From architecture to art installation, interior design to industrial design, these Malaysian female designers are making their mark in fields typically dominated by men
It’s telling that when Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara of Grafton Architects won The Pritzker Prize in 2020, they were only the fourth and fifth women to win architecture's highest honour since it was established in 1979.
Indeed, in architecture and other fields of design, the disparity in genders is significant, whether in America or Asia. Yet, despite this, women like the late Dame Zaha Hadid and the prolific Patricia Urquiola have created design vocabularies that are unique and exceptional.
In Malaysia, these ten young female designers are blazing trails in their respective fields, and our design landscape is richer for it.
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Amy Liang, Studio CocoKacang
The rise of Instagrammable cafés has created a phenomenon where cafés become more than a place to have brunch—they also serve as photogenic venues. The cantilevered stairs projecting on the side of APW’s Breakfast Thieves in Bangsar is a hot favourite, with queues forming to get the prized shot.
The stairs and the lovely light-filled cafe came from the imagination of Amy Liang, founder of Studio CocoKacang. Inspired by the site’s historical context, the One Academy graduate of interior architecture created a space featuring skilfully worked rubber wood (a nod to the neighbourhood’s plantation past) and rendered concrete while encapsulating the easygoing vibe of the original Melbourne outlet.
See also: Kyle E Yon and Jun Ong of Pow Ideas are rising stars in interior design