17.08.1993
Disk 39

ASIA FORUM 4, CSL ASSOCIATES, AUGUST 1993
SALINGER HOUSE, LIM HOUSE, IMPIANA RESORT, BUILDINGS IN THE LANDSCAPE

The realization of the Architectural project brings with it both frustration and pleasure. From the first idea to the final project many compromises have to take place. The dream that might live within ourselves does not belong only to us. It belongs to us, to our clients, to those who for different reasons, are involved in the process of developing and building the project.

The projects presented here represent a change in scale. A development of an idea from the private house to the resort. Our projects take shape within the context of who and what we are and the environment and place is which we live. In all cases the common element is the notion of tropical Architecture.

The building becomes an open object which lives within its natural surroundings absorbing it and being absorbed by it, drawing its inspiration from the landscape and the context within which it exists.

The Salinger house is an object whose irregular, undefined, edges project into the landscape, absorbing the trees that surround it . Sited on an spacious plot of land it gives the impression of a bird perching between the trees.

In a different way the Lim House also absorbs the nature click here that surrounds it, making it form part of its Architecture. The site is much smaller here since it is placed in the city, but even so the feel of being part of a natural surrounding, of not being in the city becomes the ruling principle. The house is a constant experiment, suffering transformations and additions as and when the family needs change. In this respect this is a ‘living project’, never completed, always under constant evolution.

The Impiana reort hotel at Cherating, Kuantan, on the East Coast of Malaysia, remains a building in the landscape. It is composed of several blocks, as opposed to one single object building. The fragmentation helps to provide air ventilation with a minimum of air conditioning systems, except for the bedrooms.

From the early days our concern has been to develop a contemporary approach to the traditional values of a tropical culture, trying to marry modern life demands with climatic conditions and cultural traditions of a specific nature. Their design is based on a careful analysis of the site conditions, making both advantages as well as apparent disadvantages work for the improvement of the scheme. Without waste all the site elements are slowly infiltrated by the client’s personal requirements, needs and preferences, it is both an intuitive as well as a rational approach.