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KINGTON LOO
KINGTON LOO

Biography

Kington Loo, who was born in Oct 17, 1930, was a highly respected architect in Malaysia who belongs to the group who brought modernism to SouthEast Asia in the wake of World War II. The firm he played a vital role in fostering, Booty and Edwards, became a leader in the region. His success as an architect was eased as both his parents came from privileged backgrounds: his mother, Lok Soh June, was an accomplished piano player and was the sixth daughter of millionaire businessman Loke Chow Kit; his father, the engineer Yuson Loo, was the grandson of prominent businessman Loke Yew.

Early Life

Kington Loo lived in various parts of South East Asia before he settled professionally in Malaya. He was educated in Batu Road School in Kuala Lumpur, (Koay.A., The Star, 26 March 2003).He walked to school from the family house on Stoner Road. Before he reached 13, like many in the area, his life was disrupted by the Japanese invasion. The family relocated to a rubber estate in Ulu Langat, Selangor. Later, they moved to Singapore thinking, erroneously, that it would avoid Japanese occupation. When Singapore was threatened, the family moved once again, to India, leaving Yuson Loo behind as all able-bodied men were not allowed to leave. After that, the incomplete family decided to walk across the Himalayas to start a new life in China. However, the Japanese invasion of Burma unsettled the entire region, and the Loos remained in India. Young Kington continued his studies, and he learned Hindi and Urdu. His father rejoined the family while working as an engineer in the US Army. Kington Loo went to St Columbas High School until Junior Cambridge when the family moved to Delhi, during the great famine of 1945 where the family was exposed to the harsh realities of death and starvation.

At war’s end, the family returned to Kuala Lumpur where Kington Loo started his Form Four at the Victorian Institution. In 1947, Loo finished his studies and joined the Government Commercial Day School where the learned typing, shorthand and book-keeping. His parents were not capable of sending him overseas for further studies, so Loo spent a year and a half in a civil engineering course at Technology College; Malaya had no architecture courses at the time. Loo was fortunate as his great-grandmother, Mrs Loke Yew, decided to finance his studies and he went to Australia to study architecture at the University of Melbourne. He excelled as a student and won the internal competition to design the Dean of Architecture’s holiday house. The university now confers an award, the Kington Loo Prize, to the best design student, (Koay.A., 26 March 2003, The Star: Kington Among Men).

A Professional Architect in Malaya

Loo graduated in 1953, returned to Kuala Lumpur and joined the firm of Booty, Edwards & Partners (BEP), initially as a graduated architect and later as a full-fledged architect. He eventually became one of the partners in the firm. His architectural designs include the Dewan Tunku Canselor at the Universiti Malaya, the Subang International Airport, and the Standard Chartered building in Kuala Lumpur. He also designed the first high-rise office building in Kuala Lumpur, the 13-storey Police Cooperative Building at Jalan Sulaiman. As if often the case with large professional firms, architectural credit often went to the firm, and Loo likely had some involvement with many of the firm’s projects throughout his long tenure with them. There are several prestigious projects for which his involvement was singled out. Rex Cinema Loo’s Rex Cinema demonstrated that some classicized art deco motifs still made their mark in the 1950s. Located in Kuala Lumpur’s Jalan Sultan, the entertainment outlet was so popular that advanced bookings for popular films were often required. The theater burned down in the early 1970s and the renovation, done in 1976, seated 1100 with a single screen. The Rex became the first cinema in Malaysia to have a DTS sound system in 1993 in conjunction with the opening of Jurassic Park. The theater was later converted into the Hotel Red Dragon, yet its history as one of Malaysia most important cinemas is still widely known.

Commonwealth

A branch of the Commonwealth Society was formed in 1961 which was supported by Y.T.M Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, Malaysia’s prime minister. Loo designed the building at no cost. The Commonwealth building was known for its unique Minangkabau style roof. The first phrase of the building consisted of an entrance area and large lounge, a library-cum-committee room, and office on the ground floor. The first floor consists of a large lecture hall which accommodated around 400 people which is led by a broad staircase. The building’s public rooms offered indoor activities such as darts, table tennis and billiards, and the entertainment programme also included films.

Subang International Airport

Work on the Subang International Airport started in 1961 and finished in 1965 at a cost of $64 million. Its deceptively simple design consisted of a roof composed of floating concrete shells that was held aloft by mushroom-shaped columns. Loo is typically attributed with the design. The open structure also featured a massive circular ramp, reminiscent of Berthold Lubetkin’s penguin pavilion in London. Most of the critically acclaimed modern structure was removed during a major reconstruction in 1983.

University Malaya’s Experimental Theater

The modern campus of the University Malaya included many significant structures, including the bulky Dewan Tunku Canselor Building. This building in turn included a gem, the experimental theater. It was first open for its convocation ceremony in 1966, and Kington Loo is considered as the hand behind its innovative design. The building’s mark has always been its age and its ability to endure while adapting to changing times. The Dewan Tunku Canselor is a fine example for the brutalist architecture of the 1950s and 1960s, due to its bare concrete structure, use of egg-crate reinforced concrete and béton brut imprints on the poured concrete, which covers the entire building. The use of high grade reinforced concrete for the superstructure also means that the building is structurally very hardy. It caught fire on 29 June 2001 and the experimental theater was not in used for a decade until the completion of a recent renovation. Although it was badly damaged by the fire, the building still maintained its main structure, (Abdullah.A.K., Feb 2002, Brutal Practicality). The Theater was named a National Heritage site in 2009. The experimental theater had consisted of a classical theatrical plan with an arena stage and a proscenium stage. The theater’s trademark was a motorized arena stage, which at that time was the only one in Malaysia. The University of Malaya was the centre of a vibrant arts scene in the early seventies. The Experimental Theatre was very much alive, once known as the premier avant garde venue for modern theatre including stagings of Naga Naga and The Crucible.

'''Private Residences '''

In 1958, Loo designed his own bungalow house, known as Kington Loo’s house. The house was located on Girdle Road, Kenny Hill, and some described it as resembling “a startled tropical bird”. The structure was made of timber and brickwork masonry, and sported a pitched roof which harkened back to Malaya’s pre-war colonial traditions. Yet the house’s unusual geometry and its ‘V’-shaped columns placed it firmly within the modernist tradition. In 1961, Loo designed another ‘bungalow’, the Brunei house, the Sultan of Brunei gave the commission to Booty, Edwards and Partners with the stipulation that it be finished within fifty-five days. It cost $600,000 and was awarded the RIBA Bronze medal. More of a “istana” that a bungalow, the mansion was able to breathe with its system of natural ventilation, that included metal grillwork, glass louvers, along with shading hoods, canopies and overhangs, and both vertical and horizontal fins. The Borneo house has a perfectly square floor plan with spacious verandahs on all sides.

Dayabumi Complex

The Dayabumi Complex, also known as Menara Dayabumi, was a 35-storey building located on Jalan Sultan Hishamuddin, in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was completed in February1984, (King.R, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya: Negotiating Urban Space in Malaysia), and houses several commercial facilities. Although it was one of the earliest skyscrapers in Malaysia, it still remains as a famous landmark due to its architecture. It was designed by BEP (Kington Loo) as well as Akitek MAA, (King.R, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya: Negotiating Urban Space in Malaysia), and owned by Urban Development authority of Malaysia (UDA). It represents a significant shift to the firm’s design direction away from high modernism. The complex was built to resemble the decorative programs of a mosque, thus it displays features of several Eastern and Middle Eastern Islamic traditions, along with some Saracenic pointed arches, shiny white fretwork, as well as eight-pointed geometric stars. Service to the Profession In addition to his considerable activity as a designing architect, Loo was also active as an advocate for the profession. In 1962, Loo was elected as the first local (non-British) president of the Federation of Malaya Society of Architects (FMSA) and he served as president until 1973, (Koay.A., 26 March 2003, The Star: Kington Among Men). Loo sought to improve the practice of architecture with his service to numerous organizations. He was involved with many committees of the organization that succeeded FMSA, the Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM) and also the Board of Architects Malaysia (BAM). In 1998, he was the first person to win PAM’s inaugural Gold Medal, the highest honor the professional organization has on offer, (Poh.R., 27 April 2009, The Edge Malaysia: PAM Honor for Masjid Negara Architect, issue: 752). Furthermore, he assisted BAM in the revision of the Code of Professional Conduct and the Architect’s Rules. Loo donated his time and services to other causes as well. He displayed a strong commitment to the natural environment. He was the chairman of the Malaysian Zoological Society, as well as the founding trustee of the World Wide Fund for Nature Malaysia (WWFM), (Koay.A., The Star, 26 March 2003). During his time at Booty, Edwards & Partners, the firm contributed $20,000 to the Malayan Zoology Society, (3 May 1965, The Strait Times). Additionally, he was passionate about the arts as he became the chairman of the Malaysian Arts Council.

Conclusion

Through his hard work and devotion to the line of architecture, Kington Loo had worked on many projects where some of the buildings still stand exactly the same until this day. Most of his buildings were designed when he was working with BEP in Malaysia. He was a very successful architect in the mid 19th century, during the brutalist period; thus, reflecting that particular period in almost all is designed buildings. Moreover, he was highly active in many architecture organizations such as FMSA, PAM and BAM, and was given an honored award by PAM. Besides devoting so much to his profession. Loo is also passionate about the nature as he was one of the founding trustees of WWFM and donated a large amount to the Malayan Zoology Society while he was working as an architect in BEP.

References

Abdullah.A.K., (Feb 2002), Brutal Practicality, retrieved from: http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/portfolio/azrul/html/prac1.html

Backpackies, (28 September 2011), Dayabumi Complex or Kompleks Dayabumi Review by Backpackies, retrieved from: http://backpackies.wordpress.com/2011/09/28/dayabumi-complex-or-kompleks-dayabumi-review-by-backpackies/

King.R, (2008), Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya: Negotiating Urban Space in Malaysia, Singapore: ASAA Southeast Asia Publication Series.

Koay.A., (26 March 2003), The Star: Kington Among Men.

Lee.K.C., The Straits Times, 3 May 1965 (pg.8): Architects’ Firm Gives $20,000 to the National Zoo. Retrieved from: http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19650503.2.52.aspx

Loo.K., (6 Dec 2011), Employment History, retrieved from: http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Kington-Loo/1526813927

Thinker of the Hill, Mud Pies, (25 October 2011), retrieved from: http://mudpies.wordpress.com

Poh.R., (27 April 2009), The Edge Malaysia: PAM Honor for Masjid Negara Architect, issue: 752.