Green Ink on an Envelope: The Architectural Practice of Chan Sau Yan Sonny

Modern, tropical with a touch of the Malayan — these qualities characterise the works of architect Chan Sau Yan Sonny, realised over more than four decades of practice, and counting.

Conferred the President's Design Award Singapore 2011 in the category for Designer of the Year, Sonny Chan is one of the few practitioners of his generation who continue to actively push the envelope of design.

Green Ink on an Envelope traces the professional and soul searching process of an architect deeply influenced by the 1950 Malayan landscape of his childhood, his modernist schooling in post-war Britain, and the heady years of nation-building of Singapore and Malaysia in the 1960s to 70s.

Exploring ideas through his green ink sketches, Sonny Chan returns to the elemental issues of climate, culture, technology, and community for each design project. The works are highly varied in form, but always elegantly configured. More often than not, they exude a tropical sensibility inspired by the spaces, craft and detailing of vernacular and colonial architecture.

This critical account relates Sonny Chan’s unique architectural journey to the broader historical and urban contexts of Singapore and Malaysia, from rapid growth in the post-independence years, through the cities’ internationalisation, to the regional awakening of cultural identities, and beyond.

Authors/Editors:
Ho Weng Hin
Tan Kar Lin

Contributors:
Nicholas Chan
John Heah
Hossein Rezai-Jorabi
Lai Chee Kien
Kevin Mark Low

Publisher:
Singapore Heritage Society & CSYA Pte Ltd 2012.

Book Design:
MAKE

Physical Description:
284 pages
ISBN 9789810744540

Language:
English