It’s no surprise that “Crazy Rich Asians,” the John Chu-directed romantic comedy, was number one at the box office this weekend. The long-awaited film—the first major Hollywood production with an all-Asian cast in 25 years—took in $34 million since opening five days ago to much acclaim. Set primarily in Singapore, the movie tells the story of an Asian-American woman, Rachel, who travels east with her boyfriend, Nick, to meet his family. To her surprise, Nick’s family is ultra wealthy—and painfully traditional—and as it turns out, he is one of the island’s most eligible bachelors. Everybody loves Nick but despises Rachel—her crime being an American raised by a single immigrant mother—and so chaos ensues.
The film's villain is Nick’s cold and conservative mother, Eleanor. A real estate tycoon, Eleanor and her family have many residences, one of which is an airy villa situated in a lush jungle setting. The house, actually located in Malaysia, was designed by the Kuala Lumpur-based 29 Design, a firm co-founded by American architect Stephanie Maignan, who formerly worked at Weiss/Manfredi in New York. Maignan and her partner Amanda Teh established the studio in 2005, quickly taking in a stream of commissions for high-end private residences.
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