KUCHING: Jascinta Yii Kiu Eng and Alan Kueh of Yii K E Architect consider themselves lucky to have won the first prize in the Langit Architectural Competition.
They received a prize money of RM100,000 for their efforts.
“Winning was unexpected for me because many of the architects in the competition are experienced and I am still a new architect.
“Of course, my partner Alan and I are happy to hear that our design was chosen as the winner of the competition,” said Jascinta.
She thanked Alan, who is currently in Singapore, for his collaboration in the building design.
She added that the ideas and inspiration for the design came from Allan.
“This competition was very challenging not only because it was joined by experienced architects all over Malaysia, but also because of the compact 0.78-acre land for the building design.
“We worked very hard on it and we also tried to break away from the conventional design while trying to make architecture in Sarawak more noticeable in the world,” she explained.
“Our design is a green building, and we also introduce community programmes, such as urban farming and open farm market.
“It is to encourage people to do their own farming and sell their produce to members of the communities,” added Jascinta.
“Nevertheless, like the Chief Minister said, we need to improve and move forward. For me, nothing is impossible. I hope the design will be built in the future,” she added.
The Langit Architectural Competition is Sarawak’s first national architecture competition.
It began in March and received a total of 112 registration by architects nationwide.
The top 11 architecture designs made it to the jury’s shortlist.
On Saturday (Aug 7), only the top five designs were announced, namely, the top three winners and two honorary mentions.
