Category Archives: Design

the sniper’s log_

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canova plaster cast gallery(canova plaster cast gallery extension, carlo scarpa.)

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(when mortals sleep; unpublished fiction)

question:  what is wrong with this world?

response:  everybody pays attention to pictures of things. nobody pays attention to things themselves.

 

what a beautiful composition of  rhythm, light and materials. i am in love with carlo scarpa’s works.

- how should the precise composition of materials illustrate the vitruvian values –  firmitas, utilities, venustas?

- solidity, utility, beauty. through a series of conscientious rhythmic compositions, design becomes like notes off a music sheet, neither abstract nor figurative, but rather finding its soul embodied in space and events

- we begin to witness contemporary canons of design evoking a strong air of nostalgia and collectibility, perhaps if one could ‘pick the shells’ and continue to feed off this phenomenological observation together with its construction of principles,  meet a neo-discourse, that bridging space, time, architecture, material, rhythm and language into a single voluminous acquisition that is quasi-endless in nature?

- the very depths of observing architectural phenomena may very well enable us to apply our quantitative data with spot precision into this contemporary age. 

- resist fashionable architecture; push the aesthetic tolerance, show a true section by rejecting desirable boundaries.

- things mature with time, stay curious and walk. 

‘above all, do not lose your desire to walk. everyday i walk myself into a state of well-being & walk away from every illness. i have walked myself into my best thoughts, & i know of no thoughts so burdensome that one cannot walk away from.’ – søren kierkegaard

i wouldn’t want to be part of an ‘ikea’ society.

what good is a mind if not to resist and question.

a.

1965s & the 911.

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1972_Porsche_911T_Targa_Gulf_Blue_For_Sale_Front_resize 1972_Porsche_911T_Targa_Gulf_Blue_For_Sale_Rear_resize

(1972 porsche 911t targa, gulf blue)

there’s something about being a boy at heart and being passionate about automobiles. i have a hunch that we inherit this sort of adrenaline for sharpness and fine craft as soon as we embark on our maiden car ride. it almost becomes like a second nature to most of us.

i am not exactly the biggest fan of the newer polished sports automobiles, i mean with all due respect, i do admire them, the sheer power and technology driving them. but there’s often an air of nostalgia when one admires certain out-modeled automobiles, and no i do not reminisce the golden age; life is definitely better in this contemporary age.

we now have the technology to design, fabricate and construct things within minutes, but if  we were to backtrack to the days not too far back, the automobiles were put together rather meticulously. it was an arduous task with the then limiting technologies and one could imagine the arduous task of having to painstakingly piecing together the handcrafted pieces. what passion indeed! i’d imagine the joy the artisans must have felt when they fired up the engines for the first time, the euphoric roar of the flat-six. boys will be boys.

anyways, i should digress. personally, i am no expert at engineering (evidently), but think this embodies the beauty of craft and time. the 1960s 911 targa has always been the car i would love to restore and keep. someday i will be taking this for a spin on the weekends and such. so simple yet sharp! ;)

oh i almost forgot to add, it’s the ’4-in-1 of the porsches’.

she is lovely isn’t she?

a.

the sniper’s log_

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(daikanyama, tokyo)

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how does one insert an original program inside the old and new structures simultaneously? reconciling coherence with multiplicity?

you have always been fascinated by materials. the composition, the superimposition, the reciprocity and the conditions she confers.

you begin to question yourself if one could, through this, extend the disjunction of a place. then you begin to investigate the interactions of a place, it’s simplicity and sobriety.

you begin to understand that architecture generates movement and this notion challenges the anthropometric percepts of the classical era.

‘it is not they eye which sees, but the body as a receptive totality.’ - maurice merleau-ponty

materials have the ability to produce collective memories,  which can be constructed, reconstructed and collected.

if one controls the core, they will be able to alter the balance between endurance and impermanence, ensuring fluidity regardless of economical, social, political or cultural limits.

‘ resist anyone who asks you to design only the visible part. ‘ - lebbeus woods

a.

space + spaces.

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‘emptiness which is conceptually liable to be mistaken for sheer nothingness is in fact the reservoir of infinite possibilities.’ – d. t. suzuki

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dear you,

space, we live in space, or spaces. it embraces us, it shapes us. i have yet to understand it very well, given the implications of how things often unfold by chance. whatever you’re seeking, it won’t come in the form you’re expecting. in most cases, what we end up remembering is often not what we saw.

when i refer to space, i should clarify that i am not referring to the theory of space, the linear dimensions of it, but rather the cognition of space. the slightest pleasure or pain teaches us its malleability. we store many ‘things’ in space, or spaces. some of these add value, increasing it’s proportion, and some go missing, reducing never to prompt. what are we exactly storing in these spaces? are we merely adding space or multiplying it?

i came across an article on the new york times, the gist of it, highlighted how capitalism in contemporary age has established for most of us, a desire for unnecessary material things, in turn questioning if this process would increase happiness, as it took up both the physical and cognitive spaces. the author ended with a simple phrase, ‘my space is small, my life is big.’ i think the author was right. regrettably so i believe i fall under this context of acquiring material things.

does space shape character? i think it does, we all have our stories don’t we? if we were to clutter spaces with the insignificant. would we ever be able to embellish the things that are of significance? think hypothetically trying to find a needle in a haystack.

that aside, i do sometimes wonder, if i am shuffling between two spaces. one, merely to reconcile things, and eventually narrowing them down to a perfect rose-colored joy; my dreams and aspirations, the driving factor, the beauty of everything. the other, almost businesslike, constantly wearing me down, as if to prove that life isn’t half as good as i had mapped it, beckoning me to abandon the ambitions i’ve entertained, the fears and what holds us back. i do like the idea of striding between the two, and i want both spaces to bother me.

has my spaces increased? or have i merely added to them. i think it is time to reëxamine these spaces. worn from the addition to oneself, i seek multiplications instead. as with most things in life, the more you learn, the less you fear. that i refer to the practicality of life, not the academic facet. we mistake the idea of being mature when we are only being safe, we assume the roles of being responsible when we are only being cowards. life and love is a gift bestowed without asking for, rather than avoiding things, i think i should start to face them.

the poet once wished the new-born; ‘may you be ordinary’.

a.

unlearning_

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‘ yet he is aware that everything is in a state of flux. a strong wind can change the shape of a cloud, a tumbling river the shape of a river bank, the process of changes in the earth’s crust, the shape of mountains. ‘ – the power of Ch’i

 

dear diary,

(10 Oct 2012)

do we want to win this battle or not?

sometimes it is important to find out what the city is, not so much of what it was, or what it should be, but perhaps the essence of what the city actually stands for. this thought drove me to explore the notion of the city.

 

project N_ ‘ now this is not the end. it is not even the beginning of the end. but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. ‘ – Sir Winston Churchill

 

i have spent 4 years learning from the institution, it provoked an intuition of what the term ‘vibrancy’, and it’s quasi-endless potential , stood for. it’s role, often too quick to be generalized , can play a crucial key towards what characterizes the ‘real city’ in the 21st century. in such contemporary times, the stark indifference of what ‘vibrancy’  mean to the spectators of cities can somehow evoke an extraordinary artificial form of memory, which helps to facilitate the process and function of the city.
this city has changed at an unbelievable speed, and there is almost no illustration of its gradual shift from center to periphery (and possibly beyond) it presents herself in a rather idiosyncratic way, where my initial landing model succeeded in showing some properties of the evolution of complex systems, and in particular, the difficulty of governing a design determined by multiple interacting elements. however though, what is evidently clear is that the complexity of systems does not allow us to keep thinking in linear causality or in simple systems (any longer).

for this investigation, i propose a radical model that challenges the conventional notion of problem fixing, as well as redefining the notion of concept, context, and content. the history of architecture is not so different from the history of science. it is a history of the forms of conceptualization, and elaborating it further would mean the beginning of a question that builds upon earlier concepts, but that does not presuppose the existence of a specific answer or solution.

the rest, is still (unwritten)

 
best,

a.

 

 

through the looking glass_

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@ Zurich/ 2012

the lobotomy of modernism in its purest and possibly, opulent form.

one building which i thought was quite well layered despite its block-like qualities. the clear ‘rationality’ of the framed static views in some ways appear akin to the reflection of the tree to the bottom right of the image. this building housed an architectural atelier.

maybe then we can argue that the architecture is for certain, most apt to house the fluidity; it’s program within. how do we then document the intangible aspects of a program?

the content as you may, melds into the concept, juxtaposing the context. the protagonists seeks to negotiate these juxtapositions, not as much as to vindicate each’s survival, but more so to reciprocate these ‘seamless’ integration.

the sort of poetic juxtapositions often gives form to the vernacular idea of concepts and the generic notion of the context.

as a starting point, it was intriguing to document these accidental collages that co-exist. they give rise to a series of debate in such contemporary times, as you may.

best,

a.

deconstruction_

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Daniel Libeskind – Jewish Museum (Copenhagen)

 

a soul is not given. but everyone can find a pine cone in the face, sense malice in a crowd, enjoy the greatest fulfillment of translating the vitality of a radish into the world-picture at the expenses of ruinina, humanity on which the future production of cradles and atonement depends.
the best makes and disguises bestowed on those whose time is not running, but instead are always coming home, they have the passion for roaming the Siberian forest, where Puskin’s deported assassin is still trying to perform the last gesture

 

- though the former is alive – the latter is long dead

 

 

 

a.

wandering eye_

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meanwhile… Barcelona, Spain. Fundació Joan Miró.

how often do you narrate the intangible aspects of the arts and architecture?

the visit left me with this positive identification that might have indeed given me a fresh impetus, lifting me beyond the dwindling realm of the various avant-gardes.

a.


the sniper’s log_

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things are amazingly quiet today, not what i was expecting for a public holiday in Copenhagen. i like the mood today, i got my nose in a book for the entire day thankfully.

this is a log; a recording of events, experiences, observations, thought around me. initially unsure if i should do with this idea, but decided it might be an interesting collective reflection in the long run. if i may put it this way, this is the post where anything goes.

Pier Luigi Nervi; such beauty in construction

the architectural flair inside of me has kept me rather occupied these days. i found myself reading books from start to end. i do think there is an absolute beauty about picking up a book and reading it from start to end, especially so in the age where technology plays a commanding role over our most things. well anyways i should digress. this (reading), over idling away the days doing the mundane and tedious, i find it really liberating.

time has been on my mind. the linear concept to be specific. it started with this simple photography above. i was just wondering, i do grasp the western idea of progress and it’s attributes. the enlightenment also brought about the idea of modernity, which we are very much bound to. would that mean we are reliant on a condition that cannot be pinned down to a fixed sets of attributes? modernity opens the way for the notion of critical reasoning; (whose feature fails to rely on any foundation that is unquestionable, or any revelations) we then are not ruled by identity or tautologies, but by the concept of ‘otherness’ and contradiction. do we then go back to a cyclical concept of time or have modernity paved an archetype of time.

the goal of criticism in the past was truth, but in the modern times, truth is criticism. not eternal, but truth of change. this constant conflict with tradition and elevating struggle is really interesting, especially so in an architectural context. i found myself in a labyrinth of closed doors. i hope it will not eventually become another paradox of our time. i stand by the architectural canon of course, but the same rule applies; stay curious.

if the idea of progress advances improvement in the human condition, then why are we at the point of old modernism?

a.

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louvre pyramid; Ieoh Ming Pei @ 21/03/12

‘ the plan distributes people effectively from the central concourse to myriad destinations within its vast subterranean network. the architectonic framework evokes, at gigantic scale, an ancient atrium of a Pompeiian villa. the treatment of the opening above, with its tracery of engineered castings and cables, evokes the atria of corporate office buildings; the busy movement of people from all directions suggests the concourses of rail termini or international airports. ‘ - mark pimlott

i personally am a huge fan of triangles. this particular photograph documents I. M. Pei’s extraordinary legacy to modernism. his concept puts forward the intervention into the Cour Napoleon at the Louvre Museum. a dramatic nature of the intervention is clear with the juxtaposition between the old and the new. the strangely familiar symbol becomes displaced, truth was realized as the perfect complement and counterpoint. its notion becomes the organizing factor of space. amidst the warm lighting, the ingeniously conceived triangular web of supports reveals it’s modesty. the path towards modernity.

a.

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‘ less is more. ‘ - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

pavelló alemany (german pavilion); @ barcelona, spain. 15/04/12

Mies van der Rohe, absolutely one of my favorite protagonist of the modernist architectural movement. i felt almost like being in a dream, i finally got to investigate the materials & objects of construction. the much talked about pavilion from the 1929 international exposition.

plausibly one of the most important icons of the modern architectural movement. whilst in the light of contextual qualities, curious notions such as proportion, scale, spatial reading & formal abstraction came to attention. the answers to my investigations were methodologically revealed, as here i am, exposed to the intangible physicality and phenomenal specificity of the modern complexity of architecture.

my travels has led me on a grand tour of urban rooms, where incongruities of geopolitics have matured into unique built environments. & for all this, i am eternally grateful to my parents, for without them, i would never have the opportunity to witness & mature.

a.

wanders of this world_

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i like it when..

_two worlds collide, endeavoring to make an image of reality

_the air is thick without the lingering days of summer

_i witness unanticipated results from my roll of film

_i am standing & listening & still believing regardless of

_i notice the precariously balance between happiness & anxiety in your eyes

_you label old-fashion and old-school but still depend on paper as a medium considering it was from 104AD

_they can’t leave the city because they’re too busy building another one

_a promise made never to be deliver, only to be defiant of any discernible logic

_spaces can articulate at various scales through accidents & coherence

_z is for 01000001 01101100 01100101 01100001 00100000 01101001 01100001 01100011 01110100 01100001 00100000 01100101 01110011 01110100

&

last but not least…

i like it when god is in the details

a.

proto-metabolist_

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architectural;

Singapore’s proto-metabolist movement, the south-east’s non-western avant-garde movement for urban renewal.

the architectural song-lines of our reverse alchemy synthesizes a new norm for modernization in the south-east of asia. the country’s apotheosis of urban renewal is unique and avoids the contamination of ingredients in the melting pot, keeping them separate, but allowing the manipulation of identities for a more ‘modern’ culture.

characterized by:

- coexistence & conflict of amazingly heterogeneous institutions & individuals

- unprecedented rapid & extensive transformation n the physical structure of the society

- rapid communications methods

- technological progress & its impact upon regional cultures

we are modernization in its purest form, lobotomized, adopting the mechanics & rationalistic program. a semiotic state, conscious of, inspired by, demographic pressure. if there is chaos, it is authored, if it is absurd, it is willed absurdity. our urban society is a dynamic field of interrelated forces; a set of mutually independent variables in a rapidly expanding infinite series. this equilibrium will change in character as time passes and not remain rediscovered at small scale.

western civilization must recognize the thinkers at the periphery if we’re heading towards the same goal of ultimate globalization.

‘ our cities are fluid & mobile. it is difficult to conceive of some of them as places, in the real sense of that word. how can an entity with no discernible beginning or end be a place? it is certainly more apt to think of a particular part of a city as a place. if it were possible to articulate each of the parts of the city more adequately, to give qualities of edge and node to now formless agglomerates, we would have begun to make our large urban complexes at least understandable, if not ‘image-able’. ‘ - fumihiko maki

(entitled: the only moment we were alone. photo credits: usaid umar/@ieatthefish)