Interviews with Siong Vui Choong

I was born in Malaysia, I went through the primary and half of the secondary school systems in Malaysia. I moved to New Zealand with my family and finished my secondary and university education there. I studied architecture and urban design while at my alma mater. I moved to Australia to work and passed my examination and registered as an architect in Victoria, Australia. I moved to Hong Kong in 2013 and stayed in Hong Kong since then. In total, I have about 15 years of experience.

I wanted to be an architect since I was in high school where I find some urban spaces were horribly designed and I saw the faults of it. I have also been intrigued by the relationship between traditional and contemporary. In some parts of Asia where I grew up, I saw traditional architecture being abandoned and replaced by contemporary, a huge disparity between the old and new.

My design style often has an obvious big picture idea, followed a stylized uniform language and cultural elements attached to it. Every architectural design should have consistency in design language, pattern and etc. Ideally, the building exterior should relate inside out. I normally research a particular subject or ideas first and then sketch them out on tracing papers. I test the ideas on SketchUp or Rhino depending on complexity. Documentations are done on Revit. Final renders are done by others on Lumion, 3D Studio Max or VRay.

I feel energetic and lively when if the concept works, the Eureka moment. I then become very eager to put it down on the paper.

As a child, I like building things, Legos. I don’t always follow the instruction and I tend to build my own things. As a result, my lego kits were pretty mixed up and I love to sketch and draw buildings, planes, and cars. I didn’t know I was going to be a designer until I saw the architecture course at my alma mater. Some prominent architects have been influential in my architectural education – Kisho Kurokawa, Lebbeus Woods, Daniel Libeskind, Zaha Hadid, Tadao Ando, and Geoffrey Bawa. Lately, I am into Neri & Hu, Tod William Billie Tsien, WOHA and etc.

In the future, I am hoping to do a Doctor of Philosophy course to test out and further refine my ideas and directions through research. In the end, I would like to have a firm that is experimental on Chinese Architecture, a Boutique firm that uniquely expresses the materiality and identity of Chinese Architecture – a background that I closely associate myself with. Build a personal brand of myself, but a signature design language uniquely about myself. Be an expert in my own field.

A lot of young designers will be departmentalized in big companies, it is hard for graduates not to be pigeonholed. So it is best to go to a smaller firm that is creative and you get to do a full spectrum of work – from design to the finished product. This is good training for young designers. Those who are in big offices should know whether they like design, documentation or administration. If it is hard to do what you like to do and felt that you are being pigeonholed, then prepare to leave the practice and join a smaller firm, or better still, start your own practice.

Explore your own styles and your thinking in design. Be outspoken and be daring about your design. Make your work stand out, market yourself and do lots of networking. Build a personal brand. Know your limits and overcome it. It takes strong determination to overcome your limits and barriers. You learn about yourself, the way you design and etc, through this process and become better and better. You will thank yourself later after overcame your own limitations.

Awake around 6 am, dropped my kids to school, commute, arrived at the office, dealing with offshore office, clients, meetings. Have lunch, meetings, design meetings, Dinner, sometimes attending seminars, exercise, do quite a bit of architectural reading and thinking before sleep, plan the next day or think about the design of the project I am working on. As someone who is aimed to be successful, one should refrain from counter-productive activities such as games and excessive social media. Best use of time and constant self-improvement is vital for a designer to become successful.

A designer should be more sensitive about the market trend, where the market for designs is, versus the capability of your firm or team. If there is no market for doing such a thing, it is best to switch your business direction. If we use a smartphone as an example, Apple released the iPhone around 10 years ago and it was such a great design that every other manufacturer followed suit. Those who didn’t change their product were out of business. Ie. Nokia. I rely on social media and the internet to keep myself up-to-date with the news and development in the architectural field.

A good design should not be just about the appearance, but it should also fulfill the functional requirements and solves the problem. A really good design will be revolutionary too. Most of the time a good design will also have at least an award attached to it.

I often tried to do some research about the project background, I pick out the relevant concept from the background or an idea that I would like to explore further. Then test it out on the plan and perspectives. Once I am convinced of an idea that fits with the context and scale, I then progress with the form and façade design with the plans simultaneously. Sometimes the plan leads the design and sometimes the elevation. I work hard on the critical elevations, normally the corners and the visible part (main façade) of the buildings and sketch out the elevation until I find the Eureka moment. Once I found it, I will just be focused on developing the idea. I will check with my colleagues, employers, and client to see what their reactions are.

The first design I was involved in had weathering steel, it was one of the first buildings in the world to have used it. I remembered we spent a long time trying to figure out the details and a long time dealing with the council about the rainwater runoff. In the end, we got there and the end result looked really good. Recently I am quite proud of the triangular window of 46 FLT Kowloon City, we insisted the client pursue it and convinced the building authority to accept it. Generally, the more the problem is, once we were able to deliver it, we think it’s great, as it isn’t easy at all.

Thomas Heatherwick; Snohetta; Diller, Scofidio and Renfro; Zaha Hadid; Kisho Kurokawa; Tadao Ando; Shigeru Ban; Rem Koolhaas, Vo Trong Nghia; Steve Jobs, Philippe Starck, WOHA; Kerry Hill and Glen Murcutt. These architects and designers each have their focus on a particular style and they are good at what they do, which is the reason why they are successful. People request them to design their project because of their name, style, and value.

I was born in Malaysia, but I have spent a much longer time away. I have also lived in New Zealand, Australia and now in China. Culturally I was brought up by the Chinese culture; I have also adopted Western culture and studied Japanese culture during my teenage years. I understand well the differences between the East and the West. I am highly attracted by cultural ideas and also very flexible about it. When designing for a specific country, we should be more aware of what constitutes a taboo.

My work culture is work hard and plays hard during business hours. Allow ourselves to have some time to self-improve rather than chaining ourselves to the desk. We need to be more efficient in the design process, and if possible, build a design management system and implement it, so you get the efficiency and good results. My business philosophy is that we need to be independent of the opinion of the clients, so our role as an architect is not compromised. Even though we are the client’s agent. Avoid pro-bono work for your clients wherever possible, because you are responsible for your project. Clients will sue you should they find fault in your design even pro-bono work. So why not charge them professional fees in the first place?

I would also design for under-privilege people who do not often have access to good architectural design. I am trying to engage with a charity group who is providing architecture solutions for remote villages in western China. The village presents an interesting challenge, something that is rustic, so simple construction and sometimes traditional construction technique will be employed. The aim is to promote architecture awareness and giving back to society.

Design Awards are vital to the business and marketing of architectural practice or the architects. It serves as a platform not only to evaluate the work of the designers, but it is to promote public awareness of the designer and their end product. A’Design Award is well organized and articulated.

I was born in Malaysia, I went through the primary and half of the secondary school systems in Malaysia. I moved to New Zealand with my family and finished my secondary and university education there. I studied architecture and urban design while at my alma mater. I moved to Australia to work and passed my examination and registered as an architect in Victoria, Australia. I moved to Hong Kong in 2013 and stayed in Hong Kong since then.

I wanted to be an architect since I was in high school where I find some urban spaces were horribly designed and I saw the faults of it. I have also been intrigued by the relationship between traditional and contemporary. In some parts of Asia where I grew up, I saw traditional architecture being abandoned and replaced by contemporary, a huge disparity between the old and new.

It was a personal choice. One simply cannot be forced to be a designer.

Generally. architecture and urban design work. The more the site issues or constraints, the better they are. The heavier the cultural contents, the better they are. I find residential, cultural and public architecture interesting.

Explore your own styles and your thinking in design. Be outspoken and be daring about your design. Make your work stand out, market yourself and do lots of networking. Build a personal brand.

A good designer solves the current issues unique to the project, but a great designer will come up with a design that revolutionizes the whole industry.

A good design should not be just about the appearance, but it should also fulfill the functional requirements and solves the problem. A really good design will be revolutionary too. Most of the time a good design will also have at least an award attached to it.

People are willing to invest in good design as it helps to reduce cost, improve safety, more sustainable, solves the problem, visionary, generate patronage or traffic and will even be proud of or associate themselves with a good design. So it makes sense and clients will pay top dollars for it too.

I would also design for under-privilege people who do not often have access to good architectural design.

I have always wanted to improve my projects at architectural school, especially the final year thesis, but never had the opportunity to do so. To me, the projects at architecture schools are perhaps the purest, without much influence from other parties, compared to a real scenario.

There is no secret recipe for design, it is very open-ended. If the concept matches the brief, expectation of the clients and context, then it is good design. Better still, if it meets or exceeds the user’s expectation. That the user also feels proud of being in the building. Also most importantly, follow your mind.

Thomas Heatherwick; Snohetta; Diller, Scofidio and Renfro; Zaha Hadid; Kisho Kurokawa; Tadao Ando; Shigeru Ban; Rem Koolhaas, Vo Trong Nghia; Steve Jobs, Philippe Starck, WOHA; Kerry Hill and Glen Murcutt.

It depends on the projects. Normally, I like some of their projects but not all of them.

The first design I was involved in had weathering steel, it was one of the first buildings in the world to have used it. I remembered we spent a long time trying to figure out the details and a long time dealing with the council about the rainwater runoff. In the end, we got there and the end result looked really good. Recently I am quite proud of the triangular window of 46 FLT Kowloon City, we insisted the client pursue it and convinced the building authority to accept it. Generally the more the problem is, once we were able to deliver it, we think it’s great, as it isn’t easy at all.

Focus on the resolution of four major elements in a project: Site, Client, Brief and budget. Rigorously testing out your design until you find a solution you are happy with.

Probably starting a business of some sort, I have never thought about it.

To me, Design is making historical, site and project context work with client expectations. Along with problem-solving of constraints of all sorts and program; Design is not only about appearance, but it is also about form, function, and context – at the end, they are used by occupiers. The design must also come with a simple but convincing story that relates to form, context, human experience, and resolution of prevailing issues.

My wife supported whatever I do. I owed her a big thank you. Other than that my employers have been really supportive too.

I am a person who likes to improve myself, so I always worked to overcome and push my barriers or limits.

I am not a design master as such, but I have faced hurdles in the past including my years at University. It takes strong determination to overcome your limits and barriers. You learn about yourself, the way you design and etc, through this process and become better and better.

Be proud of your work, even if your work is not great. Put up a convincing pitch and story. Sometimes it is not about the quality of your work, it is also the way you convey your ideas. Every designer should learn how to pitch their work and salesmanship. Think about Apple’s Steve Jobs and how he pitched his product.

Not at this moment as I am focusing more on Design Management, Business development, and Studio Management. I am hoping to jump back into designing again once the dust settled down.

Build a personal brand of myself, but a signature design language uniquely about myself. Be an expert in my own field.

To provide them a better solution or visions that solves their problems or needs.

As mentioned earlier, good design inspires people and people love to be in a well-designed space or use well-designed products. It gives people hope and society propels as a whole.

I am working on a Seniors Living project, it’s my first project to design for an age group which I have never designed for. It will be quite interesting as they have a different set of requirements.

I really enjoy working on cultural projects or any project that requires me to carry out cultural studies and understanding of different cultures. Or projects that relate to dwelling (residence) where it is personally tailored to the client or the user group. Also, projects that interface with nature.

I hope Architects and Designers will be more respected and valued upon in the future. At the moment architects and designers are not well paid compared to other professionals. In many parts of the world, people even expect the design to be given for free.

I think the design field is heading towards specialization, designers will be very territorial about their own specialization. A lot of designs will be departmentalized, it is hard for graduates not to be pigeonholed. So designers will always have to prove their own value. No doubt, AI will have a profound influence in the fields of design. They will assist us to visualize much better and cut our design time. In Southern China, AI is able to generate a basic building form based on the input and site constraint and shadow diagram in a very short timeframe. Exciting times ahead but more people will also lose their job.

For architecture during a conceptual phase, ideas will come up within a week or two. It is all subject to refinement and testing. However, it takes months to get it up to the design development stage when all the regulations and codes were satisfied. Typically a building from concept to completion could take from 1 to several years.

I research about a particular subject or ideas first and then sketch them out on tracing papers. I will then test the ideas on SketchUp or Rhino depending on complexity. Documentations are done on Revit. Final renders are done by others on Lumion, 3D Studio Max or VRay.

Make stress your best friend sometimes, it helps you to be a better designer.

I am not a strong believer of a particular trend, but normally it is designed that sets the trend. If we use a smartphone as an example, Apple released the iPhone around 10 years ago and it was such a great design that every other manufacturer followed suit. Those who didn’t change their product were out of business. Ie. Nokia.

The role of technology is to help me to test and visualize my design the quickest way. It also helps us to reproduce our work quickly without redrawing from scratch again.

I research about a particular subject or ideas first and then sketch them out on tracing papers. I will then test the ideas on SketchUp or Rhino depending on complexity. Documentations are done on Revit. Final renders are done by others on Lumion, 3D Studio Max or VRay.

These are highly relevant. They are the essential elements that will change the look and feel of your design or architecture drastically. The value of your designed product can be expensive or cheap depending on the material you use.

The story behind the concept of my design or the process I went through and my thoughts about it. Understanding the cultural and historical aspect is important to me.

Reading the idea about the design or product, study the reason behind it.

I work in an individual manner to generate design concepts by testing it out on sketches. The sketches will then be passed onto my colleagues to further develop on digital models. Sometimes I will even be building digital models myself. The design will be reviewed again and again and modified on the computer again and again within a team environment.

Not long after my graduation, I joined RTA Studio in Auckland, New Zealand as a graduate. The firm had a profound influence and shaped my thinking as to what an architect does. The expectation, outcome, and resolution of a project were extraordinary. At RTA Studio, the Directors were so skillful that they are good at the concept from the big picture level, all the way down to a very fine detail level. They are also multi-skilled taking a project from concept to completion. With bigger firms, the staffs’ skills are often departmentalized.

S, M, XL by Rem Koolhaas, a few books by Japanese architects and historical and theoretical books.

Designers who have clear design directions and an out of the box idea are good indicators of good designers. Those who are not afraid of challenging the norm, which helped to push the limit or boundaries. So that’s the golden rule I worked with.

Thomas Heatherwick, Rem Koolhaas, Philippe Starck and etc. just to name a few.

It takes more than just awards, one really needs to have an impact and publicity about the work you do. There are many bright and award-winning designers who have gone unnoticed. One really needs to work hard on selling themselves and build a personal brand. Explore the territory where others have not gone to and make an impact there. One can certainly engage a Public Relations consultant as well to help with the internet and media exposure.

Blue and orange are my favorite colors

I remembered I criticized a building about how inconsiderate the architect was and what was funny about the design of the building. Little did I know, the man who asked me that question was the actual architect of the project. I was embarrassed as I used some really harsh words, but he didn’t mind. He actually liked what I said.

If there is a project I like and a problem I cannot resolve, it will motivate me.

As a child, I like building things, Legos. I don’t always follow the instruction and I tend to build my own things. As a result, my lego kits were pretty mixed up and I love to sketch and draw buildings, planes, and cars. I didn’t know I was going to be a designer until I saw the architecture course at my alma mater.

It is impossible to tell, maybe we won’t even exist judging by the speed we are destroying the earth.

I push my limits and challenge myself to obtain more design awards. In the near future, I am hoping to do a Doctor of Philosophy course to test out and further refine my ideas and directions through research.

I wanted to be an architect since I was in high school where I find some urban spaces were horribly designed and I saw the faults of it. I have also been intrigued by the relationship between traditional and contemporary. In some parts of Asia where I grew up, I saw traditional architecture being abandoned and replaced by contemporary, a huge disparity between the old and new.

I was a freelance designer and I worked on a project basis with A.Lead Architects. A. Lead Architects is a local Hong Kong practice with a lot of out of the ordinary projects in Hong Kong, such as Civil/ Infrastructural work, bridges, recycling facilities, flight training centers and etc. Essentially these are the projects you don’t normally pay much attention to, but we make it more pleasant and visible. Our task was to make civil structure work and attractive. Within my own practice, I always strive to make the site, historical and patron experience relevant.

To me, Design is about making historical, site and project context work with client expectations. Along with problem-solving of constraints of all sorts and program; Design is not only about appearance, but it is also about form, function, and context – at the end, they are used by occupiers. Good design must also come with a simple but convincing story that relates to form, context, human experience, and resolution of prevailing issues.

Generally, architecture and urban design work. The more the site issues or constraints, the better they are. The heavier the cultural contents, the better they are. I find residential, cultural and public architecture interesting.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater is my all-time favorite in Architecture. The program and the concept are extraordinary for its time; the building sat above a waterfall’; revolutionary use of material and relationship with traditional and contemporary and etc.

A 350 sqm single story house on a large plot in New Zealand.

Timber, Bamboo, bricks, the more sustainable or recyclable the better. Locally available abundant material that speaks the context or uniqueness of the site; the genius loci.

When I have the least distraction from people, when I am driving, commuting, showering or at night or early in the morning.

The overall idea or concept that is relevant to the program, context, and site.

I felt somewhat restless when I have not found the right concept or solutions to the problem, but will constantly think about how to solve it.

I feel energetic and lively when if the concept works, the Eureka moment. I then become very eager to put it down on the paper.

The resolution of four major elements in a project: Site, Client, Brief and budget.

The resolution of the program or brief: whether the concept behind it matches the brief.

As designers, the architect has an important role and should be held responsible to the society and environment. Architects should be addressing the site and historical context well, so they are not soulless buildings. Architects should not just be a slave of the developers, but it should have a much bigger role in the design process of buildings. Wherever possible, architects should encourage the client to incorporate sustainable technology and sensible delivery methods to help protect the environment and construction inefficiency and wastage.

In the future, we will rely more and more on Artificial intelligence, but designers and architects should use them for making the production process more efficient. However, the overall ideas and resolution of the program should still be done by designers.

Some of my work was exhibited by the company I worked for in the past, but the last time my personal work was exhibited was during my years at the university. I am planning to have my work exhibited once I am ready in the near future.

My inspiration often comes from the site, the surroundings, the neighborhood or the historical context of the site. Sometimes I have also wanted to explore what others have not done – the form or materiality. However, I have also generated ideas when I want to make a provocative statement about political, cultural, environmental and other issues.

My design style often has an obvious big picture idea, followed a stylized uniform language and cultural elements attached to it. Every architectural design should have consistency in design language, pattern and etc. Ideally, the building exterior should relate inside out.

I was born in Malaysia, but I have spent a much longer time away. I have also lived in New Zealand, Australia and now in China. Culturally I was brought up by the Chinese culture; I have also adopted Western culture and studied Japanese culture during my teenage years. I understand well the differences between the East and the West. I am highly attracted by cultural ideas and also very flexible about it. When designing for a specific country, we should be more aware of what constitutes a taboo.

I listened to their needs and brief. And communicate with them wherever possible. We have to beware some clients will overpower designers. We need to make a clear delineation of our role as an architect and their unreasonable demands. We don’t over service clients by pretending we know it all – market analysis, engineering advice and etc.

Designers who have clear design directions and an out of the box idea are good indicators of good designers. Those who are not afraid of challenging the norm, which helped to push the limit or boundaries. Designers that have a strong sense of social responsibility and environmental awareness are good indicators. Designers that have good past project reference and experience also helps.

Seek out client’s needs; understanding of the project and context; research about the cultural aspect or refer to projects by other architects; generate design concept and testing out the design ideas until I am convinced about the outcome and brief the client about it.

Cabinets, bookshelf, the bed, tea set, and utensil. Things that I use closely and I choose them wisely. Something that suits my taste and style.

Awake around 6 am, dropped my kids to school, commute, arrived at the office, dealing with offshore office, clients, meetings. Have lunch, meetings, design meetings, Dinner, sometimes attending seminars, exercise, do quite a bit of architectural reading and thinking before sleep, plan the next day or think about the design of the project I am working on. As someone who is aimed to be successful, one should refrain from counter-productive activities such as games and excessive social media. Best use of time and constant self-improvement is vital for a designer to become successful.

Explore your own styles and your thinking in design. Be outspoken and be daring about your design. Make your work stand out, market yourself and do lots of networking. Build a personal brand.

The positive aspect of being a designer is we get to create something that represents our personal brand, we also get to express our thinking through our design. The negative thing about being a designer is that others think we can generate a design and the outcome effortlessly within a short time. Another problem also is that it depends on culture, some cultures do not value designers greatly and think we can do it for free.

There is no golden rule for design, it is very open-ended. If the concept matches the brief, expectation of the clients and context, then it is good design. Better still, if it meets or exceeds the user’s expectation. That the user also feels proud of being in the building.

The overall understanding of the design process and the latest trend and knowledge about a specific field are important for a designer. An architect should also be able to undertake a project from concept to completion. If we can come up with a design system, that guide us through the process that is also quite valuable as a designer.

I research about a particular subject or ideas first and then sketch them out on tracing papers. I will then test the ideas on SketchUp or Rhino depending on complexity. Documentations are done on Revit. Final renders are done by others on Lumion, 3D Studio Max or VRay.

I often refer to an established guideline and design management system on what program to which graphics extend we have to produce in order to meet the expectation of a particular phase. This is so we have a set expectation and not wasting time to overdo things.

For architecture during a conceptual phase, ideas will come up within a week or two. It is all subject to refinement and testing. However, it takes months to get it up to the design development stage when all the regulations and codes were satisfied. Typically a building from concept to completion could take from 1 to several years.

How did you come up with that brilliant idea or solution?

Not long after my graduation, I joined RTA Studio in Auckland, New Zealand as a graduate. The firm had a profound influence and shaped my thinking as to what an architect does. The expectation, outcome, and resolution of a project were extraordinary. At RTA Studio, the Directors were so skillful that they are good at the concept from the big picture level, all the way down to a very fine detail level. They are also multi-skilled taking a project from concept to completion. With bigger firms, the staffs’ skills are often departmentalized.

Hong Kong, Macau and mainland Chinese developers, Engineering Consultant firms, Education Institutions, Facilities operator, Major architectural companies (alliance).

I really enjoy working on cultural projects or any project that requires me to carry out cultural studies and understanding of different cultures. Or projects that relate to dwelling (residence) where it is personally tailored to the client or the user group. Also, projects that interface with nature.

I am hoping to do a Doctor of Philosophy course to test out and further refine my ideas and directions through research.

I work in an individual manner to generate design concepts by testing it out on sketches. The sketches will then be passed onto my colleagues to further develop on digital models. Sometimes I will even be building digital models myself. The design will be reviewed again and again and modified on the computer again and again within a team environment.

Not at this moment as I am focusing more on Design Management, Business development, and Studio Management. I am hoping to jump back into designing again once the dust settled down.

I am contactable via my personal email borneo1012@gmail.com or my mobile number +852 9136 5677.

All covered.