(Lucky) One of Eight

I probably have done something ok to deserve a mention here  :)

from paper to form - part 1

The most satisfying part of my job is being able to see things built, from inception, through production and finally to completion. I would like to share my satisfaction and experiences through this blog. I can't say that I am proud of everything that I am putting up here, but each is a process that I learn from, en route to become the greatest architect this side of world has ever seen! ha.

Ok, let's start with this one: The Fengshui House. I call it such because my awesome Clients are firm believers of geomancy - from macro aspects like orientation and massing to micro consideration like colours, material and details.

I am going to keep this light. No archi literature here, just a record of how my sketches and drawings take form.

The early sketches of the house before tender:

... and, tadaah! The final product-

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Perhaps one of the most prominent features of this house is the chevron ironwood cladding on the central entertainment block. This not only marks the spine of the house, but also provide some degree of heat insulation for this west-facing house. Overhangs are kept wide to shade the interiors as well as provide usable spill-out spaces for the internal spaces.

Some details - the masterbath

...the actual built masterbath.

Sketch proposal for the roof top garden meditation platform:

... and the as-built... i think the tree has gotten slightly bigger now, with a nice shady crown..

Below: proposal for the 'tropical corridor' linking the bedrooms over courtyards. Our clients were concerned about the practicality of the open corridor we had earlier proposed, but we still wanted to keep the openness and character of these corridors. The solution - a combination of motorised louvers and fixed glass. The fixed glass at the lower corridor is not full height so that air can still circulate, and the louvers are lowered to overlap this gap, to keep the rain out.

The result:

Between having style and being stylistic

Being stylistic is easy, but having style is not.

It seems that architecture in Singapore is becoming more and more stylistic. Somehow, most architects and interior designers are getting crazy about patterns and randomness. Plain walls must be adorned. Feature walls, feature walls, feature walls... if not that, it's bling -  from lights to furniture to wall paper.

Some buildings are so adorned with patterns that spatial planning becomes a slave to graphic exercise. And it's not just the commercial building, even the residential buildings are looking like x'mas presents.

It's pretty puzzling that some 'iconic' residential buildings are actually celebrated for very superficial aspects like green walls, feature cladding/ pattern, building proportion and structural gymnastics. These get so overpowering that they masquerade the miserable tiny homes that we are getting. Perhaps all these adornments serve their purpose.

And I know it's not entirely the architect's fault. Clients are pushing and squeezing everything they can to get the value for each cent they put in. Almost every condo now looks uncannily similar in planning, designing residential buildings now becomes a dressing-up excercise. How dreadful is that!?

Winners today are very trendy with their use of materials, fashionable with their glass curtains and fancy mullions...very stylistic but they rarely have style.

Ma(ha)ldives

Kandooma was awesome.
Kandooma Resort was remarkable.
Kandooma Resort's hospitality was mediocre.

If only the standard of hospitality is comparable to that of South-East asia's ( minus Singapore ).
I will return to the Maldives one day,
but not to Kandooma. Can do mah?

ura-ura ura

Why is Singapore's authority for land use planning and guidelines called Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA)?
Do they intend to urbanise everything rural? (They seem to be very diligent doing this)
Or does this body take care of urban areas only?
If yes, who then takes care of our rural areas? Is there a Rural Preservation Authority (RPA)?
Or does our government think that all rural areas must be cleared to make way for REdevelopment of buildings or manicured parks and gardens? (oh, i also have lots of questions on the use of the 're' in URA's Redevelopment, but that's another issue altogether)


Don't you think the name URA itself hints a big flaw in our masterplanning mentality? Is masterplanning all about urbanising and redevelopment?


I am still crushed by what is happening to Pulau Ubin. They are relocating all the residents who gave soul to the island. It's not just about nature, it's about people too - the village headman (RIP) and his mini zoo, the coconut auntie, the malay families and their fantastic kampong cooking, the Catholic Kampong at Chek Jawa, the surau and its therapeutic prayer calls, the Malay Mats strumming their guitars while waiting at their durian sheds, the kampong cats and dogs... Unfortunately today, the whole microcosm has changed and I am not too sure if it's for the better.


Yes I am totally aware that URA has taken steps to preserve and retain with their conservation/ preservation guidelines, but preservation is not just about the buildings and the surroundings. It is also about the people who give soul and spirit to them.

While URA claims many successes in their Conservation programme and planning, I personally think it lacks depth. While stretches of shophouses in Kampong Glam have been 'beautifully' conserved, gone are the vibes and atmosphere it used to contain, the community living with 'gotong-royong' kampong spirit. Today, Kampong Glam is fast becoming a victim of commercialism with its rows of hip restaurants, cafes and pubs. The unique and original sociology of the 'preserved' space has been stripped and exchanged with a different one.  Is this how we define Preservation? Are we too reliant on the numbers to plan and make decisions? What about the intangible factors? Do we not find a need to take care of them?

In Malay ura-ura means having an intent. Let's hope URA's intent  'to make Singapore a great city to live, work and play in' goes beyond superficiality... and my saman ticket.

transautomatism

 blobs grow in the beloved garden, hundertwasser 1975

  pavilions und bungalows, hundertwasser

When Friedensreich Hundertwasser coined the word "transautomatism", I believe he wanted to remind us that the world we live in can be much, much more inspiring and meaningful if we were to just open our minds, take time to fantasize and dream, and look beyond the options of the straight line. And in this spirit, I think we have forgotten our own lines as we begin to live in environments that are far too scripted.

I was introduced to this phenomenal artist/architect in 1992 by one Mary Choo. I was awestruck by his works, how he was able to translate the ideas behind his multi-dimensional paintings to real buildings, how his art, philosophy, life - all speak in one language. I remembered how I hogged on to his book and kept loaning it out until I couldn't borrow it anymore. His works were inspirational to me. I loved how he invented his own tiles and finishes, how he made his 'dragon' ridges and scaly walls.. defects never looked so cool!

For someone who believed that "an uneven floor is a melody to the feet" and straight lines are "godless and immoral", he could possibly be a bad contractor's bestest friend! The spaces he moulded are fluid, seamless and quirky, sometimes rather animated. But understand his intent and agenda, you will realise he is not just about being unconventionally crooked/bent.

                                     

kunstahaus, hundertwasser

Today as a practising architect I still find his works truly remarkable. I especially appreciate how he attempts to bring lots of greenery and life into his buildings, making them organic in all sense of the word. This language is very relevant in our tropical climate as we strive to achieve sustainability in our design, relying less on mechanical or 'automatistic' means.

While many might find his works similar to Gaudi's, I personally find Hundertwasser more daring and soulful - art as art should be.

let's get starch-ed...

so...

what shall this be all about?

to vent and shout?

to speak out loud?

and just be out?

to shout,

silently.

to speak,

wordless.

to get out,

while still inside.

so...

really,

what shall this be all about?

architecture,

no doubt.

complete with mixture

of style and cult,

of love and hate,

of dirt and grime,

and everything nice.

interiors,
that speak.
both wicked and weak,
both sloppy and slick,
bright and bleak,
and everything nice.

art,
that moves.
beyond groovy grooves,
beyond aahhs and oooohs,
reds-yellows-blues,
dull, striking hues
and everything nice.

so

meet starch.

know starch.

think starch.

it's more than just starch

(let's get starch-ed...)