Talk Architecture
Hosted by Naziaty Mohd Yaacob, Ph.D.
Malaysian Architect | Universal Design & Accessibility Expert (MS 1184 Specialist) | Former Associate Professor (28+ years) | Advocate for Inclusive Spaces & Women in Architecture
Launched in April 2020, Talk Architecture delivers intimate, reflective conversations on architecture education, practice, and human impact—hosted solely by Naziaty Mohd Yaacob. Rooted in Malaysia yet resonating globally, the podcast connects local insights with universal challenges faced by architects worldwide.
Every episode centres inclusivity, empathy, and equity, drawing on Naziaty’s expertise in universal design, ageing-in-place, sensory architecture, and professional well-being. Global listeners value candid critiques of education models, graduate employability hurdles, and practice realities.
Essential listening for architecture students, professionals, educators, and thought leaders everywhere who are shaping inclusive, resilient built environments in an era of technological and demographic change.
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Talk Architecture
Malaysian Architecture Identity Issue Again: Perpetual identity or perpetual debate?
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Here we go again after we had that Search for Malaysian Architecture Identity debate in the 1980s, we are flogging the same issue... again. I am all for Malaysian architects being advocates fighting for their rights to get mega-big projects and not having the Government give them to foreign architects, but I don't understand when we talk about 'identity'. It invariably is about the lack of patterns, embellishments, and motifs of design that have old Malay architectural characteristics. In fact, on my last trip to Fosters' building in Tronoh, the UTP auditorium had songket-type patterns on the inside wall. I don't want to be in the middle of the motifs and patterns debate (not identity, because this is a bigger debate), so I leave it at that.
The newspaper article that had several people debating and discussing: https://www.bharian.com.my/hujung-minggu/lain-lain/2023/12/1192854/rekaan-seni-bina-hilang-identiti
A podcast that dealt with this issue before Learning from Kisho Kurokawa: Asian public space is the street! (how to originate from past designs) https://www.buzzsprout.com/1042819/episodes/7207186
© 2023 Talk Architecture, Author: Naziaty Mohd Yaacob
The image is songket pattern downloaded from the internet.
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