Architecture students’ unique booth wins Best Booth Display award at PAM annual exhibition
Limkokwing University’s Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment (FABE) students impressed both judges and audience alike with their unique booth display during the PAM Annual Architecture Student Works Exhibition 2014.
Organised by Pertubuhan Akitek Malaysia (PAM), a total of 25 universities from all over Malaysia participated in the exhibition that was held at One Utama Shopping Centre from 15 – 19 October.
PAM is the national professional institute representing architects in Malaysia. It holds various events annually to educate the public about architecture. The aim of the Annual Architecture Student Works Exhibition is to showcase students’ work and creativity. This year’s event was themed ‘Healthy and Happy Space’, with the intention of encouraging the public to be environmentally friendly.
The Limkokwing University team, which was made up of ten students, approached the theme through the concept of giving. The group had previously worked in various charity projects for orphanages, and they believed they were able to bring laughter and happiness to the kids there, thus the inspiration of their project.
Their booth installation was named ‘gift box’, and was creatively created using algae and recycled plastic water bottles that the students collected around campus. At the booth, the audience was encouraged to make any of the three types of donations; a coin or a used water bottle, or carbon dioxide.
The idea of donating carbon dioxide was both unique and fascinating to onlookers, hence the booth had a steady flow of visitors. Plastic bottles were filled with algae the students had collected from ponds and drains around campus, with tubes fitted to the whole display where people could ‘deposit’ their carbon dioxide. The booth uses the ability of the algae to process carbon dioxide and produce oxygen to the benefit the environment with clean, healthy air.
The booth also featured a ‘wishing wall’ which was made of the recycled bottles, and the public could write well wishes for children in orphanages. Creative artwork by FABE students and children from the orphanages was also displayed in the booth, and there was an interactive digital map projected from the ceiling to the floor, which kept booth visitors entertained as they could play, jump, sit and walk through it.
The cost effective booth display, which only cost RM500 as compared to other booths that ran in thousands of ringgits, won the students a 2nd position of the competition, receiving a ‘Best Booth Display’ award, an amazing feat since it was the first time the team had entered any such competition. The team won RM750 prize money, RM750 installation fee, and praises on their ingenuity and artistic skills from both judges and audience.
Limkokwing University walked away with more prizes from the event through Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies student Ahmad Adlan Bin Mohamed, who received the Best Architecture Student Award. The team’s lecturer and project supervisor, Choong Wei Li also won the PAM - Tan Sri Chan Sau Lai Architecture Award 2014, receiving a certificate and RM5000 prize money.