SOULFUL DESIGN

According to architect Nur Safuraa Abd Razak, good design is made to leave a lasting impact

- Kiran Pillay

Nur Safuraa Abd Razak is a certified architect and interior designer with over a decade of experience crafting holistic and unconventional spaces for varied communities. Born into a family of architects, Safuraa and her brother followed in their parents’ footsteps. “Growing up surrounded by their creativity and vision, they instilled in me a unique perspective, encouraging me to think outside the box and express myself freely,” Safuraa says.

Despite surrounding influences, Safuraa didn’t initially see herself pursuing a career in architecture. “It wasn’t until my time in an art and design foundation after graduating from the pure science stream in high school that I began bridging my artistic expressions with scientific principles. This fusion led me to realise that architecture beautifully marries the realms of science and art. At that moment, I knew I had found my calling and I have never looked back.”

Among the senior architect’s cherished projects are the villas she crafted for Daun Retreats in Hulu Langat: Kasturi Cabin and Kozu. Kasturi Cabin is a good example of “cargotecture”, a design approach that aims to upcycle old shipping containers to create sustainable and cost-effective living spaces.

A term coined around 2004 by HyBrid Architecture of Seattle, the trend is here to stay as there are an estimated 65 million shipping containers in use worldwide, with estimates of those in active use at any given time ranging from 5 to 17 million. With so many containers languishing and new shipping containers manufactured each year, there is an abundance of containers waiting to be repurposed.