ISKANDAR AL-HAZIO
DESIGN IS AN INNATE TALENT of Iskandar. His earliest memories are of drawing with crayons, fueled by an unfe ered imagination. So much so his weekends were packed with a activities, competitions and classes.
And his a istic exploration didn’t stop at drawing either.
As a child, he once used six boxes of tissue paper and grated styrofoam to transform his room into a “snow world”, so his siblings and cousins could come and play. He completed the experience with gloves and snowcaps even. The clean up of course involved more than an ea ul from his mum.
Having le his TV hosting job to pour his hea and soul into his interior architecture business, here’s Iskandar in his own words.
WHAT WERE THE HARDEST PARTS OF GROWING UP?
I guess it was very much about mastering self-confidence and self-respect. It took me many hard years to do that but I had a real breakthrough when I was 15. You become brave when you overcome your fears. Fear itself exists so that we can become brave. If I had a billboard on KL’s busiest road, it would say,
“You are strong, and you will make it.” While many of us are struggling silently with ba les that we probably have no idea about, sometimes it’s just comfo ing to be reminded of our strength and be reassured of our qualities.
WHAT MAKES A GREAT INTERIOR ARCHITECT?
Sensitivity and knowledge. Great interior architects will be taught to design by using their senses and emotions, meaning to design a space by humanising it first.
Many feel like they can do interior designing based on what they see on design shows or Pinterest, but it actually takes a greater sensitivity to details, to maximize the values and potentials of one space and its functionalities, and not just looking aesthetically pre y.
CAN YOU DESCRIBE YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS?
Site visiting is so impo ant to me as it allows me to have a deep sense of the space and its environment. Design is all about the experience so I really want to capture everything that I see from the moment I step in and walk around the space. I love being playful with the existing structural features and combining them with new elements.
WHAT ABOUT CRITICISM OF YOUR WORK?
First, realise that design is truly subjective. What looks nice to me, might not necessarily look nice to you and vice versa. But that is also the beauty in differences. We give and we take, we exchange and we compromise then we meet in between for the best outcome! An architect is someone with high sensitivity and empathy because this is what creates the magic.