Culture has always been an important element that has inspired designers when creating some of the greater masterpieces of their work.
Culture has always been an important element that has inspired designers when creating some of the greater masterpieces of their work.
Culture has also been heavily featured in architecture, whereby architects aim to integrate both modernity together with traditional, keeping the cultural aspects of a community intact while building a renewed face of the city.
It was this mission in mind that drove three young, aspiring architects from Limkokwing Borneo to compete and win the top awards at the recent World Architecture Day (WAD) Urban Installation Competition organised by the Persatuan Arkitek Malaysia (PAM).
The competition, themed ‘Culture-Architecture’, was another of PAM’s annual competitions organised for architecture students. The event was organised in hopes of promoting good architecture and raising awareness of architecture among the general public through WAD.
The winning talents from Limkokwing Borneo comprised of first place winner Cika Ai and Sharifah Sarah Yasmin Binti Wan Mohammad, who placed second in the competition. Alfred Yap Zhen Yong, on the other hand, received the merit award.
All the participants impressed the judges with their creative architectural designs that were both interactive and outstanding in terms of design.
“I wanted to create a piece that would highlight how the culturally rich and diverse communities in Sarawak live together in harmony through social communication and interaction,” said Diploma in Architecture Technology student, Cika Ai, who snagged the first place with her attention-grabbing design ‘Ethnicity Social Wall’.
“The vibrant colours of the ‘Ethnicity Social Wall’ also serves to attract more people to learn about the diverse cultures in Sarawak as information is made available to them when the wall is extended from its solid form. This in turn allows more people to learn and understand the importance of culture through the usage of architecture,” she added.
“We were really ecstatic when we were announced as the winners of the competition as we had really put in a lot of effort in preparing for this competition. We owe our success to our lectures at Limkokwing for always believing in us and pushing us to reach further than we imagined. Without their constant encouragement, we wouldn’t have come this far,” stated fellow coursemate Sharifah Sarah Yasmin.
Limkokwing Sarawak has always believed in bringing the best to students, both academically and through extra curricular activities. The institute’s industry-within-the-university (Indusity) programmes give students the extra edge by exposing them to the industry-orientated environment throughout the course of their studies, allowing them to become well-rounded graduates.
“As a creative institute, we have always encouraged our students to participate in various competitions that are relevant to their course of study as this will allow them to grow in terms of experience and skills,” said Alan Goh, Programme Leader for the Faculty of Architecture and Built Environment.
“It is our Founder and President, HE Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Paduka Dr Lim Kok Wing’s vision of empowering a new generation of global graduates by harnessing the energy and unlocking their hidden creativity,” he explained.