Abdul Razak Bin Hitam Studied 1960-1961

Details of Abdul Razak Bin Hitam’s early life and education are not yet known to us but by 1959 he was working for the Malaysian Public Works Department, Kuala Lumpur, on the team designing the National Mosque, alongside Hashim Albakari. The two men then were awarded Colombo Plan scholarships, travelled to the UK and enrolled in the 1960-61 postgraduate course run by the Architectural Association’s Department of Tropical Studies. Upon completing the course, Hitam would have returned to Malaysia, to continue working for the PWD, as part of the conditions of the scholarship. Information regarding his subsequent career are not clear to us beyond the fact that in the 2010s he was working as a Director at Garis Architects.

Sources

• Architectural Association Student Register, 1960-61. AA Archives
• Architectural Association Council Minutes, 20th February, 1961. AA Archives
• Architectural Association Journal, Vol. 76, No. 849 (February, 1961), p215
• Architectural Association Membership List 1961
• Lai Chee Kien, Ang Chee Chiong, 'The Merdeka Interviews: Architects, Engineers and Artists of Malaysia's Independence', Pertubuhan Akitek Malaysia, 2018.