Pi tan

AR TAN PEI ING An interview with Malaysia's most successful female architect.

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Ar Tan Pei Ing also known as

PI Tan, is a registered architect in the Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM). She is the former president of the Malaysian Institute of Architects, reigning since August 2001. She completed her entire course in architecture and currently holds a masters degree from Melbourne University.

Ar PI Tan is currently the

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president of ARCASIA which is a council consisting of all the Presidents of the National Institutes in Asia. She is also the principal of PI Architects, an architecture firm based in Malaysia.

Ar PI Tan is involved in many major projects. Some of her notable projects include the IOI Mall in Puchong, Marriot Hotel in Putrajaya, IOI City and IOI Business Park. She has won several awards for her projects such as the FIABCI Award under hotel category. Her firm was also awarded the BCI Top 10 Architects Award for Malaysia in 2011 and 2013.

Today, Ar PI Tan is regarded the Iron Lady by the media for her works and contributions in Malaysian architecture - which she finds quite amusing, stating "People nicknamed me Iron Lady, but I perceive myself to be quite feminine", she said in an interview. She is the first female head of PAM in 90 years since its inception and elected as president of ARCASIA 2013-2014, which she also holds the position as the first and only female president.

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1. What made you interested in studying architecture?

My interest started very much late into my teens, when I finished my form five. When I was young, I came from a very small town in Kajang, so not much is happening there. But at that time I always follow my parents to Kuala Lumpur, and I see how buildings actually transform the skyline. There is a lot of excitement created, and everytime when I went down to KL, which is not a very frequent occasion, there is something new to see, and I told myself I want to be part of the process. I also felt that staying in a small town with very little things happening, you actually realise how building transform the way that you live and use the space, so I said I want to be part of the process, but that was only the initial interest. I didn't really think much about it until I had a very close friend whom I used to visit after school, and the brother was doing a course in PAM at the time, so everytime I went to the house, I see

him putting up all the perspective of nice buildings and I felt interest in architecture and I started asking him about architecture, so that was the second time I was introduced to architecture.

2. How long did you take to complete the entire course and earn the 'Ar' title?

It is actually a very long process. That's why I always said, unless you are very passionate about architecture, if not it is a very long process, maybe just as long as being a doctor or longer. Of course after you complete your matriculation or form six, then you apply to university. During my time, most of the courses are six years course. Melbourne University, where I obtained my Bachelor in Architecture is a six years course. It is very different from the structure now, and you don't even get anything in between, so you have to complete your six years course. The six years there will be one year off after third year, what we call the 'practical experience', so you literally have to take a year off. But I was very lucky in the sense that during my year, I actually applied for exemption because we are overseas student and family was not well to do, we wanted to complete the course as quick as possible. There are certain disdvantages too because when you do not have the practical experience, the fourth and fifth year will be more difficult. But a few of us actually applied for the exemption, so we completed the course one shot and I got the Bachelor of Architecture.

So when I came back to Malaysia, if you come from what we called the recognised programme, straight away you get your part one and part two, then you have to register yourself with the Board of Architects Malaysia. After that you have to go through two years practical experience. Out of the two years practical experience, one year could be in overseas but minimum one year must be in Malaysia. After you complete the two years, you have to fill in a logbook, basically document your practical experience then get it submitted, and register for part three exam. After passing the exam there will be an interview. If you pass the interview, then you will gain the title 'Ar'.

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3. Are you or have you been involved in any major construction projects?

I started my practice 1989 after I passed my part three examination in 1998. At that time when I started, there was only my secretary and I. But my company, PI Architects has actually grown over the years. When I first started my company, it was very small, so we started doing some housing scheme. Currently today, we have completed quite a few major projects; one of them is the IOI Mall in Puchong, another one is the Marriot Hotel in Putrajaya. Currently we are involved in the IOI City and the construction of the Pacific Condominium. So we have completed quite a few projects.

4. What do you see as important issues, challenges, or considerations in a project?

I think to do a project, it is actually a very long process; from the moment you meet your client, to understand the design briefly. Because however you design, you must be able to meet the requirements that are given to you. For example of designing a condominium, you have to know the target market, the facilities you need to provide, the size of the room and et cetra. So the first step is formulating a very accurate design brief to actually start to do your design, so to understand your client's requirement is very important. As you know, to do a project from inception to completion, for any project, it will easily take five or even up to ten years, because construction will take a few years. From the moment you receive your design brief and do the design, then you have to present the design to the client. So you must convince them that your design works and it fulfills the requirements. That process can stretch from a few months to a couple of years. Sometimes even they agree with the design but because of market changes, the design brief will be revised. So there may be a lot of design changes in between, and by the time your design have been confirmed, you have to prepare building plans. Then you have to

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submit to the authorities for approval. Currently the submssion process to approval process is a long process. So by the time you get the approved, you have to get your tender documentation to prepare all your drawings for tender. Then after that you go into the construction stage, you will have to go to site meetings to make sure the contractors do exactly what you have prepared, and monitor the progress and quality of work. You have to select all the materials and review the quality of the materials that are supplied to the site. By the time the project is completed, you have to check the building for defects and then go through the CCC process. Sometimes things will go wrong on the site, so it is a very intensive involvment.

5. How do you describe the workload of an architect? How busy can one architect be?

Throughout the so many years I've practiced, we have the high period and low period. It's never constant. It all depends

what projects do you have at that time. As a principal of a company, of course we will ensure that we don't overstretch ourselves. Because by overstretching yourself, you will affect the quality of your service. But whatever said and done, it also cannot be anticipated because sometimes you think that the project will go into construction phase based on certain time frame, situation change, so you have to adapt. We can be very busy where we have to rush through many projects that start happening at the same time. We will eventually be very busy to the point where we don't get enough sleep. It is like doing architecture during university period. Averagely in one week, we don't sleep for three to four nights. But of course now you can get extra staff to help you. My practice is lucky in the sense that, because we have been working with big developers, so the volume of work is always there. But we do go through what we call the "turbulence" period or the peak period. It is always a cycle.

6. Do you have experience with green or sustainable design?

I am very involved with green and sustainable design. Green Building Index was set up through collaborative effort between PAM and the Association of Consulting Engineers Malaysia (ACEM). We felt that there was lack of awareness of sustainable architecture, and we felt that with all these recent climatic change, as an architect we should initiate and promote the awareness of green buildings. So we started this green building reading tool a few years ago, and currently I'm one of the board member of Green Building Index Sdn. Bhd., which is the company that holds the green building reading tool. ARCASIA is also promoting many sustainable developement because as architects, it's our duty to be aware of green designs. It should be implemented in architectural education. When I was doing architecture, we also start designing from basic; which are contexture, the environment, culture, climatic condition and etc.

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Unfornately over the years, because of all these iconic western culture, we seem to have lost that awareness. The International Union of Architects is promoting more awareness of green architecture. We have a special commitee what we call the 'Green and Sustainable Commitee’ to look at how we can promote this also to the general public. We hope that this will eventually become a consideration in every design process.

7. What are you greatest achievements in the field of architecture?

I never really think that I have achieved very much. I think it is important that you really commit in whatever you do. As a professional architect, there's always one thing I always remind myself, which is professionalism and integrity. I am working in a professional service industry, so the professional service is not just to your client, but also to the commitee. Because when you create a building, the public is using that building. I am very much into what I call "Architecture for humanity and community", because I feel that as an architect, sometimes our role isn't just fulfiling cilent's requirements, but it is also extending it a little bit more, so we should spend time to do work for those who cannot afford our services. I never take on architecture and include things with the intentions of being successful. I always believe that success will come with commitment and passion in what you do. If you really ask me what are my greatest achievements, one of it is being the first lady president of PAM within the last 90 years, and another is that when I started my practice, there were only two of us, so we have grown into not really a big size practice, maybe a small-medium practice. In that way, I suppose is an achievement. And now I'm currently the ARCASIA president, out of the 19 architecture member institutes we have, so that is also a milestone in my career.

8. What do you expect to see from the students who are learning architecture currently impact future projects?

We feel that a lot of the fresh graduates are not being trained to actually meet the industry requirements. There are a lot of frustrations going on. In certain ways I think education has become very commercialisd. And now, one of the biggest problems we face with the graduates is that they are so into presentation techniques, they actually lose the skill to go back to basic. During my time, we design using a board where you start doing plans. You conceive that entire design as a more holistic approach. But now there are a lot of pretty pictures. Unfortunately a lot of them technically cannot even be built. So we are hoping that in the architecture education, they are being trained to look at architecture in a holistic manner.

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Architecture isn't just about drawing pretty pictures, but it is also a combination of art and science. That's why architecture is a very wide scope, because you must understand about the construction process and contracts. When you don't understand about contracts, you will not be able to do the job. To become a registered architect, you must have all the skills. That is what we would like to see the new graduates to aquire all the skills during their training. But unfortunately the entire curriculum has lost the aspects. The other thing is we also want more awareness to be introduced on social responsible of architecure. Social responsible of architecture meaning that you do not design just for the rich and for the famous and the iconic building. You also design shelters for the less fortunate, and of course green buildings. Green architecture to me is part of what we call the responsible of architecture. Resposible in the means of every aspect; responsible to your client, responsible to the climate, responsible to the society, and being responsible to the environment means green architecture. At the end of the day, that is what we like to see from students who are currently studying architecture.

No matter where you are and what you do, if you have passion, then success will follow. - Ar. Tan Pei Ing

Pi tan

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Transcript of Pi tan