I like it that he slams incomprehensible avant-gardism (read: Woods, Hadid et al), and retains the wit and fun of college architecture. Check out their office [3:38]!

Great video to kickstart your day.

01. Graduation from N.U.Ass > Checked.
02. qmark Links Update > Checked.
03. Desktop with Lloyd’s help > Checked.
04. 25th! > Double-checked.
05. 《不懂就問神》 Consulting the Supernatural Artwork > Check-it-out!
06. Cuppa at Kith > Checking. CHECKED!
07. Photography Excursion > Checking.
08. Dissertation > Unchecked.
09. Finalise quotation & work schedule with contractor > Checking.
10. KTV > Checking.

21st July saw the soft opening of much-hyped frenzified Ion Orchard. Designed by UK-based Benoy Architects, Ion Orchard fills the high-end niche gap, converting Pinoy park into purchasing paradise.

The ground plane separates the luxury boutiques from more “mass” brands, while Orchard MRT station becomes significantly porous, with many new connections everywhere. The reaction of its opening is immediate – usual hotspots along the shopping stretch became pleasantly empty, as though Ion became a synergistic amalgamation of all these other shopping centres such that it’s a one-stop shopping arena; fragments of Paragon, Marina Square fade in and out. qmark’s notes:

Design Design Design – If anything, the face of design is made most painstakingly conspicuous. Virgin flagship stores in 70% of the retail space mean that 1st impressions count so much more. And the remaining 30% would go all out to impress in this crazy competition. So the shopper is awed. The crisp coordinated world of ID, packaging design, brand marketing and corporate identities elevate the shopping experience.

Light and Buzz – The lit facade isn’t a new trend, but it copies from the neon pop culture glare of Times Square, Tokyo and Hong Kong to dizzying effect. Can drivers identify the red traffic light at the junction? Worrisome. Granted the buzz factor is there, but this Nintendo nightmare can take some subtlety cues from the Paragon or YMCA.

A Ceiling Trend – From Iluma to OC, it seems that distinction lies in the ceiling. People enter and look up. They see amorphous rails and it’s the Iluma. They see SANAA-inspired square punctures of light and it’s the OC. In Ion an expansive carton of sinuous ribs envelop the internal sky, like we are in a taut fabric balloon of ergonomic calculated curves. The ceiling height seem surprisingly low, and the atriums unexpectedly small. but the ceiling creates this illusion of infinity quite successfully by not reminding us of the rectilinear edges.

Japanese Influx – Japanese-crazy Singaporeans should be happy to note the marked presence of authentic Japanese brands in the mall, mostly selling their famed crafted and colourful regional cuisine.

And some noteworthy retail highlights:

Watami – Established Japanese F&B chain proffers a high service standard. People should be impressed with pitch-perfect いらしゃいませ！ (Irashyaimase-!) , wait staff who self-introduces, bows and takes orders while kneeling at your side (which I find unnecessary). Food has very good-value, good taste, and I will recommend it to all of you.

Modern Peking Duck – 5 pieces for $6. People queue for the novelty of watching chefs slice the duck meat stressfully and tasting this imperial delicacy, but if falls flat – no scallions, no sweet sauce, no garlic sauce! Now I miss 全聚德 / Quanjude.

R Burger – People gawk at Adam Chen QC-ing the alignment of the menu on the wall.

Royce’ – Clinical, harsh industrial white lights + Korean Air-like uniform of the young Japanese-looking staff.

VERY wooonderland – Local fashion brand aggregator relocates. Choice call for fashionistas.

ThreeSixty Marketplace – This marks a new height in luxury mart. High grade goods of bewildering international and regional brands make their packaging presences felt. Ghirardelli chocolate, Fortnum and Mason groceries (the British royal family’s supplier), Phoenix organic cola?

Das Erzgebirge Haus – I was delighted to spot this piece of Europe selling traditional Christmas wood craftwork. If only it were alongside a sun-drenched old cobblestone street.

CityLuxe – Obtain mercantilistic products like ex libris, feather pens here with a hint of Venice.

Ultimately, when it comes to malls, architectural design can only sustain the overall glamour about the place. The real ingredient is actually the retail mix – the one major point where Ion trumps over other new malls.

has $$ coming in soon.

Been trying to integrate a new Tumblr sideline into WordPress, but so far it’s not been working well enough.

So here’s the link to media spotlights – honeysuckle stars

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.

“Colour is more important than Form.” Of Warholian spaces and Bauhaus retro-futurism.

The Inter-Webs is always a fascinating place to be, with paradigmatic shifts in how we perceive the world occurring all the time; before full apprehension, comes another mind-boggling concept. We already have CSS, Blogging, Ive, Google Earth/Maps, RFID, Youtube, RSS, OpenID, Facebook, Twitter, (amongst many others) and next comes Wolfram|Alpha, a new model of thinking Search.

You purportedly use it to get technical results, answers to more “numerical” type questions (distance between singapore dietikon = 10306km) rather than “item” type questions (albums by elvis presley = ?). Even so, data is rather limited to those available in the public domain (e.g. Emporis), and it seems to me that the databases are few. It doesn’t recognise famous figures like Rem Koolhaas, nor does it know the height of La Padrera. Currently, I might use it as a convenient answering machine (5th september 1984 day = Wednesday), but I figure one of its core strengths is its comparative ability, like how you can compare stock prices of Apple and Microsoft, or between all of Hitchcock’s movies. 

Of course, it is so new, there is so much data not up yet, so right now I would rather get lucky with my Google and my Wiki.

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.

There is something about watching an action-thriller plot unfold at your favourite landmarks, especially those where you have been before and explored. And when they get involved in something bigger and more extraordinary, it’s strangely elating. It’s like Manet’s “Luncheon on the Grass“; why would it garner such a huge response if not for its familiar contemporary venue?

Tom Tykwer of Run Lola Run fame, understood the role of (iconic) architecture today, in creating an atmosphere of a literally international outlook. A close-up of Clive Owen with sans-serif introductory font amidst the pouring rain, in a bold simple composition set the movie’s sophisticated, corporate and severe tone. (cinematography: Frank Griebe) The Berlin Hauptbahnhof (main train station) enhanced that opening mood with characteristic German hyper-efficient glass and steel sleekness. In following scenes, architecture of various places lead the story and become actors with their emotive qualities.

Locations such as Milano Centrale, Galeria Victoria Emmanuel II, the Phaeno Science Center, Turkey’s Blue Mosque and Guggenheim New York were prominently featured, and fetishised to a high degree as backdrops, and in the lattermost case, that fetishisation carried out to penetrative excess. To everyone’s immense delight, and to Wright’s utter horror, a shootout! The stark bands of white and black, cool proportions of the central atrium, its unmoving elitism just beg for some dirt and scum and action, at least just once to play out that destructive fantasy which we all harbour. Watch this movie, maybe for its okay plot, but more for its unflinching brutal gaze on the built environment.

P.S. a behind-the-scenes look

and life

Technicolor and new surfaces