July 29, 2010 | Broadcast | News
BCA mulls law to get owners to “green” existing buildings
In case you missed this link that we tweeted on @fivefootway.
The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) is mulling a possible law to get property owners make their existing buildings more environmentally-friendly.
The rule will cover all existing buildings, with the main focus on commercial and office buildings and hotels. This could come in two to three years to help Singapore meet its goal of “greening” 80 percent of its buildings by 2030.
So far, only 8 percent of some 210 million square metres of existing floor area have been “greened”.
We think it’s about time something is done about this. Here’s the link to the article on CNA.
July 29, 2010 | Broadcast | Events
Singapore Designers Public Lecture at Iluma
The Singapore Designers Public Lecture or SDPL is an annual series of presentations on design showcases objects, products, interiors, landscapes and architecture. Co-organized by NAFA and Iluma, it aims to promote awareness of the excellence of local design; provide a platform for designers to interact with students, educators, practitioners and users; and share new design perspectives and solutions devised to meet the emerging and evolving needs of changing lifestyles.
Tickets at $8 each are now on sale via the Filmgarde website.
July 29, 2010 | Broadcast | Jobs
Job Opening: Research Assistant to William Lim
Pioneer Singapore architect, William Lim, is looking for a Research Assistant. The position will offer a very good opportunity for exposure for the candidate as Mr Lim is planning a major international conference in January next year together with a series of interesting publications.
Position requirements:-
- To work with independent theorist and writer on subjects relating to Asian Urbanism.
- Degree in architecture, urbanism or social sciences preferred.
- Good English with writing skills.
- Proficient in various computer software including MS office, Photoshop, Adobe in Design & Adobe Illustrator. IT support required.
- Minimum 2 years work experience preferred.
- Salary between $2,500 to S$3,500.
- Able to start work soonest.
Please send detailed resume and expected salary to: wswlim@pacific.net.sg before 10 August 2010.
(via Heather Chi)
July 28, 2010 | Broadcast | News
China’s urban disease
“A city isn’t a mechanical thing, but an organic life form with history and culture that needs to grow… but China views cities as machines to be dismantled and put together at will.”
Despite the “Better City, Better Life” theme of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, many argue China’s cities are becoming ever less habitable.Southern Metropolis Daily reporter Zhang Chuanwen discusses the problems facing China’s cities with professor Zhang Song of Shanghai Tongji University’s College of Architecture and Urban Planning (CAUP).
via China Dialogue
July 28, 2010 | Broadcast | News
Some things just don’t work in China
And for a good reason. Assembly’s Sarah Wesseler visits one of Shanghai’s One City, Nine Towns projects and finds a “shabby and depressing” ghost town – great for Muzak and wedding photos, but will it – and the rest – ever become living communities? Shanghai is now one of the largest and most densely packed cities in the world, and one of its top prerogatives right now must be to provide housing for around 400,000 people each year to keep up with the demand. Because many of the new developments are far from the city’s business centers and are poorly linked to public transportation, the successful business people they were meant to lure have largely stayed away. Shanghai’s highly inflated housing market (in which property can double in value in just one year) has also played a role—although houses in the new towns sold out quickly, the vast majority of buyers were speculators who simply let the houses sit empty while waiting to sell them off.
But they make great wedding photo shoot locations.
via Assembly
July 28, 2010 | Broadcast | News
Asia’s alarming cities
IF YOU are the sort to worry at night about man-induced climate change, then book a stay at any of the new high-rise hotels going up on the edge of China’s big cities—start looking for them around the third ring road. When you stagger red-eyed out of bed to peer into the murky dawn, you will see rank upon serried rank of raw “superblock” developments, a mile apart, marching into the distance. You think of the emissions involved in their carbon-hungry construction, the traffic jams on the arteries tying them into the expanding city, and the new coal-fired power stations being built to light them up. And you wonder how Asia can change its habits—energy consumption grew by 70% in the ten years to 2008—before it is too late for all of us.
via The Economist
July 24, 2010 | Broadcast | News
Civic Life
CIVIC LIFE is a major project in Singapore that explores identity, architecture, memory, community, a sense of place and civic space that has been unfolding since early 2010. A collaboration between the National Museum and the British Council, with support from the Singapore International Foundation and the Arts Council of England, the project comprises of four strands: TIONG BAHRU: A short film shot in and around the Tiong Bahru estate in June 2010 by acclaimed UK-based filmmakers Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy and a cast of hundreds of volunteers from the Tiong Bahru estate, A PERSONAL VIEW: A regular blog on the Civic Life themes featuring articles written by leading writers, artists, architects and thinkers, WHERE THE HEART IS: A micro-short film competition organized in collaboration with DepicT! and WRITING THE CITY: A creative writing programme exploring the ideas of place and identity, featuring Singapore Literatre Prize winnere Suchen Christine Lim and launching in October.
Watch this interview with the directors of TIONG BAHRU in which they talk bout the process of putting the project together and their experience of filming in the heritage estate and its hawker centre and wet market. TIONG BAHRU: The film will premiere at the National Museum in October 2010.
Following up from the film which is in post-production at the point in writing, CIVIC LIFE has recently launched a short film competition called WHERE THE HEART IS, looking for 90 second films that take as their subject a place that is important to you, the filmmaker. These places could be public or private spaces (or ever places that do not exist anymore) and can be in any genre – animation, abstract, photo-essay, drama.
In an attempt to garner as many entries as possible and get people involved in filming the stories within the built environment that they live in, the organisers have determined that the judging criteria will be more about the emotional connection to the place the filmmakers can put across, rather than technical considerations. In fact, submitted films can be shot on any digital format and equipment, including handphones.
The films will be featured on the CIVIC LIFE website and the best 40 films will be screened alongside TIONG BAHRU at the National Museum of Singapore in a series of special screenings across October and the filmmaker with the best overall film will find themselves on a flight to Encounters, the UK’s leading short film festival, which takes place In Bristol over 5 days in November. For more information, check out http://www.civiclife.sg/competition.
For further information regarding the project, visit www.civiclife.sg
Foreclosure: FIVEFOOTWAY co-founder, Adib Jalal, is a consultant to the Civic Life project.
July 24, 2010 | Broadcast | Events
AA Singapore Workshop
For the fifth year running the Architectural Association will be migrating to southeast Asia to offer an intensive introduction to the school’s approach to architectural education and design. The workshop will investigate instrumental forms of urban density – ‘Designed Geographies’ – and develop alternative ways of observing and reading the city to generate strategic frameworks for its evolution. Building on research initiated in last year’s workshop, participants will take the contrived geographical setting of Singapore as the starting point for a broader reflection on prospective tools for dense urban fields.
Happening NOW at Designed Geographies School of Design, Singapore Polytechnic from Wednesday 21 to Friday 30 July 2010. More information here.
July 23, 2010 | Broadcast | Events | News
A sketchwalk at Tiong Bahru
It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of the Tiong Bahru neighbourhood and it was exciting to get to know about the first ever sketch walk around the estate organised by the good people of White Canvas Gallery, which is based in Tiong Bahru of course. With a turn out of about 100 enthusiasts made up of residents and the extended community that hail from beyond, the entourage drew the lovely town and bonded with the community. Go over to the Tiong Bahru neighbourhood blog for more.
[via: Kelvin Ang]
July 22, 2010 | Broadcast | News
Alliance for S’pore designers
Francis Chan for The Straits Times – DESIGNERS from disciplines ranging from architecture to fashion and advertising have banded together to drive the local design scene towards greater global recognition.
On Tuesday, eight design-related industry organisations, came together to launch DesignS, an initiative to create a platform for closer coordinated design work here.
Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Lui Tuck Yew, who was guest of honour at the launch at LaSalle College of the Arts said the move was timely and relevant.
‘The convergence of design across the various design disciplines provides more opportunities for designers to collaborate and encourage a cross-pollination of ideas and concepts,’ said Rear-Admiral (NS) Lui.
The DesignS alliance includes the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Singapore, Designers Association Singapore, Interior Design Confederation (Singapore), Singapore Furniture Industries Council (SFIC), Singapore Institute of Architects, Singapore Institute of Landscape Architects, Singapore Institute of Planners and the Textile and Fashion Federation. The initiative is also supported by the DesignSingapore Council, an agency set up in 2003, to promote and develop Singapore design.
‘With design, and not just design, but design with a strategic and cross-disciplinary approach, different sectors beyond the design industry will benefit from design’s unique propositions and offer advantages for businesses,’ said DesignSingapore Council director Jeffrey Ho.
July 20, 2010 | Broadcast | Showcase
Memory of the world by Wei Liat Tan
“Memory of the World” is a project about preserving documentary heritage around the world. Books, films, music recordings and digital media, are snapshots of our history, our culture and our beliefs and they form the foundations of our society and remind us the significance of our existence.
Sited just off Marina Bay, Wei Liat’s “Memory of the World” which is a repository for these materials is deeply inspired by the organic language of tree branches and also takes the concept of ‘the eye’ as a central idea to synthesize the various programs of the building. See the whole presentation book here.
About Wei Liat Tan
Wei Liat Tan graduated with a Master of Architecture degree from RMIT University, Melbourne. He is the winner of the 2009 Antonia Bruns Memorial Prize for his thesis project entitled: Memory of the World and was featured in MONUMENT Magazine [Issue 93]. In 2010, his thesis project was short-listed for the 2010 Australian Institute of Architects BVN Graduate Prize in Architecture. More of Wei Liat’s stuff at his website.
via Culturepush
July 20, 2010 | Broadcast | News
Six Degrees of Support
Our friends at Six Degrees have recently unveiled their new online community platform, dedicated to the creative industry which can be found at www.sixdegrees.asia. The site which is still in beta, targets freelancers, and through its features, hopes to give creatives better access to a dedicated network of support, resources and opportunities. So for those one-man architecture practices, model-makers, renderers, this might be a good place to find new work and connect with people.
Beyond the online initiative, Six Degrees have also been busy offline. They have already conducted a few workshops focusing on practical issues concerning freelancers such as getting started, getting paid, filing tax forms, etc. and there will be more in the coming year. Topics that will be covered in the near future include legal clinics and workshops in a variety of other topics like cashflow management, basic contract law and negotiation skills.
To find out more, do hop on over to sixdegrees.asia.
About Six Degrees
Six Degrees is a social enterprise owned and managed by Emily Hill, an independent arts collective and Singapore’s first confluence of arts, creativity and business. It is being developed with valuable input from freelancers themselves and strategic industry partners and with seed funding from the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts.
July 19, 2010 | Broadcast | Events
Lets Not Talk About Architecture – Conference registration Open
About mAAN*Y
mAAN*Y is a biennal architecture event organised by members of mAAN (modern asian architecture network) in collaboration with partners from the host nation.
Without a set format to how each host nation runs the event, mAAN*Y is conceived as a flexible platform for the exchange of fresh ideas in the advancement of Modern Asian Architecture. Targeted specifically at the younger generation, the event takes place on alternate years as a couterpoint to the mAAN conference.
The first edition of mAAN*Y will be held in Singapore in 2010 with the theme “Let’s not talk about architecture” and is co-organized by mAAN and Re:Act (Really Architecture), a Singapore based group of visionary architecture enthusiasts concerned with the development of architecture in the Asian region.
Conference Registration Open
Registration for the Conference is now open! Register today to ensure your space at the conference. Click on the link below to complete your online registration and to make payment. We are glad to announce that the first 200 registrants will receive a limited edition publication, The House of Tan Yeok Nee (The Conservation of a National Monument), courtesy of Wing Tai Holdings Limited.
Please remember to indicate on the registration form if you are attending the Opening and Closing Parties.
More information can be found at http://letsnottalkaboutarchitecture.com
July 13, 2010 | Broadcast | News
Another chapter begins
Hello friends of FIVEFOOTWAY!
It’s been almost 3 years since the foundations for FIVEFOOTWAY was first laid. Since then, countless articles have been posted, many projects have been done, websites have changed and we’ve also seen the team grow and shrink over time. There have been many wonderful moments and multiple mis-steps along the way too and we have learned a bit more about ourselves and the community from those experiences.
Recently, we’ve taken a step back from what we’ve been doing in order to gain some perspective and let’s face it, we can do so much better than this. Now is a good time as any for a renewed sense of focus, vigor and enthusiasm and that is what we are excited to share with you.
[ BLOG ]
Read all about it on our NEW tumblr-powered blog here:http://fivefootway.tumblr.com/
[ FACEBOOK PAGE ]
We are also moving away from this FB group and towards a FB page. If you ‘Like’ us, then please hop on over and show it. We would also appreciate it if you would invite your friends to do the same!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/FIVEFOOTWAY/132926460072900
[ @fivefootway ]
If you are on Twitter, you can start following us onhttp://twitter.com/fivefootway. We will be tweeting about things we like and other miscellanies along the way.
There’ll be a lot more soon. But for now, happy walking!
Cheers,
Adib (& JJ)
July 12, 2010 | Broadcast | Events | Exhibitions
Pameran Nasional Arsitek Muda 2010
Galeri Salihara, Sabtu 26 Juni 2010, 19.00 – finish
Indonesia’s First national young architect exhibition
Over the course of time, there will always be generations that stood higher and speak their mind louder than the rest, to later defining an epoch. Younger generations who are not satisfied with what was given by his time, and wanted to do something to, at least, twist an era , and turn it a bit more interesting and (hopefully) better. This can be planned, or present themselves naturally, without force and without being forced.
For an architectural generation, to voiced out their thoughts into the public realm, is something that is (suppose to be) normal. By doing so, the architects and their architecture will have a place to communicate with a wider audience. Whether it’s audience outside the ordinary audience of architecture and architecture.
An architectural exhibition can be the reflection of a generation’s architectural achievements in a period of time. A reflection that is expected to be a place where later generations can learn, so they are able to embrace what is good, and make critics for what that is supposed to be better. It can also be a statement for those who wanted to offer a different kind of architecture, to what is commonly known by the society. More than that, an architectural exhibition is the most fragile media, where an idea can be communicated to a wider audience, and then became very open and frail to critics.
After ’98
1998 saw a fundamental change in the lives of Indonesian people. The fall of a status-quo, leads to an openness and freedom of life that has never been felt during the previous 32 years of reign. Suddenly everybody have the freedom of speech and the freedom to speak their mind. This has led to a more dynamic discourse in any subjects of life. On architecture, the fall of this regime, also meant the end of a narrow regionalism of architectural perspective which was propagated by the regime.
Another important happening after 1998 was the rapid progress of technology. Changing the paradigm of architectural works once again. Computers and software of all kinds with various different functions, have put drawing tables aside. The arrival of t
he Internet has also changed the way people communicate. Access to informations becoming really easy, and discourses can then be established easier among architects all over Indonesia. Internet has shortened distance and has given a book of unlimited pages to all its users.
All this opens up possibilities for young Indonesian architects who graduated after ’98 to be more globally exposed and to embark on more explorations and realizations than the previous generations have attempted. These young architects have the chance to see much more diverse architectural information in a very easy manner, thus giving them the opportunity to embrace new technology and new design methods that are a passport for them to produce architecture never before attempted by previous generations.
Architecture Exhibition
With all the reasons above, jongArsitek! then decided to make a national exhibition of the works of young Indonesian architects, who graduated in or after 1998.
We asked for Marco Kusumawijaya, Avianti Armand and Suryono Herlambang to be the curators of this exhibition. They will choose whichever works were deemed able to provide a new perspective, and can inspire a broader audience. This way the general public and architectural public, can see the wide range of discourse from young generations of Indonesian Architects.
Event:
Opening PNAM2010 oleh: Ir. Endi Subijono (Head of IAI-Nasional)
Book Launch: “8X11: Kumpulan Sudut Pandang Muda”
With performances by: Farr, Tulus, and Killtheafternoon
Events aligned with the exhibition:
continue >>>
July 12, 2010 | Broadcast | Events
three artists, two countries
“Three Artists, Two Countries” brings together three Singapore born artists who have an affinity with Australia; Paul is a Sydney-based artist, Sum works and resides in Australia and Siok Hoon is a graduate of Fine Arts in Sydney. The exhibition creates a platform for an open dialogue between these three artists conceptually or technically, to develop a link in our practice despite working from two different countries. The exhibition intended also to bring forth creative exploration and collaboration between the artists.
The exhibition will be shown in Dahlia Gallery, which is situated in the midst of Chinatown. The physical site revealed itself as a strong representation of home, a place of origin. It allows the viewers to understand how our experiences overseas challenged the way we perceived our homeland. The works will unravel itself in harmony or in contradiction to the place where we are familiar or were once familiar with.
by Paul Albert Tanchio, Chow Sum Woon, Ng Siok Hoon
Three Artists, Two Countries runs from 15th July 2010 to 25th July 2010
Opening Reception is on 16th July 2010 (Friday) at 7pm – 9 pm
Dahlia Gallery
Opening Hours : Tuesday to Saturday 12pm to 7pm, Sunday 12 to 5pm. (Closed on Monday and Public Holiday)
We can be contacted at 6222 7809 or Debbie Pang @ 9450 7749
(above Bee Cheng Hiang on Pagoda St, just outside Chinatown NE Line MRT Station Exit A)
69A Pagoda Street (2nd Level)
Singapore 059228
Email: debbie@dahliagallerysg.com
Admission for the exhibition is FREE. continue >>>
July 8, 2010 | Broadcast | News
Extension to Kahn’s Indian Institute of Management to be built
The first phase of a new extension to the campus (with a built-up area of approximately 600,000 sq ft) of the IIM-A was built in 2008. Built on a 38-acre plot across the street from the main campus and connected to it by an underpass, it was designed by Ahmedabad-based architect Bimal Patel.
Adding to a masterpiece, even if it is across the street, is a daunting challenge. Like any other architect in a similar position, Patel had a number of difficult choices to make. For example, he could have chosen to continue Kahn’s material palette and language, or to respond to it with something completely different. He did a bit of both.
Patel’s campus answers Kahn’s warm brick with a very different material: exposed concrete, which is much more alienating (Kahn himself used it in his Salk Institute in La Jolla, California). But it continues some of Kahn’s rhythms of form and space. He also adds a spin to the design with playful metal screen-sculptures (by artist Walter D’Souza) that challenge the unsmiling concrete order.
The strategy works, but only in part. Kahn’s architecture takes the humble brick and creates from it a monument that is also a nurturing presence. The monumentality is counterpointed but never diluted. The alternation of high and low, large and small openings and spaces is one way in which this is achieved. Another is the intricacy of brick itself. Neither undercuts the seriousness of the monumentality.
With a simple geometry like Kahn’s, the built masses of the extension are already severe. The concrete surface makes them even more so at the moment. Some of Patel’s attempts at counterpointing the severity work — the metal screens, for instance. Others don’t. Small panels of exposed brick in the concrete frame, and the occasional circular openings, are relatively weak gestures that never challenge the concrete masses in the way the metal screens do. They only nibble away at the dignity of the overall order without necessarily softening it. But it must be remembered that the complex is incomplete, which adds to the sense of severity. As they grow, the trees will probably cast softening shadows on these walls, and as more buildings spring up a greater sense of intimacy will emerge in the outdoor spaces. That will be when the dialogue between the new and the old can be properly assessed.
Full story at Business Standard
[Image Courtesy BusinessWorld.In]
July 8, 2010 | Broadcast | News
Reiser + Umemoto Designs $110-million Taipei Pop Music Center
If all goes as planned, Taiwanese pop will get an expansive home where musical culture meets high design. Construction is expected to begin in 2012 on Taipei Pop Music Center, a $110-million entertainment complex envisioned by Reiser + Umemoto RUR Architecture, with engineers from Arup Associates.
The team’s competition-winning design for a difficult 823,000-square-foot site in Taipei places three main structures on two separate pieces of land, which will be connected by a broad new walkway built over an existing road. “In a sense, it’s really a piece of the city,” says Jesse Reiser, one of the firm’s founding principals along with Nanako Umemoto. “We deliberately bridged the two sites, and created an elevated public ground to connect all of the elements.”
read more at Architectural Record
[Image Courtesy Reiser + Umemoto]
