% Arabica, Kuala Lumpur, 2024

A coffee shop project in one of Kuala Lumpur's new urban districts. I first visited the city at the end of the 20C. More than twenty years later, the Kuala Lumpur of the 21C seemed to have moved into a vast, air-conditioned interior city, while urban life in direct contact with the outside air had largely disappeared. This project began with a question: how has environmental change reshaped today's Asian cities? At Batu Caves, the concept emerged. Though known today as a Hindu pilgrimage site, it was simply a temporary home until the 19C. Yet it offered a remarkable sense of comfort that momentarily dissolved awareness of the climate outside. The project began with the idea of creating a contemporary cave. The site allows for a large glass façade facing the street, yet the ceiling height gradually reduces by half toward the rear. Responding to these conditions, the design proposes a cave-like interior that contracts in both plan and section, creating a stepped geometry that narrows as it recedes.

The project seeks to recreate the dual sensation found within the cave: the comfort of an air-conditioned shelter, coupled with the profound sense of liberation inherent to the open outdoors.

Photo : StudioSZ Justin Szeremeta