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What it is: The TAB Series 2 (Talks on Architecture and Beyond), entitled “The Making of Architecture”, is presented by Cosentino Asia and curated by WY-TO Founder Yann Follain. It is the extension of the first edition held throughout 2019, and launched in January this year.
Areas of focus: Sustainability and the circular economy, because they are the pillars of Cosentino’s production process, where it creates surfaces that are respectful to the environment. As a global leader, the Spanish company also feels compelled to promote knowledge and education around these topics.
Structure of talks: It dissects the process of making architecture, the built environment and designing for special environments. Every quarter has a theme that mirrors this idea. Within each, Follain has also curated the speakers so that the first one focuses on a designer and the second, on a project or process that can be cross-disciplinary. The third speaker is from a guest country that changes every quarter (The Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand then Indonesia), to connect Singapore with the rest of the region.
Highlights from Q1, themed “Concept & Inception”: “There was a strong sense of a genuine and honest way of practising design and caring for people,” says Follain. “That’s quite amazing because we invited three very different architects and designers.” They were Marc Webb and Naoko Takenouchi from Takenouchi Webb, Mike Lim, Seah Chee Huang and Yong Siew Onn from DP Architects and William Ti Jr from WTA Architecture and Design Studio. Each, according to Follain, were down to earth and respectful, demonstrating concern for the end users in whatever projects they shared about.
Highlights from Q2, themed “Development & Documentation”: It started with Pan Yi Cheng from Type0 Architecture who discussed the use of parametric design in his practice. Alan Tay, co-founder of Formwerkz Architects, spoke in May, sharing how he grew the firm to more than 100 staff with an internationally renowned reputation, while still maintaining the quality of its projects. Later this month, Farah Azizan and Adela Askandar from Studio Bikin in Malaysia will share about their brand of sustainable tropical architecture through the innovative use of local materials.
This story is brought to you by Cosentino Asia. It first appeared in Issue 120: June 2021.
