The landhouse project and the Welham studio here are both very environmentally sensitive, has living in the countryside influenced that?

Well I’ve always been quite keen on the environmental side of things. That’s always been quite strong. It’s always seemed like common sense. Living in the countryside now what has become very apparent, is how we treat the landscape like a factory and I find that it’s almost lost the romance in that shallow way, but the landscape always influences because it’s the source material for me. You see constant examples everyday how things interact with each other, the awfulness and the cruelty all that side of it.

Then also in a way you see one’s existence in it, it’s slightly easier to try and step back from it. Because you are seeing yourself in all this other life and if you are in the city and as much as I love that too it’s much more about the jungle but not in the same way.

Your work takes you to India a lot, what are some of your favourite things about the subcontinent?

I feel very at home there having grown up in Malaysia. India is just immense, you’ve got the whole of humanity in front of you from one end to the other, it’s just the extremes and I feel like it’s much more like how the world is like. You see a whole lot more of humanity it’s just so beautiful but so cruel and vicious.

I’ve been going once a year for the last 10- 12 years for about a month or so at a time depending on the project. I love it also because Bangalore which is where I am based and mainly go, I think was at one point the fastest growing city in Asia and it is just horrific to watch, almost unbelievable to see this enormous expansion with so little regard for what is actually being done let alone design but the energy is just phenomenal and that’s fascinating to watch its just exploding and also exciting to be there cause you feel you could really do something there in terms of contributing to the idea of green or the idea of being responsible it’s not just about how much you can get in your pocket and leave the people in the ditch sort of thing. You feel you can contribute a bit more there, which at the same time is very uplifting.