New Forms Taschen 062

Ker* Yeang

Menara Mesiniaga

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1990-92

This fifteen Story corporate head-quarters of an IBM franchise, designed for Iow cnergy consump tion. is the result of long research by the architecr into the idea of what hecalls the 'bioclimatic* building. specifically suited to a tropical dimate. This building was a recipient of the 1995 Aga Khan Award.

the other tali buildings being erected in Asia. Indeed, it would seem that the archi-tect, Ken Yeang, is opposed to Kuala Lumpur's own tendency to want to reach for the sky. His Menara Mesimaga, completed in 1992, is the headquarters of an IBM franchise in Subang Jaya on the outskirts of the Malaysian Capital. This tower, one of the twelve recipients of the 1995 Aga Khan Award for Architecture, is a proto-type of what the architea calls a "bioclimatic tali building." Two spirals of green "sky gardens" twist up the building and provide shade and visual contrast with the Steel and aluminum surfaces. Core funaions are placed on the warmer eastern side of the building, and sunscreens permit a morę frugal use of energy. As Peter Eisenman, a member of the 1995 Aga Khan Award jury, said: "Here we have an example of a replicable corporate high-rise building that is environmentally sensit-

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