3rd October 2023 Tuesday - Penang to Singapore

Sam and I talked about the kitchen table and seating at No. 40 - she was watching a movie while I come up  with as many viable configurations as possible using the recycled roof timber. I plan to build this in the kitchen itself once the floor tiles are laid.

Setting the dimensions and form of the seating against the wall, after this discussion, Sam took a photo and send it to the builder who immediately marked it out on site for her to approve. 

Flew from Penang to Singapore to meet the others, we are attending a lecture by Kevin Mark Low and to look at buildings with Sani. 

Last night, we found out that one of our friends has a problem with his blood pressure, and is now taking medication for it. Worrying - as he has resorted to medication instead of lifestyle changes.
 

Our compact hotel room, I will document its plans and sections in a later post. There is a garden which borrows from Sri Lankan gardens we saw in Bawa's projects. 

KML lecture at NUS, he talked about dissecting built projects and asking questions to improve its design and also our own.

5 May 2022 Thursday - patience

I have not drawn this way for a while - pencil/pen on paper with a straight edge, drawn to scale and with annotation and dimensions. I did this because two interns asked me what to show in their working drawings. I thought it was easier to show with a drawing rather than a text message. I also thought how strange is was that they do not know this at this stage of their education.

But if there is one thing I have learnt this year, it is patience - to take my foot off the gas and listen, to try and understand why this question is asked, to see the other person's point of view. So I sent this to them and waited.

One replied with some questions - whether the roof overhand was disruptive to the overall form. She suggested an alternative which proved more viable and one we will adapt for the final proposal.

summer

Archiprix S.E.A Workshop

National Library of Singapore

DAY THREE

Students’ Workshop – 3 parallel workshops led by Prof. Tay Kheng Soon, Yip Yuen Hong and myself was a good opportunity for students from 6 different countries to bond, share ideas and provide solutions to de-construct the Tropical City (Prof. Tay), to design a tropical habitat (Yip) and to convert common spaces in HDB flats into communal spaces (me). Graphic communication bridged langauge barriers as I was reminded of the true objective of such an event; to promote discourse amongst architecture schools in the region.

Tay Tze Yong assisting in the student workshop

the workshop in progress

Tony Liew briefing the students

our workshop with curious onlookers from the other groups

Tito putting it all together

Prof Tay remembers me as "the architect from Sarawak"; I am well pleased.

Yuen Hong looks in on the workshop

our group with the finished products

Archiprix S.E.A. 2012

On Monday, I sat at a jury panel of three headed by Dr. Erwin Viray from Kyoto Institute of Technology, accompanied by Yip Yuen Hong from ip:li architects, Singapore and listened to the presentation of 14 design schemes from South East Asian universities and colleges. 
The following are notes and sketches taken during the one-day presentation at the National University of Singapore.

the 3 bald men in the front are the jury members; students and tutors from 11 regional Universities took part.

Dr Erwin Viray commenting on one of the presentations.

entrant from National University of Singapore

Duong from Hanoi Architecture University

the winning team from Sarawak; Tay Tze Yong is the tutor (standing between R and I)

The Importance of Details

These sketches describe the work carried out by NUS students under the tutelage of Kok Ming in a restored shop house in Malacca; other than the skill in the details - I also like how the series of small sketches explain the logic and craft behind each piece of work.

Drawing Out Your Day

Breakfast at the Ibis Hotel where I stayed for 8 nights was the same everyday, which helped reinforce my daily routine of squeezing in a quick run in the early morning before going to 'work' at the third year studio. 

I ate alone - but had my novels and sketch book to keep me accompany.These are some of the people in the breakfast crowd.
 

This impatient man was waiting for his wife to check out - full of anxious energy and frowns.

The Workshop consist of 150 students from NUS whom I saw daily for a week; they helped me with my daily commute, which involved taking the SMRT Bus 806 from the Dept. of Design and Environment to Clementi MRT which takes to Bugis MRT. From there, I walk a short distance to Ibis Hotel on Bencoolen Road.

On some days, I take a detour and visit museums or shops; I saw the terracotta warriors at the Asian Civilisation Museum with Tao and friend.

 
Some days, my friends would take me to look at new buildings such as the University Town across the road from NUS. Most of the building there are bland American copies with the exception of Mok Wei Wei's building. 

Mostly, I was happy to explore and sketch, I did two quick sketches (5-10 minutes) of the old Mandarin Oriental Hotel which is now wearing a new 'skirt' of sweeping glass and steel curves that is Mandarin Square.

The Singapore Management Universtiy