Cosentino teams up with celebrated architects to discuss the future of tropical and sustainable design

Together with Ar. Dr. Tan Loke Mun and Ar. Fabian Tan, Cosentino hosted an architectural talk on sustainable architecture and how to minimise environmental impact with the use of right materials

(L-R) Guest speakers Ar. Fabian Tan and Ar. Dr. Tan Loke Mun at the Cosentino Showroom

Kuala Lumpur, 9 November 2022 – In line with the commitment to support sustainability efforts and the circular economy, Cosentino has teamed up with two award-winning and renowned architects from Malaysia, Ar. Dr. Tan Loke Mun, Principal of DrTanLM Architect, who was responsible for designing various sustainable projects in Malaysia such as Malaysia’s First GBI Private Commercial Office - SP Setia HQ, Malaysia’s First GBI Rated Convention Centre - Setia City Convention Centre, Malaysia’s First GBI Rated Shopping Mall - Setia City Mall and Ar. Fabian Tan, Founder of Fabian Tan Architect, who designed several notable houses such as the 30-year-old terrace home in Malaysia that was given a modern makeover with an unconventional rooftop dipping pool that went viral on the internet, for an architectural talk.

(Left Photo) Ar. Robert Powell, Ar. Fabian Tan, Ar. Take-Bane Lim

(Right Photo) Khailee Ng, Ar. Dr. Tan Loke Mun

Held at the Cosentino showroom in Malaysia, the talk was introduced to inspire the local architectural and design community in Malaysia which saw the attendance of recognised architects, designers and personalities such as Ar. Robert Powell, Writer, Editor, Critic and Professor of Architecture at Taylor's University School of Architecture, Building and Design at Subang Jaya; Ar. Take-Bane Lim, Principal Architect & Designer at ARKITEK SHILPA; Ar. Teoh Chee Wui; and Khailee Ng, Managing Partner of 500 Global. The talk spotlighted the future of tropical and sustainable design, and how it can help minimise the environmental impact and climate change, which is in line with Cosentino’s strategic direction to be innovative in sustainable manufacturing.

(L-R) Guest speakers Ar. Dr. Tan Loke Mun and Ar. Fabian Tan at the Cosentino Showroom

During the talk, Ar. Dr. Tan Loke Mun highlighted the benefits of going back to the basics of tropical nature for inspiration.He shared about his early years, gaining tropical architectural inspiration from his trip to Bali with his friend, the celebrated Ar. Ng Sek San, where they discovered the use of basic rock formation, light and shadows to create sustainable designs. "Good tropical architecture must address heat, humidity and also the increasingly wet weather,” quote Ar. Dr. Tan.

He added that a lot of his designs are inspired by nature, from green buildings to green master planning, as he believes in sustainable buildings helping to transform and counter the climate crisis that is currently faced by the world. One project example where he took inspiration from natural life forms such as the mushroom, was the Pjkita Community Centre.

He further shared that the COVID-19 pandemic was a wake-up call and from owning a farm himself, he knows that the earth recovers very fast, and the pandemic was also an opportunity for the earth to properly heal.

(L-R) Guest speakers Ar. Dr. Tan Loke Mun and Ar. Fabian Tan at the Cosentino Showroom

Ar. Fabian Tan also shared his insights, experience and various spectacular tropical and sustainable architectural projects in Malaysia such as Ittka House, Voila House and Ottiqa House. In terms of inspiration, he shared that “Tropical architecture fundamentals can be extracted from the model of the kampung house in the Malaysian context. It is about working with the environment and learning about the relationships between beings, form, material, light and ventilation of the building. However, the urban concrete jungle may have forgotten all these basic principles. So one must apply creativity to circumvent the current phenomena of thinking out of the box for the sake of it. Tropical fundamentals and modernity should be combined in a specific context aligned with the genius loci of the site.”

He also shared that there are elements that are especially important in tropical architecture such as light. He also shared that architecture is not just about materialities such as walls, windows, materials and textures but also the intangible aspects that are difficult to measure such as voids, depths, volumes, proportions and light. He mentioned that “people always assume that white is a boring colour, but for me, the colour white is very three dimensional, because when light hits on it, different forms, angles and proportions, you get different creations of the shadows, which is very interesting to me.”

He strongly believes that sustainability is linked to mother nature. “The idea of a sustainable future is about an inconvenient sensibility. These tropical sensibilities require effort, relationships, patience, time and sometimes restraint on our part. The degradation of the environment and climate can be reversed if our sensibilities are aligned with mother nature,” he added.

For more sustainable design inspirations and to discover how Cosentino surfaces are both sustainable and adaptable in tropical designs,  you can visit the Cosentino Malaysia showroom at No.1, Jalan TSB 8, Taman Industri Sungai Buloh, 47000 Petaling Jaya, Selangor or contact 03-8230 3954 to book an appointment, or visit https://www.cosentino.com/en-my/