[TALK] From Balik Pulau to Jalan Parlimen

Speaker: Dr. Ar. Lai Chee Kien

Title of Talk: From Balik Pulau to Jalan Parlimen: The Architecture of Ivor Shipley in Malaya

Date, time: Wednesday, 23 July, 8-9:30 PM

Venue: Penang Institute conference hall

Moderator: Clement Liang, President of Penang Heritage Trust (Penang Heritage Talk)

Bio:

Chee Kien is a lecturer and registered architect in Singapore, researching histories of art, architecture, settlements, urbanism and landscapes in Southeast Asia. He graduated from the National University of Singapore with an M Arch. by Research (1996), and a PhD in History of Architecture & Urban Design from the University of California, Berkeley (2005). He is Vice-President of the Society of Architectural and Urban Historians of Asia and Advisory Committee Member for the International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments. His publications include Building Merdeka: Independence Architecture in Kuala Lumpur (2007), Building Memories: People, Architecture, Independence (2016) [awarded Book of the Year], The Merdeka Interviews (2018), and Cords to Histories: Architecture and Life in Southeast Asia (2021, in Chinese as 《歷史的臍帶：東南亞建築與生活》) [One of Asia Magazine's Best Ten Non-Fiction Books (2021)].

Abstract of talk:The architecture practice scene in Malaya before Merdeka was divided into the private and public sectors, as now. The latter was mainly helmed by architects and engineers from the Public Works Department (PWD) who were trained abroad and hired by the Colonial Service in London. The PWD was headquartered in Kuala Lumpur (KL) but employed one architect in each state, who was responsible for the design, construction supervision, completion and maintenance of government buildings. The time between 1945 to 1965 witnessed post-war reconstruction but also a halcyon period as architects localised modernist architecture and adapted buildings for occupation in the equatorial climate.

William Ivor Shipley (1929-2008) was trained as an architect at the Architectural Association in London before arriving in Malaya in 1953, having previously visited as part of military service. He was appointed State Architect of Penang and Province Wellesley until 1956 when he was mobilised to PWD HQ. While in Penang, he designed important buildings such as the Penang Council Chamber, extensions to the old Bayan Lepas Airport, the Balik Pulau Police Station, the Penang Island Girls’ School and the Georgetown Secondary School, among other buildings.

His design talent was soon noted and was promoted to serve in KL. With his interest in modular design developed in Penang, and interactions with two Bauhaus-related persons (Konrad Wachsmann and Julius Posener), he embarked on standard building designs including the Standard Office Building of which more than two hundred were constructed all over the country. His design ideas culminated in the Parliament House, where standardization and tropical design were combined for the realization of a sophisticated project. He was knighted in 1960 for architectural design excellence and service. This talk discusses his times and work from 1953 to 1964 before he moved back to London.

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