Buildings
Received this post some time ago.. And thought I should share with everyone!!
This awesome bungalow in Damansara Hts belongs to Tan Sri Yeoh Tiong
Lay.
Completed in the latter part of 2008, the residence is the ultimate
expression of the taste,
influence and industrial-scale capabilities of the prominent family
whose entrepreneurial
activities have shaped Kuala Lumpur's skyline.
Three generations of the family inhabit the 3,000 square-meter residence
designed to accommodate both private and public functions.
The building includes nine bedrooms, two family rooms, a family kitchen
and a private dining area, a family library, a game room, a study, a
public reception area, a formal dining room,an ballroom, chapel, 21
bathrooms, a swimming pool, two guest suites plus indoor private and
guest parking.
The initial sketches exploring the owners' usage requirements reveal
resemblances to the boring stacked-boxes look still so ubiquitous in
residential architecture. And while traces of the "heaped trailers"
syndrome remain in the finished building, this is not the Jetsons,
neither are we looking at EPCOT, Tomorrowland or the 1964 New York
World's Fair.
We are in the lush vegetation of a posh Kuala Lumpur residential area,
and in spite of the
boxiness of the structure, an elegant circular softness manages to
permeate the sightlines and
key details of the building, making it an agreeable part of its
landscape.
The curved walls both inside and out have a functional purpose of
providing privacy and enclosing each function gently in its own space.
The overall sweeping feel inside the spaces invites the viewer in and
creates soft, arching vistas.
Inside, prominent examples of this curvilinear elegance include the
amazing staircases resembling the inside of a shell when viewed from
above, and the round ballroom chandelier of 13,000 custom-designed
undulating petals of unglazed cast porcelain biscuit.
The concept consists of three layers:
> the base for public functions,
> the ring for guests &
> the private house for the family.
The inside of the magnificent residence is gorgeous with its high
ceilings, large windows and abundance of light. White color and natural
wood are dominant elements but they allow the view from the vast, mostly
retractable, windows to remain the main visual attraction.
The residence is also a wonderful study of contrasts between inside and
outside, private and
public, traditional and ultra modern, man-made and natural.
YTL Design Group of Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia , was the architect of
record. The Agence Jouin Manku design team included Patrick Jouin,
Sanjit Manku, Yann Brossier(architect), Richard Perron(designer).
Officina del Paesaggio from Lugano , Switzerland was in charge of the
landscape design, and L'Observatoire, New York , USA handled the
lighting. - Tuija Seipell
