June 26, 2009 | Event | Magazine | Reports
Really Ar 3
The latest instalment of re: ACT’s design sharing session was held at the SIA’s theatrette on the evening of eleven June. Really Ar? attempted to raise the awareness of the cosy crowd that gathered, to the pressing humanitarian/ community responsibilities architects face today. The three speakers presented different scopes and involvements of architects and architecture in this era where an architect is not only to question the offerings of his buildings but also his role as the designer for the people.
The first speaker, after former SIA President Tai Lee Seng opened the session, was Mr. Yong Teck Meng, National Director of Habitat for Humanity Singapore. He presented HFH’s portfolio of works which included disaster relief housing and building shelter for the less fortunate. It was an introduction to HFH’s goals and achievements for those who were uninformed of its being. Its aim of eradicating poverty housing and homelessness for the poor was being achieved by multi-level participatory processes from governments, to local professionals, aid agencies and community itself. Although the presentation was not an in depth analysis of the mentioned phenomena, it was however a display of a solution that was being undertaken through global and local involvement of various volunteers to alleviate the sufferings of others. It is a simple solution of bringing the community together to solve a real issue rather than just provide monetary aids. Of course, donations are greatly welcomed, as it is through donations of money and labour of volunteers that such an organisation can exist.
Miss Ong Swee Hong’s presentation entitled “Urban spaces and its community: is participatory design the new urban design direction?” explored the urbanscape particularly that of cosmopolitan cities like Singapore, Beijing and Dubai. By inquiring what the direction of the city was in general, the role of the participating community in its crafting might be non-existent in the presence of programme-allotted plots. Touching on the essence of place and placelessness; is the formula of a good city only to fulfil an economic agenda and should not the inhabitants have a say in its crafting? The lecturer from Environmental Design in Temasek Polytechnic is well-apt in community participatory design as she has had an active role in all the past Design My Place Workshops. In the middle of her presentation, she brought forth her two students who were participants in the DMP to present their take on designing their city. True to their youth and enthusiasm, they raised questions and reminisced the community spirits of the past. While their questions may have been a rather textbook adaptation of how things were much better in the past when the cities were growing with its inhabitants, the underlying message was one that citizens are forgotten (or conveniently ignored). However, there is no obvious white and black divide in this matter, the presentation ended of with the question which would be a better solution, a top-down approach or a bottom-up one.
The Good Earth, Arc Studio’s Khoo Peng Beng’s presentation was candid and as refreshing as it was alarming with its data and scientific facts of humankind and our environment. The scope of his portion was how to plan for the community of the future with integrated benefits of rural lifestyle. He began with a case study of deforestation in the Malaysian Cameron Highlands and description of the microbial planet. This microbial planet is interconnected, he said, telling the audience about how DDT sprayed in China was found in the winds in America. The interconnectivity of this planet dictates the fragility of the scale-free network through which all living things are connected- the accumulative breakdown of one natural community will ultimately lead to a systemic collapse. This tipping point in our environment will lead to a bleak future for all existence. The importance of ethics in design has been long ignored by the commercial super powers; with animation he vented his frustration on the creators of Agent Orange, DDT and the likes. The designer or architect has put his ethic consciousness into a long slumber, while presenting a case study of a project by his firm in Cameron Highlands, he emphasized the need for the architect/designer to be as well informed as possible of the natural surroundings. He quoted the works of Wade Davis and his theory of “permaculture” and Masanobu Fukuoka and the ideals of “ The One Straw Revolution”. The cited individuals were thorough with their synchronisation with nature. The enthusiasm while quoting them almost provoked one to pump his fist in the air shouting green revolution, and the ammunitions to aid the movement would be akin to Fukuoka’s Seed Bombs.
The presentations were concluded with interactive session with the audience. With participatory designing of the environment involving the community is ideal, the question Tay Kheng Soon (who was a member of the audience) asked was how does one translate the ideology of DMP into actions. The reply was a simple “ Ask the people.” – it is about giving the people a voice, although the realisation of their desires might be slow, it is a start to participation. Many ideals were thrown about during the presentations, ideals of the good conscious architect, the utopian city crafted by its people and the charitable designer, alas after much discussion a member of the audience asked, are we ready to take action? All talk and no show, when is the right timing? Aptly, a well-respected gentleman replied that the time is now. It might as well be, designers now not only have to be purveyors of ethical designs, but also revolutionaries with backbones.
May 20, 2009 | Event | Reports
CUBE 2009 with URA
This is a report cross posted from the Design My Place blog by Re:Act.
CUBE or Challenge for the Urban and Built Environment was a competition that re:ACT organised for the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) under its Architecture and Urban Design Excellence programme (A.UDE) as part of its 35th anniversary celebrations. We based the event on our usual DMP workshop framework but threw in a healthy dose of competition to spice things up a bit and to spur the different schools to come up with innovative ideas for the Chinatown area. The result was, we had one of the most creative and stimulating workshops ever with students trying to outdo each other, what with their dramatic presentations and out-of-the-box ideas!
Mr Khoo Peng Beng, priciple architect of ARC Studio and also a great friend of re:ACT was brilliant as usual in his role as Chief Facilitator. Leading a panel of architects and urban planners, he pushed, prodded, shaped and expanded the minds of the young padawans from different schools to come up with 10 awesome strategies to improve the built environment around Chinatown.
In the end, there could only be one winner. Hwa Chong Institution impressed the jury panel the most and walked away with the 1st Prize of $2,000 cash. This was presented to them and the rest of the winners (Temasek Polytechnic – 1st Runner-Up and Serangoon Junior College – 2nd Runner-Up) at the 2008 URA Corporate Plan Seminar on 17 April 09. More photos after the link.
Media Coverage:
http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20090511-140723.html
http://wildsingaporenews.blogspot.com/2009/04/ura-to-spread-wings.html
More images at the blog.
Also check out our related posts on the event.
March 22, 2009 | Event | Reports
Reimagining Chinatown- Challenge for Urban & Built Environment (CUBE) 2009
What will Singapore’s Chinatown look like in the hands of a group of 18 year olds?
CUBE, short for Challenge for the Urban & Built Environment, is a two and a half day workshop organised by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) in collaboration with Re:Act of Singapore that attempted to answer that question. The quasi-competition was held in conjunction with URA’s 35th anniversary and saw young minds being given an early experience of designing our built environment, in this case Singapore’s Chinatown. continue >>>
October 11, 2008 | Event | Reports
Helar Festival 2008
Helar (ngahelar) is an expression that comes from Sundanese language. It refers to the act of expressing our self to gain attention from the others. This term is also rooted from the Sundanese culture, indigenous ethnic group in the western part of the Java Island in Indonesia.
When the dutch first came to Bandung, they might never would’ve thought that Bandung would grow into one of indonesia’s most notable city. The low temperature, the mountainous landscape, the intimate scale of northern bandung, made this 166 km2 city once known as “paris van java” . Now, decades after the dutch departed, Bandung is struggling to maintain it’s colonial legacy, but more importantly, it has managed to find its way in creating a new legacy for it’s future generations.
Lines of independent clothing company, the sprawling factory outlets, and creative talents that seem endless provides a glimpse into Bandung’s future. The once tranquil and peaceful Bandung has now turned into a city of inspiration which is thriving economically . People from Jakarta would spend their weekends in Bandung to shop in the factory outlets and to taste the fine cuisine of west java, or to simply escape from their routines in the cool air of Bandung mountains. Truly, Bandung is now one of Indonesia’s most attractive and creative city.
The Helar Festival 2008 is Bandung’s biggest creative event. It is a month packed with more than 30 creative events showcasing the city’s best talents and assets. From the re-cycled bottles gallery under the Pasoepati flyover (Bandung’s only flyover bridge) to Kickfest (the biggest indie clothing line event in indonesia). From designing a new “angkot” (the name of bandung’s public transportation) to an international architecture seminar. Whether it is art, architecture, music, fashion, graphic design, extreme sport, The Helar Festival brings out the best of Bandung’s creative community together.
This event was initiated by the Bandung Creative City Forum, as a long term strategy to develop a sustainable creative economy platform in Bandung. This forum also initiated a branding strategy development and building networks as an effort to establish Bandung as a creative city that can compete globally. This event is like the validation of the creative community in Bandung. After years of existence without the support from government, Bandung’s creative community has now reach a status of establishment and have obtained the support that they’ve been looking for all this years.
To Indonesia, Bandung has always been a unique city of it’s own. Jakarta is probably the biggest and most populated city, but Bandung has always been the romantic and inspirational one. A city that gives most of it’s citizens the ability to look at chances and that small crack of opportunity, and later bust it open and turning it into something bigger than they thought it could ever be. This event is the proof of how Bandung’s creative community, that spreads across the city, could gather up and made an event that is the pilot project for creative city in eastern asia.
With an annual plan at hand, The Helar Festival will surely get bigger and better over time. Hopefully through it’s quality and determination, The Helar Festival could act as a catalyst for many other cities to follow the same path, in making the best of their potentials.
October 6, 2008 | Event | Reports
ARCHIFEST 08- What to expect
ARCHIFEST 08 officially kicks off on 6th October 2008 and we are here to tell you what you can look forward to in the month-long festival.
Exhibitions
There will be a whole lot of exhibitions happening at the main venue of Archifest 08- National Library, Singapore. . FIVEFOOTWAY suggests that you spend a good 1 to 2 hours there, looking at the various works on display. Here are the highlights.
- 9th SIA Architectural Design Award
- SIA-NParks Skyrise Greenery Awards
- SIA-Hunter Douglas “Eco Friend Awardsâ€
- SIA-Philips Green Innovation Award
- SIA-Getz Architecture Prize
- Student Exhibition by Singapore Polytechnic
- Man+Environment Showcase
- Bras Basah.Bugis (BBB) District Exhibition by URA
Architours
This year, Architours travel to Biopolis at One-North, Wessex Estate, Lasalle College of the Arts and Marina Barrage. When the sun goes down, tours will continue to several architects’ offices to get an insight into how our built environment is conceptualized, ending off with drinks at various bars.
This is a ticketed event and most of the tours are already fully booked so you got to be quick to be part of it!
For more information, visit http://archifest.sg/architours.html. For ticketing, go to www.sistic.com.sg
Forum
The highlight of the whole Archifest 08. Happening on the 16th and 17th of October at National Library, this forum features the theme “Man + Environment†and re-examines the relationship of Architecture with the Environment. Speakers line-up include Richard Hassell of WOHA, Andrew Maynard (Australia), Fernando Menis (Spain) and more.
After the forum, don’t miss the networking party at Naumi Hotel to have an informal chat with the speakers and also catch up with some old and newer friends!
For more information, visit http://archifest.sg/forum.html.
Fringe Events
There are more than 20 Fringe events in this year’s Archifet 08! The fringe events range from workshops and seminars to photography exhibitions to screening sessions. As a matter of fact, we (5ft Creatives) will be showcasing a NEW episode of our Emerging Architecture Studios series at the National Library throughout the whole festival!
We think that there is something for everyone in this year’s line-up of fringe events. Check out the calendar, take your pick and visit/get involved in a few of them and see what the theme Man + Environment truly means to you! See the whole list of events on http://archifest.sg/fringe.html
FIVEFOOTWAY.com coverage
FIVEFOOTWAY.com is proud to be the official online media of ARCHIFEST 08 and here’s what you can expect from us.
News Updates
Supplementing the official newsletter and the official website, FIVEFOOTWAY.com will be broadcasting the latest news updates from Archifest 08. To see all posts on FIVEFOOTWAY related to the festival, click here.
Speaker Profiles
FIVEFOOTWAY will be posting a special series of articles, profiling the various speakers at Archifest 08 Forum. We will give you a quick initiation to these talented designers, highlighting their design philosophies and key works and perhaps send you to a link or two for further reading.
Interviews
We’ve planned special interviews with the various forum speakers, award winners and organisers of Archifest 08. We think it will be a brilliant series of interviews and you can expect these to be online in October and November.
Event Reports
Our writers will be there to participate and cover the events so you can look forward to a comprehensive coverage of the ceremonies and exhibitions. Also, this year, we are collaborating closely with Singapore Architect’s magazine to provide coverage of the various events in Archifest 08. So, expect to see some of online-offline integration of the various event reports.
Photos
Our writers will be on site and we will be taking plenty of photographs to share it with you. But more importantly, if YOU have photos, do share it with everyone. Either email it to us OR upload it to your blog/Flickr/Picasa and send us the link and we will compile it all to share with everyone!
So now you know what to expect for Archifest 08, see you around!
August 17, 2008 | Event | Reports
Really Ar? 2
ReallyArchitecture is back again with “Really Ar?â€2, at Night & Day Bar. As you might already know, Really Ar? is Re:act’s design sharing session that invites professionals to share about their recent projects in relation to a selected theme.
The theme for the night was “So this is Masterplanning!†and 3 guest speakers, Philip Tan from Surbana, Prasoon Kumar from HOK, and Yu Sern Hong from 5+Design shared their experiences and views on urban planning. In addition, there were 2 special presentations; one by Elaine Tan from the URA explaining the AUDE Programme and the other by Chong Keng Hua who talked about [re:act] Initiatives.
When it comes to urban planning, all 3 guest speakers seem to have very different methodologies but share a common vision of making cities a better place to live in. The examples each cited displayed the different strategies urban planners came up with when dealing with different city conditions.
The first guest speaker Mr Philip Tan (Surbana) presented some of Surbana’s on-going masterplanning projects in Colombo and Abu Dhabi. These projects were designed with reference to the success of the Singapore Masterplan. Most of the presented projects involved transforming unused land into cities, coming up with strategies to attract developers and solving land shortage issues. This led to them telling us about their plans of re-settling residents so as to ensure a controlled distribution of the population density. The importance of urban design as well as the promotion of a new city branding image were also emphasized.
Mr Prasoon Kumar from HOK talked about their current masterplanning proposal for Dharav, Mumbai, India. He shared their design process, intentions and visions for this project. Dharav is known to be a mega slum and Kumar showed us through their process of re-discovery the unique characteristics of Dharav and proposal of re-using the existing without disrupting the running of Dharav. During their design process, they took into account the contributions of the local people living at the place, because they felt that the residents knew for themselves what the best solutions are.
If a comparison could be made of the speakers’ methodologies on urban design, Kumar seems to have a rather different, if not opposite opinion from Tan’s. Tan’s proposal is like an immediate makeover of a city or starting on an empty piece of land, for example a desert, while Kumar’s proposal was a gradual city evolution, and a more down-to-up approach that involves the commitment and contribution of the locals. With constant communal involvement brings ownership to the city compared to immigrants whom just move into a newly designed city. Despite the project being still on a conceptual stage, it had a strong vision and social benefits for the city.
The last speaker, Mr Yu Sern Hong from 5+Design, gave us another different methodology from the previous speakers. Their project involved intensive researches on the site’s urban nature elements and urban behaviour and made use of scripting to assist them in the urban landscape design. It was a collaboration with teammates from different design fields, different nationalities and cities in LA for an urban design competition for Magok, Seoul. They proposed an urban design branding image of “Inter-city†that involves 3 sub-components of Inter-link, Inter-face and Inter-weave. They promoted a vision of sustainable lifestyle for the city. Despite still being in the conceptual stage, they were able to move one step ahead with some architecture and landscape designs to distinguish parts of the proposed city design.
ReallyAr? concluded with a Q&A session despite the overrun of the presentation. Despite the session lack of “liveliness” as most of the audience left the session after the last speaker, the few questions asked were very intriguing and were those which would make one question the practice and principles of urban planning. This made me think about how the learning attitude of many people seemed to become self-centered in the sense that a lot of knowledge is being absorbed from the community but much less contribution is being made back to the community. I also believe that this session must have been, for those who do not come from an architecture background, an insight on how cities evolve, particularly through planning.
August 3, 2008 | Event | Reports
Bartlett School of Architecture Summer Show
The Summer Show is the annual celebration of student work at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL. Held at the Slade Galleries of UCL over a period of one week, the students put up a brilliant exhibition with their innovative drawings, models, devices, texts, animations and installations. The show saw the coming together of all the units’ distinctive research and exploratory themes in the past one year, creating a very exciting flow of architectural issue(s) as you progress from one boundary to another in the exhibition space.
Each unit has its characteristic storyboard to convey their love (or hate?) for their chosen architectural research discourse. Continuous frames of seductive drawings bombard visitors; every piece of work seemed to be shouting out for our attention. Installations and the delicate models are equally captivating, enticing people to stick their camera lens to capture that very priceless angle that could possibly inspire another soul in the world.
Constructability and mega detail sections are apparently absent in the entire show. Projects on showcase craved to push the current boundaries and question the contemporary architectural thinking and mindset.
School culture and professional support were commendable; a huge crowd (design students, tutors, architects in practice) gathered at the main quadrangle and Slade Galleries of UCL at Gower St on the opening night of the summer show.
Perhaps it is time we also start thinking about one of these: Landscape / Interface / Something Urban, Something Kitsch, Something Imaginary / Second Nature / Crash: Architecture of the Near Future / Real (ism) + e-state / The Absence of the Architectural Object / “Learning from Nature” The Environmental Paradigm / Buy : Sell / Decadence …
June 30, 2008 | Event | Reports
Thinking About Cities
From 11th June to 15th June 2008, a party of people was brought together by their common interest in urbanism in Southeast Asia to a workshop called Thinking About Cities, set partly in Singapore.
Organized by MIT (Asian Cities Cluster) in collaboration with the Department of Architecture, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore and 5ft Creatives and funded by MIT, the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, this program saw diverse groups of people from disciplines across Architecture, Economics, Geography and even Literature come together to study urban plans and housing solutions in land-scarce Singapore.
The programme line-up was crafted in order to give all participants an understanding of the housing and planning issues that Singapore is facing from a variety of perspectives- the planning authorities, the architects and designers, the academics and perhaps most importantly, the people who reside in these public housing.
The workshop had its participants going around Singapore visiting places for talks and doing general sight and site seeing. For the locals, this entailed them finding themselves playing, at turns, tourists and tour guides.
A visit to the URA was first on the itinerary to give a macro overview of the issue. A quick overview of the policies, goals and also a history of Singapore’s urban morphology introduced all participants to the complexities of Singapore’s public housing issues. Visits to design firms such as Surbana, WOHA Architects and ARC Studio, all of whom very much involved in designing high-rise, high-density public housing projects, were also organised to understand the challenges and design considerations faced by the designers. Walks around the various public housing estates were also organised; Tiong Bahru-to show the first generation public housing project, Toa Payoh-to show the various types of public housing projects there and also to Sengkang- a public housing estate developed over the last few years.
To many of the Singaporean participants, attending the workshop in their home country presented a refreshing learning experience. Many felt that it was an exercise in seeing familiar things in new and intent ways. As Toon recalls, “It was exposure to the same things that I have always known all my life but now seen from a different angle.�
Toon, who enjoyed playing host to the participants from abroad, found her fellow workshop friends “easy to chat and banter with.�She also felt that a “lack of a hierarchy� between teachers and students “made the casual banter and learning more enjoyable and engaging.�
Most interesting for her was the “mix of people� that attended the workshop. It was this diverse group comprising of people from different disciplines (of economics, urban studies, architecture etc) and their unique questions and concerns that made the workshop extraordinary. She says, “I guess what architecture needs, is to have more engagements on these kind of levels, where the basic facts are still the same but it is the angle which differs.�
Hearing expert perspectives was also a major factor contributing to the enrichments of the workshop. Heather, a Geography student who went on the tour of the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), Singapore’s land use planning authority, says “Getting a glimpse of the URA from the inside was nothing short of illuminating.
Conservationist Kevin Ang provided fascinating insights into the history of urban planning in Singapore, the way planning is currently coordinated and articulated, as well as the controversies that inevitably arise when heritage and natural conservation conflict with the need to constantly redevelop and reinvent.�
Also seeking redevelopment and reinvention is Adib of 5ft Creatives, one of the organizing members of the event.
To him, the three day workshop was not so much about learning as it was about unlearning what he thought he knew about local housing and urban planning, and looking at them from a critical point of view with the help of friends from abroad.
He explains, “Much like how we miss home only when we are away from it, reflections and opinions from these new-found friends made me further appreciate the complexities of Singapore’s context.
The MIT party looked at Singapore with their American-educated lenses and their opinions about Singapore opened the path for me to look at Singapore’s housing model with fresher perspectives. With mind liberated, I can now seek to relearn the concepts of good housing in the city.â€?
Summing up his experience of the workshop, Adib quoted writer and futurist Alvin Toffler who said that “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.�
Lessons were also appreciated by Felicia of 5ft Creatives who coordinated the different groups of participants, planned the itinerary and who generally ensured that everything was in order.
She describes the workshop as “enriching� but felt that when it came to visiting the housing estates, “it might be more beneficial for the (MIT) students if they could freely explore the places, instead of being dictated on how to explore them.�
For the Singaporean participants, most of whom stay in public housing flats, the visits to the housing estates prompted more personal reflections.
Audrey, an Architecture graduate who toured the newly built Sengkang public housing estate with the group, went away examining the designer’s role in planning public housing:
“Are the buyers really looking at the aesthetic outlook as we all think they do? Or are they more concerned about the environment, the place, the unit, society? Living in a public housing myself, I’m more inclined to the latter. No matter how ‘nice’ my flat looks from the outside, it is still more important to me that my neighbors are friendly, that my unit has more space, that the estate has pockets or gathering space. Maybe it is time that we thought about what it is to live in a public housing development, and not simply pick on its color and aesthetics. Maybe if all designers thought this way, we would not end up with weird corners in our homes or alienated corridor spaces.�
The estate tours also prompted artistic responses. For example, Wenjun, an Architect student was moved by the Toa Payoh Estate tour to do a drawing of it, with an accompanying poem “Reflecting on a new town near & far�: (click to enlarge)
Familiar childhood sights and secret spaces.
Intermingling with that damn high tech stuff
A merchant prays at the local deity shrine.
Before selling vcds below that jumbo lcd screen
The hustle and bustle of residents
The old folks are at the chess game again
See the crowns of new kings 40 storeys high
Like bidding, come forward and bow.
Walking between the wooden louvred streets
Is like a walk home. A modern vernacular.
Feel the brick beneath. The louvres end.
Pauses. Are important. One pauses.
Hear the world move around you. Moves you.
The new blockbuster beckons. But i walk on.
See the old and the new. Like baggage?
A life’s inheritance. Memories turn material.
Today i walk. With trepidation.- A Remembrance of Things Past….
The same tour also led to Debbie, in fact the leader of the Toa Payoh Estatetour, writing a poem called “Unplanned Lives�, in three parts set in different places within the estate:
I Town Square
On the weekends, they are there. The children – library book
drops turn into a game of tag – a tag, a beep.
R E T U R N E D ,
into a new cycle of ownership.In the afternoons, they are there. The ones in checkered shorts – staring at
checkered boards – make a jump, in draughts.
C O N Q U E R E D ,
Hah! This bird-cage is mine.
II Kopitiam
Before I remember the ones I must forget again, let me learn
to love the trees around me. Would I know when again
I will sit
here to contemplate life and bus concessions
for the a-peks like me?
My wife is gone
now and I walk less
now, because she led the way.
III Playground
Well, I did not tell my mother that
I kissed S here.
Shsssh… shameful stupid girl, she would say.
Here, right under this colourful structure.
The one that’s right under
your nose if you only looked out
over the corridor. Just for once, from our 32nd floor – no, you will not fall.
No, you are not that dizzy. Will you please
get used to this already.I kissed S here.
We hid in the one that looked like a house.
It was a Ronald McDonald house, with a plastic
red roof, yellow columns,
white windows (it probably came with a Happy Meal).Well, of course you did not see
us, also fumbling
in our uniforms, the blouse you painstakingly pressed.
Creased… with need. Haha – what would you say?
For more reviews and recollections of the workshop, please visit the MIT students’ blog where they kept a daily record of the program.
June 21, 2008 | Broadcast | Event | Events | Reports
Architectural Association Visiting Programmes: Asia 2008
The Architectural Association is organising a number of Visiting Schools in Asia this 2008 season. continue >>>
April 18, 2008 | Event | Reports
Cityscapers of the world, unite!
Cityscapers: By the Throat is one of 3 Cityscapers studios in the UK over 3 years which will support the development of the next generation of designers, architects and visual artists through collaborative works. Supported by the British Council, it is hoped that after the 3 years, a network of 180 of the most talented city-builders in Asia Pacific and Europe will have developed lasting international relationships which the participants will draw on as they create the cities of the future.
Led by Professor Richard Goodwin of UNSW, the studio, also known as The Porosity Studio, is different especially in the way multi-disciplinary collaborations go. For this workshop, we see artists, engineers, designers, architects all placed together in a non-hierarchical setup; equal power given to all disciplines . It is this 60-man studio who will explore critical issues in urban design and city making.
Hosted by the University of Edinburgh from 31st March to 12th April 2008, this edition of the Porosity Studio took the Shifts project: Projections into the future of the Central Belt ,which was initiated by The Lighthouse in 2007, as a catalyst for exploring a nexus between Glasgow and Edinburgh. This was to be the vehicle from which participants will be able to test ideas, collaborate on new ones, and in all, give a glimpse into the minds of the next generation of city shapers and hopefully, discover realms of ideas that no one knew existed.
The 2 week workshop was structured with lectures by various researchers and architectural practitioners including one by the Edinburgh-based architect,Malcolm Fraser. These series of lectures served to provide a quick and varied insight into the various issues which are inherent in Scotland’s Central Belt. Participants were given a peek into studies which focused on human interaction in a vehicle while driving along the M8, which is the highway that connects Glasgow and Edinburgh. A couple of other lectures also seeked to enlighten participants on the richness of the urban morphology of the 2 cities and also the debate on the evolution of the architecture of Scotland over time as it searches for its own architectural identity in these modern/post-modern/post-post modern times. In fact, these range of studies went as far as featuring similar case studies in other countries such as in Korea and Jakarta and also a fengshui reading of Edinburgh.
Interspersed with these lectures and site visits-which included a bus-ride exploration of the M8 and also a visit to the Lighthouse in Glasgow, were intense studio sessions. The studios became the hotbed where participants worked, discussed tirelessly, researched and prepared their concept models. Through a process of constant feedback and discussion with other participants and the studio directors, the studio was in a constant state of flux where ideas never stopped developing.
As a testament to the high levels of creativity in the studio, one must take a look at the concept models that were presented on the first presentation session which was held on Day 3 of the workshop. On top of the usual architectural ‘concept model’ and sketches fondly favoured by architects, there were illustrations, video clips, a performance, a mini-lecture, a reading and someone serving soup! Such range of ideas and its’ manifestation makes this workshop an experience rich with creative ideas.
Coming from a range of disciplines, multiple ways of looking at the city emerged. Some focused on the physical relationship of the cities, proposing an examination of the infrastructure and also perhaps the technologies that might facilitate these connection. Others proposed to look at the city in terms of its intangible qualities such as quality of space, experiences along the connection, developing socio-cultural connections between the two, emotional landscape of the central belt and a whole range of other conceptual works that aimed to question this perceived need for a connection between the two. Such a vast range of ideas is a clear message to all city builders and architects: The city is essentially a social construct where everyone would have their own perception and interpretation of its physical form, injecting meaning into an arrangement of building materials.
As the studio developed, some collaborations emerged and there were also others who chose to work alone but ultimately, the body of work that was produced at the end was brilliant to say the least. The final exhibition that ensued at the end of the 2 week of work and play by the 60 young designers showed a vast range of ideas. Held at the gallery in the University of Edinburgh, the opening of the exhibition was graced by various architects, speakers who presented during the 2 weeks and also Nick Barley, Director of The Lighthouse.
An important aspect which makes this studio an exciting laboratory of ideas is the quality and attitudes of the studio directors and support staff. These talented people were convinced about the power of collaboration and also the richness of the ideas from the participants and seeked to nurture them. Constantly encouraging and provoking thoughts with their comments, these leaders resisted the urge to impose their thoughts and ideas but rather attempted to dive into the minds of the participants and help to flesh out these hidden ideas. This created a culture within the studio where ideas development was allowed to grow at a quick pace and with great intensity. Special mention also has to be made to the unwavering support and dedication of the support staff which ensured that participants could go about focusing on the tasks at hand without much fuss. Discounting the Heathrow Terminal 5 luggage disaster experienced by the Australian students, the workshop went about with little noticeable logistic fuss- an achievement for an international workshop of more than 60 participants from various countries.
In all, this workshop, part of a series of 3 is a resounding success. It set out to create a network and discover ideas, and it did so very well. There will always be a debate about the seriousness and validity of each proposition but nonetheless, it would be foolish to dismiss the works and ideas produced in the workshop as simply musings of 60 young, naive designers. Rather, it should be appreciated as ideas and viewpoints from an emerging group of cityscapers who are articulating what they truly feel about the city and what they aspire for it to be. This is a glimpse into the future and these are the seeds of the future cities. Cityscapers of the world, unite!
For more photos and write-ups, visit Adib’s blog during his participation of the workshop
April 7, 2008 | Broadcast | Event | News | Reports
London: Olympic dispute
Thirty-five arrests were made following clashes between pro-Tibet protesters and police as the Olympic torch made its way through London.
Was Daniel Libeskind being smart to take sides early in his criticism and boycott of doing work in China? London saw the angry face of human rights, as more than one protester attempted to snatch the Olympic torch from several torch bearers. This was in light of China’s dismal track record in the arena of human rights.
However, it seems that two threads of support have arisen. One was that of euphoria: elated support for the nation of China; or the universal spirit of the Olympic Games. The other was the unyielding fight for human rights, in light of China’s apparent paradox of an Olympic Games, with its announcement in June 2004 of its Olympic Games slogan, “One World, One Dream.”
Certainly, one can only hope that years from now we will see the Games in Beijing as the start of massive change for China, human rights, and the Olympic spirit.
Related Links:
- The Washington Post: China and the Olympics
- BBC: Clashes along Olympic Torch Route
- The Guardian.co.uk: China Shrugs off Olympic warning on human rights
March 14, 2008 | Event | Reports
YUP!
The Young Urbanist Programme [YUP] was a 1-day workshop initiated by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and was held on Monday 10th March 2008. The workshop, held at the URA Centre, was an enrichment programme for the students during their school holiday and was attended by 30 Primary 5 students from Radin Mas Primary School and River Valley Primary School. Really Architecture [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.
Led by Chief Facilitator, Belinda Huang, 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.
Chief Facilitator
Belinda Huang
Other Facilitators
Kang Fong INg
Jessica Wong
Li Ziqi
Kee Jing Zhi
Kenn Goh
Bu Shukun
Koh Kaili
February 11, 2008 | Event | Reports
Really Ar?
Walking up the steps of Night&Day bar at Selegie, no one had much idea what to expect of the first Really Ar? sharing session organised by Really Architecture.
Really Architecture is a group of visionary architecture enthusiasts based in Singapore who are concerned with the development of architecture in the Asian region. Really Ar? is another addition to the list of activities that they have organised including their recently concluded “Design My Place Workshop” and the “Architect in a Bottle” talks.While ideas-sharing session had been a regular event within the members of Really Architecture and Really Ar? marks the first attempt to open up this sharing session to a larger audience.
Attended by young(er) architects, the event was a cosy affair with drinks going at a one-for-one special courtesy of Night and Day bar ,co-owned by Singapore architect, Randy Chan of Zong Architects, helping to add to the cozy mood.
The event saw 4 presenters showing off a variety of projects, all of whom talked about their projects each with their own style and with a different focus. The diversity of the projects and approaches to this thing we call “Architecture” was evident with projects ranging from documentation of architecture to thesis projects, to competition entries and last but not least, built works.
Kicking off the event was 5ft Creatives where we screened the pilot episode of the FFW Video Series: Architecture Studio where we featured FARMWORK.In what is planned to be a 10-part series featuring various architecture offices, the FFW video series aims to document the creative processes and also feature the various personalities who shape our built environment. 5ft Creatives also expressed their belief that such documentation would add to the understanding of our very own architectural fraternity and also open up the possibility of us looking at Singapore’s architectural practices in a different light.
Really Ar? also saw Mr Tham Wai Hon presenting his recently concluded thesis project which revolves around exploring the possibilities of re-programming the existing Malaysian Railway Line land which cuts through various parts of Singapore. This highly contentious strip of Malaysian-owned land in Singapore territory has been at the root of much political disputes between the 2 countries and Wai Hon’s project attempted to approach this strip of land through the lenses of architecture, masterplanning and community-living ideas. His analysis of plans by Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority to re-plan the area contrasted with the masterplan that he was proposing in terms of how one deals with the historical layer of a major infrastructural relic.
Also at the event were Zong Architects and Linghao Architects who presented their works to the crowd.
Linghao Architect’s presented a recently concluded project with the usual dose of site photos and analysis before concluding with images of the completed project.
Meanwhile, Mr Wong Ker How of Zong Architects attempted to show the various possibilities that are open to us in rethinking the way we think and design our built environment with his presentation entitled, “Finding New Grounds”. He shared his personal exploratory works which included a trip down the streets of Shanghai and also an exploration of image manipulation which then led to some form of manifestation in Zong Architect’s submission to the recently concluded Marina South Housing Competition.
Really Ar? then concluded with a Q&A session which wasn’t as lively as it could have been and if Really Ar? is going to be a truly fruitful event with ideas being sparked off and discussed, then audience participation is something that will need to improve in future sessions. The culture of speaking up and questioning with a burning desire to learn and understand is perhaps non-existent in the fraternity now but events such as Really Ar? is definitely a step in the correct direction in nurturing such practice.
As the night drew to an end and the audience starts to leave the bar, one can’t help but feel happy that such events are now in place and if it continues to evolve and mature, then Really Ar? will be an event that architects and other enthusiasts of the built environment will be marking in their calendar.
January 23, 2008 | Event | Reports
Shigeru Ban at the Cooper Union
The annual Franzen Lecture on Architecture and the Environment is delivered by an international figure whose work has significant implications for the relationship between architecture and the environment.
January 22, 2008 | Event | Reports
Reï¼?fabricating City
The “Architect’s Dialogue” Forum, after the opening ceremony.
On Jan 9 at the Central Police Station Compound in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong & Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture, was given a pretty well-done kick-off. Aimed at being a non-ad hoc sequel of the Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture in 2005, this event is sponsored by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, Government Development Bureau, Home Affairs bureau and Eric K.C. CHENG, this exhilarating three-month exhibition is the first of its kind in the city of Hong Kong. As a coordinator for the Exhibition of “REaD Beijing,” which selects and re-fabricates Beijing urban development of Beijing from 1949 onwards, by Professors WANG Lu and SHAN Jun of Tsinghua University, both were invited-participants for this Biennale, I was fortunate to have my seat in the crowded opening ceremony. Through academic connection, not only did I get a chance to do the installation of our exhibition with my student colleagues, but also witnessed the last few days of hardcore preparation before the opening of this Biennale.
Charged Infrastructures:Elaborations on the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macau Bridge.
On this big afternoon of Jan 9, inside the renovated courtyard plaza of the Police Station, keynote speeches were given by Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang, Shenzhen Depute Mayor, Chief Curator Wang Weijen, and the Biennale’s sponsors to congratulate this brand-new model of two-city joint Biennale. In 2005, Shenzhen was the sole host for such event. Followed the ceremony was a movie by a Golden Lion awardee from the Venice International Film Festival Jia Zhang-ke and vibrant and vivid cocktail party. Exhibition tours and a forum on the topic of “Re-generation/Re-fabrication� were also concurrently held. The forums were the arena for exhibitors to give a talk on various urban issues, which is one of the main features of the Biennale that will continue throughout the first week, and be carried on during several other days in February and March.
In response to the Shenzhen exhibition across the sea in facilitating the “showcase� of a lively city, this Biennale in Hong Kong including lectures, forums and free-visits, is intended to highlight the architecture and urban spaces fabricated through the interweaving of Hong Kong’s buildings. About 100 architects and designers are invited, while over half of which are local architects and authorities, the other half are emerging pioneering Chinese architects and firms including leading pioneer designer MAD, Shenzhen/Beijing-based young architectural-urbanism think tank URBANUS, and well-known Asian architects like Qingyun Ma and Yung Ho Chang, who are now leading 2 major architecture schools in the West- and East-coast of America.
December 14, 2007 | Event | Reports
Inventioneering Architecture
(some projects on display)
For a few weeks, a sizable portion of the Swiss Alps landed in Singapore. Nope it’s not the latest artificial ski attraction, but a travelling exhibition featuring architectural works from 3 Swiss schools – the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH), the Academy of Architecture at the University della Svizzera Italiana, Mendrisio (USI), and the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL). Many Swiss architects have been at the forefront of the architectural scene, like Le Corbusier, Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Mueron, and Peter Zumthor amongst others, and here we are offered a glimpse into the learning climate which produced such stellar talents. continue >>>
November 5, 2007 | Event | Reports
Jinhua Architecture Park Opening
After three years of hard working, the city of
Already before the opening, on a Saturday morning at 8.45, the
For this new development the artist Ai Wei Wei – son of a famous Jinhua poet who has worked with Herzog & de Meuron on several of their projects in
The park opened in an official style, featuring speeches of locals government officials andfireworks, and was attended by most of the participating foreign architects, flying in from
During the symposium on Saturday afternoon a couple of reality-checks and paradoxes emerged, hinting at the time it took, almost three years, to build this park, Ai Weiwei pointed at the limitations of China. It seems that the bigger the building is and the less time is spend on design, the faster one can build and occupy the space. Some of the architects hinted at the paradoxical state that for such a small project it was almost for them impossible to control the building process. This of course had mainly to do with the fact that they were in Europe or
As China in its understanding of architecture and urban space is still largely in the phase of developing an own identity the park has the peculiar quality to create the possibility to accept brand new ideas, maybe even the beginning of a new social movement in dealing with architecture through the future use of the park. This kind of architecture, someone even talked about micro-urbanism, could be the next challenge for Chinese architects, dealing with the small scale, focussing on improving daily life and urban culture.
Without any doubt this park is for Jinhua a means to put itself under the worldwide and national architecture spotlights. As such this is not just a story of seventeen follies, but time will tell if this means the start of an equally qualitative architectural and urban development of its surrounding area and if the words of Mr. Chen Kunzhong, Acting Mayor of Jinhua, will be heard as he stated at the opening of the symposium: “These unique and magnificent small and medium-sized landscapes enrich the culture flavors, enhance the reputation and improve the city taste of the city of Jinhua.â€? Only when in the coming years the programming the park and its surrounding will be completed the park will be able to answer early observations that this project would be an attempt to recreate a suburban condition, as hinted at in a piece called “China’s Suburban Folliesâ€? which states the following; “But somehow from the photos of Jinhua, the landscape is less dense and coordinated. Each folly is left alone with its land like the traditional suburb or modern sculpture garden. It is strange how the suburban vision so desired.â€?
After the opening I walked around in the large park, hopping from one folly to the other. Thoughts and visions of people desiring leisure and the possibility that this place would be a future urban park crossed my mind. I thought how future inhabitants would explore these new landscapes, leave their standardized, non-designed urban environments and mingle and escape from daily life into this exciting setting where their minds, bodies and families would engage in stimulating ways with architecture. The condition for them is there, the stage has been set, the opportunity given, the city opened up for it and the architects have done their work.
Ai Weiwei explained his motivations to invite young foreign architecture offices to participate in this project in the aforementioned interview with Hans Ullrich Obrist as follows; “I thought it was important to bring as many talented designers as possible into this project. At the moment
Pictures by Bert de Muynck and Mónica Carriço
Links:
Photographer, Iwan Baan
http://iwan.com/photo_index_jinhua.php
Ai Weiwei’s impression of the opening weekend on his blog
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_473f90ad01000e4x.html
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_473f90ad01000e4z.html
DOMUS 894 (July/August 2006) –
http://www.hhf.ch/etc/medialib/hhf/projects/baby_dragon/downloads.Par.0001.File.tmp//Users/herlach/HHF/HE_00_HHF/HHF_WWW/HHF_WWW%20Downloads/WWW_domus/Domus%20Jinhua%20Arch.%20Park.pdf
http://www.artsjournal.com/aestheticgrounds/2007/02/chinas_suburban_follies.html
