bumpitybump!

Terrarium

2012-01-12T22:26:00.000+08:00

making bricks

2012-01-07T23:36:00.005+08:00

Thinking of conversations with a brick one evening, led me to ask myself, How hard is it to make a brick? How much energy? What makes it?

Adobe Brick (Mud Brick)

The first thing was to look for a rectangular mold, here, mom to suggested a baking tray.

Then dug up some red earth(laterites). I quickly learnt here that damp red earth is easier to dig than dry. Luckily it rained quite a bit the night before and work was left moderately easy.

Mixing the earth and putting it in the mold, I realized, I forgot to think of a way to remove the brick,so I removed everything and lined the mold with a sheet of plastic from an old plastic bag, put the clayey earth in and pulled it out of the mold. About 3 parts soil to 1 part water, mixed and kneaded like dough. There it was a brick!

Recalling the conversation with the lonely brick, it told me, "Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou?"

hmm...

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Rammed Earth Brick!

Another follow up experiment, the rammed earth brick

Formwork this time with steel band reinforcements, soil mixed to a consistency best described as clumped when pressed but falls apart when dropped.

Mini tamper with a short handle to size :)

tamped with hammer, many many times

Left to dry in sun in formwork, leave in formwork for a couple days before removing,

Two test cubes on the right corner, from previous brick recipe

Louis Kahn will be amazed!

Ps. Im still drying it for 1 or 2 more days before I remove the formwork as a safe measure :)

Your Dream House for Free!

2011-11-13T03:36:00.000+08:00

An entire city in your choice of colour, size and type to bring home! =)

At #Occupy Dataran 11.11.11

'Exile' City

2011-07-31T01:09:00.004+08:00

Muntok is a small town on the West side of the Indonesian island of Banka. It has been well known for ages for its rich tin deposits. It is a lovely town with very friendly people and as it looks forwards to a paradigm shift towards the tourism industry,we took part through the workshop and translated it in our own way, using the term 'Exile' city as a historical metaphor to its quite and calm potential.

Swing Project

2011-04-21T23:39:00.003+08:00

Here is a small cause I have helped set up with my classmates, we set-up swings in public spaces for the use of the public in mind.

Our idea came from the removal of the previous swing due to damage, and possible vandalism. We felt we had to restore the swing because we were deeply moved by the nostalgia and memories of the previous swing. This inspired us to recreate the opportunity for memories, for the children, people and birds... just as the previous swing had for all of us.

Swings are neutral, they provide fun regardless of who we are!

The previous swing
Picture from: alex-lim.com

We decided to paint the swing this time to add visual value to the swing and avoid the recurrence of any vandalism.

To read more about the swing-project, visit the link:
swing-project.blogspot.com

Cyanotype Print

2011-04-01T18:47:00.000+08:00

Spilled Capitalism

Shanghai 2010

30 min exposure in evening sun

Bleached and toned

Vibro Bots

2011-03-10T00:52:00.000+08:00

A simple robot can lead to hours of fun...

Made of just a few felt markers, a cardboard body, a cellphone vibration motor and a battery, its construction cost only Rm 6 each

Scribbling bots

Bots #1 & #2 working very hard for The Creativist recruitment day

Electro Billboard House

2011-02-27T18:16:00.001+08:00

I saw a couple of electronic billboards go up in my little town, seems to be the latest fad in little (real estate) billboard infested Ipoh Garden East...

Funny thing how large they are and how well ventilated they have to be. They all come with an inbuilt A/C system. I told my friend Josh, I bet somebody could live in it.

Going round the back and seeing it had a full sized door, and a small balcony like ledge and a ladder, it only proved that it could be a home!

So here is my design for an alternative home, best part of living in a billboard is that it is often located in areas of high traffic volume. With advertisement revenue based upon traffic volume, the adverts will pay for the rent and maybe even the groceries in the fridge! You could even be staying right in the middle of the city (or Times Square!)

Yes, it may be cramped and claustrophobic (it couldn't be as bad as my room could it?) but I guarantee that it is livable and filled with all the basic amenities of an ordinary home, It even comes with a balcony!

Well, I did not forget about the heat the LED's generate, that can be absorbed and stored in a tank for those hot water showers we all love!

Project: Lantern for Mid autumn festival

2011-02-06T18:45:00.001+08:00

Competition entry for lantern making competition.

Theme: Tradition and modernity

The lantern was made from 60 odd recycled pet bottles and tied together using nothing more than rubber bands

Project: Aurora Borealis

2011-01-27T21:30:00.004+08:00

I would never think of buying a photo frame as a birthday gift, but... things do change over time.

A friend of mine, Jess had a birthday gift for one of her friends birthday and asked me if I could make something special. All she had was a beautiful Ikea Ribba frame... She wanted some LED's to put some light into the frame and light up the inside but I didn't want to do that..., it was special but not quite unique...

So I recalled an old instructables article on making a small and beautiful piece of LED art, and decided to try to improve on that design.

So off we went to Jalan Pasar for some electronic components, all together we bought:

6x RGB LEDs (slow change),

1x Twin AA battery case with a switch

1x Connector strip & some wire

We also needed:

1x Ikea Ribba Photo Frame

2x A3 tracing paper

Halfway through the project, I noticed that the leds looked great shining from the side instead of centered. They looked very similar to a simulation of the Aurora Borealis. So I thought, how great it would be if anyone could just enjoy the Aurora Borealis by just looking at this frame... well, some people do have pictures of the Aurora Borealis in their living areas... but mine's better! It moves as if you were in the north pole! Fascinated, I doubled the number of leds from 3 to 6... wala! I'm still mesmerized by the lights...

And so here it is, for all to see, create and enjoy!

Facebook, Ipad and Architecture

2011-01-16T00:42:00.006+08:00

(Cover of the book Urban Interventions: Personal Projects in Public Spaces)

Things of the decade, Facebook, Ipad and Twitter, but how do they affect architecture?

Before I answer the question, allow me to explain the complex context of the social revolution.
For one, this moment in time has been to my knowledge aptly named as the social revolution. This 'revolution' seems to be marked by the explosion of ideologies and the speed of sharing ideas.This dynamism it isn't exactly fed by the speed of communication, but the increased accessibility of complex ideas. To explain this increased accessibility of ideas, take for example that I have found that roadtrips are an excellent way to spend the weekend, but my clique of friends do not share the same interest. However, a quick search of Facebook may allow me to be introduced to new people, friends of friends or even my own friends that share the same interest, all this in a few keystrokes and mouse clicks. This accessibility of ideas would have been otherwise less accessible due to the invisible geological and cultural divides of our very own clique of friends.

We see this concept of idea sharing with the introduction of the phrases like 'apps'. Apps, or applications, are a good example of the characteristics of the social revolution. Unlike previous decades with software almost solely developed by large corporations, many Iphone and Ipad apps are made by individuals and are often offered to users for free. This leads us to a discussion on the increasing popularity of open-source objects. While open-source has been around for a while, it has only recently generated a lot of hype. Before the advent of Facebook and Iphone apps, many people did not believe that there could be an industry from open-source. Although the internet was out since the 1990's the majority of people were still stuck with the idea of protecting ideas through patents. This is entirely troublesome and most likely a waste of time with the advent of high quality China copycats.

Might as well offer up designs, ideas and concepts as open source and allow people to tweak and improve the design, accumulating as many people's ideas towards the initial design along the way, very quickly maturing the design from just a conceptual idea to a workable product.

So what effects does these 'evolutionary' ideas have on architecture?

(LEGO Towers Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) )

Well it is still too soon to pin point the effects apart but we have seen that the rising stars of architecture like BIG and MVRDV are more focused towards the social interactions that occur in a building than before. We see this happening too in the art world with more and more introductions of interactive art. Gone are the days of ordinary building typologies, the Facebook era architecture should empower the individual experiences of the architecture, both within an from afar. Lines should be blurred, iconic buildings should not be iconic from shear height, mass or size. Instead architecture should mimic the individual support for different causes on Facebook or different Iphone apps suiting different personalties. Architecture of today should reflect the current evolution of human thought, icons through individuality. Iconic buildings should come from the individuality and brilliance of design concept, new ideas that allow the flexibility and freedom of human interpretive interaction.

We have seen this before through the interpretion of public spaces in the 1990's by skateboarders. How did they experience architecture? How did they interpret it? Just a flight of stairs, a shortcut, or a place for them to hang out and have fun? Essentially, the flight of stairs became a catalyst of an idea, drawing people of similar interests and shaping the world with it.

We must emulate this, user or architect, every person, its role.

idea no idea

2010-12-09T01:02:00.009+08:00

I have an idea, and the idea is to have no idea, and hence I have both and idea and no idea, I have no idea how is this possible, but still I have an idea that it is possible through the idea that everything should be in equillibrium. this explains why great ideas often go to waste as the better the idea, the greater the force of procrastination. now you have read this, you will know that i have absolutely no idea what im talking about.

Camera Art

2010-12-09T00:43:00.000+08:00

I-City lights on slow shutter speed

Guerrilla art & activism in College

2010-11-27T19:01:00.000+08:00

Making Magic

2010-10-26T12:43:00.000+08:00

Making Future Magic: iPad light painting from Dentsu London on Vimeo.

Leaf Loft: The eco-retreat

2010-09-27T01:04:00.005+08:00

I believe that one only needs nothing more than a tent in order to have a comfortable stay in a jungle.

One needs not to have an eco-retreat built in order to enjoy nature. But I feel that building these three walls will allow people to enjoy nature and inspire others to fall in love with nature within a permanent structure. The actual siting of the retreat space was sited on a collapsed hut.

While the tropical thunderstorms of Malaysia is much despised in urban areas for causing traffic congestion, the rain shower will allow eco-visitors to appreciate the meditative effect of rain drops falling on one's head while enjoying an unrestricted view of the canopy above.

The design of the eco-retreat blurred the lines between inside and outside by maintaining an open concept but still allowing a comfortable degree of privacy by using distance and the orientation of the walls from nearby traffic routes. Allowing nature into the walls also provides added intimacy with nature.

Placemaking, somewhere and nowhere

2010-08-26T21:22:00.003+08:00

All of us would have heard of the phrase in the middle of nowhere before, yet, is there a middle if it is already nowhere?

Hence, everywhere must be somewhere.

But what is nowhere? Nowhere can be defined as a physical place where there is no specific recognizable character. Yet, there is no place that truly fits the above definition as every physical place has a recognizable character.

Hence, in the argument of somewhere vs. nowhere, nowhere must be a point in space that is constantly in motion, thus, an unclear and unrecognizable place.

But still, in order to be constantly in motion and to maintain an unfamiliar character of place, more often than not, one requires a medium of transportation, and this place, on an ocean liner, space ship or plane. A good example would be the spaceship Nostromo, the setting of the Ridley Scott's alien.

However, this moving point in space is familiar and recognizable, and hence, the ship may be nowhere, but the occupants in the ship are still somewhere.

Hence it can be concluded that there is no place like nowhere.

Green Building Index on Transportation

2010-08-17T00:16:00.001+08:00

Shanghai World Expo 2010

2010-07-26T01:25:00.001+08:00

Hello everyone! I was at the Shanghai World Expo recently, It was quite an experience, lots of people everywhere and a whole new different culture!

Computer Applications 2

2010-06-18T21:34:00.005+08:00

This is what I have been busy with for the past couple of weeks, rendering the animation, well its done and I am back :)

This is Lever house in New York, just opposite Mies's Seagram.

Its too wide, click here for video..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SqeB5Jc2bM

Pavements

2010-05-28T13:15:00.002+08:00

feel...

hear...

cross...

hear...

follow...

imagine...

...a blind world

Sound Pavillion

2010-05-07T19:11:00.000+08:00

Presentation boards for the sound pavillion

3ds max

2010-05-01T19:08:00.001+08:00

While in a boring class learning how to do some very exciting stuff, I decided to wander off on my own to Egypt and make my own renderings of the pyramids, hehe, playfull me...

Here is my actual project progress, without materials yet

Lever House, NY

Breathtaking angles.

All prominent American buildings have flagpoles, so I added two here on the bottom right corner

Ode to the Balinese Monolith

2010-04-22T16:13:00.002+08:00

View from studio 3

Campus moved from Leisure Comerce Square to Lakeside Campus, just 2 km down.
Not much to say other than express my gratitude for LCS.
Thank you LCS for serving us as a campus, there were times we grumbled, but there were times we were happy too.

Farewell Balinese Monolith

Lembing Orchestra

2010-04-15T14:23:00.003+08:00

The latest project in studio was to design a pavillion. After countless schemes , I finally managed to break myself free from building a building and condensing the whole concept of collecting sound for the pavillion.

I wanted to focus more on the poetics of the five senses, of which the hearing sense caught my attention. I myself was involved in a delimma where I questioned if it was possible for a blind person to pursue the profession of an architect. If they would be able too, I belive that they will make very poetic architects. Too much of architecture is based upon visual, perhaps its time to explore other ways of making architecture.

Design in process, note the walls, threw those out.

Genius Loci

2010-04-11T00:44:00.000+08:00

Sg. Lembing, Pahang, Malaysia.

We have been working on this for the past 2 weeks, lots of stress and fun nights.

In studio life,

work hard, play hard, die hard.

More pictures coming soon...

Little Lights

2010-04-06T15:18:00.002+08:00

A friend once posted this up and said:

"As a little girl, I used to squint my eye, interfere light with my lashes and look out of the car at night. This was exactly how the ride home would be.. :)"

Late Nights In Architecture Studios

2010-04-05T01:07:00.001+08:00

A glimpse into our lives as architecture students

Iron man VS. plastic straws

2010-03-31T21:41:00.000+08:00

I am Iron Man!

Vs. Plastic Straws!

Don't Torment us Pt.2

2010-03-14T23:29:00.003+08:00

Shinjuku crossing, Tokyo

The basic human requirements are food and shelter. At this current stage of our civilization, the majority us are affluent enough to enjoy these two basic requirements. Today, more and more requirements are added to the list as more and more of us become more affluent and demand a higher quality of life. Gone are the days where the majority of us had to toil day and day to live, we now enjoy luxuries which in turn has become necessities of our lifestyle today such as cars.

However, many modern buildings fail to acknowledge the advancement of mans requirement. Corners are cut and needed funds channeled to obscene spending on other non-essential components. One of the often neglected components of modern buildings include the mobility of its users. In the era of rapid urbanization, fast and high volume mobility of urban dwellers are becoming as iconic as the buildings of cities themselves. From the Shinjuku crossing of Tokyo to Times Square of New York to the Underground of London, Every modern development needs to consider the issues of human mobility. While some cities are fortunate enough to have a well developed mass transit system, most other cities rely heavily on private vehical ownership.
Among them are the urban centres of the sweet country of Malaysia. Yet forsaking this fact, the modern developments in the country often lack adequate parking spaces. When located next to a mass transit station, it is not connected for pedestrian traffic. Sometimes, even the access roads to high density developments are through low vehicular volume streets. Congestion is a norm in urban centres in the country yet the developers and planners refuse to take the resposibility and task to prevent such an occurance. Of course the government must have its share of blames for its poor policies and lack of enforcement yet it should be up to the developers and planners to ensure that these issues are alleviated in order to improve and sustain the value of their development.
Although we might have thought that we are well beyond the basic reqirements of food and shelter, yet still, buildings are quite often built with such bad architecture that the 'shelter' provided does not provide any shelter at all. In a tropical climate, roofs designed to look elegant do not keep the rain out and beautiful shiny curtain-walls(glass) increase the exposure to the equatorial sun.

Although all architects are thought through and through on these faux pass-es, they keep recurring over and over again. Where does the problem lie then? While ugly architecture torments, lack of thought architecture devastates and torments us more. What a waste of a beautiful building just because of its lack of thought...

Don't Torment us

2010-03-12T19:47:00.005+08:00

Pruitt Igoe Housing Project

One of the most pressing issues that have plagued all modern works of architecture is the over-indulgence towards the form of the structure instead of balancing it out with the experiences, usability and comfort of the user.

Looking back in history, man first built structures as shelters, to shield and seek comfort from the uncertainties of the outside world. Form then was based purely on necessity, man had not discovered the aesthetics of built environments yet.

Yet today we are far from that. We have formed such a profound awareness towards the aesthetics till we neglect the very essence of the purpose of a built environment, to house human activities or in some cases to at least facilitate human activities. I have seen staircases cleaverly designed for aesthetics but ended up tripping the very people it should be designed for. What have we done to deserve this?

What about us?

Buildings are increasingly designed to beat the lowest score on everything like budget and land use, often forsaking the comfort and experiences of the users. Constraints may be the choice of excuse. However, if one cannot afford to build a building with its occupants in mind, might as well have no building at all! Bad architecture tourments as it is often too expensive to remove. Why torment us?

Anti-classicism mentality

Some architects have a so called anti-classicism mentality. Proportions and rules of perfect architecture are rejected. It is ok to reject the rules of a perfect architecture but one must not reject outright the importance of human ratio and proportions. Every part of architecture should consider the anthropometry or physical body of the human. While most of these are listed down as regulations, it often requires the architect to see beyond the minimum regulation requirements and instead at the minimum human requirements. How often do we get trapped in a cramp and crowded walkway or staircase... Why torment us?

It is all right to have a beautiful form that stands out from the rest. It is also all right to have new innovations and translations of traditional building functions. But we must remember, whom are these buildings are built for? Again I say, humans should be the uptmost importance of all architecture. Horrible architecture is the worst kind of bad art. You may be able to hide bad works of art but you may not always be able to remove bad architecture. It places us within a physical and mental prison which torments indiscriminately.

Architecture and Music

2010-03-03T21:29:00.007+08:00

"Architecture is "frozen music"… Really there is something in this; the tone of mind produced by architecture approaches the effect of music."

-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Semester Break Diaries

2010-02-17T15:04:00.000+08:00

Colourful shop in Ipoh Old Town

One way

Spotted this grafitti on the Pudu Jail murals

Garden pavillion, KLPAC

Portal entrance

I have always liked this skyscaper, opposite Berjaya Times Square

Orchid pavillion, no longer houses any orchids, Ipoh

Bus stops

Grey Matter

2010-01-24T01:56:00.000+08:00

Hello! I decided to tour Kuala Lumpur last week on foot, from KL sentral to KLCC to Bukit Bintang.

Credit given to Yan Ting and Miao for waddling along the very very long walk.

LOMO! Baby Steps...

2010-01-12T18:24:00.004+08:00

Yellow Submarine!

2010-01-08T00:43:00.006+08:00

I just collected my new camera, its a Holga!

Well, they person whom I bought it from told me that most people who had their first roll of film either tear it or get it spoilt and I didn't disappoint him this time too!

At least the film came free with the purchase...

The first pictures will be out soon, after I get them processed, maybe in two weeks, I have two rolls left, one colour and one black and white.

On a side note, let me bring you to my work desk for the past two weeks.

Note: SNY's cartridge paper in their ready made sketchpads really isn't suitable for watercolor.

Kuala Terengganu Sketches

2010-01-06T00:12:00.004+08:00

Please click for a larger image.

Artistic and cultural development through mass transit

2009-12-26T15:38:00.002+08:00

Graffiti removal efforts can be works of art too.

Throughout the world, mass transit stops are used by a multitude of people which very sometimes even manages to characterize the city.From graffiti artists to the homeless saxophone players and even public art displays or stints such as the Naked Cowboy, they all contribute to the cultural development of the urban dweller.

The showcase of conscious or unconscious artistic talent at mass transit stations aids the promotion of a democratized society, of free speech and expression. This too I feel is just part of a large counter culture movement to the monotony and expressionless feel of city life.

There must be a clear distinction between what is art and what is vandalism. This is very difficult as there is nothing to clearly define the two at times (art can be as offensive as loan shark stickers). The public must be educated, through the works the artists themselves of this distinction. Aside from that, the authorities should help and promote artistic works around the mass transit areas. The graffiti wall opposite the Pasar Seni LRT station should be noted for its intense showcase of our culture and history (especially during the 50 years merdeka) and the views of the younger generation towards the country. It can be conjured that the graffiti artists have chosen the wall because most of them, being unable to own cars yet use public transport very often and know that many others who are of their age and like minded thinking use them too.

This leads to the second point that shows that public transport can shape the way a country progresses. The car is sometimes seen a symbol of a democratic way of life, with the car owner able to choose where and when to commute. This however is challenged when roads become congested and turns cars into prison cells for the commuters. On the other hand, mass transit offers a solution to all citizens, young, old, rich and poor to travel freely, a better reflection of a democratic society, not to mention the increased exposure to various artistic and cultural developments which opens the minds of the people for dialogue on a multitude of possible things, from food to politics, hence promoting a greater democracy.

With all these said, the authorities should note that art is an evolving thing and should not only focus on the public commission of art works around mass transit points but also allow for free artists to freely speak their minds without the need to rent a lot or face the risk of called a vandal.

With hundred of thousands of people passing through mass transit stations per day, it rivals most other outlets of expression and is really the simplest and free-est place to express one's views.

I love art, I love democracy and love a car free lifestyle.

Knowing everything about everything!

2009-12-11T01:10:00.005+08:00

I never cease to ask myself what is architecture, how is architecture defined, what are other people thinking about architecture. After being brought back to the world since the weeks in studio, I plug myself back into the world, on the sofa.

The thinking doesn't stop at the end of the semester, its the only way I know to keep me excited enough to maintain that creative juices and enthusiasm going. This time, sitting at home, I saw the world recovering from an economic crisis, some family movies, and loads of documentaries. From the safety of the couch, myth busting and the business news got me thinking about something truly business in nature (with a dash of mythbusters ingenuity), expanding investment portfolios to dampen investing risks.

It is in fact the only sustainable way to advance the field of architecture (and every other job) in the very near future, to integrate everything into everything, hybrids, merging different fields together to bring about a fission of knowledge that can be tapped into. Of course this isn't something new, lots of ideas I have have been taught of before, but so was a lot of other great 'discoveries'. I like exploring, this is my journey down a marked path, everyone sees a different perspective down the same path, hopefully I may learn something from it.

This mish-mashing of different fields in a big pot of soup is what as I have read, called cross-discipline ability. Its already in front of our noses in architecture, we integrate engineering with architecture all the time. In fact architecture needs engineering to survive but, (ashamed of this.. hehe) not the other way however..

Hence I spent a great deal of time thinking...

Cross-discipline,
It really can save us from the future job market saturation you know, if we can do fashion design and architecture (studio 1) or integrate other things into architecture. Plus its always fun to do so.

Semester 2 Final Crit

2009-11-30T19:15:00.006+08:00

Presentation board

Sketch models

Model, and site

Internal expression

I had intended it to look like a spaceship, a concept where climbers can journey through a voyage while forming close bonds with its crew.

Each space has different spatial qualities.

From the bottom, the first level is dark and cramped, to prepare the climbers for the next room which is double height and huge.

Then the bedroom is located on the roof. It is private and bright with panoramic views of KL city.

So how did the crit go?

I would say it was the best of the semester, I was prepared and my model was fine.

I was really hungry but I pulled through.

Lots of jibbering was spent on the poles with one crit unable to grasp the idea of the poles defining the space in the common room. I would say that it really was a wrong use of words to describe the qualities presented by the poles. An error on my part.

They liked my form, it was very well proportioned and I would have to agree judging from the countless sketch models I had made and sacrificed for the sake of its master.

They liked my work, it was well done.

I received a comment that my clubhouse looked like a bit of everything, a bit from Eisenman, a bit from Herzog de Muron (Gabion walls), a bit from Zaha Hadid (Stretched form) a bit from Le Corbusier (Roof terrace)... I took amusement in that because I felt that most of what is being done has already been done. Precedence is in fact unavoidable. I must say, I did not looked at the famous architects during my initial design and I hadn't copied any of their designs. Only now that it has been pointed out that I have educated myself with the various projects of these architects and see the similarity of my work to theirs. My design was purely formless, purely proportion, while supporting my definition of a clubhouse as a place for its crew to form bonds that will be remembered for life, true to my design philosophy.

It is formless, only proportion.

Its function from the proportion. Its proportion from its function.

Well, if my work is compared to the avant grade works of the century, it couldn't be a bad thing could it?

Crit Day!

2009-11-30T18:09:00.003+08:00

Every semester in architecture school is concluded with a dreaded final critique session, this semester, turned out to be a rather interesting one with every student bring out their finest work to put on show.

Busy preparing script

Shoe failure at last minute but we have glue =)

Crit days are like cocktail parties, minus the cocktail

Real estate is expensive even for architecture models.

A typical student critique session.

Another example

Students work, neat and nice for the final

This is just interesting

Polygon 2

2009-11-19T01:00:00.011+08:00

boarding climbship...

please proceed to the next level...

welcome aboard...

Polygon

2009-11-12T03:28:00.004+08:00

Coming Soon... Nov 30

Material Test

2009-11-05T20:58:00.014+08:00

Gabion walls are mainly made up of a steel wire mesh basket filled with stones. They are usually found on embankments and highway retaining walls.

Because of its strength, versatility and constructability, recent use has found its way to the NATO forces , differing from the usual gabion by using a huge sandbag instead of stones.

Today, they have found its way into my design.

Aside from its strength, low maintenance, versatility and ease of construction, the gabion walls, if the right thickness can produce an excellent lighting effect.

Starlight for the Spaceship

1 Malaysia Architecture Signage

2009-10-29T19:57:00.010+08:00

Hey everybody! New signage at Pyramid! Wooo...

Ok, it used to be Ali, Mutu and Ah Kong

Now its, Mutu, *Aisha* and Ah Kong

1 lift 2 genders 3 races

1...2...3!

Go!

Oh wait, we cant go, the lady is undecided which way to go, UP to the ladies dept or DOWN to the supermarket...

The men however, being smart already know where to go, to the
CAR PARK.

Ahem, wrong lift?

XD

Today's Tutorial

2009-10-28T22:00:00.004+08:00

Since this is my first post on this project, allow me to explain.
Our project requires us to design a rock climber's clubhouse on the site of a popular rock face in Batu Caves.

I choose to build at the top of the cliff.

My concept is about movement. Rock climbers move an enjoyable awful lot, hence the dynamic design that suggest movement.

Each of the three spaces have very different feels, brought about by the different views, size of space and different lighting qualities.

Brought my drawings today, edited my model but I don't like the new addition.

Showed Ms. Veronica my drawings:

Ms. V: Where's the context?
-I haven't done that yet.

Ms. V: You have to show the context, where it connects to the cliff.

Ms. V: You should show the walls as cut-sections of the gabions, not just solid walls.

Asked about safety rails/balustrades:

Ms. V: Usually its assumed that the safety rails are there on the model but you have to show them on your drawings.

Overall comments:

-Your form is good, start drawing first before proceeding further with the design.
-Need to show context in drawings, improve on design communication skills.

Flight of the Himalayas

2009-10-06T00:36:00.005+08:00

Architectural Garment Take 2

2009-09-27T16:09:00.006+08:00

http://urbancamouflage.de/

Camouflage for the consumer society

UN Studio...? Ipodization!

2009-09-15T23:36:00.008+08:00

Burnham Pavillion, UN Studios

Why does everything look like Ipods nowadays?

Stop Ipodding my world!

=D

Nothing personal, just a joke =D

Source of pic & more pics: http://www.archdaily.com/33429/burnham-pavilion-un-studio/
Source of toilet roll Ipod gadget: http://www.walyou.com/blog/2009/01/20/ipod-bathroom-dock-home-gadget/

Saving Private (coporate) Earth

2009-09-15T19:05:00.002+08:00

environment... environment... environment...

environment... environment... globalization...

environment... globalization... globalization...

In stark contrast, lies many similarities.
In times of desperation, new ties are formed.
Brothers in arms, globalization meets environment.

Theories of economies: Supply and demand.

Theories of the new world: Humanism and environmental

Today's context: Generation Y + Generation Echo (Generation useless bums)

Yesterdays context: Baby boomers (The hero generation)

To be a hero in the useless generation? Nuts!

In fact, everybody is a hero in the new world.
The world is dying, and we have to save it.
Every human has the right of freedom and intellectual development.
Every human has the right to be a hero,
A hero to save the world.

How? Dough-Nuts!

The globalized world today is pictured to be like a production line. And yes it is. Every single one of us humans, are like the workers of a production line. When one production increases efficiency, the rest must follow in order to avoid wastage. Similarly, when one reduces, so will the rest. This is the golden rule of environmentalism.

Why talk about dramatic projects like huge solar arrays or giant offshore wind farms when the answer in the age of humanism lies in the individual human itself?

Die Domino!
1.When one reduces power usage, one lowers the demand for electricity.
2.When the demand for electricity is lower, the demand for fossil fuels decreases.
3.When the demand for more green products increases, the production of green products increases.
4.When the production of green products increases, the price of green products decreases.
5.When the price of green products decreases, the higher the usage of green products.
6. When reaching step 6, please return to step 1.

So step one begins with a very conventional method of saving power.
1.Turn off lights when not in room.
2.Usage of air conditioning at optimal temperatures.
3.Light mapping of a room's lighting and ventilation systems.
4.Use common sense to increase comfort and efficiency.

After following the above steps and acting beyond duty, you will be bestowed, Hero of humanity and the world.

It is our obligation to stop the tyranny of apathy and to promote the idea of humanism heroism.
Are you hero?

Art-chi-tec-ture

2009-09-11T23:22:00.007+08:00

Art is formed by the overflowing of passion towards one's work.

Art motivates us to work with passion and to work with passion creates art.

"beauty is to enthuse us for work, and work is to raise us up".

-Cyprian Norwid, Polish poet

If art is so powerful as to motivate the masses to work passionately (not just the daily grind), how great the work of architects are.

Be inspired by beauty and love your job to inspire others with your ever greater creations.

Graffiti and Architecture

2009-08-27T22:07:00.017+08:00

I believe graffiti artwork really is an urban subculture, pretty much like skateboarders and street performers. Some people tend to think that graffiti is a nuisance, especially the municipal and property owners. But graffiti is a form of art, an self-expression of the young urban citizens. Why must art be constrained to art galleries? Although admittedly that some graffiti work are utterly vulgar and degrading, one has to ask if that was the whole purpose of that piece of work. Some art as we are familiar with are vulgar horrifying and simply distasteful but as we soon find out is the direct intention of the artist. To get an opinion from the viewer, to make a statement. This is the goal of any artist. Unless perhaps the artist prefers to be overlooked rather than looked at.

My intentions are not to degrade graffiti but to bring a greater awareness of the art to the viewer. the cityscape can be very dull and boring if we took time to slow down. There are plenty of unused spaces which could be better utilized to create an engaging landscape. Opportunities to convert the entire city into a giant art gallery arises and these artist are just being opportunistic in converting walls with their artwork.

This is very similar to the goals of urban architecture in which urban architects try to engage the public and utilize unwanted, underused or dead spaces. It is a good idea for architects to engage the graffiti artists in the urban space by providing spaces for their artwork.

If you still think graffiti is a nuisance, come on... graffiti does not make any noise... don't you think gigantic billboards that block your view are a nuisance too? And to the graffiti artists, real graffiti artist are responsible artists.

Another form of urban subculture is guerrilla gardening, which simply is a movement where green fingers look to beautify underutilized spaces by landscaping them and planting flowers or plants on them. Examples of 'garden' spaces include road dividers, areas under signboards and pedestrian walkways.

The proletariats are wrestling for control from the bourgeoisie!

People are acting to take back their cities!

This is the new urban culture.

What is your take?

Anyway, the eco bug has just hit the graffiti artists! Rejoice!

Source: brooklyngreenteam.blogspot.com

Source: gardenunit.com

More info on Eco-graffiti here at www.wikihow.com/Make-Moss-Graffiti

“No project is too small for big ideas.”

2009-08-26T22:16:00.007+08:00

--John Arthur Morefield

Photo source: Jim Bryant / P-I

How much do you think that architecture is worth at a time of economic uncertainty? 5 cents! I am no kidding. This is what John Arthur Morefield of Seattle does and all he needs is a booth and an empty food tin can, and a place at a local farmers market. Once a nickel is dropped into the can, he would then kick-start a conversation with his would-be clients by asking them a simple question: how does your family want to live?; And how can I help that become a reality?; and the rest… is history. By the way, every nickel John collected will proceed to the Ballard Food Bank.

-Article from: archiquotes.info

This surely is a way to gain public exposure to the Malaysian architects plight where everybody gets paid higher. Yeah, we do all the work, sign all the liability forms and still get paid peanuts while the quantity surveyors and engineers get paid real cash... Even the JRK puts architects below quantity surveyors.... Soon we will be going to the food bank if this continues...

We have the ability to realize your dreams, we have the capabilities of foreign architects. We always ask, "why don't we see these kind of buildings in Malaysia?" when we travel. Its just that we aren't given enough opportunities and recognition...

What's your dream building? We can do it. It all starts with an idea and a conversation.

Return to Point Zero

2009-08-20T21:12:00.004+08:00

Man's first shelter, our architectural origins, nature's masterpiece, sacred beauty.

Our abstract artwork to represent the above statements from our visit to Batu Caves.

The geometric blocks represent human encroachment on the sacred site.

The organic form represents the natural environment of the cave.

The pins represent humans.

The colored blocks represent the colorful religious temples providing a counterpoint to the negative perception of the built environment. Perhaps the religious buildings attracts people to search for their inner self.

Studio 2

2009-08-10T21:38:00.002+08:00

Studio 2 is literally going to be rocking. Its all about rocks. Even our site is situated on a big rock called the "stone caves" or more famously known as Batu Caves.

We will be building a clubhouse for rock climbers on one of the rock climbing sites located on the Batu Caves 'monolith' itself but like all thing in architecture school, its all about the process and precedence. So, our first assignment is the usual site experience project where we convey our emotions and feelings of the site without the need of too much rational thought. Last semester, it was simply put as 'site essence' but this semester, we seemed to have progressed in vocabulary too, it being called the visceral artwork or simply known to me as 'no-thinking-please artwork'. Hehe.... (Taylor's architecture school seems to support irrational freedom of expression although it itself is very conservative in other areas!)

Things done so far:
Went to see what rock climbing is all about at Camp-5,
Interviewed a (reluctant) rock climber,
Tried to climb indoors (some, including one lecturer, so no cheating the lecturers)
Went up, in, down and around Batu Caves.

Well well, a new chapter begins, with a boring name of studio '2'. Ah, how I wish that the studio's semesters were like Star Wars, having nice scary names for each episode. Studio 1: A New Hope =)

Singaporean Symphony

2009-08-01T15:40:00.008+08:00

Singapore. A word synonymous with the efficiency of a well oiled machine. It is no surprise that the Singapore Pavilion to the Shanghai World Fair 2010 is made to resemble an 'urban symphony'. Like a city a symphony must be played in harmony and in tune to each others instrument. The mass transit systems, the pedestrians the food outlets... ah the city.

http://www.singaporeatworldexpo.com/pavilion_design.php

Over the past week, I have absorbed and cataloged interesting lessons that can be learnt from Singaporean architecture both positive and negative.

There really is so much that can be learnt from a city like Singapore where the entire city, no island runs like the inside of a Swiss watch.

Even the escalators here run faster than usual.

Almost everything in Singapore you see today has been planned 30 years ago.

There are bomb shelters everywhere.

Almost everyone lives in government housing which are called 'HDB flats' and government housing is still in high demand (Although many are just as exclusive as the condo's of Mt Kiara).

The public transport there is so extensive and is still growing at a very rapid pace with 2 MRT stations added to the already extensive rail network every year up till 2025.

The Singaporean government takes real interest in the country's future and has event included bomb shelters in almost every underground MRT station. (more on this later)

Preparedness or Paranoia?
"Uniquely Singapore"

Best of all are the civil servants and those working for government agencies, both old and young. They are so enthusiastic and responsible on their job.

There is a story, it was Singapore's national day season and I was looking for a national flag to add to my souvenir collection. However, nobody sells Singaporean flags although they are seen everywhere. (was looking for a proper sized one) So, frustrated at the end of my journey, I tried my luck at the tourist information center. Guess what they did? =D They telephoned every supermarket chain and spoke to every supermarket manager to see if they sold a S$2.50 flag... They even told me where to find it in the shop. (Finally got it at Fair Price Killiney Rd) they were way better than any customer service people I have encountered and best of all, they were no older than a secondary school graduate!

Besides customer service people, the security officers really do watch their CCTV screens 24/7 and facing my camera at one of the CCTV camera's managed to coax one officer out =P. I slowly made a quick getaway to a nearby souvenir shop haha!

Places I visited and would recommend to tourists and Singaporeans alike. Government agency museums may sound boring but trust me, the planning the Singaporeans do is not for the faint hearted.

URA gallery
LTA gallery
Chinatown Heritage
Marina Barrage sustainability gallery

Ouch! Handrails

2009-07-19T22:09:00.004+08:00

Hey isn't the jagged line supposed to be where we stand?

Looks like Godzilla =P

All over Queensbay Mall, Penang

Design Philosophy

2009-07-05T14:44:00.005+08:00

Inevitably, things that happen around our lives shapes our design philosophies. Some are big things that occurred in history, some are small things that deeply affect us personally. From September 11 to the street kids of the cities, unknowingly to the person, he absorbs all these visuals, feelings and emotions deeply.

There are many kinds of philosophies, some eccentric some realist.

Some architects claim that their philosophy is to be detached from the design personally. He wishes for his design to be only dictated by the brief or the client and not the architect himself. This is of course not possible because we are human, designing for humans. We are humans, with feelings and emotions, affected by our past and our culture.

This brings us to the next topic, being human. Today, there are computer programs out there that can design complex buildings and objects by just inputting the set rules or parameters, that an architect cannot match in terms of its beauty and efficiency. Perhaps this will lead us to a new technological revolution where everything is designed by computers. What then is the future for the architect?

What differentiates us from computers and robots?

We must be clear, we cannot deny the benefits of computers in designs. This is not a call for us to be Luddites. This is a call for us to return to the basics. What it means to be human. What does it mean for us to be designing a built environment for humans. Humans, have we forgotten ourselves?

We are humans, weather we like it or not, we will be humans.

We have emotions, we feel and we are individually different. Regardless of what others say about ourselves, we are individually different. How foolish are we all to celebrate the architects who design the tallest buildings. I believe any of us can do that. All we need to do is just have a single floor plan and repeat it say, 88 floors, 101 floors, 200 floors or even maybe 1000 floors. How is that beautiful? Sure it looks amazing from the outside but on the inside, the space to be used by humans, how does it feel to live and work inside? It really is nothing more than an elegant set of cells within a larger building, very similar to a prison.

These attitudes of efficient designs were too, born out of an important part of history, the industrial revolution.

When speaking of intelligent designs, we must know that intelligence first comes from our senses. Unlike a computer, our intelligence is absorbed through our experiences of the world around us. We seldom absorb data like a computer does. We learn, we think, we build on precedent knowledge and become intelligent. What differentiates us from computers in this is that when we think, we think with emotions, not just logic. Our priorities are set based on past events that affects us emotionally.

We must never forget that we are human, and we design for humans.

The end is the beginning of the end is the beginning

2009-06-29T18:03:00.003+08:00

Ah its done, my final presentation is done!

and...

They love my drawings!!!
(except for the section...)

Haha! I can't believe the actually liked my presentation boards too. Well, most of the layout was suggested by Ms. V anyway... But it is safe to say that I arranged it based on my own intepretion...

Well, the crits loved my concept of a journey through clearly defined spaces while mantaining an overall conceptual form of the vertical fins.

Ah... I am just glad that it wasn't as bad as I expected. I did not prepare anything for my presentation the night before...

Prince under fire from architects (BBC)

2009-06-13T20:07:00.002+08:00

Prince Charles wrote directly to the chairman of Qatari Diar

Prince Charles has come under attack from the architectural community for effectively blocking a building project at Chelsea Barracks in west London.

A former planning minister said the prince had set a "very dangerous precedent" by using his contacts with the Qatari Royal Family to intervene.

The firm Qatari Diar commissioned architect Lord Rogers to design the £3bn flats near the River Thames.

The Middle Eastern owners withdrew their planning application on Friday.

The decision followed a direct intervention by the prince, who wrote to the chairman of Qatari Diar, urging him to consider alternatives to the modern design created by Lord Rogers's firm of architects.

It is believed the prince wanted a more classical, traditional scheme.

Labour MP Nick Raynsford said Prince Charles' behaviour had been "almost feudal".

"I do believe there is a very dangerous precedent here when the heir to the throne intervenes in a decision which should be taken through normal democratic processes, " he told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"There is a very real constitutional issue when the heir to the throne becomes engaged in political controversy cutting across the normal democratic processes by which planning decisions should be taken in this country," he added.

'Disastrous' decision

Qatari Diar hope to submit a new planning application this year

Mr Raynsford has been backed by the President of the Royal Institute of British Architects, Sunand Prasad, who said the Prince's intervention could deter investors from developing projects in London.

"It is not a good day for confidence in the British way of doing things," he told Today.

Lord Rogers, who has designed some of the most influential buildings in the world, said it was a "disastrous" decision.

He said the project had already undergone two and a half years of consultation with local authorities and residents.

The real estate investment company Qatari Diar is owned by the Qatari Investment Authority, which is headed by the country's prime minister.

The Chelsea Barracks site was sold by the Ministry of Defence to Project Blue (Guernsey) Limited (PBGL) for £959 million in January 2008. PBGL is owned by Qatari Diar.

A spokesman for PBGL said it was working with a range of stakeholders - including the Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment - to find a new design.

But Mr Prasad warned that the redesign process could result in a "pastiche".

"We are really throwing in the towel if we think in the 21st Century that we can't make beautiful buildings that can face a site of magnificent buildings across the road, he said.

"They can be beautiful without being neo-classical."

Mr Raynsford said he was concerned the redesign would result in "an unsatisfactory outcome on the Chelsea Barracks site".

-Source BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8098590.stm

LaPoint Residence Model

2009-06-13T13:56:00.005+08:00

We had a lot of fun and sleepless nights while working on our design communication model.
For a week, we made the studio our home and our class our family.

We used pencils for our topography(landscape) lots of them, all for cheap from Tesco. (you can take a guess and see how many pencils we used) =)

Notre Dame de Paris

2009-06-13T13:46:00.001+08:00

Here are more pictures of the Notre Dame model

The Design Process

2009-06-08T00:00:00.007+08:00

"If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties."

- Francis Bacon, Advancement of Learning

The design process is one of problem solving and learning. No design is without issues and problems in its process. One cannot create a reasonable design by advancing straight into a final idea as his design would surely have neglected several major problems with the design.

It is somewhat difficult and scary for a person new to design to accept and dwell in this uncertainty of not having the slightest idea of what the final product will be like. The design process is an endless one and it is even harder to decide when to stop the design process and proceed to the making process. These are the realities of design and I am just learning to adapt to it. It won't be easy but I live to learn and I am ready to learn.

Precedents: Notre Dame de Paris

2009-06-06T23:55:00.004+08:00

Phew, finally got to get online after nearly a week of offline... been busy though. Here is a model of Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris.

We were required to select a historical building to be researched and dissected architecturally for our Architecture Culture and History 1 class. We had to build a model of balsa wood with a group and my group was a fun group of neighbors. Gwen and Samantha were great team members to work with and the hamsters provided us with fun all the way throughout the sleepless nights. =)

Updates! Now!

2009-05-31T22:07:00.003+08:00

Hello readers, internet has been down for the past week, I am still unable to update my blog with new posts. I am here at an internet cafe to tell you about this unfortunate incident. Not to worry, I have a few posts drafted on paper already, just need more time on the net to proof-read and expand. Hopefully Streamyx will be up by tomorrow.

Next Generation House

2009-05-24T14:16:00.005+08:00

This small little dwelling space designed by Sou Fujimoto Architects
is a small weekend retreat located in a forest setting that overlooks River Kuma at Kumakura, Japan.

The small 4x4 cube assembled from cedar logs that are placed deliberately at random to create spaces for seating, eating, sleeping, and storage.

Surprisingly, this was what i had in mind when I created the Tau Capsule for the grafted space assignment. I wanted a small cave like feel with many functional places within a very small place. Its something very much like a small tree house where the users imagination is the limit of its function. Stairs, bed, chair, table... the user decides. This is what I call personal architecture in which one interacts with the architecture depending upon the users very own personalities.

Pictures from: http://images.sub-studio.com/labels/architecture.html

Model Rejected!

2009-05-13T18:21:00.003+08:00

Yes, this model isn't good enough for my urban gap assignment...
But anyway I like it a lot, and I am going to catalog the design into my pool of design ideas.

The cube with the frosted portholes is the reflection capsule while the open one is the viewing capsule. Fins provide some privacy from certain angles besides capturing wind and sun shielding.

Reminds me of "Yellow Submarine" =)

Spatial Spam

2009-05-09T23:14:00.005+08:00

Starting with a plan turned sideways and sandwiched between two clear plastic sheets....

After some placement of horizontal and vertical planes... out comes an 'interesting' model!

Halfway through I stopped being random and decided to use strong linear lines as my design concept.

Mind the rough messy work... its a study model and has been done, undone and redone a gazillion times for the sake of design studies... =)

Precedence

2009-05-05T00:50:00.003+08:00

For the present comes from the past, and the future from the present, what more will be the future be without the past? Is it not a continuous chain for which we link on one another? How is it then that we can forgo our past and move into the future without missing a link? A broken chain is of little use and value. A future without a past is vulgar and obscene. A future without a past is no future. It is to be in the past, to be in the dark.

Labour Day!

2009-04-30T17:23:00.003+08:00

Yea! Its finally Labour Day! What better day for a slaving student to celebrate than Labour Day? Weekends are so rare now that any extra holidays are all celebrated with feasts and celebrations. Even this weekend, I have ton's of work to finish up but at least I can relax a bit now haha! Happy Labour Day all you slaving students!

The Five-Foot Way

2009-04-18T18:46:00.005+08:00

An exmple of a five-foot way along the main street
(Jalan Besar) of Ampang, Selangor, Malaysia.

A common feature of urban centers in Malaysia, the five-foot way is truly unique to Malaysia and Singapore. Originally introduced through a ruling by Sir Stamford Raffles in Singapore through the "Plan of the town of Singapore" in 1822, the British colonial administration made it compulsory for all shophouses to include a minimum of a five-foot-wide veranda in front of the shoplot. This ruling will eventually characterize the urban centers of both Malaysia and Singapore as we know today. The five-foot way was an excellent solution to the climatic conditions of the region, shielding pedestrians from the scorching tropical sun and rain, increasing pedestrian comfort. The shade provided by the walkway encouraged passing pedestrians to browse through the shops and soon the shopowners were taking advantage of this, displaying their wares towards the front of the shop, instead towards the inside the shoplot. Most often, the displayed wares of these shops will extend to the five foot way itself, although it might be against regulations to do so. Although an unmistakable characteristic of pre-war shophouses, this feature is still evident in many modern shophouses today. Part of the Malaysian and Singaporean architectural identity and heritage, the five-foot way should be considered seriously in all future development projects.

This is the first series of architectural articles that I will be publishing on this blog. I hope that the articles here will enlighten others to the architectural elements around us.

The Grafted Space

2009-04-17T00:14:00.015+08:00

After days of sleepless nights and vigorous problem solving, my final model for my grafted dream space is complete and I am very happy with how it turned out (although there were still some problems).
For design studio, we were asked to design a personal day dreaming space by the use of grafting. Here is my work (which I would like to refer to as the "Tau Capsule") and behind that, my plan.

Firstly, on day one of the assignment 3 weeks ago, we were asked to define grafting for ourselves. Some chose joining, some puncturing but I chose weaving. From that word, we were told to produce our very own definitions of that act.

Clearly, being assignment 2 of studio class, this act (of choosing a word and defining it) was to familiarize us with design concepts, a pretty methodological approach of choosing a word and defining it in our own context.

Some of you may ask, how is my final model associated with weaving? It looks nothing like weaving at all...

It is ok, here in architecture, we push things to the limit, we use these concepts and translate them into new forms, new designs. Afterall, we are designers too. You can click on my presentation board below to see my design translation.

The design concept

The vigorous design process

Plan of the grafted space. 1:20
(Top View)

Section of the grafted space. 1:20
(Side View)

The Capsule, ladder replaced with stairs in final model

Another view.
The protruding sticks towards the back come together to form stairs derived from my initial study model.

View from the inside.

Internal view through entrance

So, how did the presentation go?
I presented to 2 senior students, not the lecturer, but this was a relief and blessing to me. I had enough of critiques from the same lecturers over the course of our assignments and wanted to hear someone else comments. It is not that I do not like the lecturer's comments but it has become easy to comprehend what they like and don't like and adapt to that. It is close to cheating, once again this is related to my previous article on grades and learning.

The two seniors were a guy and a girl, they were kinda nice. I presented and here are some of their comments, good and bad:

Scale is off, you should be more careful with the scale next time.
Openings are small, if I wanted to allow light in, they should have been bigger. Once again, relating to scale.
Wow... detachable model... now we can look at the interior.
Wow... (looking at interior)
Where is your rendering?(Sketch... I showed them my real one. The one on the poster is a tiny bit too small)
Excellent design concept for a 1st semester, 1st studio student.

To some of you this might sound really harsh but architecture is an area where even the most perfect work is unperfect and it is normal for us to recive negative feedback all the time, even the best architect gets negative feedbacks, but afterall, how can a piece of work ever be perfect? The more time we spend on a piece of work, it can only become better, but never perfect.

At the end of the project, I debrief myself... I am happy with my work, pat on my back.

I need to work more on my propotion estimation.
I love architecture.
Be early to print the presentation boards... there are long queues at the printer.
Things don't get easier, I need to continue working harder

I am inspired by what my lecturer Ms. Goh said:
"The beginning is the end and the end is the beginning."

I woke up late that day, just in time for submission hour. Thankfully my nice neighbors, Gwendoline and Samantha, gave me a wake up call and saved my life. Thank you.

Other student's work:
Sofia's coral wall

Miao's Maze

Carol's Stretching

Ming's Contours

Mystery concept model, Probably Tzi Li's

Students models with presentation boards, somebody is reading my board.

Samantha's work, kinda from space.

Messing around

My "knotty" work from the garment presentation day, nearly up there for a month.

On Schedule

2009-04-15T00:43:00.003+08:00

All hands on deck! All hands on deck!

We are back on schedule to the next port-of-call!

Good news but don't let this news get you comfy... the journey has just begun, it will only get harder...

Well, that said, I can sleep a bit tonight, a welcomed relief from the last sleepless week... =D

I would like to upload some of my work now, but be patient, I will compile and post them up tomorrow! =)

Photo Journal

2009-04-13T01:03:00.007+08:00

I have decided to begin publishing my photos of my many inspirations, feel free to leave comments on these pictures.

In this set, I will take you along my journey during KL design week.

Interesting Elevator shaft

Flowers and leaves on translucent roof

Neo-classical, Brutalist and Modern all in one picture

Telekom Museum

"I love vandalism"

Old street sign

Rhythm

Hawker drink container supplier

Typical Pre-war Chinese Malaysian shoplot

Rebar from unfinished section of a building

As funny as its name is, it is a towering skyscaper. At 198m tall, Menara Multi Purpose is Kuala Lumpur's 9th tallest skyscraper. was completed in 1994.

"Moon Walk"

Menara Multi Purpose

Eco Bags on Trees, note the robot on the bag is using a tank to water the tree.

Preparing an Impromptu Remark

2009-04-07T16:24:00.007+08:00

A message to a friend:

Where you wanna go this time? I can still go to places I have been, I never fail to find something new at every place i revisit. Thats the life of a city, in a junge, undergrowth grows and creepers crawl over time. In a city the environment is animated and changed by bricks, motar and the multiplicity of human activity.

My greatest inspiration lies not with Le Corbusier or Alvar Aalto but with Winston Churchill whom i revere a lot. The title of this post was based on one of his famous quotes.

Malaysian Trully Malaysian

2009-04-07T14:34:00.006+08:00

Taking a break past the time limit has caused me to get an additional assignment ...
Its ok... , its on Malaysian timber. Another great opportunity to learn something new, after all I am Malaysian and it is an opportunity to learn more about my country and its culture. The greater the pool of knowledge available, the better the explorations of my designs will be for studio classes.

“As irrigators lead water where they want, as archers make their arrows straight, as carpenters carve wood, the wise shape their minds.” -Buddha

Life of my Life

2009-04-06T18:46:00.008+08:00

Draft deadline was today .No good... not refined work, I miscalculated my timing, I should have allocated more time to it, as it was my first time doing these projections, oh well, its over now, and I like what my lecturer said today in class:

"Don't focus on the grades, focus more on what you learn from the process."
-Design Studio 1

It is true, grades aren't a sure measure of what we as students have learnt from the course. I admit, I do sometimes exploit loopholes in the evaluation scheme but I always remember to reanalyze my work and see how I could have improved, what I done right and wrong.

And so it is the whole name of life, Knowledge and Reason... for life contains so much knowledge, (there still are many unsolved mysteries in our life time) and a hundred years isn't enough to know even a tiny fraction of it. Hence we have to reason and gain knowledge as best as we can. Through reason we will gain knowledge by experience, our personal experience, and hand in hand, we should gain knowledge from that has already been avaliable in the world, other people's experiences. After all, great works during the Renaissance and Enlightenment were merely built onto rediscoveries of the ancient world's advancements. Hence, since life is knowledge and knowledge is life, being ignorant to these vast pools of knowledge is to ignore life, a great crime to all humanity and the Almighthy creator.

Knowledge and Reason...
Think for a moment...

Deadlines

2009-04-01T21:58:00.003+08:00

Ok this is usual, datelines looming and getting busy busy busy but I am really slow at drafting, and
it is really pushing my time management down to the half-hour...

and I lost my toilet bowl template...

Ok back to the...uh... drawing board?

Here is something funny lol:

The Draftsman's Secret

2009-03-24T22:55:00.001+08:00

Break Away!

2009-03-23T18:28:00.000+08:00

Through out the past 3 weeks, we were asked to design an architectural garment that will represent our self-identity well.

My identity was rigid, but I wanted to be flexible and fluid, and I explored the use of corrugated cardboard and triangular prisms or pyramids forms.

After countless failed attempts and sleepless nights...

Here it is!
The garment!

It looks better than I had expected it to be, luckily LOL!
The garment looks good but I don't look to good, hence the missing head...
I look like a zombie now, working 48 hours with little rest and food... Rarw... ok ok... I'm happy it turned out quite well.

Some people actually called it Optimus Prime, but I have no idea if his arm was like that, i'm not a fan of Transformers.

Ok I will explain the design here.
Concept: Rigid to Fluid
Material: Corrugated cardboard and wire
Form: Repeated triangular prisms with size variations
Techniques: Cutting, slotting, tieing

I wanted to show my transformation from being rigid into fluid, hence the design. there is no particular reason why I chose to make my left hand rigid instead of the right other than for merely practical reasons of wearability.

The triangular pyramids or prisms I came across by accident after a triangular section fell off a diagonally cut square.

Like Tetris bricks, the triangular blocks slowly broke away into smaller pieces and had variations in concave and convex surfaces. This was done to increase the depth and volume (3D in layman terms) to make the garment more asthetically intriguing.

I had no sketches, I just joined and joined till it made an arm, then the torso and finally the right arm.

Ok, the best part, our next assignment is out and we are dealing with space this time... and guess whats on the briefing cover?

Triangular prisms... darn...

Thats it folks, thats my hard work regardless of wether the lecturers like it or not. i have no choise but to love my child... =D

Architectural garment

2009-03-23T01:12:00.000+08:00

It is Done!

Its Alive!

The garment is done!

I'm going to bed now to sleep like a log...

=/

Hard day's night

2009-03-22T02:12:00.001+08:00

Its been a hard day's night, and I've been working-g like a dog...

my garment project is due Monday and is only 40% done, worked for 8 hours straight today... time to rest...

Gateway to heaven...

2009-03-19T14:41:00.000+08:00

Our group, 'Kaya Pau' were assigned a group seminar on religious gateways of various religions.

ok but we are very kiasu too, we want to top the other teams with special oomph and we decided to go for a site visit. and Site visit did we! =D

Rough notes on gateways and locations

So from LCS we headed to Sentral and on to Maharajalela station. (I made a mistake here, the mosque was nearer to Hang Tuah station).

Yeah I know... It was really hot and the train was super punctual and i forgot all about Hang Tuah station being closer to the Jalan Hang Tuah mosque...

The girls were busy buzzing all the way about the heat and walking distance like mosquitoes... but I learnt something today...

Malaysia's tropical climate restricts girls (and/or boys) from walking short distances. Even for a distance of less than a kilometer, we prefer to support our national car makers.

So while walking along Jalan Petaling, I noticed that the roof was just ingenious. The venting system was brilliantly incoperated into the asthetics of the flowing form. Remarkably, as everyone will tell you, it is very cool under the huge roof and just few steps away from the roof, you will feel the heat. then at Kuala Lumpur station, the space roof was bad, the lack of curves and air vents restricted ventilation and it became stuffy and hot, even when it provided a significant amount of shade.

The blue thing above is the roof I was talking about
(Shee Ling mistaken this for a bridge from far...)

Shading with proper venting would make walking within the city in Kuala Lumpur more desirable.
I have two ideas for this,

1. A green creeper cooridor
(Functional landscaping)
2.A corrugated plastic sheet cooridor
(comes in many colours!)

Of course these are just the materials to build the structure and the actual structure must have a proper venting system that will keep out the rain in a storm. For this, I will have to do more research and a few sketches would be due.

Ok back to the original story of the gateways, so we walked to Masjid Al Bukhary, took a few pictures and asked around for some info on the Islamic gateway... but no one knows... architecture awareness among the Malaysian general public is really low.

I know one thing, the gateways usually face Kiblat, or Quiblat, or towards Mecca. This is clearly evident in the Al Bakhary mosque with its particular angular facing of the entire building.

The angular facing of the building

The gateway

The Chinese Pai-laou or Pai-loo gateway seen all over the world at Chinatown

The Hindhu temple gateway was unfortunately under renovation, however, out of a stroke of luck I have an old picture of it.

Always wondered... how did they managed to get such detail on the structure

My group was really fun, we chatted, I learnt about girls opinions on walking in and around Kuala Lumpur (opps...) and on religious site constrction.

All sites were within the Chinatown area of Kuala Lumpur. This trip accurately depicts the cultural diversity and intensity of Malaysia. I had great fun, lot of lessons and new ideas. Always is after a trip.

"The world my teacher, I the student."

Window Fitting

2009-03-16T21:22:00.000+08:00

Today's menu:

Orthographic projection... ok done this before, can't be that hard right?
Ok I got a nice spot right in front of a window facing the Sungai Way cityscape...
Ah... with such a beautiful view and some knowledge of this skill...
It couldn't be that hard at all...

Until...

The drawing was an American drawing!
Oh American drawing... what can be wrong eh...?

Everything!

Everything! Everything is in *Bleep* *Bleep* Inches!
(We use centimeters here in this part of the tiny world)

Worst still even with the scale printed on the side, the publisher didn't see the need to accurately show the projections... measurements were out.. and worse of all were the windows...@#$%#^$ windows...

The measurements of the windows do not match up and this is driving me NUTS

Sigh... enough for today, its not due anytime soon, I'll just wait till someone manages to fit the windows in and ask him/her for the measurements

On Site Sketching - KL PAC

2009-03-15T13:03:00.000+08:00

First of all, KL Pac stands for KL Performing Arts center. This building is over a century old and was formerly a colonial train yard. Still is a train yard for KTMB next door.

Located in Sentul West, it is an amazing structure by itself but it dosen't stop there. KL Pac is surrounded by sprawling landscapes.

On Friday after a overcast and rainy morning, we left campus in two busses... we arrived still under an overcast sky and was given a short briefing. I chose a spot at the rear facade of the structure and sketched the trees growing on the structure of the building. Other people were running all over while I tried out the wire mesh sofas, very comfortable. =)

Old Facade with new "Glass block" in foreground

Rain Rain go away

I can see Ping Xin is making herself at home on the sofa =p

Now, My sketches:

The first an only "On-Site" Sketch

Pathway's along KL Pac

Park in front of entrance

Walls of the booths all around the lake

Entrance corridor looking from the entrance to the car park

Ventilation systems on the interior

Surfaces seen all over KL Pac

On Site Sketching- LCS Courtyard

2009-03-12T20:38:00.000+08:00

These are the "on-site" sketches I did, well, not really on site, coz it rained half way through. I actually just drew what I remembered from the outlines, the Balinese gateway isnt very accurate, there were more plants in front of it. =p

The sketches are not so detailed here, but I will tell you what I did and you can use your imagination to make my sketches better! =d

1. I added stippling to the granite to show moss growth on both pictures.

2.The tiles had texture similar to that of the real slate tiles.

3. Those plants below the Balinese gate are ferns.

4. The red round things spurting water are lips... yeah lips... psychedelic Bali... whoo...

To be done at KLPAC, tomorrow:

8 sketches

all annoted with notes...

Compare and contrast materials where possible

Free(dom) Sketching

2009-03-12T00:10:00.000+08:00

Statue of Liberty, note the perspective lines, I'm praticing perspective now.
Isn't she beautiful? =p

What is freedom without opression and violence? =p

I got stuck in the rain today, very gloomy day... My garment assignment progress was booted and restarted by a lecturer because I didn't know about the proper design progress, its ok, I love the new design.

Art Class - Be an artist in 30 minutes

2009-03-10T22:46:00.000+08:00

I don't remembered anything I learnt from art classes, so last Thursday, fortunately my uncle who is an artist tagged along with my mom to visit me, so naturally, I asked him for a quick lesson on sketching, perspectives, and different techniques/mediums... We also did some material shopping. Budget was important for me but it didn't seem so for my uncle. But just beginning my journey into this expressive world, I opted for lower ranged materials with the maximum possible techniques to try out. (Im not a less is more guy) =).

Lessons in 30 minutes:
All drawings were by Mr. John Lai, my uncle, not me!

(note, drawings are not to quality. Speed and technique was more of importance here for educational purposes)

Making use of negative spaces to measure distances.

Sketching and shading techniques/styles

Shading a ball

A Blue apple in watercolour pencil

Finally last lesson, felt tip pen sketching
I painted this with watercolour later on when my uncle was in the toilet =p

And there were charcoal drawings, but I don't feel like putting that on the scanner... =p

Thanks again to Mr. John Lai, the family's only artists, and a very passionate one lol!

Sketching Practice

2009-03-09T18:08:00.000+08:00

Having no art background and being required to sketch in such a short frame of time is no easy feat. Here are some of my quick sketches:

Back of the building with Raffle's statue, Singapore

UOB Building, Singapore

Typical Shoplot,

Near Central Market, Kuala Lumpur

I'm experimenting with the felt tip pen, I love this technique especially with the ink wash/watercolour technique. I would like to experiement with other techniques but I'll stick with this technique for a while, till I get proficeient enough for good grades in class. =p

Form and Function

2009-03-08T20:15:00.000+08:00

The greatest two things of architecture are form and function.

Simply put, a form without a function is little more than a white elephant, asthetically pleasing in design but quicky loses its appeal among the public due to its lack of function or praticalibility. (We have a lot of these in Malaysia)

On the other hand, function without form lacks gracefullness... (we also have a lot of these in Malaysia) Basically, building spaces of pure function without form is for people lacking the basic conditions for living, for example, shelter. This can be seen through the lifestyles of normadic people all over the world who put food and shelter above asthetics.

Modern Malaysians today are clearly far from improvished and should be able to accomodate the gracefullness of asthetics in its buildings. However, although efforts to promote a national identity through architecture soon after our independence, this has faded today. Today, we see rows and rows of new housing areas with no thought put into either tradition (form) or praticallity (function). No pedestrian walkways, no parks, no bus stops, no car parks and the overuse of artificial ventilation in buildings. With the introduction of Putrajaya, a revival of the intellectual architecture scene in Malaysia is to be seen. Buildings should not be seen purely for economic gains but for praticallity, national identity and asthetics, for a better quality of life. However, with the parking issues in Cyberjaya even with the meticulosly design transit system, the bulk of the force lies not with the architects or the government but the public's perception of a quality living condition. Afterall we are not improvished and deserve a better quality of life.

I also want to share something Mr. Keith told us the other day which has inspired me greatly,

"When a function is fufilled well, beauty comes naturally."

Shopping Spree

2009-03-03T14:53:00.000+08:00

I have new furniture everybody! Mostly German made lol!

Today, we only had one class at college, a subject on architecture culture and history, or better known just as 'history'. But that wasn't the focus of the day, class ended pretty soon enough after a brief introduction to the course by the lecturer.

After that, we went to get our materials at a nearby shop called Vince Art Shop. The art shop we were told to go had a tragedy lately, Mr. Win passed away a week ago, so shop will be closed till Sunday... =(

The list of items and prices

These tools cost me a lot, I never spent that much ever in a single receipt... lots of German made stuff...

Ok, I have another story to tell, but i have to go to mid Valley to shop for more materials. I'll be back soon.

Closer to home

2009-03-02T21:30:00.000+08:00

Day one of class, still disorientated, no timetable.

7.51am
Arrived at school early with no idea what time class starts. Got timetable at last from the office just in time to run up the stairs to the studio... class not started, Luckily.

8.15am

Lecturers arrive, we enter class, something very interesting sits in the middle of the classroom. It looks like Ipoh City, and upon a closer look, it was. Very beautiful although some important buildings like HSBC lacked important details on the facade.

The Ipoh City model, taken with permission from Jesselyn's blog
Do Visit her to see more pictures.

8.20am
Introduction round...

8.50am
Break for 20 minutes

8.10am
Introducing our first project... an architectural garment that reflects your identity. Ok, this is tough...

10.00am
lunch break

12.00noon
Design Communication class... ok, getting scary, I'm not good at sketching... need pencils and sketchbook for Wednesday... need to go shopping... *Cha* *Ching* $$$

Not much to write, have to figure out what to do for my garment project, im not so sure what my strongest personality is... need to be inspired by Mr. Men.

Wednesday is sketching exercise! So stay tuned to see my sketches.

Orienting the disorientated

2009-03-01T19:49:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was a very special day. It was one of those days where you learn a lot of new stuff about life. It was SABD's orientation day at the Central Market Annexe and most of us gathered at LCS's courtyard and headed there by using public transport! I am a big fan of public transportation but thats a story for another day... Getting on at Setia Jaya, we got of at Kuala Lumpur station. Along the way, I think some mates got off at Sentral. Our presence, or rather the prescence of the loud seniors, greatly annoyed some passangers including some tourists especially at Sentral when the pieces of cardboard I was helping to hold got in the way of exiting passengers, opps...

Ok we arrive at the Annexe and were asked to take one shoe off and place it in a pool. This was done to split us into groups for the icebreaking game. "Miss Chatterbox"(thats her shirt), a senior, called the game 'Stepping on Numbers'? And so we did, as a group lined up getting from one number to the next with great difficulty and some mumbo-jumbo. Very orientating...

Next event was the main one, the one which each of the 6 groups were brought to a site to be surveyed, and inspiration gathered in order to make a piece of street furniture out of recycables. The design should be, well, the usual sustainable. Our group was assigned to Victoria Institution and Stadium Negara (PNB owned...) so we walked along. Clueless of what to do, we sat down in under a shady corridor to discuss our next course of action...

Discussing the plan

Idea's started flowing... emotions raging sometimes... finally a resolution, we decided to build a bird bath! I must admit, we did not get any inspiration to build the bath at any of the sites. We just thought that if we wanted to top the other teams, we had to come up with a brilliant idea, and so there it was... a bird bath on top of a Christmas tree, or as I would argue a pine tree. (pines existed before Christ was born!)

And so, the brilliant team, which I must say was the best team I had ever worked with for a long long time went to work. With team leader Sofia, we quickly accomplished our delegated tasks and soon, we had a bird bath. We even added a cockerel compass on top to amplify the use of such an odd prop... very strange indeed... see for yourself...

The bird bath/bird feeder/sculpture "the saga tree"

At the end, our team did win and were awarded with a heap of junkfood and a "Steps" book each, very nice considering the book cost RM 100 each. At the end of the day, I had realized that good team cohesion, respect and trust are essential to ensure the sucess of a team. Other things I noted: trash people in Malaysia care about hygene, pedestrian lights don't change to green, KL tour buses don't care about tourists and there is no handphone signal at Mentari...

Poopitypoop! I'm in Architecture!

2009-03-01T15:37:00.000+08:00

How did I ever end up in Architecture!? I'm clumsy, careless and have sweaty palms... My hobbies may be sketching, photography, scale modeling, electronics, computer design, travel, research... blah blah but it never occurred to me that they would be anything more than just hobbies.

To be honest, I actually wanted to do something along the lines of political studies. When I was young, I asked my mother once who was the leader of the world, she replied "The President of The United States, Bill Clinton (at that time)" and so I made a resolution that i would one day be the leader of the world, be like Clinton. Even as I aged older, grew fonder of politics and the so called "Art of War" tactics of dealing with people. Of course during my younger days I too loved scale models and train sets. I would often spend hours admiring scale models at the developer's offices, one of which I remember would be Kris properties, an Ipoh based developer. I loved floor plans, and I had many sets of car toys, buildings and Lego which I would arrange all around the house into a kind of my dream city. Then again on other days, I would arrange my little green soldiers all around the living room and have a little war. Ok, I was born in 1990 when the collapse of the USSR brought about many civil wars in Eastern Europe of which I would see on tv. Something special about my little military campaigns were that they were not always conventional, they involved primitive versions of tactics similar to that of blitzkrieg and ambushes of which I mimicked from shows like Rambo and James Bond... Bit by bit i started to fall in love with taking over the world! =D

Baby Steps

When I was 7, my family got our first Windows computer... (Only DOS before that) and one of my first games were Red Alert. But soon I fell in love with Sim City. I bought Sim City 2000 one day and it was the first game I actually learnt to play without cheating. It was followed by the other Sim City series.

My love for arhitecture though started with scale modeling of which I fell in love in historical backgrounds of the models (tanks). Then my family made a trip to Singapore. I was just messing around with the camera. The buildings were too beautiful to ignore and I just went crazy hunting for angles and patterns in the urban landscape... and so, it was then that began my journey into architecture...

There are more stories behind me, but let them be for another day. I do belive that architecture isn't just about building but more about designing the future. Architects shape the way society works, lives and breathes through their works. Architects have shaped civilizations before and will too in the future.