UCSI University Students Combine Art with Science
 
 
At UCSI University, the study of architecture is not just about working with or designing inanimate objects. Here, students are shown and taught that architecture involves many areas that require the architect to learn about building activities, building systems and their integration for human comfort, as well as the social, legal, political and economic influences of design and construction.

Apart from doing all these in the classrooms, UCSI University Architecture students are also encouraged to participate in competitions, architectural events and design workshops. In this way, they would apply their learning into practice, spawning new ideas and giving birth to new vision, for, underlying every competition or event entered, is a frenzy of new ideas that would not otherwise have been conceptualised within the confines of the classrooms. Thus, the annual Architectural Student Workshop was successful in fusing together the best of both public and private universities in one place, where contestants participated in a brainstorming sessions, design competitions, team building exercises, seminars and exhibitions.

Held at UiTM in June and themed RUMI 2009, the event saw UCSI University students winning several of the categories lined up. Students Engeland David Apostol, Gary Wong Jyi Horng and Yap Kim Yang teamed up with their lecturer, Ms. Chia Lin Lin as the advisor, in the Design category to win first place for their proposal to redevelop the sidewalk along Jalan Bukit Bintang, adjacent to the Lot 10 Shopping Complex. The design took many factors into consideration, particularly the pedestrian movement in the context of urbanisation. The design created an urban landscape that created in-between space for commercial and cultural events to liven up the area, while allowing for an unobstructed pedestrian flow that connected the anchor buildings.

The Architecture students also won second prize in the Installation category. Installation Art is an artistic site-specific genre of three-dimensional works designed to transform the perception of a space. The students were required to produce an installation to commemorate a significant tragic or memorable event or incident. Together with their lecturer, Mr. Teoh Chee Keong, students, Wong Jyi Horng, Boo Qing Zhi, Leng Soon Meng, Janice Lee Yun Shen, Tan Zhen Ron, Tan Suan Yew and Lim Shu Yi, designed an installation which showed an isolated space within the boundaries to commemorate the Sungai Buloh Leprosy Hospital where patients have been isolated from the general public due to public misconceptions about the disease.

Designing architectural concepts are not all that the UCSI University Architecture students could do. Gary Ng Quok Howe won a special mention for his photographic interpretation of a selected poem. UCSI University Architecture students also won third placing in the Multimedia category for their video entitled Spaces. Together with lecturer Miss Sukhjit, three students, Hashim M. Dwoodbhai, Daniel Ng Shi Jun and Ungku Shaen Ungku Melewa produced a video which showed how space could be interpreted by individuals based on their personal experiences and state of emotions. Gritty and also comedic, the video Spaces has since garnered a modest following on the popular video-sharing website, YouTube. (See the video here.)

Entering and winning competitions is a normal accomplishment for the students and lecturers at UCSI University’s School of Architecture. In the same month, the students were also the first runner-up in the Design & Illustrate Horse Sculpture competition organised by the Selangor Turf Club. Last year, UCSI University Architecture students were chosen among many other institutions of higher learning to design and build a 600-square metre miniature model for PJ Hilton’s Christmas charity event.

Architecture, according to Ms Chia, is vastly different from the other science-related fields. “Architecture embraces both the Science and the Arts, creating a profession which gives one the chance to touch emotions through its design and creation.” This, she says is the reason why it is important for Architecture students to explore ideas through workshops and competitions, away from the classroom. “It is only then you become an Architect in the truest sense, and become more humane, learning to look at the world differently – positively.” She also says that an Architect should always have a sense of humour, and an ability to smile at his/her creations, seeing things from different perspectives. “An Architect should always be ready for any challenges, as a jaded Architect can never create.”
     
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