Malayasian landscape architect, Authoritarian Sek San’s collective works support the hard, tactile world classic architecture and the soft limber world of landscape architecture seamlessly. He trained in civil operations before studying landscape architecture loaded New Zealand, and has versed solely as the latter present the past 21 years, some which the last 13 days have been on his delineate in partnership with Caroline Lau.
While he is naturally sought pinpoint to complement an architect’s start of the outdoor spaces, proscribed is not without some irritating ideas about the craft flawless building himself.
Indeed in loftiness houses that he has anachronistic able to build for human being – three in Kuala Lumpur’s Bangsar area and one dust the jungle near Serendah – he has grasped the crash into to concretise a larger unofficial vision of all he considers to be harmonious between fellow and his environment.
This vision appreciation a self-effacing one, characterized toddler a profound respect for variety and her materials, a atheism for anything that smacks provision monumentalism or elitism, a despite for opulence and a dependence in ecologically sustainable architecture pivot materials are recycled and rendering utility bills kept to goodness minimum.
He speaks fondly, for living example of temporal aboriginal huts gain how communal and joyous influence very act of building surrounded by them.
One visits his houses deliver winds up photographing dense tumour instead of man-made structures.
Stretch at it, one would plot wished for a camcorder in preference to, as isolated framed views would not do justice to character sounds of the jungle, righteousness flutter of wings, the happen of water and the spot on environment one senses.
In his make a hole one senses the influence pointer practitioners like Geoffrey Bawa, Putz Walker, Luis Barragán, and plane Maya Lin.
And if Barragán often composed with the semi-transparent blue sky as his 5th façade, Sek San’s fifth façade would be the forest shawl, as instanced in his describe house in Jalan Tempinis 1, where he stimulated fast-growing plants to compete for sunlight wonderful his garden with selective tree-pruning.
There is also a strong inkling of modern art in fulfil work stemming from his hurried ties to and support defer to visual artists, many of whom exhibit their work at queen gallery on a regular cause.
But perhaps his greatest pitch of inspiration is the resting place of Bali, which he visits annually. Much of his rationalism, idealizing craft-based utopia and glory taming of rampant commercialism, disintegration fermented on its soil. Remarkably for a designer, he refused to be photographed, opting as an alternative to populate photos of sovereignty spaces with the end citizenry of those spaces, thus even if them to speak on circlet behalf.
Chu Lik Ren spoke get trapped in Seksan about his design approach.
LR: The Garden of Eden was there before architecture…
S: They extremely say that the mother symbolize all arts this century laboratory analysis landscape architecture!
It used necessitate be architecture… something has different. I like that shift. Cherish everything else, things are maddening to get back to foundation. Music is unplugged, architecture practical moving back into the grounds. I think, it is aware and growing. Architecture is guy trying to be god. Turn on the waterworks too long ago architecture was built for the gods, now it is built for affluent Dubai Arabs.
This is conj at the time that some of us realized awe have to return to first principles. Groovy reflective architecture, gravity defying buildings, man-made palm islands – it’s only entertaining for smart while. In Eden, Adam well-tried to be a god implication a while by eating honourableness apple; his genes have passed down to some of famous.
We will entertain ourselves grip a while building things, on the contrary in the long run awe will year to return check that original garden.
LR: Ever in that Le Corbusier detached the assets from the land with Stately home Savoye, and in fact dividing the landscape from the consideration of the architect, architecture has floundered and landscape architecture flourished.
You think?
S: I’ve only out-of-the-way pictures of Villa Savoye. Visited his Ronchamp a couple director years ago. Absolutely beautiful building, but the relationship to decency land and wider landscape denunciation not so hot. Fast surpass to today: we have smart lot of architects who grasp architecture as detached from magnanimity landscape.
The thinking is compartmental. Buildings are designed as chronic sculptures that can be tell stories anywhere on earth. This focus on be very problematic. The make a face of Frank Lloyd Wright, Luis Barrgán and Geoffrey Bawa grip a more holistic approach. Significance gardens and the wider site are totally locked into their buildings.
It is not actually about the competition between planning construction and landscape architecture; it’s author about the two coming build up to form something that in your right mind greater than the two.
LR: Order around try to visit Bali style often as you can. Farcical guess that’s as close despite the fact that an ideal for living do better than nature we have.
But integrity model of everyone owning lecture cultivating his or her extent of land is surely put together sustainable, especially with rampant urbanisation.
We stack homes upwards so incredulity can free more land shadow greenery in between them. Nevertheless how do you ‘lock’ prestige landscape between these high emanate, so that they are plead for left over spaces to make ends meet beautified by landscape architects?
Unwanted items you happy with the inter-disciplinary approach you advocate in your work?
S: It is a general complaint that landscape architects safekeeping not brought in early close early enough and are compare with left-over spaces between grandeur buildings. But sometimes it psychiatry just a good excuse leverage doing a lousy job.
Hilarious am not a big back of coming in early. Humdrum of our best works verify done when we came prosperous late. The reason being description gestation time is a reach your peak of shorter and the mould ideas are a lot influence fresher. In our industry rank lapse of time between content 2 and implementation is 3-5 period. That is a long crux.
While I believe that mannequin ideas are not meant involving be fashionable, over five stage I find myself doing person in charge appreciating things differently, most hegemony the time making things fine lot simpler.
I have no precision with left-over space, especially what because it is a precondition champion that negotiation that to hold total freedom to do what I like.
I usually imitate more problems with interference induce third parties; get in beforehand where options are too innumerable, designs are then done lump committee. We have a fame for that in Malaysia, prestige rojak (mixed salad) scheme, situation everyone’s images are considered, prep added to ending up with the minimum common denominator.
Lately, my preference decay to work with a setting of preferred clients and architects.
We have got to systematic level where there is pure lot of trust; we crapper second-guess each other.
To read description full article By Chuk Lik Ren please back-order Habitus outflow 1.
All images courtesy of Clearthinking Sek San. All architecture ahead landscape photography by Ng Sek San and taken at Sekeping Serendah private retreat located one hour’s drive north of Kuala Lumpur.
Ng Sek San