i admire people who make things happen, who take the step to spearhead initiatives and who are determined to go all the way. i admire them immensely.
and so earlier on in 2011, i met one of these people. her name is suzy.
we met at a design conference organized by a dynamic bunch of youngsters, hell bent on changing the design industry here in the country. after we started conversing, and as one inevitably leads to another, she told me about this design festival that was being planned in the charming island of Penang, also known as the Pearl of the Orient, a title bestowed to the province as part of its legacy from a nostalgic bygone era.
the name of the festival is DA + C .
and from what i gather from its website, it would be a "jump-start program with the vision to spear head Malaysia’s creative economy by positioning Penang as the `Creative Digital Hub’ in South-East-Asia. DA+C festival re-packages Penang’s culture and streamlines it with today’s telecommunication and internet industry whose patrons are the burgeoning youth masses"
( do click : http://dacfestival.com/about.htm )
and after the conference was over, we kept in touch over the next few months and when july finally arrived, i made preparations to visit the island after 10 long years to do my part and support local design programmes and agendas.
and the thing is, i love design festivals and i wouldn't have missed this for anything.
and so on july 15th, saturday morning, i left kay hell by public bus, a notoriously undependable mode of transport, at about 10 am and after 6 or 7 snail - paced, arduously boring hours on the road, i reached the island. and once i registered in the guesthouse that i was staying at about 3pm, the first thing i was so itching to do was walk around .... just walk around.
and under the blazing afternoon island sun, i did.
and i'm surprised by how lovely things are.
the island has definitely gone through an undeniably vibrant period of transformation from what i vaguely remember 10 years ago. the streets seem wider and more pedestrian friendly, some of the selected units amongst the rows and rows of colonial Chinese shop-houses have been given a make over, the general network of infrastructure seemed well maintained and streets and promenades look clean and litter - free.i was almost reminded of singapore's urban landscape when i was sauntering around the premises, but then i thought maybe a more accurate description on what i saw and felt was what singapore must have looked like maybe about 20 or 30 years ago, as it was being developed into the economic powerhouse it is today.
and so i continue gazing at all the alluring archetypical shoplots with its tropical design vernacular i come across and some catch my eye more than others do, like the one above. what really pulled me in here however was its grandiose eastern influenced side entrance, wonderfully detailed and exquisitely ornamented.
its huge green woodern doors, golden fixtures and fittings, its red hanging lanterns, its intricate eaves and and fascia boards and even its signboard above was an absolute architectural delight to savour.
and the attention to detail is just amazing, especially its intricately designed captivating door ring. i could almost sense the ferocious temperance this dragon powerfully radiated, through its striking eyes, its menacing teeth and its imposing presence. splendid.
i walk on and see more shop-lots which have been a makeover, in an effort i guess to both modernize the city and retain the islands rich cultural legacies. it seems to be working.
and of course, the famous komtar tower comes into sight soon enough, after taking a few unexpected twists and turns here on the streets of the city. a simple building, extrapolated from what seems line an octagon derived base, easily towering over everything else in its vicinity.
i walk on. and soon i come across another towering edifice.
and this one was significant, design - wise.
this was the menara UMNO building, designed by Ken Yeang, arguably the most famous malaysian architect we have presently both on the local and international stage. its modernist and industrial high tech looking semi - cladded metal skin, that forms the exterior filter and elevations of the tower, was designed to take advantage of the sunlight and the winds that the structure has to deal with everyday. it was based on the concept of the tropical skyscraper, like its predecessor back in KL, which was the Mesiniaga building in subang.
this building was an extension of that concept, and would serve as a further developed prototype for future buildings that would employ similar design strategies and executions. it was an attempt to redefine the idea of the skyscaper, from both the way it looks and functions, from its origins from the west and its temperate climate, to the east with its more tropical settings.
and so, after straining my neck looking skywards for quite some time, trying to obeserve as much as possible the myriad of design details enveloping so much of the exterior veneer of the buidling, i move on the explore what other delights lurk around the corner.
and a burst of a ravishing cacophony of fluorescent colours strikes my eyes!
and the colours get more deeply intense and visually provocative as i get closer!
a visual mixture of mesmeric colours that surprisingly complement each other in a seemingly bollywood influenced fusion of styles!
and just before it got too late, a shot of the old and the new.
juxtaposing the modern and the traditional always seems like an interesting shot inthe camera's eye, because somehow it provokes thoughts of an unconscious imaginary link from the past to the present in the mind of the observer. here we have a towering citadel of cool metal reaching high to the sky on one side, industrial and streamlined, and just next to it, a humble, down to earth collection of commercial residences, colonial and historic, on the other.
and for a fleeting moment, i was caught between the timeless planes of these two eras. one was antiquated, and the other was contemporary. my mind began to visualize how the island must have been in its past, with the usual sights and sounds one would associate with its colonial history, but soon i fast forwaded to its present day, caught in the current, hectic and progressive.
a quick trip to the past and now i'm back. its time for me to leave.i have plans tonight and i wont be late.
see you soon, suzy.
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