Chen House
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,
Designed 1984
Unbuilt
It was on the Malay peninsula, where Arthur Erickson first visited as a member of the British Intelligence in
1945, that he got his first opportunity to work in the region in 1983. The Datuk Dr. Chen Lip Keong
residence in Kuala Lumpur, was designed for a physician turned real estate developer, whose honorary title
was conferred by the Sultan of Pahang. Erickson had designed a 555 unit condominium development for
Dr. Chen in Kuala Lumpur called Prince Courts (which was built) and Dr. Chen approached him to “play”
with a house design for himself.
In Erickson’s words:
“Datuk Chen’s property straddled a deep draw of tall trees. Following Chinese custom, he wanted his
house to look down on the neighbours, and he proposed filling in the canyon to get an adequately high
foundation. I elected to preserve the jungle by intruding on it as little as possible, putting everything the
house required on concrete caissons holding aloft a series of “trays”- seven in all. The Malaysian household
customarily keeps family, servant and guest areas quite distinct from each other. What could be more fitting
than for each to have its own tray with its own yard and garden, set one above the other, and reached by
stairs and elevators concealed in the caissons? The only other structure on the site would be an arrival
platform with a garage. From it a bridge, suspended through the treetops, would reach an entrance foyer.
And so on; a grand stairway descends to the main platform, which houses the main reception rooms and a
garden with swimming and reflective pools and pergolas. Lavish tropical plants spill over the edge of the
trays and hang into the ravine below. Overhead, family quarters and master suite also have pools spilling
over, one into the other. The topmost private keep is crowned by a helipad. The client liked the concept so
much that he announced he would find a hilltop to put it on.”