Chian Quah
Architect, interior design, and retail design in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
In 2011, ChianQuah returned to Malaysia, his place of birth after his confidant, friend, and father demised suddenly from a heart-attack. This event changed ChianQuah's view on life as an architect.
Trained and nurtured at the University of Melbourne and at Grimshaw Architects, ChianQuah had always observed the comforts and optimisms of people's lives until this juncture.
Upon returning to Malaysia, ChianQuah worked at upmarket architectural practices and ultimately found the generally opulent view on architectural influence was gradually dissipating from a more profound meaning and raison d'être to ultimately prevail. After several opportunities were tried and tested and after several failed attempts to establish a connection with the architectural setting in Malaysia, ChianQuah ended up depleted of professional inspiration and real-life funds.
Exhausted and probably as a sign of defeat, ChianQuah established Studio-Asean focusing on The Tropical Avant-Garde. The Tropical Avant-Garde reverts back to the days when design was much more basic and reactionary to the conditions around the region of South-East Asia.
Studio-Asean thus focuses on the performance of architectural design of publicly interfaced developments such as retail, religious and educational facilities around the South-East Asian region. The practice is dedicated to evaluate diversity in cultural values around South-East Asia and is characterised by strong cultural connection, material innovation and careful environmental design nuances to deeply affect human interaction with architectural and building outcomes.
Chian Quah has more than 10 years of Architectural Design experience from working at some of the most highly awarded firms such as Grimshaw (Melbourne), LOOK Architects (Singapore) and ZLG Design (Malaysia). His most recent work with Studio-Asean include involvements on the largest retail, commercial and housing development in Malaysia, TRX (Tun Razak Exchange), upon world-class international architects, Grimshaw. In recent years, via Studio-Asean, ChianQuah has developed the architecture to highly sought after F&B and retail & commercial business outlets in social-media streams; Beta Restaurant& Bar near KLCC and VCR Cafe in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. Currently Studio-Asean works on medium to large scale public facilities around peninsular Malaysia.
As the pandemic hits us (had), the future looks nervous but incredibly fertile for innovation.
Chian Quah