Habitus Magazine | Issue 2

Like any magazine, Habitus is a work in progress and we look forward to constantly refining it.

But, of course, there is a highly developed idea behind Habitus and this will always be the foundation on which the magazine is built. Basically, Habitus is a magazine about how the design decisions people make are an expression of who they are. Whether it is the homes they build, the gardens and landscapes around those homes, the furnishings inside or even the clothes they wear – all of these things tell us a lot about these people as individuals, as families, as cultures and how they respond to contextual issues of place such as climate, landscape and cultural heritage.

In this issue, for example, I look at some books which deal with the layering of time and history. This will always be an issue lurking in the background of the Habitus stories, because even something which is apparently all about now – fashion, recent design and so on – actually comes from somewhere. Take David Trubridge, for example. He is one of the most outstanding designers in the Region with a substantial worldwide reputation, but all that he produces resonates with his own remarkable story and with the astonishingly beautiful part of New Zealand where he lives and works.

But if we take just a random sample of the architects whose work is represented in this second issue of Habitus – Ernesto Bedmar (an Argentinian living in Singapore), Kevin Low (a Malaysian-Chinese based in Kuala Lumpur), Glenn Murcutt (based in Sydney, but often designing for a rural Australian context) or Boonlert Hemvijitraphan (from Thailand’s vibrant capital) – each of them has a fascinating story which in turn responds to the stories of their clients and the context in which they are living and working.

Crucially, Habitus is about cultural engagement – about architects and designers from Australia, New Zealand and South-East Asia enriching one another in an on-going dialogue. The differences and commonalities all add up to a matrix of ideas which can lead to better outcomes for the environment we live in. Perhaps nothing sums up this part of the Habitus agenda more than our story on Rimbun Dahan in Kuala Lumpur, a remarkable story of exchange, sharing and cross-cultural inspiration and support.

The kind of cross-cultural encounters which Rimbun Dahan engenders are the kind from which we can all benefit. In fact, we are already benefitting. It is often just a case of realising what is going on and then building on that in a conscious way

PAUL MCGILLICK | EDITOR