

K Gallery, a two-storey high shop lot built in 2006, sandwiched in between two main petrol station , was the f irst independent project Mr. Chung had been assigned to after starting his own company, The Clad Off ice.

In this project, Mr. Chung, working as the lead architect, was in charge of almost every step, up til l the completion of this building of his.?? We ( Mr. Chung and his wife) started from doing the design, and then the construction, then we followed up until the whole project is completed,?? Mr. Chung told us enthusiastically as he was asked about one of the projects he best had an impression of.

At f irst his client?s demand was to build a shop lot, ??as high as possible,?? was what he told Mr. Chung. Standing in the point of a developer, to build a tall building within a small area of land is the easiest and most beneficial way to earn large amount of prof it. Nevertheless, Mr. Chung, as a well-experienced and committed architect, came to a realization that building a three or possibly four-storey high building in between two petrol station was not going to work out. ?? I f ind it very funny. I don?t think it works at all,?? was what Mr. Chung told us as he further explained to us the reason behind his concern.

He proposed his idea to his client, an entirely dif ferent image of how a shop lot would look like. Since the company was run by two architects, Mr. Chung and his wife, it was much more work compared to larger companies with more amount of manpower. His design was to have a two-storey high shop lot, including an area for outdoor spaces and suff icient amount for indoor activit ies. This shop lot was transformed into a F&B outlet, surrounded by an array of green landscape around it. His concept of having green and garden around the concrete building making sure that this two elements interplayed between one another.

Other than designing the structure of the building, Mr. Chung also needs to be aware of the circulation around the building. Taking into consideration a smooth and safe circulation, he issued well the traff ic configuration, car pathway as well as public issue happening around that area.

After the designing stage had been completed and upon gaining approval from his client, the construction stage took place. Working alongside with engineers, as well as constructor and other specialists, he made sure that each stage was did to perfection. This project took about one year to complete.

The f irst project that Mr. Chung and his wife involved in af ter they start their company - CLAD. They put a lot of ef fort in this project .

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THE EDITORS

Lim Peidi Lim Xiao Shi Natasya Jasmin

Melvin Tan Firzana Amal Shahid

Lee Jun Yen

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