Our dear Pak Lah has announced the launch of Koridor Utara megaproject that will spur development in the northern regions of Peninsular Malaysia and Penang will become the 'gateway to the northern corridor'. It has now become the tradition for Malaysian PMs to launch such super large scale projects to drive the economy, it all sounds good and fantastic, but will it be sustainable? We've got two major areas in Malaysia which are receiving a lot of attention, first the Iskandar Development Region for Johor and now this, I just hope that supply doesn't exceed the demand. Nevertheless, it all boils down to the concept of economies of scale, just like what Dr.M did in his time.But anyways... I'm going to go politiking here, I'm more interested on what's in store for our 'rice bowl' region of our country. Apparently, the Malaysian authorities have hired the expertise of a New York-based architectural firm called Asymptote Architecture to design a new development on what what used to be the Penang Turf Club, much like KLCC which was developed on the site of the former Kuala Lumpur Turf Club. Here's a rendering of it.
Pretty funky looking stuff for a laid back town huh? The megaproject includes a performing arts center, a convention center, retail outlets, a 5-star hotel as well as apartment blocks. Its good for Penang, considering that most developments in the past few decades have been concentrated in Klang Valley, especially KL. From the rendering, it doesn't look like anything we have in Malaysia, but why hire a foreign architectural firm to do this kind of job? Don't we have enough graduates in architecture to perform up to this standard? We do have them, but they're just not there as the conditions in Malaysia are not conducive enough and the mentality of the people still remain in the Third World mindset even when we're slowly approaching Wawasan 2020. Everytime I think of this vision, the further it gets from our grasp. Anyhow, in the meantime, check out the other renderings done by them...
Funky stuff huh?
Click here for additional info on this firm on Wikipedia.
I think you were spot on regarding Malaysian talents. Why are ministers in Malaysia ranting about Malaysian students, who receive further studies abroad, not being "patriotic" enough to return home to work. Man, look at the main icons of Malaysia. Japanese for our international airport, Argentinian (or is Pelli an Italian..lol)for our twin towers, & now this. I wonder where is our part in this vision 2020.
And again, I guess my concern for this agenda manisfest itself with the building image as a whole. Not the representation of the building, but how it literary looks like!. Can anyone even point out how Malaysian this structure looks & does make a wee difference even if its relocated in South Africa. (in which is the field of expertise of our beloved Ken Yeang, looking at what he has done before with our beloved LCS).
Keep these posts coming dude!.. haha. missing your ass.
nicko