“questionmark”

1. The 8th June “issue” of the NYT Mag was quite splendid, and free of course. It gathered Nicolai Ouroussoff (architecture critic of NYT) and others to pitch in for its Architecture Issue: an interview with Bernard Tschumi, discussion about film sets’ cities and LOT-EK, there’s something for everyone. But it is through this issue where we learn about Ouroussoff’s story behind One-North, and Front Inc.’s “exuberantly baroque” winning scheme for a new LV store in Singapore featuring a curtain wall of completely curved glass.

“[..] Several years ago, the London-based, Iraqi-born architect Zaha Hadid received a phone call from a Chinese developer asking if she might be interested in designing a 500-acre urban development on the outskirts of Singapore. [..] With more than 20 blocks now complete, parts of the city look surprisingly conventional.”

2. The Lifestyle-Elephant & Coral Creative Writing Contest yielded its final winner, Perry Ho, whose endearing entry captured a side of architecture that was startlingly rare and refreshing. “The Apartment” is an anthropomorphic representation of the Apartment, with soul and many canny references to our built reality. Allegorical and definitely worth reading! Here I reproduce it in its entirety.

“Other buildings envied her Shiseido #119 ceiling. The Jesus she hung at the door (of her heart) gave her strength. Jade bangles around her ankles trapped the essence of her youth. You could hear them holding on for dear life whenever she got up and ran, ran with the other Apartments and Factories into the night. No one knew where she went, returning only when her ankles ached to keep up the night’s display of high spirits. Come morning, some proud Apartment would be seen wearing a night’s old #119.
(more…)

Here on qmark we advocate wholesome fun that’s stimulating and also free! It’s amazing how despite our pea-sized island, there’s really a wealth of places to explore and things to do cheaply or even freely, unbeknownst to many.

The latest (ok it happened 2 weeks ago) fun outing was the Southern Ridges Trail - a stretch of green from West Coast Park to Mount Faber / Vivocity that recently became connected. It has been in the papers a lot, so I shall just post highlights of the trail for those who are going! Nothing beats the experience of walking through these green heights.

>FULL STRETCH<

The entire route: 2.5 hours but really it takes almost a whole day. Alternative route from NUS to VivoCity instead of the 188 bus.

>HORTPARK<

@Hyderabad Road. Don’t miss out the experimental flowering blooms at the greenhouses, and the vertical green wall systems on display! If hungry, hit Thai restaurant KHA or take a bus to Queensway for lunch.

>ALEXANDRA ARCH<

MKPL designed this; a soaring archway that begins a stretch of canopy-walking all the way to Telok Blangah.

 >HENDERSON WAVES<

George Legendre of IJP Corporation’s first built experiment of algorithmic architecture, a bridge that spans 5 separate mathematical algorithms that generate the design. It’s the new wave~~~ (pun)!

>MOUNT FABER<

There’s a private location under the cable cars that can be perfect for some quiet reflection. Watching the world move above and enjoying the splendid view ahead, makes you want to linger on.

goes corporate.

: (

Went for an interview at an archi firm along River Valley Road and had to fill in an interview form that went something like this- as true as my memory holds:

1. What is your greatest achievement so far?

2. Who (dead or alive) would you really like to have dinner with and where?

3. What is your biggest source of inspiration?

4. Who, in your field of practice do you admire and why?

5. Draw your favourite object.

6. Draw your favourite space.

7. Draw in anyway you like the following items- path, house, snake, fence, a body of water, chimney, tree.

Most are pretty standard questions on the list but that was definitely an atypical interview- one that I will probably remember in a long time to come. Left the place after a good 40mins? of thinking, writing and doodling, intrigued by how discerning an interview was in such a short span of time.

ponders over her answers… & looks forward to the new job!

Gearing for the last 3 weeks to a BA (Arch) degree, it’s time to start designing the “superficial” stuff. For architecture to happen, presentation is crucial. It’s about communicating the language of architecture to others - allowing people to imagine being in the building, and imagine it in a good way. Telling your story and making it work is the most basic aspect of this presentation, elevating it to the realm of graphic design gives the project depth, mood and conveys flair.

qmark shares some inspiration and pointers:

I. TUFTE

Edward Tufte is a master of visual communication. Good architects read and actualise his pointers - do yourself a favour and grab hold of one of his books!

II. 8 POINTS

I sat in for Andrew Lee’s interim debrief. And surprise surprise, he mentioned to the studio his formula to architectural communication - Les 8 Points d’ une architecture nouvelle (8 points towards a new architecture):

• Comprehensive aerial site plan
• Impactful montage
• Diagrams
• Spatial organisation
• Proper plans
• Interiors in relation to exterior
• Plans in relation to sections
• Plans with relation to details

III. EXAMPLES

I was also shown some exceptional panels from the previous years. Check out Tasmia’s detail perspective, Junxian’s renders and Roystern’s detail drawings.

(Credit: Tasmia)

(Credit: Junxian)

(Credit: Roystern)

IV. PRESIDENT’S MEDALS

Another great resource is the RIBA President’s Medals. It presents outstanding Part I and II entries from member schools all over the world, so you can see the quality and differences in development for students pursuing the same programme as us. Don’t miss the rare and timely RIBA Student Awards 2007 exhibition going on (till 18th April) in NUS Department of Architecture!

hates it when good events coincide with submissions. grr..

stylish hairstyles by [kren]

“Intent, Strategy, Style” was the mantra during the beginning of my architectural education. I could understand how a clear intent brings architecture into purposeful focus, and the strategies used will elaborate the intent of the design, but style?

I think people tend to confuse architectural styles, with style per se; architectural styles are about certain typologies of buildings, deeply ingrained with the philosophies and context of each zeitgeist. A simple google search will indicate the overwhelming architectural styles that can be categorised. However, globalisation and disposable consumerist patterns have glorified the flashy styles of fashion and celebrity-dom, so much so that this style has crept into the realm of architecture with starchitecture and glossy magazine covers. (and even Simpsons)

Of course you can consider this as a sign of today’s age, where the inclusion of some zig-zaggy lines or polycarbonate or literal iconography or marketable personal trademark into architecture becomes the new “______ Style” of the 2000s. The gripe here is how it has become rather thoughtless, or worse still, contrived. I guess that’s why many architects like Steven Holl have ditched reading architectural magazines altogether, because architectural style with all its complexities of culture has been summerised and flattened into neat thin layers of paper with the seduction of photography or words.

To risk sounding like a tutor, I think the key is still the experience and the spaces, through understanding of place and time, that generates true architectural style. Here are 2 interesting articles to read that deals with this issue of style. Do read them!

• Fuck Style on ideasonideas
• Style versus Design on Adobe Design Center

and interim on Monday…

If you turn into the ulu Hyderabad road along Alexandra Road, and follow it for about 200m, you will see the newly opened HortPark Visitor Centre by MKPL Architects.

HortPark is a one-stop gardening hub that brings together gardening-related recreational, research and retail activities under one big canopy in a park setting. It is also one of the park connectors within the grand scheme of an island wide green network.

Despite the tight budget, MKPL managed to bring out elegance in simplicity by paring down to the essentials of structure. Construction is efficient and straightforward and all services are tucked to the sides making for easy navigation and an overall uncluttered look.

• Slender steel column stubs sit atop big concrete pillars for a light expression of the metal deck roof.

• The mal steel spiral staircase is an exhibit of refined details.

• An infinity pool stretches across the edge of the building, allowing for an unobstructed view of the nature beyond.

So pop down to HortPark for a breath of fresh air if you need a break from design!

: our new contributor Ruilin!

PTURE
by Jonathan Yue, Yip Ching Lok, Geraldine Lum, Song Xiao Xing, Yi Hye Mi

Sometimes to move forward, you got to look back at the past. As design becomes more complicated, with inevitable emphasis on sluggish practical issues like structure and services, it can be inspirational to remember the energy and idealism of early projects.

This brings to mind a project done by fellow classmates back in Year 2. The brief was simple - a sound sculpture, raising awareness of the sonic through form. So it is not really architecture: it’s part art, part science contraption. Here nature becomes the mediator between sound and shape. In their own words, they wanted to create an “interplay of time, movement and sound”.

(Hundreds of moving flags)

As wind blows, it calls to attention hundreds of flags taller than human height, and like automated louvres they open or shut the path of noise coming from the nearby road. Imagine the visual delight when these flags shift from one state to another, like a domino effect, a battalion of swaying flags!

(No dust on acrylic)

A path meanders amidst all the flags. Walking through, the experience kicks in - when buses cease to be heard with a gush of wind, or when a cacophony of engine roars accompanies the opening of the sonic gates.

(A path of experience)

What also amazes me is the effort behind this project - experimentation leading to tectonic materialisation as well as an elegant acrylic model as seen above. The energy to explore, from concept to realisation to presentation, is somehow an intrinsic quality of early works. Many people eventually forget how it used to be, and the Mundane sets in, losing the magic of doing architecture, or whatever it is that they are doing.

So here is a potent reminder of the inquiring mind, something to inspire lest one has lost his/her way.

See more:

towards technology crit…

A monochrome collection of apartment buildings on Monk’s Hill Road and a row terrace houses on Monk’s Hill Terrace. The black and white in Newton.

Designboom, a famous online portal about art, design and architecture has been running quite a few posts about Singapore’s scene. It began with the Singapore Design Festival 2007, and it went to feature other local news such as the newly opened Naumi Hotel and an interview with Theseus Chan, principal of WORK.

Do check out WOHA’s Studio at Hong Kong Street: a corporate resort studio in characteristic tropical browns and serious monochromatic tones.

surfing.