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Mark on Operation Void Deck
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Wall Quotes &
Sernhong on re:ACT at 7th mAAN Conference, New Delhi (23-25 Feb)
There were a total of about 80-100 people at the whole conference. Very interesting meeting eveyone.
France on re:ACT at 7th mAAN Conference, New Delhi (23-25 Feb)
Looks very interesting. How many people were there?
Singapore 1:1 Exhibition at the URA
hann on Sun, March 30, 2008
Had a chance to attend the Singapore 1:1 Forum last week, held in conjunction with the Singapore 1:1 Island exhibition at the URA Gallery, the second in what I hope is a (longer) series of exhibits on architecture in Singapore. The first was Singapore 1:1 City two years ago. The exhibition documents key architectural highlights in Singapore, chronologised into ‘ages’, from the 1960s til today.
Moderated by Larry Ng, director of the Architecture and Urban Design Excellence (AUDE) programme at the URA, the forum was given its kick-off by Dr Wong Yunn Chii, the curator of the exhibition, who spoke on the processes behind curating the exhibition, and the mode of selection of its theme (and projects). In so doing, the audience was given a live commentary-cum-critique on many of the selected exhibited schemes, which felt like a Brief History of Modern Singapore Architecture 101 (in a most positive way, of course). It was enlightening, as it was my first time listening to a talk on curatorial thought processes, and on viewing the exhibition after the forum, it lended additional credence to the exhibition itself. The photography for some of these projects was pretty impressive as well.
Mr Arthur Aw of Jurong Town Corporation later gave his insight on his eight or so years of working at the Jurong Town Hall, itself a Brutalist-styled design from 1969 (by Architects Team 3) which still commands much awe, if audience response was anything to go by. A quote from Mr Aw: “If someone joined JTC, in the old building (Jurong Town Hall), I would have got to know him within three months. Now, if someone joins JTC, in the new building (Jurong Summit), it would take me a year to get to know him.”
This simple comment brings forth further, deeper questions of modern office-space typologies, and is a silent criticism on developers’ quests to go for taller, lower-footprint skyscrapers. The latter little more than fulfilling efficiency, and, in the case of Jurong Summit, are probably far less of an architectural marker in time, than buildings designed to make their presence felt - Jurong Town Hall would be a case in point.
Ms Rohani Baharin from CPG Airports then gave a detailed talk on everyone’s favourite airport - Changi, documenting the progress it’s made since the opening of Terminal 1 back in the 1970s. This was a very refreshing point of view - one uses or views an airport on a very microscopic level, compared to the people who are actually planning it, everything from its masterplanning to its infrastructure to the little architectural details that contribute to the airport being runaway best-in-the-world for several years running. (Nugget of interesting information: There are baggage carousels running underground from terminal to terminal, below the existing MRT line!)
The audience was treated to a video of the conceptualisation process behind T3 as well, with details of the now-famous skylighting flaps, and the green walls and large expanses of curtain-wall glass. Ms Baharin’s talk ended off with optimistic hope for T4, which has now been confirmed to be in the pipeline.
The Singapore 1:1 Exhibition has been extended til April 11th, and can be viewed during the URA’s opening hours.
Mr Tan Kok Hiang of Forum Architects gave an enlightening talk on the thoughts and design processes behind three of his projects - the Henderson Community Centre, the Assyafaah Mosque (model pictured above) and the new entrance for the Singapore Science Centre. Cultural significance and relevance lend themselves to Forum’s projects, and these show up in details, both highly microscopic - for instance, in the Arabesque screens of the Mosque - and macroscopic, in the primordial Fibonacci Sequence system that guides the new landscaped plaza leading to the Science Centre. It left the audience with the feeling that architecture indeed innovates, and is meant to innovate, while serving more fundamental demands of space, form-making and client/programmatic demands.
The forum concluded with a colourful Q&A session, in which the speakers furthered their respective talks with commentaries on the future of architecture and architectural innovation in Singapore, while keeping true to what we’ve held proud thus far - efficient and “pleasant” design. This is a timely shot in the arm as we are seeking a myriad set of answers to the perennial “So, what’s next?” question, in the context of local architecture.
All in all, it was a talk that neatly wrapped up the Singapore 1:1 Island exhibition, itself a neat set-up. I bought the concomitant book - even with slight reservations on its graphic design - as I know it will become a handy historical document on how far Singapore architecture has come, as it is itself a history-documenting book.
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The Modern Day Architect
hann on Wed, March 26, 2008
Life as an architect/ architecture student can get pretty daunting sometimes. Here’s something that I hope would bring a smile to your face amidst all those unimaginable datelines.
A game of Go
sernhong on Wed, March 26, 2008
What has a game of Go to do with Architecture, one might ask. For those familiar with the chess game of Go (Weiqi), one will relate to the principles of STRATEGY, PATIENCE, FAR-SIGHTEDNESS, ETHICS.
But, there is more. Let me share this rare moment of personal relevation. I was re-watching one of the ending episodes of Hikaru No Go anime (about the Weiqi chess game) when one particular part of the anime touched me so much, it actually made me tear.
A quick introduction before I elaborate. This anime is about this boy who learnt the weiqi game and became very passionate. However he experienced a setback(his mentor left the world) and decided to quit the professional world of Go. But a sudden turn of events made him realise his undying love for the game and the support from his “friends/comrades” in the world of Go. He decided to return to the Go matches after a prolonged break. Upon his return, one of the master instructors who has been following the boy’s development made a brief but deep comment to another instructor: (here’s the exchange of words between the 2 instructors, A & B)
A >> Friend, do you know that Go is a two player game? B >> Of course I know that A >> No, you don’t A >> You can’t play Go by yourself .... B >> I said I know that A >> No, you don’t. You need two people .... A masterful game cannot happen with just one genius. Right, friend? You need two people with equal genius. Two….... When you have two, you can finally take a step towards the divine move.
I would like to paraphrase this:
Friend, do you know that Architecture is a multi-player game? You can’t play Architecture by yourself ... You need many people. A masterful stroke, a meaningful design, an impactful outreach to humanity through architecture .... cannot happen with just one genius.
Right friend? You need many people, many with passion, intellect, will and drive. Many people playing the game .... when you have all these people, you can finally take a step towards the divine move.
I am not sure how clear I am able to express this. Maybe it is already something several of you have felt. Maybe it’s just a naive thought of my own. Nevertheless, it has struck a chord within me and ... .... very few things in the world can actually make me tear…
Young Urbanist Programme Season 1
hann on Tue, March 25, 2008
This is an article written by Lyn-Anne, the Managing Editor of Five Foot Way Magazine on the recent YUP. She did such a good job, we thought you should not miss it. Find out more about Five Foot Way Magazine here.
The Young Urbanist Programme [YUP] held on Monday 10th March 2008, was a 1-day workshop initiated by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and executed in collaboration with [re:act] and held at the URA Centre. It was an enrichment programme for primary school students during their school holiday and was attended by 30 P5 students from Radin Mas Primary School and River Valley Primary School. [re:act] was engaged by URA to plan, organize and facilitate the workshop, as well as to curate the exhibition. Through problem-based urban activities, the programme aimed to instill creativity and sensitivity in our future generation, while giving them a taste of being an architect or urban designer for a day.
The objectives of YUP were to raise awareness and educate students on the importance of a well-designed built environment, as well as to introduce simple Urban Design (UD) and planning concepts, so as to build up an urban design-conscious culture from young.
Matthew Chong, a teacher at River Valley Primary School, said it was important for the students to learn about their environment at a young age so they would be aware of their surroundings and be careful in the way they live.
The programme also hoped to encourage students to nurture a keen sense of observation and interest in their built environment and to inspire students to think, design and plan as architects and planners through a design exercise and presentation session. Using URA’s City Gallery as an aid to introduce Singapore’s urban planning & design and coupled with games to add interest to the learning, the workshop was intensive, fast-paced, energetic and creative.
Armed with the YUP Activity Booklet produced by URA, the students were broken up into teams of 5, each led by a facilitator and a teacher. They went on an outdoor site study in the vicinity of the URA Centre and returned to an art and craft session on model-making, site-planning and designing to simulate the real work of architects and urban planners. The students were all in laughter as they cut out pieces of cardboard windows and dabbed their Styrofoam trees with glue.
Claire McColl of Radin Mas Primary School said she learnt how to be creative with cardboard and plastic bottles and also how to work in a team.
The tasks given to the students helped to reinforce their learning and understanding of the built environment.
Teo Hui Ting, a student of River Valley Primary School, said that through the workshop, she finally understood how hard it was to plan and build a city.
At the end of the workshop, students got to present their findings and designs to professional planners and architects. Parents of these students were also invited to sit in the presentation to give encouragement and support to their children. As such, the workshop reached out not only to students, but also to teachers and parents.
Chong Keng Hua, of [re:act], said they are in talks with URA to organize more of such programmes and they hope to include students from polytechnics, ITEs and even parents in future workshops.
FFW was at the workshop and we noticed that even though there were chaotic moments at times (kids will be kids), the students were genuinely serious about making their models as realistic as possible and almost did not flinch when they presented their works to the professionals at URA. This collaborative initiative by [re:act] and URA was a rousing success and everyone involved left with a greater appreciation of our city’s architects and urban planners and new friendships.
FFW applauds the efforts of [re:act] to introduce art and design to students at such a young age and we are looking forward to more of such inspiring initiatives.
Lyn-Anne is the managing editor of FFW and she loves photography and film-making.
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The Penguin Effect
hann on Mon, March 24, 2008
No profound philosophical or architectural debate here, but I thought this was a rather straight-forward and easy-to-understand clip from National Geographic which demonstrate on strategies that architects use in building small spaces. It does bring out certain issues for further thought though. I was just thinking, Japan’s really tight space constraints has resulted in many innovative solutions. The refinement of these solutions result in architecture that is often efficient, clever and almost appear effort-less. The Japanese designers have managed to take something challenging and turn them into opportunities. That is certainly something we can learn from in Singapore.
So far, our space constraints have mainly led us to the same typology of HDB blocks year after year. As competition for space increases, the only thing that has really changed, is the HDB block growing higher and expanding laterally into a screen. Time for a re-think? More like overdue. Why should landed property only be for semi-detached houses and the like? Would it work to have a cluster of Penguin Houses, which though small, make it affordable for more people who want an alternative to high-rise living? It’s all about creativity and offering choices, no? Which brings me to another interesting thought. Notice how penguins who live in some of the coldest, harshest environments still manage to look mighty gentlemanly and sophisticated in their simple but almost designer-like black and white suit ensemble? Now, that’s some creative designing for you!
Architecture in Singapore and Asia 0 comments
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