Make a Point.

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..

Style as a Layer

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…

HortPark

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!

Student Works #2 – Making Wind Visible

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:

NUS Sound Sculpture Report

Sound Sculptor Baudouin Oosterlynck + Sculptures

JY’s Flickr!

towards technology crit…

Newton in black and white

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

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.

Critics

Easily applicable to architecture (at least the 1st half), also easily my favourite part in the film:

“In many ways the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that, in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talents – the new needs friends. Last night, I experienced something new, an extraordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source. To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions of a fine cooking is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core. In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau’s famous motto: Anyone can cook. But I realize: only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere. It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at Gusteau’s, who is, in this critic’s opinion, nothing less than the finest chef in France. I will be returning to Gusteau’s soon, hungry for more.” 

- Anton Ego, Ratatouille

OleMA in The Battle of the Firms

As Dr. Wong Yunn Chii suggested in his Singapore 1:1 Island Exhibition, we are now going through an architectural phase of Innovation/Distinction with works like the new National Library, Sports Hub, Vivocity exhibiting iconicity. Well, the residential sector is not lagging behind either. The humble HDB has given way to shimmering condominiums with iconic marketing points. The latest shimmer is none other than (gasp) another project by OMA.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Old

The New

(1_Reflections at Keppel Bay: DANIEL LIBESKIND)


(2_Apartment Tower at Scotts Road: OMA)

(3_Apartments along AYE: OMA)

3 firms, 3 developments, 2 star names.

It’s almost like a battle between the real estate companies. As if a culmination of the property boom, a climax of their current endeavours, that becomes a keystone of their residential portfolio.

The Contestants

CONTESTANT 1:
KEPPEL HOMES with Reflections @ Keppel Bay – DANIEL LIBESKIND

Twisting Towers? Nothing really exceptionally new, but this was one of the first projects to use a starchitect in its marketing campaign. I’m not sure if its selling well, judging from the hideous number of full page ads running in the Straits Times.

CONTESTANT 2:
FAR EAST ORGANISATION with Apartment Tower @ Scotts Rd – OMA

May not be a new concept internationally, but much so for Singapore I guess. Suddenly it opens up possibilities, and its rationality towards providing better views suddenly makes sense.

CONTESTANT 3:
CAPITALAND RESIDENTIAL with Apartments along AYE – OMA

This latest contribution to Singapore’s rojaktecture has a bewilderingly obscenely simple strategy. It’s almost childish; stacking slab blocks in a hexagonal pattern like stacking cards – is this taking experimentation to a new level? However simple it may be, I can’t wait to see more renders to judge the internal circulation and spatial dimensions.

 

RESULTS: At the moment, I kind of like No. 3 most, however weird it may be. Someone commented it as a “chic slum”, I find that really funny. I guess it has its qualities, yet to be explored, yet to be seen. I guess my main reason right now is its ability to push HDB/residential architecture in Singapore towards a more stimulating direction, instead of the banality that sprawls in our heartlands.

suddenly remembers the IFHP competition.

The Korean Konnection

I was exposed to Korean architecture through Cho Minsuk, in 2006 when he came over to NUS for a lecture. Thereafter, again at the Datum:KL conference (see our previous report here and here), I became aware of a sensibility which has a distinct language, coupled with a sensitive reading of site and deconstruction of the urban.

Then in a dialogue and learning process with Korean exchange students, together with the Channel U’s DesignAsia TV Program, I unearthed more about a design sensibility that to me, seemed Dutch in process, a little Swiss in lines and materiality if these stereotypical categories hold true.

Here I shall share a few notable Korean architects/ateliers and their works.

KIM YOUNG JOON, yo2 Architects Ltd.

WEBsite

YANG SUNG GOO 양성구

WebSITE

Even as a student, he has received many awards and accolades in the architectural circles and magazines. Now working in H&dM, his designs are strong conceptually, visually and pushing the boundaries of architecture.

 

SEUNG H-SANG 승효상 & IROJE

A trademark of Iroje’s works is the extensive use of Corten steel, that seems to have become a certain recognisable aesthetic/material of Korean architecture. This Corten fetish appears to work exceedingly well in the temperate Asian zone.

website

 

is suddenly hungry for bibimbap in a stone pot! 돌솥 비빔밥

Insights from the Inside.

(ArchiTours Publicity Poster)

 

The National Museum has catwalks in the ceiling.

SMU‘s architects didn’t know whether the grass screens would work.

The Gallery Hotel has a disguised “icon” representing William Lim Associates.

You can enter the Singapore Art Museum for free.

The Hwa Chong Institution was built up from many many many phases.

The National Library was designed for stack effect.

La Salle has an underground studio.

.

The Russian delegate group we took comprised of people from diverse parts of the former Soviet Union.

Under the Kingshill Media Group, they organise architectural construction tours overseas very often.

Their delegates consist of chief architects and specialists and directors (!!!)

We hope they had a good time during the tours.

ArchiTours is part of ArchiFest, part of Singapore Design Festival 2007

urges you to sign up for ArchiTours if you haven’t!