Liaison of Reimagination: Inside IFI LEADS ASIA with Shashi Caan, CEO of IFI

Seasoned in the artform and passionate in its advancement, CEO Shashi Caan of the International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers (IFI) offers her personal insight into the highly awaited launch of the latest talk of the town: IFI LEADS Asia.

Text by Monisha Sivanesan

As you may already be familiar with by now, the IFI LEADS (Luminary Experts, Architects & Designers Speaker) Series is an annual, interactive event focused on critical, emerging issues shaping our world, society and the future of design. For the first time ever, the Asia-centric version of it was brought to life, hosted on November 8th 2024 in Kuala Lumpur by ACG Media in partnership with the International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers (IFI). The purpose? To gather top international design leaders, stakeholders and industry professionals for vital discussion, debate and exchange surrounding transformative ideas and methodologies that are at the forefront of redefining design and the built environment today. The theme? ‘Design: Wellness Reimagined,’ and let’s just say, what a stimulating and informative session it was, indeed.

Flying all the way from New York to not only commemorate this special occasion but to also act as the session’s moderator (and in turn, share her thoughts and experience about the event) was CEO of IFI, Shashi Caan, who eagerly brought her over 30 years of experience as a practitioner, educator and author to the discussion. Her list of accomplishments includes working with notable names such as Skidmore, Owings and Merrill; Parsons, the New School for Design; and Gensler, as well as holding fellowships—including honorary ones—from IFI, of course, the Royal Society of the Arts, the Australian Institute of Designers and the American Society of Interior Design. The woman who was granted the Golden Seat Architectural Master Award of China in 2012 and appointed JDP Design Ambassador to Japan in 2013 has also held the position of President at IFI for two terms, a rare honour that can only be said by three others in the organisation’s long history.

After all the isolation and internalisation brought about by the pandemic, there was a collective realisation of urgently getting out there to reconnect with members and connect with new ones. A good step towards this was to start an initiative that is regionalised, and so Malaysia—a long-standing member of IFI—was chosen as this year’s destination for IFI LEADS Asia. But what really made her the ultimate choice for this event’s breakthrough into the Asian market were the precious relationships built with allies like ACG Media who believed in the vision, understood it and championed it through words and actions. Shashi stated that, “When we do initiatives with partners, they have to possess the vision and the ability to see and cultivate the quality of work that’s being done—that’s definitely what happened here, and we’re very happy with the outcome.”

Before reflectively answering on what her experience at the speaking session was, she first lobbied it back to me, humbly keen to gain an advisory insight into a third-party-slash-audience’s perspective. In a swift return, I earnestly commented on what splendid of a job she did, having observed how engaging she was with the crowd by consciously looping them in as active participants, instead of mere passive observers, as well as respectfully steering the group of luminaries with the kind of assertion and confidence that only a seasoned moderator would possess. I also appreciated Shashi’s intensive prep work behind the curtain, whereby her quick and adaptive thinking was put into action, allowing her to pinpoint the strengths of each speaker and figure out the flow of the entire session.

Coming back to Shashi’s own reply, she was delighted with how the event transpired. The professionalism and hospitality of everyone involved, from the speakers to the organisers, made her feel completely relaxed which in turn made it easy for her to work and enjoy the entire process. In spite of the less than ideal layout of the panel area, the interaction with, and among, the speakers during the session was buzzing, making her moderation job feel extra pleasant. Considering how quickly it all happened from ideation to execution, the first edition of IFI LEADS Asia was a raging success to her. “I’m very happy with the quality time I spent with the talents; I thought they were all amazing! Nobody knew each other and we didn’t know what to expect at the beginning, but it all came together brilliantly at the end. For me, it was an A+ experience,” she adds.

Seeing as how it is the inaugural event, Shashi thought it was really important that the participants were really engaged and that the audience gained something valuable. If there is one lesson that she’d like everyone who joined in to walk away with, it’s this: Be broad in your thinking, but be deep in your expertise. As for herself, of all the things said during the session, it was what YB Datuk Amar Prof. Dr. Sim Kui Hian, Sarawak’s dedicated Deputy Premier and Minister for Public Health, Housing and Local Government, had to say that made quite the impression on her.

First of all, Shashi found it positively coincidental that the Land of the Hornbills became part of Malaysia in 1963, the exact same year that IFI was founded. In terms of the topic at hand, she felt that his vision of wellness design that centred on uplifting humanity above all else was utterly inspiring. Referring to one of the projects mentioned during the minister’s speech, the sort of facilities he helped bring into Sarawak General Hospital—a garden, an art gallery and a chapel—is a good demonstration of his vision coming to life, highlighting the often forgotten human experiences in the cold medical world. All in all, she appreciates the fact that the good doctor got into the whole IFI spirit in a huge way, transferring borderless thinking into local spaces and, by doing so, reinforcing the great power that comes from good design. Initiatives like this that are all about raising the bar of the industry, as well as generating greater awareness of the discipline and its value amongst the professional community and the public, is why having such a significant government figure present and participatory is indispensable to the cause.

As indicated earlier, IFI typically does initiatives on a global scale, operating in the same fashion as the United Nations, whose headquarters just so happens to be within eyesight of IFI’s. With LEADS, the mindset is about how to remain true to the organisation’s idea and philosophy, including how to grow regionally as opposed to nationally. After all, it’s shocking how, instead of knowing and understanding each other well, neighbours that are divided by a mere border can be total strangers to one another. Forget about being unfamiliar with who are the emerging talents next door (you shouldn’t, but just to indulge me in the theatrics of this sentence, you should); even when certain designers are deemed superstars in one continent, they can be entirely unknown in the one right beside it.

Ergo, moving forward, there needs to be regional representation, and a strong one at that. In this case, it would involve the participation of multiple countries from Southeast Asia or across Asia, allowing not just a larger but a more diverse voice to be heard. “I’m hoping that’s how it goes, that it’ll be in alignment with the ambitions in Malaysia. If it’s being led by Malaysia, then that’s always a unique position. Either way, whether the next edition takes place here or in a different country, we hope to foster a more transnational hub in this part of the world. There is so much potential to tap into, and we look forward to exploring that in the future,” says Shashi.

For more information on IFI and all its global-scale initiatives, visit their official website at www.ifiworld.org