No Pendaftaran LAM: A/L 162

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0 INTRODUCTION 3 2.0 EARLY STAGES 5 3.0 LEARNING HOW TO COMMUNICATE 7 4.0 EXPLORING INTERIOR DESIGN 8 5.0 ARCHITECTURE IN BETWEEN 11 6.0 LEARNING THE ROPES 17 7.0 THE EXPERIENCE 22 8.0 LOG SHEET 47

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

Firm Organization Profile

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In the weeks approaching the month of January, there has been no doubt that the internship training was something we were all dreading for. Most of us had little to no practical experience in the working industry which we all deemed as ‘the dark side of architecture’. All of a sudden, the comfort of staying in our studios and the flexible schedule seemed like the blanket we wished to hide under. At that moment, sending tons of internship application emails was an enjoyable thing to do. It was as if we were browsing through a product catalog and choosing the items that appealed to us. All we needed was a polished resume and some dashing confidence to present ourselves to the interviewers. It was my very first interview conducted outside of campus grounds for non-academic reasons. In my humble opinion, going for those interviews were a good practice for acclimatizing to the adult working world. I had to learn how to present myself professionally to make sure I would stand out among the average university student.

After securing positions at several firms, there was finally some room to breathe

as I looked through my options again and finally selected the firm which I’ve been eyeing for months before the internship period. We soon realised that the very first firm we choose to work for would greatly shape our entire perception on what architecture really is beyond the walls of our campus, that our naive minds only grasped a very insignificant portion of the field we would practise in for our entire lives.

Despite the short holiday we were granted after the final examinations, I still volunteered to start a week earlier on the 27th of December to make sure I could have a head start in what seems to be a long and miserable race to finish the industrial training. Every muscle and nerve in my body told me that I should have took one more week off to savour my slowly diminishing freedom. However, I still insisted that this would pay off in the future, that every minute of work would help me gain exposure to the practical world of architecture. Figure 1.0: Internship Resume

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2.0 EARLY STAGES (Project: BMW Showroom Proposal)

The very first week of industrial training has already weathered the mental strength that I’ve prepared for the working environment. My first assigned task was to prepare presentation drawings and 3D renderings for a proposed BMW showroom. It was my first time being introduced to an Autocad layer system which I was completely oblivious about. I’ve also quickly grasped the fact that speed is everything and no one cares about how elaborate or detailed your 3D visualisation is. People just want to get things done to meet the deadlines set and that failing to do so would greatly cost the firm’s money, reputation and relationships.

Figure 2.0: Autocad Layer System Figure 2.1: Schematic Drawings

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Figure 2.3: Rejected First Render (reason: “too much”)

Figure 2.4: Rendered Perspectives

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3.0 LEARNING HOW TO COMMUNICATE Speaking of relationships, I’ve also come to realise that the unspoken truth of the

outside world is that networking is everything (at least in my opinion). I’ve been told and taught that in this field, no matter what role we’re holding, we will definitely need to deal with people of all backgrounds and nature, and with that comes networks. These networks branch out into various categories primarily starting with of course; superiors, colleagues, clients, contractors and etc. Each one of these categories would be able to provide specific perks and benefits if networking is done right; superiors would provide job opportunities, colleagues would provide guidance and companionship, clients would provide marketing to other potential clients, contractors would provide better efficiency in workflow and the list goes on. I do place a very high importance in creating and strengthening relationships, thus, I’ve spent half the internship trying to make sure I achieve that instead of just plainly learning on the technical aspects of the field.

Figure 3.0: Idea Workshop Team (KL and Malacca) gathering during Malacca weekend trip

From Left to Right Figure 3.1: Director Shin and Interns After Site Measure Visit Figure 3.2: Supper with Ahmad Altegiar (Architecture Supervisor) after Happy Hour Figure 3.3: Weekend Hike with Amin Ghorbani (Interior Designer) and Gabriel Sim (Project Manager)

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4.0 EXPLORING INTERIOR DESIGN (Project: Impression City Hotel @ Malacca)

That doesn’t mean that I have neglected the technical skills as well. There was no doubt that working for 11 weeks has taught me more about the small but significant practical details than the entire 4 semesters have. On the second week of work, the other interns came and started their training in the firm and the director of the firm delegated the tasks and roles for us. The semester 5 students were to be more involved in the documentation of tender and construction drawings whereas semester 4 students were to help out with 3D modelling, renderings and tasks of similar relevance. Also, with my skills in 3D visualisation, it was no surprise that I was assigned to assist the Interior Design supervisor and her department with their interior renderings after only having settled down in the Architecture department for a short moment.

The project that I was involved in was called Impression City, a hotel being built in

Malacca and I was in charge of rendering the hotel rooms, lobby lounge, lift lobby, seaview cafe and lobby cafe views. A part of me was worried that I would only improve on my rendering ability and not learn anything else for the entire training period but this would prove to be wrong as I realised that even by doing 3D modelling and renderings, I could pick up on the design process that designers go through as well as the architectural details in a space all the way to importance of material selection. After weeks and weeks of rendering, I started processing and looking at interior spaces differently. We used to neglect the design of interior spaces and place more importance on the external form or spatial planning, but this made me gain a more mature perspective towards designing in overall.

In conclusion, I didn’t regret doing 3D modelling and renderings for the Interior

Design department for a major portion of my training period because after all, aren’t interior spaces part of architecture as well?

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Figure 4.0: Impression City Jacuzzi Room Rendering

Figure 4.1: Impression City Executive Room Rendering

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Figure 4.2: Impression City Lobby Lounge

Figure 4.3: Impression City Lift Lobby

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5.0 ARCHITECTURE IN BETWEEN (Projects: Proposed Restaurant @ Chinatown, Anjali North Kiara Apartment @ Dutamas, Bungalow Renovation @ Bangsar Hill)

In between the renderings, I have also been assigned to do other tasks that are

more architecture-related such as furniture layout planning for a proposed restaurant in Chinatown. Before jumping into that role, we were first brought to the site to measure the old and dilapidated shop lot. It was the first moment in my entire life where I realised the importance of the measured drawing module as I didn’t have any problem with getting the site measure task done. After compiling the measurements, I was tasked to prepare the Sketchup 3D model and presentation drawings. This project made me understand the relationship between the users and the space more as we had to constantly imagine ourselves from the user's perspective while planning the furniture layout.

Recognizing that I’ve been doing many renderings for the firm, my supervisor

continued to assign me to another rendering task of an apartment lobby for the Anjali North Kiara project. It was just one space with a few different views so it wasn’t much of a hassle. However, the feature wall of the lobby was a Ned Kahn-inspired wind veil with tiny diamond-shaped pieces and modelling it was a painstaking task. The custom-made reception table was also a difficult geometric form. I was required to start from scratch and model the individual pieces all the way to the structure supporting it while having to pay attention to detail since the information was required by the contractors to quote the price and state its possibility to be built. Throughout the entire process, I understood the attention to detail and practical knowledge on materiality that we desperately require when it comes to these things and my supervisor was of much help as she was patient with teaching me more about it.

I then went on another site measure at a home renovation project for a bungalow

in Bangsar. Once again, site measure visits make me appreciate my Measured Drawing semester even more as we were already prepared with the basic knowledge required to measure and document. But for this visit in particular, I noticed and observed how my director interacted with the clients and I realised that there was more to the life on architect than just designing. The words we use, the things we say, are all important when it comes to securing and maintaining relationships with clients or other personnel.

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Figure 5.0: Site Measure Visit Photos

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Figure 5.1: Chinatown Shop Lot 3D Sketchup Model

Figure 5.2: Chinatown Shop Lot Furniture Planning with 3D Sketchup Model

Figure 5.3: Chinatown Shop Lot Ground Floor Plan

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Figure 5.4: Anjali Lobby Renderings

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Figure 5.5: Anjali Lobby Wind Veil Construction Detail Rendering

Figure 5.6: Anjali Lobby Reception Table Construction Detail Rendering

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Figure 5.7: Bungalow Renovation Site Measure Photos

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6.0 LEARNING THE ROPES (Projects: CPC Inspection @ Selangor Shooting Club, High Rise Proposal @ Kampung Attap, High Rise Proposal @ Jalan Kia Peng)

Towards the last few weeks of the internship period (and thanks to my architecture supervisor), I was assigned back to the Architecture department while still keeping my other foot in the Interior Design department. Fortunately, I was given the opportunity to follow the project manager to some site visits and CPC inspections which opened my eyes even more not just to the construction process of a building but the demanding and stressful requests of the clients as well. It was surreal and hard to imagine how 2D drawings and 3D visualisations we see on the screen can be transformed into a fully functioning structure and space with tens of thousands of parts to make it happen. During the few visits to construction sites and showrooms, the experienced project manager was generous and unhesitant in providing us with his never ending knowledge on construction details and protocols with authorities. Every tiny detail on windows and doors, every construction and contract stage, every document required, every practical knowledge not related to architecture, it was all useful knowledge and he made sure that he could teach us as much as he could and I was grateful for that opportunity.

One of the biggest and most stressful projects that I was lucky enough to be a

part of was a proposed high-rise project at Kampung Attap. The firm had just acquired 2 high-rise projects and was required to come up with something to show the client in a day. I was then given the chance to be in charge of producing the 3D massing and design scheme under the guidance of my architecture supervisor while rushing to complete renderings from the Interior Design department. My supervisor was known to be stern and fast with his work so it was a daunting experience as he was constantly and aggressively pushing me to progress faster. There was no time to stop and rest or grab a meal. The situation was tense and mentally tiring to experience. Finally, as midnight approached and being the only one left in the office, I completed everything that was required and the feeling of satisfaction was overwhelming. I could finally rest and hear my supervisor thank and compliment me for the work over the phone. I was always curious about how designers came up with design concepts for real buildings because I was sure the process was different from what we usually do in our design studios. This was probably the closest I could get to that phase and this was definitely the proudest work that I have done during the internship period. It might be difficult for others to understand why, after all, this was just a massing of a preliminary design for a project that would probably not happen.

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As we entered the office on the day after that, we’ve received news that the client in Malacca wasn’t happy with the Impression City designs and demanded major amendments or else they would not proceed with the payments. It was also the last day for the Interior Design supervisor whom I’ve been closely working with while doing the renderings as she needed to take a break and have a change of scene. So, as she was busy settling the handover of tasks, I had to do my work without any guidance to set me in the right direction. It was probably the first time I was given the independence and freedom work on a given task and truth be told, it felt completely foreign to me. I started to wonder again, is this how it would feel like when you reach a certain level in your career where you are given independence? It was a rather short but insightful experience for the future.

The next task came as a surprise as I was messaged by my director inquiring on

my availability during the weekends to help out with the preliminary stage of the next high rise project in Jalan Kia Peng, Kuala Lumpur. He stated that it was very important to secure this contract and it was urgent since my architecture supervisor was on leave until Tuesday. It was a good opportunity given to me but I also knew that it would be a suffering weekend as I still had extra curricular activities and meetings on campus during the weekends. I still gladly accepted the offer without hesitation and proceeded to attend the briefing and tried my best to complete as much as I can on the Friday before. It was almost the same as what I’ve done before for my first high-rise project but I was asked to handover to the new architect to be further developed. Without doubt, this experience further strengthened my knowledge on high-rise architecture and the general information that was required in designing one such as, the importance of adhering to the dead end travel distance, the maximum height limit to place a service floor and of course many more. This opportunity really opened my eyes more to a different and more foreign type of architecture that we don’t usually deal with in our design studios. It also wasn’t my first time bringing work back to do during the weekends and staying up till the morning but this was surprisingly one of the most tiring ones.

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Figure 6.0: Selangor Shooting Club CPC Inspection Sample and Photos

Figure 6.1: Kampung Attap High Rise Presentation Scheme

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Figure 6.2: Kia Peng High Rise Upcoming Developments Proximity Plan Figure 6.2: Kia Peng High Rise 3D Sketchup Model with Context

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7.0 THE EXPERIENCE

Juggling all these tasks in addition with the late nights till 2 in the morning and extra curricular activities back on campus, it felt like I was totally immersed into the world of an architect. I wondered if this is what my future would look like and if it really was, would I be able to handle the stress and the routined schedule? University life and design studios were nothing compared to this. I started imagining myself as a fresh grad in the future having to do only drawings and documentations for many uninteresting years until I can finally achieve credibility to design. Who would sign up to be an architect and go through all the pain and sleepless nights just to draw and document for years? There was definitely no turning back at this point but the thought of it was still dreadful. At least that was what I thought at the beginning and the middle of the internship period.

I signed up for architecture because of my love in designing form and spaces that

are aesthetically pleasing and functional. However, to do that, I would first require a strong foundation and be a ‘jack of all trades’; to be well-versed in the art of designing, to be familiar with the protocol and the authorities, to have a strong network of contacts and many other aspects. I can’t expect to be given a chance to design if I don’t have the least idea of any of those aspects. The 11 weeks that I have spent here was fruitful, I have gained many new friends and mentors in this firm that didn’t hesitate to teach me everything they could. There is no doubt that I have learnt practical knowledge that I wouldn’t be able to in the studio with my other classmates. Not just that, we should also be keen on learning other things indirectly related to architecture such as organizational skills and networking skills. Throughout the entire period, I’ve picked up on certain knowledge of how a firm should and should not be managed by observing the surroundings which proves to be a valuable knowledge in the future as well. Networking was something I kept in mind as I knew that it would be beneficial to expand my contacts and circle in this industry. It wouldn’t harm to gain new friends that cared for me as well.

The future of an architecture student seemed miserable and I was constantly

afraid, but now, I think that that I’m fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to experience and undergo this internship training, to allow ourselves to be exposed to everything an architect would need to learn in the future so we could better prepare ourselves for the upcoming years of practice. This is the life of an architect, and I’m ready for it.

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