Letter to Editor at Going Places, Malaysia Airlines:

"I refer to your question, the answer is yes, but several; the Malayan Railway, the Old CourtHouses etc, however if we can define your reference to mean not so much colonial buildings as building built of the colonial period, emanating the spirit of that period, I would immediately include colonial 'influenced' buildings [may I?], so then it would be more easily decided that my favourite building would be Masjid Negara or The Parliament Building or indeed Angkasa Puri, all of which have very similar features in their facade designs, I refer to as tropical skins, or LIGHT FILTERS and present what I consider to be truly tropical examples of good buildings, at least as far as their facade or BUILDING ENVELOPE designs are concerned. Not only are these excellent in terms of their BIOCLIMATIC responses, they are perpetually modern even by todays standards, particularly now with energy and sustainability concerns taken as measure of appropriate designs.

Masjid Negara by far remains flawless in the way it filters light, a superb resource for design and an element that remains potentially powerful device to give buildings a sense of place, and context. Ugly buildings give about issues with glare, their very high energy consumption for artificially lit interiors due to lack on daylight penetration, and plan depths not in harmony with the narrow or shortened apertures that do not allow natural light to penetrate inside them. Not with Masjid Negara though, and the other buildings I mentioned. Imagine the play of shadows and patterns on the floor, a very eastern characteristic, and also a feature that is strikingly modern at the same time. [some of herzog de mueron's buildings play on this theme]

Later buildings borrowing from the same philosophy and approach, we must quote DayaBumi, a modern day example of skins and perforated envelopes delighting in the use of daylight to inform the pattern of the facade. Such timeless principles has brought about sustainable and durable designs, the other example I quote the much ignored Angkasa Raya building closer to the iconic KLCC Towers. Compare the skins and we can assess and evaluate the energy criteria for daylighting and response to climate by the designers.

Last but not least, my favourite 'colonial' building has to be the Bangunan Lembaga Getah Malaysia, a gem, probably the only truly naturally ventilated commercial building, with roof that is lifted high off the supporting columns, the sides are left open to allow natural air to circulate freely and therefore cool the atrium that serve to provide air changes without forced mechanical means. Below this, a sizeable pool of water helps give very effective convective cooling, further reducing energy levels required to keep the interior naturally ventilated. For many years it has survived demolition, we hope this will remain true for many years to come."

©2008.huatlim