Lillian Tay is a Senior Principal at VERITAS Architects, a multi-disciplinary design practice based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where she has been practicing since 1991 after returning from the USA. She graduated from Princeton University and had worked at Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, New York.
She remains active on the Council of the Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM), where she was a former Vice President and served as Editor of Architecture Malaysia. She has written on architecture in Malaysia and had initiated a comment column called ‘Buka Mata’ (Eye Opener) which attracted a defamation suit that she successfully defended to set a landmark legal precedent in Malaysia for the right for critical comment on works of architecture and the creative arts.
A Council Member of the National Heritage Trust of Malaysia since 2002, Lillian is a long-time advocate of conservation of architectural heritage in Kuala Lumpur. She curated a retrospective entitled “80 Years of Architecture in Malaysia” at the Galeri Petronas (2001) and a photographic exhibition of Kuala Lumpur entitled “Confluence” (2002) at the National Art Gallery. She is presently writing a guide to historical buildings throughout Malaysia.