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An opinion piece based on a comment on the Facebook group “Architectural Insurgency: Kuala Lumpur” that I said, “A student doing a museum project will ignore context”.

Definition of context: “understanding people and relationships, when the designer is empathizing with the user who is using the space”. 
Making a new context from an existing context, hence for a museum project for a design thesis topic is too specialized and will be more focused on itself and less on context.

© 2023 Talk Architecture, Author: Naziaty Mohd Yaacob
The image is downloaded from the internet - museum icon.

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"Educating the client" does not mean you will be 'schooling' them as notably they are 'above you' (as the paymaster). Education here means the ability to sell your service by using the psychology learned in sales and the ability to create a conversation with the client to maintain a healthy professional relationship.

What happens in a meeting is the following:
Ideas > Brainstorm > Solve problems

The client bought your services and as the architect, you give valuable insights (ideas) and the client has their ideas, therefore the conversation (even though your client at first seems to be 'talking down on you' (it is not personal) is hearing your valuable insights and considering them to make a decision. So there is a collaboration that happens which will only be a positive thing to the whole professional relationship. Architects need to learn the psychology of how to deal with clients, as explained in this episode.

© 2023 Talk Architecture, Author: Naziaty Mohd Yaacob
The image is downloaded from the internet where a group of people are having a meeting.

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If the Berita Harian news article is anything to go by, the use of the Malaysian identity debate is a poor strategy if it’s relegated to the patterns, embellishment, motifs, and decorations on skyscrapers.

Scraping at the bottom of the barrel in terms of ideas to debate about, it is disappointing in the least, that the debate on the Malaysian identity is actually to advocate for mega-big projects for local architects.

There is so much more to debate and discuss regarding Malaysian architectural identity and we need to be more critical to get the right attention from the Government or the general public. 

© 2023 Talk Architecture, Author: Naziaty Mohd Yaacob
The image is from Universiti Teknologi Petronas Library in 2023 (Taken by Naziaty Mohd Yaacob) 

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Here we go again after we had that Search for Malaysian Architecture Identity debate in the 1980s, we are flogging the same issue... again. I am all for Malaysian architects being advocates fighting for their rights to get mega-big projects and not having the Government give them to foreign architects, but I don't understand when we talk about 'identity'. It invariably is about the lack of patterns, embellishments, and motifs of design that have old Malay architectural characteristics. In fact, on my last trip to Fosters' building in Tronoh, the UTP auditorium had songket-type patterns on the inside wall.  I don't want to be in the middle of the motifs and patterns debate (not identity, because this is a bigger debate), so I leave it at that.

The newspaper article that had several people debating and discussing: https://www.bharian.com.my/hujung-minggu/lain-lain/2023/12/1192854/rekaan-seni-bina-hilang-identiti

A podcast that dealt with this issue before Learning from Kisho Kurokawa: Asian public space is the street! (how to originate from past designs)  https://www.buzzsprout.com/1042819/episodes/7207186

© 2023 Talk Architecture, Author: Naziaty Mohd Yaacob
The image is songket pattern downloaded from the internet.

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After almost 4 years since we first published the 1st episode called "Design Process in Architecture Studio Curriculum" which is the most listened-to episode in the Talk Architecture podcast, a reflection on the topic in terms of 'design methodology' and the studio curriculum is deliberated in this episode.

A methodology is a system of methods and principles for doing something (Collins, 2023).

The fact that different schools of architecture practice different methodologies as we have observed, shows that there is not one philosophy in architecture. Is that a good or bad thing for the profession? This is not a recent phenomenon as I recall in the 1980s we talked of the more theoretical school and the more practical school. The diagram in the thumbnail was a way to describe the attempt to have a balanced approach to the architecture curriculum, especially in the final year or design thesis year.

© 2023 Talk Architecture, Author: Naziaty Mohd Yaacob
The diagram is called the design process for all architecture design studios at a school of architecture © Author: Naziaty Mohd Yaacob, 2023

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This is an introduction to stress and burnout, the similarities and differences in the context of architects and building professionals. The article that is being referred to is in this LINK.

It is a complex situation if a person is experiencing either of these things, but the article with the reading and some interpretation helps to define the words and understand better, to be more aware, especially if you are experiencing it right now.

©️Talk Architecture 2023, Author: Naziaty Mohd Yaacob.  Photo credit: Fatigue architect (downloaded image) 2023.

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A discussion on the diagram posed earlier in the first episode of Talk Architecture and discussed in this blog: Life is a design thesis. However, the 'design problem' is explained in more detail by referring to the diagram (shown in thumbnail) which is a flow chart of the design processes in 4 phases (for the design thesis) but much of the components and stages can be applied to any architecture program in 1-5 years.

© 2023 Talk Architecture, Author: Naziaty Mohd Yaacob
The artwork in the podcast is the diagram by Naziaty Mohd Yaacob called the design process diagram for all architecture design studios at UM School of Architecture Author: © Copyright: Naziaty Mohd Yaacob

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A proposal for the school of architecture to have a university campus design project that includes a master-planning exercise in the beginning for design thesis students to engage in. It is crucial to have a good studio tutor team where they have a commonly understood philosophical approach and the complexities and expectations of the design thesis projects will be fulfilled as there will be a lot of design problems to be identified and solved by each student taking in different building types and in-between spaces issues.

©️Talk Architecture 2023, Author: Naziaty Mohd Yaacob. Photo (artwork): Site visit of Universiti Malaya campus in July 2020 by Unit 2, led by Kevin, Naziaty, and Lisa with the students.

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When a person identifies themself as an 'architect' even though they do not have a license or a professional qualification, it does not mean that they are confronting the status quo or wish to cause mischief to the profession.

It depends on the country whether the architects are stable in terms of the 'playing field' and would not be monitoring or mindful of words used, as the legitimacy is only from a personal point of view (POV). A person identifies themself as an 'architect' "having stuck to the profession, adapted, and flexible in one's career in architecture for 40 years" since one identified very earlier in the second year of architecture school. 

In this episode, the mention of two issues implies the professional architects' grouses on issues of 'identity', that is: projects given to foreign architects and; clients opting for non-architects in small projects.  Hence, the concerns become a debate on hierarchical terms, legitimacy, and the use of the word 'architect' to identify oneself.

©️Talk Architecture 2023, Author: Naziaty Mohd Yaacob.  Photo credit: Paradox design thesis 2018-19 exhibition at Universiti Malaya: when X marks the spot.

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The use of the 'design problem' to comprehend how it works in the architecture design studio process is crucial so that the school of architecture academics can communicate better with each other, in developing the architecture design curriculum. 

In this episode, Naziaty Mohd Yaacob explained "the difference between the use of the 'design problem' in engineering compared to architecture". The argument of using the 'house design' in the first year and even in the fifth year (final masters project) is contended when discussing the 'design problem', as well as the controversy of the issue of "complexities in 'lateral or horizontal projects' such as master-planning and site planning, resulting in low-rise buildings compared to high-rise complexes". As long as the design thesis projects have about 9-12 design problems, there are enough complexities at the design thesis level, regardless of it being low-rise. 

©️Talk Architecture 2023, Author: Naziaty Mohd Yaacob.  Photo credit: Wong Chiang Her's design thesis project: “Old Town Botanic Gardens” (2019-2020): Elevations.

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