SDF09

Missing last year’s Singapore Design Festival, qmark eagerly placed this year’s events into the calendar. There are MANY events, but a quick browse through that thick pamphlet tells me that there aren’t many that cater specifically to design per se. It’s more product placement than product process.

HERE

A film by Ho Tzu Nyen

At first glance, reminiscent of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975). Missed the 4-day screening; is it showing anywhere soon? Sinema?
Meanwhile, check the film page here.

well-observed

Introducing Tim Griffith, a “well-travelled architectural photographer”, who has more than his fair share of Singapore Shots. Visit his blog level for his work, and sensible musings about the worldly life as well.

illuma bugis

capella hotel

crowne plaza hotel

woha office

a photographer is an architect’s renderer.

Atop the Old

qmark‘s top 3 haunts, perhaps as ideal VDay hangout spots:

PS. Cafe PALAIS

Heard of a beautiful sun-infused interior amid a lofty neo-colonial tropical setting (imagine floating B&W bungalow). Heard of famed Swiss Gruyere cheese with smoked ham for lunch. No reservations on weekends.

THE WHITE RABBIT

Seen a rabbit running on the website. Seen photos of ceremonious furniture, rustic materials and spatial sensitivity. Seen Takenouchi Webb’s office at Wessex and frowned at the red sofas of their latest project OverEasy at Fullerton. Renoir’s Luncheon at Boating Party comes to mind.

 ONE ON THE BUND 

Knew of the old Clifford Pier, pickup point to Kusu Island.  Knew of $12 bottled water, and a fantastic Marina Bay panorama. Aqua Restaurant Group’s latest development amid other cutting-edge F&B establishments in HK and Tokyo. Another case of adaptive reuse.

needs more cash.

SuperGarden SuperSpore

SUPERGARDEN

11th International Architecture Exhibition, Venezia

Poof! qmark disappeared for 1.5 months.

Read; June Journalism

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.

SG Down Under!

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.

Persimmon

50 Tiong Bahru Road Link Hotel
Euro-Singaporean

After toiling week after week, night after night, and surviving on nothing but calorie-laden Macs and oversampled canteen food in this nightmare boot camp, nothing beats a relaxing sumptuous meal out with great company.

Persimmon (on Facebook) is a 2-month old restaurant tucked snugly at one corner of the Link Hotel, just across the gentrified Art Deco estate. It markets itself as an Euro-Singaporean Bistro, a fusion of local delicacies and Western sensibility that in my opinion really suited its context – nothing too far off from the Tiong Bahru Market yet retaining a certain sophistication for its discreet location.

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!

Read; March Mags

MONOCLE March

Tyler Brûlé reports on the new Changi T3, with a short overview of facilities and OK verdict in article SMOOTH LANDING. qmark will visit T3 soon so do check back!

WALLPAPER* March

Freelance Writer Daven Wu reports on Pearl Bank Apartments in PEARL GEM. Whatever opinion that might have been voiced from both camps of the en-bloc furore, I still find architect Tan Cheng Siong’s description the best, “… it was born of a heroic period when Singapore was searching for its place in the sun.” More on (proconservation)

SINGAPORE ARCHITECT March

My ex-lecturer Cheah Kok Ming muses on the use of the ferrous patina in IN PRAISE OF RUST. Textured, weathered materials are rarely seen in SG, although ironically the signs of weathering are easily seen on many surfaces. A case for following the successful examples of Gigon/Guyer and Iroje.

and school reopens.