SOUNDLY SUSTAINABLE!CAMPUS REPSOL, MADRID Rafael de La-Hoz ArquitectosSCHOOL IN CARDINET-CHALABRE, PARIS Atelier PhileasTHE CRYSTAL, LONDON Wilkinson Eyre Architects

SUNNYHILLS IN MINAMI-AOYAMA, TOKYO Kengo Kuma & Associates

dwellHWA HUN HOUSE, SEOUL Iroje KHM Architects27 VANDA DRIVE rt+q22 OLIVE ROAD ar4323 OLIVE ROAD DP Architects

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SOUNDLY SUSTAINABLE!CAMPUS REPSOL, MADRID Rafael de La-Hoz ArquitectosSCHOOL IN CARDINET-CHALABRE, PARIS Atelier PhileasTHE CRYSTAL, LONDON Wilkinson Eyre Architects

SUNNYHILLS IN MINAMI-AOYAMA, TOKYO Kengo Kuma & Associates

dwellHWA HUN HOUSE, SEOUL Iroje KHM Architects27 VANDA DRIVE rt+q22 OLIVE ROAD ar4323 OLIVE ROAD DP Architects

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The new headquarters of the energy company Repsol is conceived like a university campus. Designed by Rafael

de La-Hoz, the complex consists of four buildings arranged around a central garden, with 123,000m2 office and

common spaces, open, flexible and suffused with light. Giant steel frames embracing the buildings make the

complex stand out in its urban surroundings. These steel fins ‘hang’ on the structural columns and enclose glass

volumes within them; their repetition creates dynamism in the façade and contrast with the smoothness of the tinted

glass behind p12

In the design of a semi-detached house on Vanda Drive, RT+Q Architects faced a constraint from its triangular plot

which has its hypotenuse parallel to the road and the other two sides of the triangle abutting other houses. The site

demanded a simple rational solution, which was eventually a long rectilinear layout, in the form of a broad-facing

house parallel to the main road p28

With an existing topography that drops a steep 8m from the entrance to the eastern boundary, the hilltop site for

a three-generation family house, designed by ar43, is cleverly positioned with a 25m lap pool from which can be

enjoyed unimpeded views of its surroundings. On its rectilinear plot are neatly placed volumes, some cantilevering,

surrounding a central courtyard. A continuous folding roof over all the volumes ties the entire scheme together p38

In SunnyHills Minami-Aoyama is Kengo Kuma’s latest on-going exploration of traditional Japanese wood joint

systems. In this project, a pineapple cake store, 5,722 metres of cypress slats used as structural members in a

special framework make for a unique store and urban experience p62

CREATIVE©ITIES’ inaugural exhibition at the Kaohsiung Design Festival presented exciting creative efforts in the

world today, charting paradigm shifts unfolding across the current creative landscape in 10 cities in the Asia Pacific

region. In addition to the main survey of work, original artwork and ambient urban sound samples of each city

were curated, offering visitors an immersive walk-through experience through zones such as arrival halls, galleries,

multimedia zones and tunnels and walkways p88

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spin10 | WALES’ SWANSEA TIDAL LAGOON VISITORS CENTRE

wide\angle12 | AN EFFICIENT CAMPUSThe LEED® Platinum-certified Repsol headquarters in Mendez Alvaro, Madrid

18 | PARK ORIENTEDNew low-energy consumption school building in the ZAC Cardinet-Chalabre, Paris

24 | LONDON’S LEED CRYSTALThe Crystal in London gets a LEED® Platinum certification

habitat28 | STROKE OF BRILLIANCEHouse on Vanda Drive by rt+q

32 | UPSCALE U-SHAPE PLANHouse on Windsor Park Road by ar43

38 | UNDER ONE ROOFHouse on Olive Road by ar43

44 | EXTENSION OF SPACEHouse on Olive Road by DP Architects

50 | MOON, WIND, RESIDENCEHouse on Neil Road by Ong & Ong

56 | BLOOMING IN SUBURBIAHouse in Jongro-gu, Seoul, by Iroje KHM Architects

iNSIDE

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shop62 | A FOREST IN THE NEIGHBOURHOODSunnyHills in Minami-Aoyama, Tokyo, by Kengo Kuma

66 | CENTRE WEIGHTEDBand of Outsiders in Sendagaya, Tokyo, by LOT-EK

68 | SHARP LINESRunColors in Pozna , Poland, by mode:lina architekci

stay70 | SEE THE MONKEYS FROM UP HEREThe 25hours Hotel Bikini Berlin by KEC Architekten

dfusion72 | THE LUXE FACTOREd Ng AB Concept, Hong Kong

78 | TURN 90 DEGREESMiho Hirabayashi of FAK3, Hong Kong

84 | ORDINARY MIRACLESKorean designer Seung Yong Song

pulse88 | RE-MAPPING CITIES: THE BIG PICTURE CREATIVE©ITIES at the Kaohsiung Design Festival

94 | SOME GOOD ARTArtStage 2014 – a walkthrough

98 | ‘FROM THE PEOPLE, TO THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE’ Nathan Coley at Future Perfect

iNTRO 04 | CATALOGUE 99 to 111 | SUBSCRIPTIONS 112

iNSIDE

spin

10

deliberately tactile – the rugged outer-shells contrast dramatically with the interior which

will be a place of wonder with natural light being reflected off the pearlescent curved

walls creating a stimulating environment for visitors to enjoy the educational, cultural and

leisure activities the centre offers.

The eye catching and dynamic concept comprises a series of overlapping shells

which are sculpted to form an attractive bowl like structure. The outer wall alignment

will provide shelter from wind and waves and is finished in highly textured concrete

with tall windows like fissures between the shells, permitting key views around the Bay.

The internal curved walls will be pearlescent in finish, echoing the oyster concept and

contrasting the outer surfaces and will reflect the natural light pouring into the structure.

The structural soffit of the roof will be of timber construction.

Areas of the roof are designed to provide a natural ecological base for wildlife

to inhabit forming an educational roof garden for visitors. The building will be self-

sufficient, with all energy required being captured from renewable sources or

transferred through recycling waste energy as a by-product of the turbines, including

solar panels on the roof.’ (www.juicearchitects.com)

uice Architects’ oyster-shaped 3,500m² visitor centre for

Wale’s £850m Swansea Bay tidal lagoon will have cultural

and leisure spaces, featuring public galleries, a café, lecture

theatre, educational rooms and an exhibition space, as well as

national triathlon and water sports facilities. Sited at the end

of the lagoon’s seawall with access by foot, cycle and electric

bus, the centre will be self-sufficient, energy-wise. Currently at

submissions stage, the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon, when completed in 2017, is expected to

provide enough electricity to power 70% of Swansea Bay’s annual domestic electricity use.

It is a harbour-type structure closing off a tidal sea area, and incorporating hydro turbines

through which the sea moves to generate electricity.

To be completed in 2018, the centre will give views of the Bay’s tidal power generators

through a glass floor in the gallery space. Juice Architects: ‘Our iconic design responds to

the challenging marine environment some 3.5km out into Swansea Bay, to create a building

that expresses the potential of the ocean and represents the clean renewable energy to

be generated whilst also reflective of the bay’s heritage. The design and materials are

‘oyster’ at the swansea bay tidal lagoon

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wid

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12

he buildings in the complex, designed by

Madrid-based architect Rafael de la Hoz, have

only five floors. De la Hoz picked up the concept

of the central yard as a meeting point, the social

importance of which can be followed throughout

history, from the ancient roman family patio,

over the medieval cloister, to modern campus complexes. The aim was

to create a space for social gathering, and find synergies between the

different departments and businesses. Not least, buildings with lower

height create a less hierarchical structure than skyscrapers.

Highrise buildings are usually the only solutions in city centres due

to limited land area. The fact that Repsol owned this enormous plot in

the southern part of Madrid centre made it a lot easier to implement

the spacious campus concept. The garden areas invite one to take a

walk, the buildings are connected with footbridges. Another important

criteria was the ‘design for all’ approach, making the buildings a 100%

accessible complex that is disable-friendly.

Distinguishing the complex are the 105 giant steel frames that

encase the buildings. These arches or ‘ribs’ define the industrial image

of Repsol. Each of them is 24m high and weighs 50 tonnes. As part

of the structure they contribute to the building’s physics: they allow

the open and flexible interiors, and at the same time are the frame for

45,000m2 of glazed façade. The arches are directly supported by the

building’s basement, the ground floor that houses common spaces like

the auditorium, health care installations and the convention centre.

an efficient campusStory courteSy Rafael De la-Hoz aRquitectos, Repsol and aRceloRMittal PhotograPhy by alfonso quiRoga

The LEED® Platinum-certified Repsol headquarters in Mendez Alvaro, Madrid is most visually distinguishable for the exo-skeletal ribs that encase its four buildings arranged around a landscaped park/garden; its efficiently industrial architecture is exceptional more for being inspired by the form of a university campus; hence its name, Campus Repsol.

client repsol yPF S.a. architect rafael de La-hoz castanys project directors Jesús román, concha Peña, Marcus Lassan, carolina Fernández head of design hugo berenguer quantity surveyors alberto gonzález, amaya díaz de cerio, José Luis gonzalo and Mercedes esteban interior Design elena López de Meneses, Loreto Muñoz-aycuens, adriana rodríguez and aner total built surface 123,400m2

surface of urbanization 21,000m2

total built surface above ground 66,803,80m2

construction Sacyr S.a.u. structural engineering nb 35 installations engineering Pgi Úrculo landscape Latz + Partner in collaboration with rafael de La-hoz arquitectos

caMpus Repsol in MÉnDez ÁlVaRo, MaDRiD

The arches not only have a structural and image function – they also present

a solution to a problem very common in Spain due to the climate: they let in

the light but not the heat. The great ‘ribs’ protect the glazed façade from direct

sunlight, they provide shadow without blocking the light. The open office spaces

are situated close to the façade, where the furniture do not obstruct the views.

Individual offices and meeting rooms are located in the centre of each floor. Apart

from the central courtyard, there are also many green terraces.

Geometry is the main determinant in De La-Hoz’s design concept. Most

notably, the square. This simple architectural form was derived from the city’s

grid plan and adapted for the site, which turned out in a slightly more rhomboid

arrangement. The buildings occupy the perimeter, opening up space for the

landscaped garden in the centre of the plot. The composition of stepping forth-

and-back volumes creates a strong and expressive volumetric play. ‘The right

angle, in the ideal on plan, becomes the section too, in a very simple process

of construction...the plan is in a square, and the section is in a square.’ Profiles

of the four buildings show vividly, the typical floors of boxes enveloped in glass,

framed in 20cm steel sections.

Said Fernando Gonzalez, Director of Repsol Campus Project: ‘We needed to

combine in one place all the employees previously divided into two locations. We

looked for synergies between the distinct businesses, but also, logically, if they’re

going to produce cost savings and greater efficiency...It was very important to

have a plot with a geometric form that inspired the creation of a work space

around the common space, and we thought, how is it united? Finally, we decided

on this one which is possibly the most historically proven, to unite around a

garden courtyard.

SECTION

[The site} is located within the M30 zone, in the city of Madrid. It’s the only

large corporate centre that could be built within the city. We have four bus stops,

and the metro stations, Cercanias station and Ave station, are just at the door. It’s

a magnificent opportunity to bring the office closer to the employees. We made

an effort made to belong to Madrid to belong to the neighbourhood, the street,

the zone, of course. At the same time, it’s a different building because the large

transparent entrance opens to everyone, to all employees and all Repsol clients.

Come, enter, visit us, have a coffee because this is everyone’s house.’

De La Hoz: ‘It’s a short building, with four floors plus the ground floor.

There are no interior divisions, no doors closing off the spaces. The buildings

are connected with walkways, everything is transparent. The aim is to have a

human scale. The construction process was complex. The structure was built

with reinforced concrete slabs weighing 50 tons each...at the heart of the project

was the construction of the 105 structural frames holding Repsol’s functional

boxes that contain the office spaces, the circulation spaces, walkways, elevators,

bathrooms...The plot on which we’ve built the campus has the biggest private

parking space in the urban centre of Madrid, for 2000 cars.

The façade is all glass...and this allows the floors to enjoy the important

brightness of all natural light. Here, we have pine trees that stay green throughout

the year. Other trees have falling leaves that show the changes in season and

time. And the water, without which a Spanish garden couldn’t be understood,

visible and audible.’

The project had lasted five years, involving the dedication of more than

80 professionals – from architects, engineers, to economists. ‘It was a design

made from the inside out. This means, it’s like a suit, custom designed for

Repsol. It fulfils the needs of the company. To sum up, it’s something really new

in building design and its characteristics.’

To obtain the LEED-NC (New Construction) certificate, aspects such as the

sustainability of the site, the ease of using eco-efficient transport, and the use

of recycled materials were vigorously evaluated. The design and construction

of the building focussed on six areas:

sustainable siteThe chosen site enables the development of a former industrial area with

existing infrastructure. It has an extensive network of public services (bus,

subway, local rail, high-speed rail, etc) and benefits from policies to encourage

the use of bicycles, electric vehicles, high occupancy vehicles and low emission,

fuel-efficient vehicles. A series of actions was also taken to encourage good

relations with neighbouring communities, such as watering the building site

with non-drinkable water to avoid clouds of dust and cleaning the tyres of

lorries before they leave the site, pedestrianizing the area and providing the

neighbourhood with a telephone helpline during the building work.

water efficiencyWater consumption was optimised by designing the gardens to need less

watering, choosing plant species suited to the Madrid climate, using water-

efficient equipment (bathrooms, taps, showers, etc) and using rainwater

for irrigation, which is stored in an underground tank with a capacity of

250,000 litres.

energy and atmosphereAlternative energy generation methods were sought, such as the use of

photovoltaic solar panels or gas heat pumps for climate control and hot water

production.

materials and resourcesFrom the design phase onwards, materials with a high-recycled content

were chosen, reducing impact from the extraction and processing of

raw materials, supporting the use of local resources and encouraging

responsible forestry.

indoor environmental qualityAs well as minimising carbon emissions, users were encouraged to be

particularly aware, by controlling lighting systems, maximising interior natural

light and providing pleasant views of the gardens. A comfortable temperature

is ensured using the most advanced climate-control systems that monitor

the quality of breathable air.

Rafael De La-Hoz was in Singapore to present a case study of his design of the Rey Juan Carlos Hospital, speaking on ‘The architectural challenges in the hospitals of the future’, at the Healthcare Infrastructure Technology & Engineering Conference on 30 Oct 2013.

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park orientedStory and imageS courteSy Atelier PhiléAs (PAris) PhotograPhy by sergio grAziA, tAkuji shimmurA and WilliAm Veerbeek

Being ‘a sustainable city’ is the motivation for the ZAC Cardinet-Chalabre, located in a new urban development zone in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. It aptly illustrates the level of ambition that the Paris City Council has to create a large sustainable neighbourhood, by setting the bar high with buildings of BBC standard (Bâtiment de Basse Consommation, or low consumption building). The project, designed by Atelier Philéas, has demonstrated that it is possible and the result desirable, qualitative and contemporary.

he program – a nursery and primary school, 152

student housing units, activity centre, and a collective

kitchen producing 1,500 meals a day – called for an

architectural expression that asserts both its uniqueness

and its essential unity. ‘We installed, dug, extruded and

ventilated in such a way as to give the buildings a unique

morphology conducive to transitions of scale, urban development transition and

generations.’ (Atelier Philéas) The buildings are ‘unified’ yet differentiated. Two

blocks containing student residences are connected to a school and a central

kitchen. In total, there are five consistent volumes.

‘One of the distinctive features of the project is the diversity of the program,’

said Anne-Charlotte Zanassi, a partner in Atelier Philéas. ZAC’s specifications

were for quasi-passive buildings or at least, low energy consumption. Used to

constraints in their work, Philéas was nevertheless, in this project, challenged

with ‘a body of obligations and issues that implied a true reflection of the density.

One of our concerns was to offer views and sunshine to everyone, in the school

courtyard, without closing off the buildings.’

The south of the site faces the sprawling Parc Martin Luther King and to

take advantage of this green space, the buildings are oriented towards the park,

turning their backs to the massive Hotel Ibis in the north. Aiming at the same

‘green’ impulse for the school, ‘as if the park penetrated the project’, the facades

of the elementary and nursery classes are clad entirely of terra cotta panels in

a shade of green. Effectively, this solution offers a welcome echo to the park

thereby reducing the immensity of the project.

total floor area 9,064.95m2 developer régie immobilière de la Ville de Paris architect atelier Philéas (anne-charlotte Zanassi, dominique Vitti, Julien Zanassi) supervisor Quentin Fruchaud structure eVP fluids ineX economist Philippe talbot acoustician aVeL/JP Lamoureux bet cuisine gSir landscape design Sempervirens environnemental advice PLan02 graphic design clémence amette general contractor dumeZ Île-de-France

zAC CArDiNet ChAlAbre CliChY bAtigNolles, PAris, 17

The program is divided into five volumes of unequal sizes. Housed in two

ten-storey towers are the 152 rooms for student housing, wrapped in screens

of timber strips that allude to ‘branches’; some observers have described the

screens as ‘giant matchsticks’ or ‘the components of a nest’. This is where the

green evocation reaches its climax; in spite of this excess, Philéas has succeeded

in making the massive volumes resonate. ‘Dematerialising the façade allows us

to give finesse to an impressive building,’ said Zanassi. ‘The school is green from

all points of view, including the roof.’

Apart from the planted roof and exterior-wall terracotta panels that are a mix

of smooth and unstructured, also noticeable is the stainless steel awning over

the courtyard. Its reflective surface ensure that the recreational space ‘should not

be darkened’. ‘Our permanent concern was the lighting,’ and this same goes for

every nook of the project.

The interiors are equally considered. Special mention goes to the finishing

touches as well as the size of the openings, which Philéas wanted to make as

large as possible, including that for the classrooms. Academic buildings rarely

open so generously to the exterior. The student rooms of 16m2 each are equipped

with a pantry and bathroom, besides having great views out. ‘From everywhere,

you are struck by the blossoming Parc Martin Luther King. The view is what gives

quality to the space at Cardinet-Chalabre.’

wid

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24london’s LEED crystal

Story and imageS courteSy SiemenS and WilkinSon eyre ArchitectS

The Crystal, a global centre for sustainable urban development built and operated by Siemens, has set new standards in environmentally friendly and sustainable buildings. It received the LEED® Platinum certification in Sept last year, following its BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment) ‘Outstanding’ certificate earlier in July. This makes the Crystal in London the world’s only building to receive the top rating in both certification systems.‘We invested a significant effort in making the Crystal one of the world’s most energy efficient and sustainable buildings, by setting early on the highest standards in design, construction, technology and operation,’ says Pedro Miranda, who heads the global Siemens Cities centre of competence.

client Siemens architect Wilkinson eyre Architects gross internal area 7,060m² (73,993ft²)

the cryStAl, lonDon

he Crystal, a sustainable cities initiative by

Siemens, opened in Nov 2012. It is conceived by

Wilkinson Eyre Architects with a shape and outer

shell that resemble a rock crystal. The 6,300m2

building houses exhibition spaces, conference

facilities and a technology and innovation centre.

Located on the historic Royal Victoria Docks in the East of London, the

Crystal incorporates a conference centre with 270-seat auditorium,

office space, electric vehicle recharging points and a café.

The building runs entirely on electricity and consumes no fossil

resources such as oil or gas. Instead, it uses renewable energy sources,

including wind power coming from the London Array off-shore wind

farm. Two pipe systems measuring more than 17km in length and

extending to a depth of up to 150 metres are located in the ground

beneath the Crystal. Equipped with heat pumps, they cover all of the

building’s heating and cooling requirements.

In addition, electricity for the Crystal is generated by a rooftop

photovoltaic system. Covering an area of 1,580m2, this system

generates about 20% of the total electricity demand, which roughly

covers the demand of the ground source heat pump for the heat and

cold preparation. Another 19m2 of thermal solar panels help produce hot

water. Overall, the Crystal consumes 46% less energy and emits 65%

less carbon dioxide than comparable office buildings.

The passive design that gives the building its extraordinary shape

with many angles and sloping walls ensures natural lighting and

shading in the interior. A natural ventilation system with 150 controllable

façade openings reduces the cost of mechanical ventilation. The triple-

glazed windows, which have a g value of 0.3, maximize the building’s

insulation. Rainwater, as well as graywater and blackwater (waste water

having different levels of contamination), are collected and purified right

in the Crystal so that the building does not lose a single drop of water.

The advanced Desigo building automation system from Siemens

controls and monitors all building operating parameters, while the

Siemens Advantage Operation Center (AOC) in Frankfurt, Germany,

handles remote maintenance. The Crystal’s users and visitors can see

the latest energy and water consumption figures on Green Building

monitors, motivating them to adopt environmental and sustainable

practices in their own lives.

All of these innovative, active and passive design, building and

operating parameters contributed to the building’s LEED® Platinum

certification in the LEED® For New Construction and Major Renovations

(V2009) class.

The project was a collaboration between Wilkinson Eyre Architects,

Pringle Brandon Perkins + Will (PBP+W) and Arup, who worked closely

to create an innovative and bold architecture that can harness the

benefits of the latest ‘green’ technology. The crystalline geometry of the

architecture helps to create a confident architectural focal point for the

area. As the building occupies a prominent, highly visible location it has

been designed as ‘a pavilion in a park’. The design does not have front

and back facades or a traditionally defined roof but has been conceived

as a set of facets which creates a striking impression when viewed from

street level, and when seen from above.

The envelope of the crystal-shaped design reflects the building’s

context, having also a degree of transparency to help connect the

building with its surroundings. Different types of highly insulated glass

with varying levels of transparency are used, allowing spaces to be

naturally lit whilst controlling solar gain. This careful use of translucent

and mainly opaque glazing has been designed to minimise the running

costs of the building.

The angularity of the external skin of the building makes for interesting

and varied interior spaces, designed by PBP+W. Making up the exhibition

spaces is a large mezzanine with a sensory film experience theatre

contained within a white curved fabric shape, which contrasts with the

bright red shell of the auditorium on the opposite side of the street.

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stroke of brillianceIn the logically simple design of this house, the difficult geometrical shape of its site is conceptually resolved with the initial placement of two walls parallel to a broad front that faces the road.

by Joanne Goh | PhotograPhy by albert lim

n school, our design briefs – at least, how they

seemed to me – were often a blanket set of

guides that were general enough to apply and

hopefully appeal to a class of around twelve.

Especially in our junior years, we worked

with seemingly large plots of land to create

‘interpretive centres’, ‘visitor information centres’ which to be fair, were

later upgraded to ‘student hostels’ and ‘interpretive/performance art

centres’. Our clientele and audience were almost always self-created

and with the benefit of hindsight and advantage of irony, this was in fact

the hardest part of the process. We often hear of how ‘constraints drive

creativity’ and ‘innovation stems from constraints’ – even George Eliot

back in 1876 wrote in Daniel Deronda ‘Nam deteriores omnes sumu

licentiae’ (with too much freedom, we all deteriorate), and never before

has it been so apparent since I started practicing.

Before this starts to appear like a thesis extolling the merits of design

constraints, the project at hand is a semi-detached house at Vanda Drive

completed by RT+Q Architects in late 2012, not without a few struggles

over the eventual form, and definitely with a few constraints thrown into

the bargain.

The project team (Rene Tan, TK Quek, Eddie Gan and Jeslyn Ang)

were approached by the client in 2010, and the brief was kept general

as the client was not yet sure if he would eventually stay there. The

biggest design constraint turned out to be the site, as it was a triangular

plot, with its hypotenuse parallel to the road. The other two sides of the

triangle abutted other houses, and being a semi-detached plot, one side

of the house would have to be shared with the neighbour. This meant

that the 7.5m front setback would apply to the longest face of the site,

leaving lesser room to build with.

SECTION

1ST STOREY PLAN 2ND STOREY PLAN

site area 451.40m2

gFa 465.19m2

architect rt+Q architects Pte ltd project team rene tan, tK Quek, eddie Gan, Jeslyn ang builder/contractor Join aim Pte ltd c&s mSe Consultants Pte ltd quantify surveyor WS Surveyorship Pte ltd

27 VanDa DriVe

Rene Tan, design director at RT+Q shares that ‘the project started in

confusion..., in the sense that we studied a variety of “solutions” to the

massing and site planning of the house. The odd-shaped plot was really

an invitation for disaster and a trap for the “smart” architect to try to be

too clever. We realised that the harder we tried to resolve the angles, the

harder the process became and the messier the massing turned out.’

He candidly elaborates that the client and the design team were almost

resigned to the fact that the site would only allow a modest massing

before they gave a final try, having ‘realised at some point that we were

just hung up about our own pre-conceptions about form, rather than

using our common sense with regards to the site planning. The site,

being what it was, that is, a geometrically difficult shape, demanded a

simple rational solution which we had resisted for some time.’ Eventually,

the team adopted a ‘long rectilinear layout and accepted the form of a

broad-facing house parallel to the main road.’

With a single long rectangular massing facing the road, the residual

triangular form at the back was kept mainly for service areas and a

guest room on the ground floor, and a family room and bedroom on the

second floor. Conceptually, two parallel walls slice the portion where

the two shapes meet, acting as a buffer as well as forming the vertical

circulation ‘core’ of the house. Having finally arrived at the ‘natural’

solution to the site, the planning process, project architect Eddie Gan

shares, ‘became very straightforward’. The placement of the rectangular

block parallel to the road became the driver for the design, and with the

wide setback from the road, ancillary features like the pool and garden

took their cue from it. Immediately beyond the boundary fence is a strip

of garden, followed by a 3.5m by 18.5m strip of pool, followed again by

a 2.5m wide deck. This smooth and coherent layout of spaces allows

the living, dining and family rooms in the front block to all enjoy both a

physical and visual connection to the pool and the surrounding greenery.

Gan adds that during the design stages, the office was going

through a ‘thesis period’, where Tan encouraged the staff to have a

‘thesis’ for each of their projects. In this case, ‘the thesis of this house

was to make advantageous use of the odd-shape of the plot to create

an “en-suite green” for all the rooms beyond the bedrooms. These

days, en-suite baths in private housings are a given, so we thought

that we would give an added dimension to that term.’ Because all

the rooms were kept rectangular for ease of furniture layout, all the

residual triangular spaces were made into ‘mini courtyards’ within

the house.

This idea of using the residual spaces is effective in solving a variety

of issues springing from the odd-shaped plot. As the rectangular block

faces away from the common wall between two houses, another wedge-

shaped space is formed at the corner where the parti wall meets the

house. A courtyard is placed here, creating a pleasant backdrop for

the car porch, which is on slightly lower ground from the main floor.

Furthermore, the rectangular block is kept barely a foot apart from the

parti wall, almost as if someone pulled the block slightly to the left after it

was completed. This small but extremely effective gesture results in the

plot appearing as a detached house. If that was not enough for some,

the greenery is continued beyond the first ‘slice’ of wall and because the

two parallel walls are not of equal lengths, the guest room and bedroom

on the second floor enjoy a virtually exclusive courtyard. Also, as the

house is raised a meter from the ground, this also allows for light and

ventilation – not to mention views of the garden – to be brought into

the sizeable basement, which spans the same area as the rectangular

block above.

A third of the roof of the stairwell is finished with a trellis and glass

skylight to bring light into the space without letting in too much heat. In

keeping with making use of ‘leftover’ spaces, portions of the stair core

are used to house the bathrooms on the second floor. In a trademark

move of tongue-in-cheek humour mixed with a genuine desire to create

interesting spaces for the occupants, Tan and his team placed the

shower area of the master bath overlooking the staircase with only a

glass wall to separate a narcissistic bather and any voyeuristic guest. ‘Of

course’, Tan assures with a conspiratorial smile, ‘we made a provision

for blinds.’

The house is finished using a palette of steel, timber and glass

to achieve a warm and refined look, as well as in keeping with the

firm’s values of focusing on proportion, scale and detailing instead

of decorative excesses. In the end, Gan shares, the ‘challenging site

geometry provided us with a meaningful opportunity to rethink the

approach to a regular semi-detached house instead of posing as an

annoying obstacle.’ At risk of undermining the efforts of the project

team, if I had one word to describe the house, it would be ‘delightful.’

This house is not going to win an award for its avant-garde form, or its

environmentally sustainable features, but perhaps on an ironically more

significant end-note, this writer would definitely like to live there.

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upscale U-shape plan Hidden in Windsor Park Estate in central Singapore, lies a bungalow that is reminiscent of the traditional Hakka courtyard house. The courtyard house is a distinctive design feature particular to the Hakka Walled Village in China, housing the local Hakka ethnic group. The client, a ‘Hakka’ descendent, envisions a large communal home built for his growing family, multiple guests and frequent gathering among the siblings.

by ElainE lEE | PhotograPhy by albErt lim

ocated within an exclusive Good Class residential area,

the U-shaped layout of the house is designed for three

generations to live under one roof. Good Class Bungalows

are exclusive plots with minimum land size of 1,400m2,

located in prime districts. The distinct feature of such

housing is their two-storey building height limit.

The design team from ar43 created an inward-looking house in a densely

built-up neighbourhood with hardly any natural view. The U-shaped plan consists

of two predominant East and West wings, with a connecting South wing to the

back. The three wings frame a central courtyard on the ground floor, typical of

the traditional Hakka Courtyard House. The courtyard offers visual engagement

between the major internal spaces, so that occupants who are not sharing the

same space may still be aware of the presence of each other. The visual bonding

aims at securing a sense of belonging, while different screening treatments

maintain the desired privacy for respective spaces.

circulationA subtle hierarchy of space runs through the two-storey house, which also boasts

a basement and an attic. The East wing holds most of the master spaces, the West

wing the secondary and the South wing predominantly circulation and gathering

spaces. Guided by this rough logic in planning, guests enter the living room in the

East wing, via the central courtyard. The courtyard in this arrangement becomes a

majestic threshold for the owners to welcome their guests into the internal space.

A water feature around the perimeter of the courtyard adds to the grandiose of the

space, while functioning as a natural cooling system.

Almost the entire length of the living room is lined with wooden pivoted panels,

which can be opened to access the central courtyard. The length of the dining room

located at the South wing can also slide open to adjoin the central courtyard, giving

the flexibility to enlarge the entertainment area substantially without too much

disruption to the private spaces. More indoor entertainment rooms are discreetly

accommodated in the basement, which is roughly the footprint of the South wing.

ATTIC PLAN 2ND STOREY PLAN

Central courtyard

Attic pool External fritted pattern External screen

site area 646.3m2 built-in area 645m2 architect ar43 architects Pte ltd (lim Cheng Kooi, murphy Wong, David mok) structural engineer ronnie & Koh Consultants Pte ltd m&e Wistec Engineers & associates quantity surveyor rJ Consultants Pte ltd builder bestec Construction Pte ltd

29 WinDSOr ParK rOaD

1ST STOREY PLAN BASEMENT PLAN

FRONT ELEVATION

SIDE ELEVATION

CROSS SECTION A

CROSS SECTION B

The flexibility and interchangeable usage of the spaces within the adopted

Hakka architectural model, inspires the design team to treat the central courtyard

as an extension of the living and dining rooms, so that the clients could seamlessly

extend their parties from indoor to outdoor.

Tucked away in the West wing are the dry and wet kitchen, as well as a ‘granny

room’. The house is also serviced by a hidden yard and helper’s room. Upper floors

are accessed via straight-flight stairs or lift, located at the South wing. On the 2nd

level, the family room in the South wing bridges the Master bedroom in the East

wing and three children’s bedroom suites housed in the West wing.

A distinctive spiral stairs brings the occupants from the 2nd level up to the

attic, where an extensive lap pool covers the entire length of the East wing and a

hobby room and roof garden on the west wing. The vantage point of the rooftop

offers a panoramic view of the entire neighbourhood in privacy. The greenery

and the lap pool are strategically positioned to reduce heat absorption and better

insulate the private spaces beneath.

materialsWith the maximised visual connectivity offered by the U-shaped plan, different

screening treatment are employed to control and maintain porosity and hence

privacy of the internal spaces. With most of the master spaces housed in the East

wing, the entire wing is emphasized with full-height cladding of semi-transparent

fritted glass panels. It is differentiated from the West wing, which is fortified by

fair face concrete walls.

The choice of screening material is carefully deliberated over with

consideration for facing as well as privacy needs. Wood-like vertical screens are

introduced along West facing wall of the East wing, to filter the harsh Western

sun from the living room and the master bedroom. A corridor wall that runs the

length of the 1st level of the West wing is designed with slits for natural lighting

as well as maintaining a visual link to the courtyard, without compromising the

privacy of the granny’s room.

The straight-flight stairs in the South wing, is finished with a semi-transparent

treatment. The transparency of the staircase, strengthens the visual link from the

front courtyard to the dining room and the rear garden. On the other hand, the

spiral stairs from 2nd level to the roof level, is a feature metal staircase, finished

to standout, with built-in solid pealing ribbon-like balustrade leading towards a

stunning skylight above.

conclusionBy dedicating a good part of the ground level to a versatile courtyard and bringing

the pool to the roof, the U-shaped Courtyard House clearly segregates public and

private spaces housed within the confines of its three wings. The design team

offers its occupants a liveable house that is sensitive to comfort and privacy –

characteristics much needed for multi-generations to live harmoniously under

a roof.

Living room

Mother’s room corridor

Water spout

Spiral staircase skylight Spiral staircase

Master ensuite

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38

he existing topography which drops a steep 8m from the

entrance to the eastern boundary, is crafted as the stage

for a customized lifestyle to operate. The extended family

has a common active lifestyle, hence their requirement

for a 25m lap pool, from which an unimpeded view of the

neighbouring site can be enjoyed to the fullest.

To work effectively around the rectilinear plot, the design team from ar43

created volumes surrounding a central courtyard. A pair of predominant North

and South wings anchor the bulk of the living quarters and programs and are

connected via a bridging block to the West. Towards the East of the plot, a single-

storey pavilion, extends from the 1st level of the North wing, to define the central

courtyard. The 2nd level of the North wing is expressively cantilevered outwards

to hover over the infinity pool below. A continuous folding roof over the North,

South and West volumes ties the entire scheme together.

under one roofIt is rare to find residential sites that offer the kind of vantage advantages of Caldecott Hill, a private housing estate located along Thomson Road. Set in acres of lush, tropical grounds, this designated Good Class Bungalow housing estate feels like a world apart from the bustling pace of the rest of Singapore. Nestled almost at the top of Caldecott Hill and over-looking a nature reserve, is this house at Olive Road designed for a three-generation family.

by ElainE lEE | PhotograPhy by albErt lim

circulationThe unique topography, gave rise to the opportunity to allow occupants to enter

the house via the 2nd level. A broad entryway that detaches the house from the

existing sloping terrain of Olive Road, leads to a generous car porch. From the

car porch, guests enter right into the main entry foyer at the West block. They are

immediately greeted with a framed distant view of the far horizon, flanked by the

North and South wings of the house.

The 2nd level holds the private quarters. To the right, the master bedroom

is tucked away at the end of the South wing, with an extensive view out, while

conveniently located close to the lift. There is a total of four bedrooms and a

master bedroom on the 2nd level.

Guests entering the main foyer can bypass the private quarters and descend

directly to the 1st level through a cantilevered straight-flight stairs. They are

led to another foyer, which boasts the calming view of a reflective pool of water

in the central courtyard. In the background of the courtyard, a single-storey

glass pavilion, which showcases the living and dining area, offers glimpses of

the distant green and horizon, through its pivoted doors that are operable on

all sides.

From the reflective pool, a sculptural oxidized metal stair spirals upwards to

connect to the rooftop garden above the glass pavilion, where one can enjoy a

stunning panoramic view of the city.

Towards the West of the 1st level, the design team tucks ancillary spaces,

such as the helper’s room, yard and wet kitchen away in the North wing, as

well as a private guest room in the South wing. Facing the central courtyard,

full height sliding doors visually connect the dry kitchen in the North wing, to

the study in the South wing – across the reflective pool. The visual connection

allows for increased awareness between family members using different

spaces in the house.

site area 1,412m2 gFa 1,033.39m2

architect ar43 architects Pte ltd (lim Cheng Kooi, bima ario bagaskoro, tracy tan) c&s engineer mSE Engineering & management Consultants m&e engineer GimS & associates Pte ltd quantity surveyor rJ Consultants Pte ltd builder bestec Construction Pte ltd landscaper nature landscape

22 OliVE rOaD

Towards the East of the house, pivoted as well as sliding glass doors are

introduced to give as wide a view out as possible. The most unimpeded view can be

enjoyed from the lap pool, which is located at the Eastern edge of the house. Walking

towards the lap pool, one is drawn to the spaciousness of the surrounding open

spaces. Shade relief over a portion of the pool is created by the large cantilevered

extension of the North wing.

As one descends to the lap pool, a large family entertainment room tucked away

in the basement, beneath the glass pavilion, is revealed. The full view of this infinity

pool is enjoyed from the comfort of the entertainment room and is further connected

for poolside activities. The basement also holds a hobby room as well as storage areas.

materialsStepping into the main foyer, a continuous folding roof gently guides one in. The roof

sits on a ribbon glass that wraps around the perimeter of the 2nd level, allowing

natural light to filter in. The underside of the ceiling is clad with directional timber

strips, which guides the eye towards the extensive view of the lowered landscape

overlooking Thomson road.

Along the length of the North and South wings, full height operable metal

screens with laser cut motifs act as sun shading device, bringing in not only

the North-east and Southwest monsoon winds but also shadow patterns that

changes over the course of the day.

The palette of natural materials used throughout the house evokes a sense

of calm. Exterior timber clad the walls, columns, screens. The earthy feel of the

timber is complemented by the fair face concrete walls finished with rugged

wood texture. The raw effect created by the choice of materials gives the house

a down-to-earth atmosphere, enhancing the fluidity of spatial transition between

the indoor and the outdoor.

conclusionWith the successful creation of multiple visual connections and vantage points

throughout the house, the design team has successfully turned the initial

challenge of the steep drop in the topography, into a design feature unique to

the site. They have created a house that is conducive for three generations to

enjoy in unity.

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extension of spaceCaldecott Hill is a prime residential district in Central Singapore, which overlooks some of the lushest local natural park and a stunning view towards the city. Visible from Thomson Road, a Good Class Bungalow that commands a stately view has established itself prominently towards the top of the hill. Inspired by the dramatic topographic and scenic conditions of a triangulated cliff-site plot, the dwelling exploits its unique setting to create a luxurious residence with vantage panoramic views of the distant Singapore’s urban landscape.

by ElainE lEE | Images courtesy DP architEcts

he house leverages on the topography and site

context to maximize views, while working around site

constraints. It is a strictly two-storey building with a

basement. The unusual wedged plot fans out towards

the East, with an intense 7m drop, from the entrance

along Olive Road, towards the Eastern edge of the site.

It is envisioned as a series of terraces to mitigate topographic challenges of

its steeply sloping terrain.

spatial designThe design team from DP Architects created an L-shaped structure, consisting

of a series of terraced pavilions. While maintaining privacy from Olive Road, the

tiered dwelling embraces the site, wrapping around purposefully created garden

and courtyard spaces. Views towards an infinity pool, as well as the distant

greenery, are carefully crafted to be visible from all rooms in the house.

In a subtle but powerful gesture, the design team further uses surrounding

views as an extension of space and craft charming encounters and vistas to

guide the occupants. The eventual spatial experience is sculpted by the careful

crafting of these views throughout the building.

BASEMENT PLAN1ST STOREY

2ND STOREY PLAN

site area 1,580m2 gFa 1,140m2 client sharon chan hoong Kiang architect DP architects project team teoh hai Pin, seah chee huang, Gwee tong Mui, liew Kok Feng, nur alina bte Mohamed ali, cai Wan Yan, christopher chow c&s engineer alan Yap Engineers & associates contractor Exclusive Design construction Pte ltd

23 OliVE rOaD

ELEVATION 1

ELEVATION 2

SECTION A-A

As one moves through the building, the vistas gradually open up to reveal

framed views of the surrounding. At strategic nodes, there are delightful

encounters with greenery, courtyards, water features, daylight and breezeway.

This expansion of space is further enhanced by the progressive dematerialisation

of elements as the building opens up to the surrounding scenery.

Vertically, the extension of spaces are also experienced through the deliberate

placement of voids, open-to-sky courtyards, skylight and airwells. Eventually, the

journey ends with an expansive view of the panorama in the master bedroom,

junior suites and outdoor family decks.

serial visionsA series of axes that runs NW to SE and SW to NE, form the backbone of the

circulation paths around the building. The axes established allow the vistas to

capitalise on the best views towards the NE and SE of the site.

As guests enter the entrance foyer via a celebrated pedestrian walkway from

the 1st level, they are immediately greeted by an obscured view that hints at the

stunning view in the SE direction. The view is obstructed by a layering of the foyer,

landscape and the dining room. To the left, the living room overlooks the infinity

pool towards an unimpeded view of the cityscape. To the right, ancillary programs

are tucked out of sight, terminating at a private guest room with a view, at end. A

deep overhang shades the guest room, as well as provide added privacy.

Throughout the 1st level, end walls terminate corridors or blade walls, such

that when occupants turn a corner, they are pleasantly greeted by vistas that

serve to draw them with daylight, views or breezeways. Some of these vistas are

extensive and run almost the length or breadth of the building. The exaggerated

gesture creates the effect of extension space, towards the surrounding greenery.

A skylight to the right, serves as a vertical core which guides occupants

towards the stairs. The dog-leg stair provides the main vertical circulation up to

the 2nd level and down to the basement.

The private programs are located on the 2nd level. To the left, is a master

bedroom with unimpeded SE view. To the left, there are two bedrooms that

overlook the landscape below and a junior suite with a SE view, right at the

end. On the 2nd level, apart from the vistas, voids also play an important role as

encounters that extend the spaces. They either extend vertically down towards

landscaping or up towards daylight.

In the basement, an extensive garage accessible from the driveway is hidden

from view. Occupants or guests entering via the basement are again greeted by

an obscured view in SE direction, obstructed by a layering of landscape and an

entertainment room. A water feature is the node that guides users to the right,

where the stairs are carefully tucked.

controlled viewsArchitecturally, the use of a series of double quartz blade walls reinforces the

tiered effect of the volumes, expressing the changes in height as well as the

transitions of function of the internal spaces. These twin blade walls which give

the house a distinctive quality also form interstitial spaces, where sky lights and

full height glazing bathe the indoor spaces with ample daylight.

Internally, this order of framed views creates an intricate network of spatial

extensions that leads one from one place to another throughout the entire building.

Various vistas, courtyard and garden spaces are unravelled through this journey,

creating delightful encounters of greenery, views and natural breeze ways.

The use of alternating sliding timber screens enhances the facade which

permutates, based on the homeowner’s desire for shade or privacy. The use

of screens introduces filtered light into the bedrooms and bathroom creating

a complex play of lights and shadows. Beyond the attenuation of light, these

timber screens acts as privacy screens.

The interface between interior and exterior is disintegrated and opens

up to embrace the garden as well as the borrowed panoramic views of the

surroundings. Interior spaces link with the outdoors and can open up for effective

cross-ventilation.

conclusionEncounters and vistas are used to sculpt the spaces in this dwelling, to create

a project where views inform the form as well as the spatial experience. The

essence behind this project revolves around the core spirit of tropical living,

where fusion of the indoor and outdoor realms is celebrated and attenuated

by the dynamic extension from one to another. The use of screens and

pavilions orchestrate subtle changes to the house at different times of the

day, accentuating the tropical notion and producing a private, exclusive and

unique home.

No. 23 Genting Road, #01-05, Chevalier HouseSingapore 349481 (T) 65-6747-7561 www.lumbermart.com.sg

Lumber Mart Pte Ltd

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eil Road is a one-way street that connects the historic

district of Chinatown to the Blair Plain Conservation

area. The road is address for some of the country’s most

notable shophouse restoration projects, including 9 Neil

Road, the pilot conservation project undertaken by the

Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) in 1987 that was

to become a case study and the standard for other heritage shophouses in the

rest of Singapore. On the other end of the road, at Number 157, stands the NUS

Baba House, URA’s most recent showcase, restored to illustrate conservation

best practices today. Architects Mark Wee and Ewan Wong’s project is a

residential unit that is not only located along this remarkable stretch of heritage

builds, it sits right by another place of interest – Number 147, the house in

which the country’s pre-eminent Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew had spent his

boyhood years.

the aspiration: ‘have I lived here all my life?’It is against this context-rich backdrop that Wee, Director of Experience Design

at OX:D, Ong&Ong, and Wong, Project Architect, received the brief from the

current owner of the house, an entrepreneur in her 20s: ‘Can we create a place

that feels as if I have lived here all my life?’

The brief points the new addition and alteration work towards interesting

considerations, including the interplay of history, personality, nostalgia and

contemporary aspirations. The architects wanted to foreground an emotional

meaning over conceptual ideas, to make the house now personal to its current

inhabitants even as conservation was also to be, unquestionably, a paramount

strategy.

For Wee, the project is another practical opportunity to contemplate his

approach to architecture. Architectural authorship (Wee calls it ‘the aesthetics

of the architect that we buy into as a brand’) is consciously removed. This shifts

the starting points; the design origins now lie with what is a construct, a piece of

built history, and they respectfully recognize the house’s past, present and future

occupancies along with the life in them.

moon, wind, residenceLocated on one of Singapore’s most popular heritage and architecture trails, Ong&Ong’s House at Neil Road is a private home and a response to a conservation shophouse’s history and heritage, tuned to the life of its current occupancy. The house can be read as a narrative, or an architectural palimpsest.

by Yvonne Xu | PhotograPhy by See Chee Keong

SECTION A-A

letting walls talkWee and Wong learnt that the house had once been owned by a former Minister

of Culture, who had taken care to preserve much of the original features of the

transitional-style Peranakan shophouse.

More interested to lay bare the building’s past than to give it polish, the

architects had plaster peeled back to reveal underlying layers, and shutters’

paintwork burnt and stripped to expose their natural timber texture. Internal

fit-outs such as air-conditioning units were positioned so joists and rafters can

be appreciated in their full glory. Frescos as well as a ceramic fish mould that

previously functioned as a spout for rainwater downpipes were restored by

Chinese artisans – not perfectly, but bearing authentic visible traces of history.

FRONT ELEVATION

SECTION B-B

REAR ELEVATION

SECTION C-C

gFa 520m2

architect ong&ong Pte Ltd design director Mark Wee/experience Design at oX:D project architect ewan Wong

Painstaking effort was taken to restore and conserve as much and as

authentically as possible. The threshold to the house is demarcated with a

tiled inset that consists of original, patterned cement tiles salvaged from the

old staircase plinth. Excess clay bricks from lower levels were also recycled

and incorporated into a partition wall in the master bedroom. Blue paint on

walls was restored to a more authentic tone by using mineral silicate, while a

pigmented grouting mixture helped to recreate the five-foot way’s red cement

flooring. The effort extends to interior elements – old timber planks found onsite

are carpentered into shelving, wall niches and even balusters (freed from old

staircases) find currency as candle holders.

a lineageBeyond bearing traces of its past, the house presents a genealogy of sorts which

the architects and owner had admirably sought to preserve, adapt or add to in

their turn. Wee and Wong’s work to the shophouse was done sensitively as an

organic development, following all that have come before.

The new extensions required by the owner who lives in the house with her

husband and dog, and who works from home, are added towards the back of the

property. Special attention is paid to transitional spaces, with focus on ideas of

linking, mediating, extending. Of courtyards that intersperse the linear spaces,

for example, Wee writes in the architect’s statement, ‘Instead of serving their

traditional roles as transitional negative spaces, these courtyards are transformed

into meaningful, positive spaces that negotiate the boundaries between the public

and private as well as the old and new.’

ROOF PLAN

ATTIC PLAN

2ND STOREY PLAN

1ST STOREY PLAN

gFa 520m2

architect ong&ong Pte Ltd design director Mark Wee/experience Design at oX:D project architect ewan Wong

houSe AT neIL RoAD

a narrative, an architectural palimpsestPerhaps due to the strong contextual framework of the project, the written

statement for the project references the house to the form of the narrative. The

project comes titled ‘House At Neil Road’ with the acknowledgment that it ‘acts

as a storytelling device’. At one level, it alludes to the trope of history, a form of

narrative, here identified as one ‘that weaves together a rich and compelling

narrative of the past and current occupants for future occupants who might take

on the mantle to continue the storytelling alongside their occupancy’.

As Wee writes, ‘the shophouse walls tell a similar story of progression from

old to new, with paintwork along the forecourt’s boundary walls stripped and

left unfinished, revealing layers of paint in the traditional tones of Peranakan

shophouses – blue, yellow, ochre, red ochre and pastel green. Exposed brick walls

reveal old bricks manufactured with local clay that are no longer in production.’

The narrative trope is also explored in terms of house features being read as

‘discourse on the themes of old versus new’ – all rich in symbolism. (The terrazzo

finishes of the outdoor bath and other bathrooms, for example, ‘highlight an

age-old craft that is becoming a dying trade in Singapore’; and the young tree

in the new courtyard adds ‘a shade of symbolism to this new addition to the

shophouse’). Yet on another level, the restored Chinese inscriptions on the

facade, as well as the folklore-inspired frescos on the original courtyard wall tell

their own stories.

inscribed in historyEvidently, the age and heritage of the house come through in its latest expression.

Wee and Wong have not only preserved this charm, but successfully fulfilled

the owner’s wish for a space that is personally and culturally significant. On

the house’s façade are the Chinese inscriptions ‘yin feng’, ‘yue nong’ (loosely

translated to ‘singing of the wind and the moon’) that flank a Confucius quote

‘ju chu gong’ (to ‘respect the rules and order in the residence’). These become

apt descriptions for the poetically restored house.

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56

blooming in suburbiaThe Hwa Hun House by HyoMan Kim of IROJE KHM Architects cuts a powerful image in its suburban context. Some might argue it is an acquired taste. Strong symmetrical triangles punctuated with glazing positioned looking like eyes, one might assume Decepticon has landed in the exclusive neighborhood of Pyeongchang-dong, Jongro-gu, Seoul. The more romantically inclined might see a pristine snowflake blossoming in drab grey Suburbia. Either way, the Hwa Hun House is bound to draw its critics.

by Kenneth Cheong | PhotograPhy by Sergio Pirrone

o fully understand the disconcerting geometry

of the house, one has to look into the previous

houses designed by HyoMan Kim. The Purple

Hill House completed in 2009 is a languid

composition of triangulated planes mimicking

its rugged landscaped. Recently, the Island

House melds with the banks of a water body seamlessly like a parasitic

apparition. These previous projects clearly exemplify Kim’s delft handling

of his architecture with the natural landscape.

Which brings to question, the obtuse trajectory the Hwa Hun House

takes...when there is no natural features to speak of. How would then

the house engage in a dialogue with the banality of Suburbia?

ROOF FLOOR PLAN

PLOT PLAN

ROOF PLAN 2ND FLOOR PLAN

site area 353.92m2

building area 167.88m2

gFa 441.69m2 architect hyoMan Kim – iroJe KhM Architects design team KyungJin-Jung, Seunghee-Song, SuKyung-Jang, JiYeon-Kim structure concrete rahmen exterior finish aluminium sheet, exposed concrete interior finish lacquer, exposed concrete

hWA hUn hoUSe, SeoUL, KoreA

LEFTSIDE ELEVATION

FRONT ELEVATION

BASEMENT PLAN1ST FLOOR PLAN

perfect symmetriesQuite simply, Kim explains, ‘I felt the image of the surrounding town of

this house was dark and blue. The architecture should be harmonized

with the surrounding context whether its attitude is similar or contrary,

but if the existing context is not desirable, we expect to renew the

existing context, I think. I would like to propose – complex architecture

and nature, architectural nature, natural architecture.’

Working with a sloping polyhedron site, Kim says the symmetry was

borne out of the necessity to maximize the potentials and efficiency of

the site as ‘the topographic axis and axis of view is located in the centre

of the site.’

Whether intentional or not, the perfect symmetry of the façade and

unconventional geometries of the Hwa Hun House clearly gives the two

finger salute to the domestic aspirations of its neighbours.

controlled movements‘We try to design continuous circulation to stroll all the inside spaces

of various levels of this house, those are strolling and dramatic space.’

In plan, the house reads as an intricate web of staircases and

corridors. Rooms are placed as constant nodes in three dimensional

space. The circulation route traverses all perimeters of the house

horizontally and vertically, stitching all the functional rooms weaving

both indoors and outdoors, compressing and expanding into rooms.

The intentional movement of crisscrossing to all points of the perimeter

extrapolates the tiny 353m2 site.

Kim also uses the complex circulation route as a tool to twist and

turn vertically and horizontally to carve and meld the internal spaces in

three dimensions.

SECTION-1 SECTION-2

SECTION-3 SECTION-4

The dominant symmetry of the façade is also carried through in

plan. The circulation routes are designed as mirror images, intertwining

and joining at communal spaces and separating, tracing opposite ends

of the site. From the lower basement level car park, a valley garden

corridor leads to the upper floor and forks into a pair of staircases, one

leading directly to the master bedroom and the other to the dining room,

meeting at the living room. The pair of staircases snakes to the second

floor to form a pair of courtyards which bring light and ventilation into

the house. A pair of children’s bedrooms on the second floor are tucked

in the cavities formed as the pair of staircases manoeuvres around to

meet at the roof garden.

manufactured landscapes‘The Client’s brief included maximizing the area of natural garden

resulting in lining the exposed surfaces with vegetation. We added the

topographic architecture on the existing topography of site which is

steep sloped to harmonize with natural condition of site.

To maximize the area of green garden, all the exterior spaces of

this house are covered with vegetation. Consequently, all the internal

spaces of this house roofed over with vegetation. There are various

levelled gardens – a forecourt garden, an inner court garden, a stair

garden, a water fall garden, a roof garden...and all the vertical gardens

are connected with each other continuously.’

Using the circulation routes and angular planes of the walls, Kim

carves valleys and twists surfaces at whim to create a manufactured

terrain within the house. The pair of staircases in the house terminates

at the rooftop garden which is designed as ‘nature-scape architecture.

The triangulated geometry of the roof scape which Kim terms

‘architectural hill’ creates an undulating terrain mimicking the only

redeeming feature of the site – the view of the Bukhansan mountain

range in the background.

In Korean, the Hwa Hun House translates to the Blooming House.

The Hwa Hun House is not a thing of conventional beauty. Peel past the

initial shock of the blistering symmetry and Decepticon facade and its

architectural intent in its purest form reveals itself. ‘People should be

adapted to the environment of spaces, we can draw other spaces, if we

can be free from fixed idea about function of living.’

Who better to adapt to this unconventional house than the children of

the house. According to Kim, the client’s children find delight in playing

in the nooks and crannies within and outside, while their parents enjoy

the manufactured landscapes within.

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62

a forest in the neighbourhoodSunnyHills Minami-Aoyama is Kengo Kuma’s latest in his on-going exploration of traditional Japanese wood joint systems. In this project, a pineapple cake store, 5,722 metres of cypress slats used as structural members in a special framework make for a unique store and urban experience. With this design and system, Kuma continues to update traditional wood construction methods for modern buildings, as he also brings back the ‘softness’ of timber, if not the metaphorical forest, to the concrete city.

by Yvonne Xu | Images courtesy Kengo Kuma & associates

e’ve seen it before. The wood slats are interlocked.

The structure is labyrinthian. And when night falls,

it becomes that membranous, emergent vision

of light. Materiality and transparency, object and

perception, craft and structural solutions are

hallmarks of his work and to his followers, this

building is, therefore, recognizably, the work of Kengo Kuma.

Following the orderly, cubic lattice of the GC Prostho Museum Research

Center in Kasugai-shi, Aichi, and the more dynamic interweave at the

Starbucks Coffee shop in Dazaifu, Fukuoka, SunnyHills Minami-Aoyama’s

timber slat construction falls in direct lineage of the Japanese master’s study

of wood construction. Located in a quiet residential neighbourhood in Aoyama,

this latest expression feels more organic, and also points Kuma’s timber-stick

experiments towards greater complexity.

the aspiration

When the owners of SunnyHills first approached Kuma, it took little time for

the architect to say yes to the project. Kuma was sympathetic to their business

philosophy: ‘In learning about SunnyHills, we thought their attitude – producing

simple and high-quality sweets from best ingredients available – could match

our architectural philosophy.’ SunnyHills’ locally minded business model,

built upon an interest to revitalize the region’s farming, reflected Kuma’s

architectural aspirations: instead of relying on big contractor and building firms

as in the common practice today, Kuma hopes to ‘democratize and simplify’

architecture and construction by referring back to an earlier and more local

building culture – one based on wood, and one ‘where anyone could build’,

because ‘wood is a simple material to cut and join’.

the structureSunnyHills’ porous building is a lattice of hinoki (Japanese cypress) slats, criss-

crossed and locked into structure like an endoskeleton for the building. Kengo

Kuma shares: ‘Our aim was to create a forest in the busy city centre – we studied

how lighting states would change in a day in [the] woods, and came up with a

shape like a basket, as you describe.’

Developed together with structural engineer Jun Sato, the building technique,

already explored in some of Kuma’s earlier buildings, is this time tested with

site area 175.69m2

building area 102.36m2

total floor area 293.00m2

architecture Kengo Kuma & associates structure Jun sato structural engineering facilities Kankyo engineering construction satohide corporation

sunnYHiLLs at minami-aoYama, toKYo, JaPan

combination angles never used before. ‘What is characteristic about SunnyHills,

is the angle of the lattice; unlike the conventional 90 degrees, we tried

30 degrees and 60 degrees to combine the pieces. By designing with these

varied angles, we were able to achieve a shape and a frame that evokes a forest

– a natural form of environment,’ Kuma shares. The diagonal interlock is also

much stronger than the system used in the previous Starbucks project, in

which the structure supports only the roof.

cidori and jiigoku-gum The wood joint that needs neither glue nor nail, for Kuma, is the essence of

Japanese architecture. The architect first got interested in joinery methods in

2004, when he discovered the Cidori system from Hida Takayama, a town in

the carpentry-famous prefecture of Gifu.

Cidori is the name of the old Japanese children’s toy, comprising of

interlocking wooden pieces. The word Cidori literally means 1000 birds, and

it is explained that Cidori does not talk so much of the density of a material

as it describes the image of birds flying through the sky, ‘particle-like’. Kuma

had found the image interesting and the joint method (also used in the muntin

grid in the Japanese shoji – the technique is called Jiigoku-Gum) to be very

‘democratic’, in the sense that ‘anybody, even kids,’ can build a structure once

he or she learns how to put together the pieces.

Thus inspired, Kuma’s exploration of timber construction began. His first slat

construction is the 15m2 Cidori Koshi, or Cidori lattice, a pavilion installed in 2007

at Castello Sforzesco, Milan. From there, Kuma tested the system at a bigger

scale, in the 10m tall GC Prostho Museum Research Center before adapting the

regular perpendicular system into a diagonal system at Starbucks at Dazaifu

Tenmangu, where the sticks also come together in a more complicated joint

with four of them intersecting at one point. The challenge was to use the

structural system to create and control the spatial flow.

from a time beforeThe learning from these previous projects is now distilled at the SunnyHills

flagship that draws visitors in through its cave-like opening. As the sun warms

up the building, the scent of cypress fills the air, giving Kuma’s vision of the

‘forest in the busy city centre’ an extra sensory dimension.

Kuma has once said that his architecture might be thought of ‘some

kind of frame of nature’ and that his aim is to ‘recover the place’. This lattice

frame of SunnyHills, in this context, gains meaning. However ‘novel’ it might at

first seem, the building, for its visitors and its builders alike, returns in fact to

a familiar experience. And however identifiable or ‘recognizably-Kuma’ it may

be, the structure is not to be mistaken as ‘iconic’ architecture, as in current

design parlance. What it recovers or recalls is something else, something familiar,

something reminiscent.

We know we’ve seen it before – the stick toy, the nest perched, the basket,

the old wooden house of the pre-Meiji era Tokyo, and from an even earlier time,

the forest they had come from.

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66

centre weightedStory and imageS courteSy LOT-EK

Band of Outsiders had commissioned LOT-EK (New York and Naples) to collaborate on a design concept, to be implemented in each of the brand’s new retail shops. The first retail project is completed in Tokyo, which will be followed by the global flagship store in New York City’s Soho later this year. The Tokyo store represents an important milestone in the development of Band of Outsiders’ retail identity – establishing a spatial, experiential and aesthetic scheme which can be adapted globally.

he Tokyo store, located in the fashionable

Sendagaya neighborhood, was inspired by the

brand’s core style – modern, fresh and playful,

with a cool and easy Californian vibe. The new

three-storey building houses the store on the

ground floor, along with showroom and offices

on the upper floors. The building is wrapped by a mesh façade which

serves a dual purpose: providing a minimal unifying ‘skin’ for the entire

building, while also serving as a billboard, allowing the designer to

display rotating imagery inspired by that season’s collection.

The store’s interior was designed to evoke the idea of a

fashion/retail laboratory – raw steel and concrete finishes

are balanced with elegant white-laminated wood cases. The

primary plan is built upon a large existing structural

column. Rather than treating the column as purely an

obstruction, LOT-EK was inspired by the idea of a carousel, in

which all pieces work in concert.

A massive steel mechanism – nicknamed ‘the monster’ –

was customized and fabricated to fit around the column, and

serves as the anchor for all primary retail functions, allowing

the client to fully maximize the interior footprint. Like a giant

swiss army knife, the monster’s 28 steel arms house two

fitting rooms, a checkout register, eight dress forms, 10 display

cases, six hanging displays and a projector. The fitting rooms

provide an opportunity to create special moments within the

shop; each room’s total surface area features imagery and

sound that evokes the brand’s muse and inspiration, California

and cinema.

design LOT-EK (Ada Tolla + Giuseppe Lignano, Principals) project architect Aaron Mark area 1,800ft2 (170m2) local architect Geograph (Koki Hashimoto) general contractor/builder D Brain Co, LTD

BAND OF OUTSIDERS, SENDAGAYA, TOKYO, JAPAN

shop

68 sharp linesStory and photoS courteSy mode:lina architekciphotography by marcin ratajczak

ncouraged by their successful

Warsaw-based store and internet

store, the owners of RunColors decided

to show their offer of limited series of

Nike, Adidas, New Balance shoes in

Pozna , an old capital city of Poland.

The designers from mode:lina architekci created a concept

for their new 110m2 shop in the Stary Browar shopping centre

as a space with strong identity bearing the recognizable

RunColors name and logo. Shoelaces, a feature distinctive

for the brand, inspired mode:lina to create a simulation with

a dynamic and multicolour installation from colourful ropes.

Their prismatic outlines refer to a fast movement of a runner –

colourful lines bounce from one wall to another also merging

into floor space. Dark grey walls make a great background

for a wide range of shoes in different colours, as well as for

the colourful rope installation. The store interior is furnished

with dark grey painted antiques, as a reference to Warsaw.

These heavy old furniture with tiny colourful touches are a

counterpoint for the light rope installation.

stay

70

he 25hours Hotel Bikini Berlin is part of the

Bikini Berlin project co-ordinated by local

architecture firm KEC Architects. In developing

their design, KEC Architects considered the

requirements of historical preservation while at

the same time creating a progressive, modern

commercial and residential space. The hotel in particular is designed

with the same level of care that goes into all 25hours properties.

One of the cornerstones of the project is the rooftop bar and

restaurant, with its wide-open design and 360-degree view. On one

side is the wide green expanses of Tiergarten Park and the animals in

the Berlin Zoo; on the other, the bustling Breitscheidplatz and majestic

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.

see the monkeys from up hereThe 25hours Hotel Bikini Berlin is located among a collection of 1950s-era historic buildings, including the Zoo Palast cinema and Bikinihaus, a post-war architectural icon. The original buildings in the Bikini Berlin complex were constructed between 1955 and 1957 as part of West Berlin’s post-war modernist architectural vanguard, emphasizing freedom, dynamism, lifestyle and consumerism. At the centre is the ‘Bikinihaus’, a long, flat central building with an open-sided second floor, and alongside it is the 25hours Hotel Bikini Berlin in a 10-storey, former office building.

Story and imageS courteSy designhotels.com

entrance portal

This duality carries over to the interior of the hotel as well, with a

playful ‘urban jungle’ concept orchestrated by forward-thinking local

designer Werner Aisslinger. Of the 149 rooms, half face the zoo and

follow a ‘jungle’ design scheme, with warm colours, natural materials

and floor-to-ceiling windows that offer direct views of the monkey

enclosure. In contrast, rooms facing the city centre have a rougher,

edgier feel. For business events, three in-house meeting facilities were

designed with the same duality in mind.

Hotel Bikini’s ‘living room’-style lobby – with a working corner, bakery

(a collaboration with local bread makers Soluna) and Berlin-style lounge

complete with DJ – ensures visitors are introduced to the best of the

city the moment they enter. The fresh-air sauna on the 9th floor offers a

direct view of the zoo’s monkey house for a truly natural experience.

urban M roomjungle L room

bikini island

neni restaurant rooftop terrace

monkey bar

microhouses (conference rooms)

urban XL room

Ed Ng of AB Concept (Hong Kong) believes that careful attention to the smallest detail make up the best interior designs.

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72the luxe factorby Rebecca Lo | Images and captIons courtesy ab concept

ome people grow up not having a clue what they would

like to do for a career. Ed Ng knew that he would be

a designer for almost as long as he could remember.

‘I was always moving things around in our home,’

Ng recalls. ‘When I was about 10 years old, I asked my

mother to take me to the lumber store so that I could

get plywood to make a bookcase. My parents would often ask my advice on

how to decorate our home, the choice of timber or colour of paint.’ When

he was a teen, Ng moved to the United States to attend high school as an

exchange student. Although he took the usual courses such as chemistry and

biology, he also studied German, art history and pottery. ‘I was always in the

art studio after classes,’ he notes. ‘My art teacher encouraged me to pursue

a career in the subject.’

Ng returned to Hong Kong for his tertiary education and was thrilled when

he was accepted at Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s design programme.

‘I had always aspired to go there – I am from Hong Kong and have always

loved PolyU’s red brick buildings. And my interest in design developed even

further after I was a student there. All of my professors were very good, but

I was frustrated that it was all about concepts. I didn’t learn any technical

aspects or detailing. I saw that students from other schools could get jobs

and begin designing right away since they knew about those things. But now,

looking back, I’m glad that I learned that a concept is important because it

drives a project from start to finish. As a result, our company is one that

focuses on storytelling.’

Ed Ng and Terence Ngan of AB Concept

Shangri-La Hotel Qufu: ‘The porte-cochère resembles a Chinese pavilion with its imposing grandeur, central axis, ochre-red lacquer exterior and traditional lattice patterns. Dominating the entrance are three overhead lights, evoking images of traditional wisdom lanterns. In the hotel’s majestic lobby and reception area, AB Concept has taken full advantage of the 8.5m ceiling, using repeated patterns to capture a mood of harmonious elegance. Drawing on Chinese architectural customs, the design team adapted the traditional Lo Shu Square pattern throughout the hotel, repeating the graphic in ceiling reliefs and in the marble floors. Beyond the foyer, two full-grown trees frame the courtyard, which serves as an entrance to the Lobby Lounge. Optimizing the natural light and surrounding greenery, floor-to-ceiling glass windows offer guests all-encompassing views of the Qufu landscape.’

The Gloucester, Wanchai: The 45-storey residential tower of 177 apartment units is located at the intersection of Gloucester and Marsh Roads, with panoramic views of Victoria Harbour. ‘Inspired by soft, morning dews, these units’ refreshing contemporary pale lavender and light-textured stone landscape is dynamically accented with polished steel and glossy lacquer. The open kitchen designs here deliver spectacular panoramic Victoria Harbour views and ensure homes always remain full of vitality. Simple and ingenious, a sliding wall makes the space between living area and bedroom even more fashionable. Equipped with a rotating flat-screen TV, the wall can be used as a partition or to maximise versatility when slid fully back. Suites are further distinguished by a Finn Juhl Pelican Chair whose striking contemporary lines catch the eye and set the tone.’

Shàng-Xí, Four Seasons Hotel, Pudong, Shanghai: ‘...the design draws on Shanghai’s rich history by combining the architectural forms of Shanghai’s neoclassical buildings within the French concession with traditional Chinese motifs. Acknowledging that this is a city known for grandiose expressions of wealth, AB Concept has tempered Shanghai-style flamboyance with a sense of refinement. Reinterpreting neoclassical style, Shàng-Xí’s soaring ceilings, bronze finishes and marble interiors suggest European opulence. To counter the sumptuousness with subtlety, sino-centric motifs, shapes and colours hint at oriental glamour while the deco-inspired furnishings reveal AB Concept’s appreciation for timeless elegance.

The reception features beige parchment panels complemented with bold bronze accents and jade inserts, leading to two full-length mirrored doors. Beyond the entrance, guests step into an expansive corridor finished in mosaic titles, its walls lined with hand-painted silks. AB Concept shaped the recessed ceiling with Chinese bat motifs and a Celestial cloud, a traditional Chinese symbols that represent prosperity, happiness and longevity and recur throughout the restaurant.

Discreet and exclusive, Shàng-Xí comprises five private dining rooms and an intimate public space for 22 guests. Inspired by traditional Chinese cultural icons, AB Concept has designed each room to evoke the colours and qualities of a rare semi-precious stone. To enhance Shàng-Xi’s home-like setting, AB Concept has also created intimate transitional spaces – verandahs and alcoves – be tween the private dining rooms.’

After graduating, Ng worked for a hospitality designer, an architect

and a developer. He credits those three jobs with teaching him hospitality

design skills, how interior spaces should work with its corresponding

architectural shell, and what the owner’s objective may be when building

a hotel. ‘Those three experiences gave me a solid foundation,’ Ng notes.

‘Terence had a similar background: he also worked for large firms and

learned about how interiors worked.’

Ng, an interior designer, works with business Terence Ngan, an

architect; together, they make up the core of AB Concept, a design firm

established in 1999. The two met through mutual friends and found that

they had a lot in common: they both wanted to take a project from ground

zero, do the architecture, the façade, interior, styling and even furniture

and lighting design. ‘We work on different aspects of the spectrum – the

parts that we find fun,’ says Ng. ‘Since hospitality projects’ designers are

appointed about five years prior to the completion of the hotel, operators

know that we can help to shape the spaces if we are onboard from the

beginning.’

Like many companies, AB Concept got their feet wet at first with

small residential projects. ‘Although our vision has always been to

design hotels, we needed to build our portfolio and our connections,’

says Ng. ‘After awhile, our homes began arousing developers’ interests.

The turning point was Swire and our design for Pacific Place Apartments

in Hong Kong. Swire gave us a lot of support, and the project gave us

important credentials.’

Another project that he feels strongly about is the Chinese restaurant

in Four Seasons Pudong, as it was a less flashy design than what the

owner could have afforded. ‘W Beijing was challenging because it was

our first project with a state owned company,’ recalls Ng. ‘It enlightened

me about how things worked in China. It’s more about relationships

there, as well as procedure and culture. We couldn’t do things the Hong

Kong way. If we had 40 people in a meeting room, we would have more

than 40 different comments. We learned how to filter.’

W Retreat & Spa, Bali: ‘The design is rooted deeply and distinctively in the culture of Bali. AB Concept was able to craft a radically new Balinese narrative, combining a neon colour palette with distinctive architectural shapes, and a very relaxed attitude to the boundaries between indoors and out. The scheme pulls in the coastal landscape at every turn. Day beds are strewn through the open-sided W Lounge, where the wind whistles musically through capiz shells in hand-blown glass jars. Bathers in guestrooms can greet the weather through open skylights, while those in some of the villas soak it up from private inner courtyards. A sense of place is also found in the furniture, among great slabs of tropical wood or synthetic rattan homages to leaf fronds and pagoda roofs, while the quirky contours of the lobby bar reinterpret the traditional architecture in resin. Playful furniture and top of the line entertainment systems bring a social sprit to the retreat’s expansive WOW and Extreme WOW suites, firming their reputation for high-style fun.’

AB Concept currently has 50 people in Hong Kong and 20

in Bangkok, with 80% of their projects in hospitality. Some

of the projects on his drawing board include renovating the

Shangri-La Sydney’s ballroom, the Bellagio hotel in Dubai

and a private residence near Nice. ‘The ultimate luxury is in

private residences,’ he states, ‘because what we design has

no commercial value. We collaborate closely with owners.

Residences are more fast track and dynamic than hotels, but

many are too high profile to be photographed. Our residential

clients want to be invisible.’

Ng sees his job as being like a film director. He

assembles the best dream team possible for each project,

and AB Concept’s projects are often varied, with no specific

aesthetical style. ‘Spielberg has directed The Colour Purple,

Schindler’s List and Minority Report – all very different movies.

We, too, are not bound by any particular genre or project. We

like working on jobs with nice stories, where we can do a lot

of custom work. Our signature is in our detailing. I don’t want

the project just to look good in photos. Everything, from the

door handle to the inside of drawers: they should all be like

couture.’

When he is not designing, Ng relishes living the lifestyle

of a designer. He is constantly absorbing things that could be

later interpreted for projects, whether it is in music or films or

simply walking down the street. ‘I like dining and love street

food as well as fine restaurants,’ he says. ‘The same with

fashion: I love both Tom Ford and Uniqlo. Everything fascinates

me and, consciously or unconsciously, everything contributes

to my designs.’

AB Concept office in Leighton Centre at Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Pacific Place Apartments, Hong Kong: ‘...We see a mission to make this the greenest renovation possible – to REUSE existing solid teak flooring hidden under the carpet for more than a decade, to select wall coverings made out of RECYCLED materials, to use hand tufted carpets instead of machine-tufted ones to REDUCE wastage – just to name a few. Every little thought is added together to create a greener environment. Designing a sizeable and top-scale serviced apartment is different from designing a hotel. Making the space a truly comfortable area for rejuvenation from the hectic city life contributes to the identity of home. The theme is clearly defined as ORIENTAL ever since the first sketch was drawn. We have extracted calmness – an essence from the Oriental Zen spirit – and re-interpreted it in a contemporary way using simple lines and forms. Various colours, furniture, artworks, and area rugs were carefully mixed and matched to give each ‘home’ a distinctive and unique personality.’

Miho Hirabayashi teaches foundation year architecture students at The University of Hong Kong to think outside the box – something which she and partner Johnny Wong practise at FAK3.

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78

turn 90 degreesby Rebecca Lo | Images and captIons courtesy FaK3

uring our interview, Hong Kong-based Japanese architect

Miho Hirabayashi pulls out a book the size of post-it notes.

One of her students made it for her last year, and it contains a

series of photos and quotes extracted from her crit sessions

with foundation year students enrolled at The University of

Hong Kong’s Faculty of Architecture. The most frequent one

liner running throughout is her catchphrase ‘turn 90 degrees’. She explained that

students often think that up is up and down is down. If a plan or model is rotated and

viewed backwards or sideways, it gives the form a whole new meaning. She credits

this emphasis on thinking outside of the box to her own education at London’s

Architectural Association.

‘I want to teach students how to see,’ Hirabayashi says, ‘to question what they

know. Designers should think of their work as a process rather than as a random

idea that they pull out of the air. I had a great foundation at AA, and I enjoy teaching

year one students, alongside a team of five other professors. It’s nice to have

abstract discussions, which is a different way of thinking from our studio work.’

Hirabayashi is one half of the founders behind FAK3 (pronounced fake) founded in

2004; the other partner is Johnny Wong, a Welsh born architect of Chinese descent.

Along with their team in a bright and airy studio in Sheung Wan, FAK3 produces

creative interpretations of Hong Kong furniture staples such as the ubiquitous

folding stool gussied up with luxe gold legs. Their furnishings and accessories, often

designed specifically for a project but also available separately under a line they

tentatively have called JunkRich, are made in small batches in factories across

southern China. FAK3 also designs interiors and architectural facades ranging from

Regal Pacific’s hotel renovation in Santiago, Chile, retail shop Magnmag in South

Korea, and private homes in Hong Kong, including 360 and Ribbon House.

Miho Hirabayashi and Johnny Wong, founders of Hong Kong-based design practice FAK3

Renderings of renovations for the Regal Pacific Hotel in Santiago, Chile

360, a multi-functional cabinet that can rotate 360 degrees

The Gloucester, Wanchai: The 45-storey residential tower of 177 apartment units is located at the intersection of Gloucester and Marsh Roads, with panoramic views of Victoria Harbour. ‘Inspired by soft, morning dews, these units’ refreshing contemporary pale lavender and light-textured stone landscape is dynamically accented with polished steel and glossy lacquer. The open kitchen designs here deliver spectacular panoramic Victoria Harbour views and ensure homes always remain full of vitality. Simple and ingenious, a sliding wall makes the space between living area and bedroom even more fashionable. Equipped with a rotating flat-screen TV, the wall can be used as a partition or to maximise versatility when slid fully back. Suites are further distinguished by a Finn Juhl Pelican Chair whose striking contemporary lines catch the eye and set the tone.’

MAGNMAG, a five-storey 7,000ft2 fashion and lifestyle store in Myeongdong, Seoul. The entrance is defined by a LED monogram gate which provides an iconic street presence. The interior is a composition of raw exposed finishes juxtaposed with slick furniture elements. The journey through each level consists of hidden surprises within the design.

Hirabayashi was born in Tokyo and grew up in the Japanese capital. Her father is

a craftsman who makes traditional Japanese sliding doors such as Shoji and Fusuma

screens, and she was always surrounded by architectural drawings. ‘My dad used to take

me on site to look at traditional Japanese houses,’ Hirabayashi recall. ‘It was natural that

I became interested in architecture. I liked drawing and making models. When I was in

high school, I went to London. It was like being in a totally different world. At that time, I

couldn’t speak English. Going around London, I wanted to communicate with people but

I couldn’t. It was really frustrating. So I decided to study in London, because I wanted to

go back there both to learn English and to study architecture.’

Hirabayashi spent seven years in London, studying interior design at Kingston

University before enrolling at AA. After her masters in architecture from AA, she was a

teaching assistant at AA for two years while working at a small multidisciplinary design

studio. She came to Hong Kong to visit former classmate and fellow architect Wong, who

was working for the Hong Kong office of OMA at the time. ‘I saw the opportunities here,’

she recalls. ‘Things were happening, with everyone looking to China. That was why I

decided to move here in 2003.’

After working with a professor from The Chinese University of Hong Kong on a

competition, she began teaching architecture at CU before moving over to HKU. She

currently teaches there two afternoons per week, along with leading workshops and field

trips that could take her away from Hong Kong for up to a week at a time. ‘Balancing

the time and energy between teaching and FAK3’s various projects can be difficult,’ she

admits. ‘But often my work and personal life overlaps. That feels very natural to me. My

life is made up of what I do. My holidays are related to doing and seeing the things that I

like. There are no boundaries; I check emails all the time!’

She feels that what differentiates FAK3 from other Hong Kong design firms is their

approach. ‘It’s an urban point of view to the interior – from the outside to inside. In other

cases, we look from the inside out. The way Johnny and I work is very different from each

other. I think it is a good thing, for developing and pushing ideas. Another thing is our

Erno Laszlo, Hong Kong

Pravo ‘ultra’ boutique hotel, Hong Kong, which has 93 rooms with six uniquely designed styles and 50 room configurations.

The Ribbon House, a 10,000ft2 seaside house with vast sea views

experience and background, including how we grew up and our London education.

Our experience reflects what we do and how we do it. And we have a range of

projects – retail, restaurants, serviced apartments, hotels and residences; we just

finished two showflats for The Summa, a new Kerry Properties development and

our first showflat design. Through these different types of projects, we develop a

portfolio that allows us to explore ideas.’

‘For every project, there is a concept. But of course, the design has to meet

the needs of the client. For us, investigation is important. 360 is about flexibility,

executed with a multi-functional cabinet that can rotate 360 degrees. With Ribbon

House, we had a client who allowed us the time and space to push the project.

Especially for residential projects, it is very important that we understand the way

people live. It is not just about looking good. We are interested in the different styles

of habitation. I see a relationship our projects, but not in their final solution. And time

is always an issue in Hong Kong projects, especially the retail ones where we have

to deliver a detailed package in two weeks.’

Although she has not yet worked in Japan, Hirabayashi welcomes the

opportunity to do so in the future. ‘I have mentally been far away from Japan,’ she

acknowledges. ‘I would like to explore what we can do there, but will need to make

some effort to do so.’ Miele Private Lounge, Hong Kong

Project: Zehnder Road

Architect: Liu & Wo Architects Pte Ltd

Main Contractor: WTK Builders Pte Ltd

Glass: Singapore Safety Glass Pte Ltd

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LASTING IMPRESSIONSLASTING HOMES

Seung Yong Song gives everyday home furnishings contemporary twists by combining the unexpected in his designs.

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ordinary miraclesby Rebecca Lo | Images and captIons courtesy SeUNG YoNG SoNG

‘The wheeljek collection is inspired by the fast-paced city of Bangkok, which doesn’t stop moving even in the most stifling heat. Cars and masses of people fill the roads, while vendors push carts filled with refreshments and tropical fruit creating micro-destinations for food, drink and festivities. These carts seem to facilitate Bangkok’s commercial and cultural exchange. The vendors creatively adapt their cart’s fundamental construction to the product and the environment, finding an idea of the fluidity and flexibility in a layered and chaotic terrain. My vision is to bring the Bangkok street vendor carts from the street into the interior space. Depending on the boxes, which have different proportions, the object can have different functions. And at the same time it is mobile and flexible, and can still be a cart.’

Seung Yong Song

pam is a part of everyday life for anyone who uses a computer or smart

phone. Sometimes, though, spam can be the real deal. ‘At the beginning

of 2013, I received an email starting with the word “congratulations”,’

recalls South Korean designer Seung Yong Song. ‘I treated it as spam

and I didn’t read it. After a few days, I figured out that I was selected as

one of Design Miami/Basel’s designer of the future.

For the first time in its history, the winning designers were sent to new or under renovation

W hotels around the world to solve a specific design challenge: ‘We had to create something

that could deepen understanding of the area’s regional characteristics. Last March, I went

to Bangkok. The streets of Bangkok have their own character: they are always packed with

tourists, street vendors and cars, giving the city density, vividness and bustle. I was drawn to

its street vendor carts, used to sell different goods and were easily transformed into mini bars,

restaurants or ice cream parlours. People shopped, cooked and ate on the street. They became

Bangkok’s symbol to me.’

The designer at Design Miami/Basel 2013 with ‘wheeljek’.

8 Objects – ‘I do not bother myself with looking for the perfect space to my own body. I read, work, eat and also sleep in this. This space is cosy and free. This is my own space that makes all I want possible.’

Table Cailloux – made from corian, inspired by organic shapes of pebbles, dimensions 1125x686x350 / 859x556x350 / 652x555x350 mm

The result of that trip was Wheeljek, a version of the street cart, which

ended up in W Bangkok. Fun and playful, it serves a practical function

as it can be seating, used for illumination and storage, and converted

into a push cart. Available in fuchsia, lemon or indigo, its streamlined

aesthetic with rounded corners and compact form gives it a thoroughly

contemporary feel. ‘My vision was to bring the cart from the street into

interior spaces,’ Song explains. ‘Depending on the different proportions

of boxes on Wheeljek, it can have different functions. At the same time,

it is mobile and flexible. Parts can be combined and exchanged, opening

the door to the possibility that an object’s perception can be transformed

into different compositions and functions.’

Song was born in Yangsan, a town in South Korea about an hour’s

drive northeast of Busan. He credits his ability to think outside the box

to his upbringing. ‘When I was seven, I lived with my grandparents for

a year in Jili Mountain, in one of Korea’s national parks,’ he recalls.

‘The area didn’t experience the same industrial development as in the

rest of South Korea in the early 80s. They didn’t have televisions or

telephones. Subsequently, I spent much of my time alone playing in the

middle of nature. It was a special experience for me and my designs

for Salangbang, Objet O, Rong and Dami were all influenced by my

memories of that time.’

Green Panier corian flowerpots placed with Objet-B

Objet E – ‘...I am not willing to deny or destroy the identity based on the stereotype, but I only reinterpret the uses I need in my own design language.’

Objet O – ‘I have a childhood memory of making a den somewhere in my house – under the table, in the wardrobe, and in the attic – I created my own base and felt relieved as if I avoided enemies that were actually non-existent. My own secret space at the moment which was comfortable and protected, better than a huge mansion, the cosiness of the space like a bird’s nest, isn’t what we dream basically?’

Song first studied sculpture in South Korea. During a winter holiday

in France, he visited the College of Art in Strasbourg and was impressed

by its students’ work. ‘Their projects covered a wide range of disciplines:

design, sculpture, installation and visual communication,’ he notes.

‘After my trip, I decided to study in France.’ He got both his BFA and MFA

from the Ecole Superieure d’Art et de Design de Reims. After starting

as an artist’s assistant and designer at Claudio Colucci Design Studio

in Paris, he worked for Matt Sindall and collaborated with Jean Marc

Gady and Patric Nadeau before returning to South Korea to set up his

eponymous firm a few years ago. Song was also a professor in Dong-A

University in Busan and Kuk-Min University in Seoul.

He finds it challenging to be working in the uncertain economic climate

of South Korea today, but remains ever optimistic that he made the right

choice by striking out on his own. His studio is small: just him and his wife,

also a designer, who is pregnant with their first child. They concentrate on

design and creative endeavours, frequently collaborating on projects with

other professionals such as to produce prototypes.

Each of Song’s projects is imbued with its own unique personality.

Salangbang is a lattice cocoon that can be opened to face the world. It can

be used in pairs or as stand alone seating. Objet-E is a rocking chair that is

also a drying rack. Its clever utilisation of height makes it ideal for compact

spaces, while the breeze created from the chair’s motion naturally dries the

laundry above. Boksh is a stacking lamp that doubles as stool, with a saddle-

like form that makes it immediately friendly and appealing. Dami is a series

of baskets that was adapted into a floor lamp, console table, coffee table

and stool. Korean for ‘put in’, Dami refers to the traditional Korean grill, with

a light, airy appearance. Song’s objects challenge conventional scale and

proportions, yet they all have a reassuring familiarity to them. They seem to

be from parallel universes where a chair is much more than a chair.

‘I don’t stick to one style,’ states Song. ‘The most important thing in

my work is the story beyond form and function. The essence of my work is

empathy for its audience. Although each piece has its own personality, my

favourite is the Objet-O. It required a lot of research into the internal system

for lighting and how traditional Korean paper was used, which made the

design more difficult. When it was successfully completed and just as cosy

as I imagined it, I felt the greatest joy.’

In December, Song participated in Hong Kong’s annual Business of

Design Week as one of W Hotels & Resorts’ designers of the future 2013. As

for future projects, he is keeping things real: ‘As I will have a baby in the near

future, I imagine designing a house where I am its architect and designer of

interiors, furnishings and the garden. It would be wonderful to create my own

home with an original concept.’

The ‘Dami’ collection, inspired by the basket form, has a conventional Korean grill structure that ensures each piece is lightweight but sturdy at the same time. The collection is made using CNC processing techniques and is crafted from Valchromat. This eco-friendly material is a wood fibre board that has been coloured throughout and is made from forest waste, residue from timber mills and recycled pine.

Rong – ‘I yearn for a nomadic life, traversing a continent and crisscrossing meadows.With setting a fire and pitching a simple tent, there will be soon their home. I try imitating them in my dark house. Rong’s wire is long enough to make me a nomad within the house. From living room to bedroom, bedroom to kitchen, kitchen to... There is no place it cannot reach. Everywhere in the house becomes my own space.’

Boksh ‘may be an illumination, a table, a shelf, or could also be something else.’

CREATIVE©ITIES is a project that maps out the creative work being done in cities across the world today. Led by a partnership between Jackson Tan (Singapore-based black design and phunk studio) and Justin Zhuang (in plain words), it had its inaugural exhibition launched at the Kaohsiung Design Festival (Dec 2013 To Jan 2014). Not only does the project aim to present the most exciting creative efforts in the world today, it hopes to chart paradigm shifts unfolding across the current creative landscape.

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88 re-mapping cities: the big pictureby Yvonne Xu | Photos courtesy Caleb Ming and Kaohsiung Design Festival

he copyright symbol in the project name, CREATIVE©ITIES, ties the

idea of creative ownership to the identity of cities. it suggests that a city

can be defined by its creative thinking and efforts – a notion co-opted

by numerous city promotion campaigns in their popular aspiration of

becoming ‘world cities’, ‘design capitals’, or ‘global cities’. recognizing

that ‘the “creative city” is the new paradigm shaping our world today’,

CREATIVE©ITIES is a project that aims to ‘map out this sea change as it unfolds’.

Taking a wide-angle view of this phenomenon, CREATIVE©ITIES surveys creative projects,

people and trends worldwide through a crowd-source-inspired curatorial approach: five

‘creators’ (notable artists, curators, designers and influencers) from each city are asked

to nominate noteworthy ‘creatives’ or projects to be included in the project. From these

nominations, the CREATIVE©ITIES team then edits its final feature list – providing an overview,

in some sort, of the current creative milieu in each city.

The project launched late last year with a focus on its first 10 cities in the Asia Pacific

region – Bangkok, Beijing, Hong Kong, Kaohsiung, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Seoul, Singapore,

Sydney and Tokyo. Its début exhibition was presented at the Kaohsiung Design Festival in

a 800m2 warehouse at the city’s Pier-2 Art Center. In addition to the main survey of work,

original artwork and ambient urban sound samples of each city were curated. ‘Creative city’

parameters, such as government funding and support schemes, salary and employment

rates in the arts and creative sector, were also presented for context. Interestingly, the entire

showcase was presented as an immersive walk-through experience through zones including

arrival halls, galleries, multimedia zones and tunnels and walkways.

Justin Zhuang, editor of CREATIVE©ITIES, likens the experience to travelling

to 10 cities in one space. He describes: ‘You land at the index, which provides

you information similar to what you hear in the airplane and see at the airport.

Then, the first thing you do is to locate yourself at the maps section. As you head

out to the cities, you get hit by a blast of foreign sounds, start understanding

them by reading the feature, then go sight-seeing in the gallery!’

In this gallery, the main showcase area, 3,000 projects from 10 cities are

tiled across the walls and floor, as a kind of finale to the orchestration. Visitors

reportedly spend more time than expected in this exhibition, and even then, it

remained nearly impossible to see every one of the featured projects. To say the

least, the exhibition was an extravaganza of design. Apart from the sampling

of a wide array of creative work, perhaps more interesting is the way the scale

and the format of the exhibition reflect the forces that are shaping our creative

landscape today.

CREATIVE©ITIES curator Jackson Tan, whose studio spearheaded the exhibition design,

shares that their first visual inspiration was ‘the fact that cities are huge and massive in size

and scale,’ and that he and his team had ‘wanted to make use of the massive floor space and

height of the warehouse to create a giant map of Asia-Pacific’s creativity that the audience

could physically walk in and navigate around.’

The giant map idea is notable – not merely in how the project uncovers and actually puts

a person or a piece of work ‘on the map’; considering the exhibition’s multimedia format, live

data feeds, and the way each city’s map is curated by ‘insiders’ – each city’s own, as it were,

movers and shakers – the showcase buzzes with a kind of a ‘here and now’, ‘just-out’ currency.

That it is a whole geographical region that is being reviewed is also remarkable. Tan notes

that social media and crowd-sourcing sites such as facebook, instagram, soundcloud and

youtube were an inspiration – and, in fact, a key tool in gathering content and assembling its

wide network of collaborators. Imaginably, it wouldn’t have been achievable, or meaningful,

to put together a show of such scale, reach, and content in a pre-web 2.0 era. If the act of

mapping is also about making connections, tracing networks, drawing up the big picture, it is

the ‘sea change’ of the way we work, the way we connect – the way our creative milieu is being

shaped now – that CREATIVE©ITIES attempts to document. Jackson Tan of black design and phunk studio

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Technology & Facility Management

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some good art

echnology steals the day. From the more

mundane to the most innovative, artworks at Art

Stage dazzle with splendour of colour, movement

and lights. Works range from installations,

video, neon lights, kinetic, amidst the slew of

sculptures, paintings and prints. Was that a

Matisse sitting quietly among larger pieces, a little overwhelmed by the

more contemporary works?

Low technology mingles with its higher counterpart. The inflating and

deflating pink flying pig balloon sculpture is a favourite must-see from

Vannessa Qwang Gallery. Entitled ‘Love Me’, by Choi Jeong Hwa, the

‘pig’ adds to the carnival air. Sculptures made from 20,000 glued pieces

of paper in a honeycomb format (familiar to us as paper lanterns or

paper pineapples) recreates a Bust of Ancient Roman Girl by Li Hongbo.

Digital works from Team Lab mesmerises, with a cellular-like entity

organically morphing in virtual 3D, into a scene reminiscent of Avatar, of

strange natural matter. Neon displays are also de riguer. Is This Love? a

neon sign made up the word Sold after Indiana’s Love art, is a dig at the

obsessive art market.

The paint medium does not take a back seat, but are explored in

various forms of paint or material gathering and seeking. Among the

diehards at art fairs is the Donald Sultan, or the Gerhard Richters. As

engaging and enrapturing is Han Myung-ok’s Talisman, at the Korean

curated platform of entire two walls of multiple coloured painted dots on

Le Monde newspaper.

by SuSie Wong | Images courtesy Art StAge SingApore

SUSIE WONG ‘window shops’ her way through a well-attended Art Stage 2014 that showcases a new fair format, Platforms, for artists from the Asia Pacific region.

Love Me by Choi Jeong Hwa, Galerie Vanessa Quang

100 Surnames in Tofu by Chen Qiulin, A Thousand Plateaus Art Space, China Platform Raining Bed by FX Harsono, ARNDT Gallery

The Drawing Room by Mark Justiniani, Southeast Asia Platform

Tunnel by Mark Justiniani, The Drawing Room, Southeast Asia Platform

Standing apart from the individual galleries, curated platforms are

given the fair share of attention of ogling consumers with deep pockets.

They are meant to inject some measure of integrity. Curator of the

Japanese section, Mami Kataoka, is reported to have said that these

platforms ‘encourage the viewers to see work with more meaning’ (Art

Radar Asia, 16.01.2014).

Indeed, the curated platforms gave viewers a chance to understand

the selected works in some context such as the curation would bring

out. The Japanese and the Korean platforms, for example, had themes

Dark Matter: Invisible Presence, and Access respectively, to which they

adhered to in the selection of the works. Their works are not complicated

or fussy – dealing with a simple thread of thought or well, just beauty.

Can three stalks of Chrysanthemums be uncommon subject-matter of a

photograph? The C-type print Chrysanthemums by Tomoko Yoneda was

startling and sublime in its perfection.

The Singapore platform has a string of consultants but little

elaboration over its choices, preferring to leave autonomy to the

galleries. Perhaps some people do eschew ponderous accompanying

texts, but a one-liner on the board that introduces this platform does

leave a sense at very little coherent curation.

The outcome is rather disparate, with each gallery offering their own

individual artists. Fost Gallery show solely Chun Kai Fung’s humorous

tongue-in-cheek work, which are takes on familiar local (Singapore)

visual lore transformed in sculptural language. iPreciation showed

Michael Lee’s while Michael Janssen showcased Jeremy Sharma’s.

Nothing to Wait For by Chun Kai Feng, FOST Gallery, Southeast Asia Platform

Man with White Shirt and Black Trousers by Stephan Balkenhol, ARNDT Gallery (photo by Susie Wong)

India Platform, curator Bose Krishnamachari (right) and artist Sakshi Gupta

Singapore Pop-Up Show (photo by Susie Wong)

Goldrush by Dolk, Galleri s.e

Controlled Desire by Bounpaul Phothyzan, M Gallery

Talisman by Han Myung-ok (photo by Susie Wong)

Milky Way by Manit Kantasak, Whitespace Gallery, Bangkok

Seunghyo Jang, Space BM Skeletal Retreat No 2 by Michael Lee, iPreciation Tina Keng Gallery, Taiwan Platform

Puppy Love by Dolk, Galleri s.e

Portrait by Paribartana Mohanty, Circadian Rhyme-4 by Jitish Kallat (foreground), India Platform

Some galleries manage a curatorial direction such as 2902

Gallery’s which presents the works of three artists, Dow Wasiksiri,

Adytama Pranada and Robert Zhao Renhui, whose works fuel a post-

colonial imagination.

But perhaps the ‘regional’ gathering sets itself as a curatorial

context, given that it encompasses Southeast Asia, rather than each

individual country/nation within the group. The other platforms, except

for Central Asia, are given to individual countries.

Be that as it may, the curated sections are there only to embellish

the Art Stage whose main aim is to bring collectors and artworks

together. They play up to the old saw that it is about presenting ‘good

art’. The event’s founder and director Lorenzo Rudolf says: ‘Instead of

commercial versus non-commercial, we want to focus on what’s good

art’ (Business Times Lifestyle, Nov 15, 2013). During and after the event,

the media is quick to pick on news of sales figures, and even who sold

what – ‘A more focused Art Stage 2014, with a host of visual arts and

creative events mushrooming around it, is pulling in a stable crowd of

high net worth individuals serious about the business of art’ (Business

Times, Jan 17); ‘Homegrown artists see brisk sales at start of Art Stage

Singapore’ (Straits Times, Jan 15); ‘Sold out. In 60 minutes. Singapore

painter Ruben Pang’s 9 paintings at Art Stage. They have reason to

smile’ (ST Life Tweets, Jan 15); ‘Art Stage Singapore Closes 4th Edition

on a Record High’ (artstagesingapore.com, Jan 19); ‘Local artists pull in

strong sales at Art Stage Singapore’ (Straits Times, Jan 22).

In the reports of sales and prices of artworks, the higher the

prices correlates to the bigger the name, the A-listers, and the better

performing the event in terms of a higher record of sales, more

developed this market. The finding to whether it presents ‘good art’ is

still open in the face that the art is presented in a context geared toward

the market forces. With the inevitable commodification of art, one can

only be aware of its impact on art production, perhaps infringing upon

and even challenging the yardstick of ‘good art’.

In conclusion, like most fairs, technology is the attraction. Technology

made available to art-making has grown immensely. Here, artists

showcase their technology’s latest contribution to artistic production. As

the audience expands from the few who enjoy the more traditional forms

of art, leaving its growing audience enthralled.

What is more significant is that Art Stage not only keeps us

updated about the latest and the hottest, but also adds to spaces in

which the meaning of ‘contemporary’ is being tested. What constitutes

‘contemporary’ is the currency for which the artwork is being transacted.

Collectors vie for the best, with the kind of money that they are spending,

and it is not for ‘meaning’ or for ‘good art’ (whatever they may be). This

growing consumption of the cultural, in a market, necessarily expands

the definition of contemporary as its investment value is an integral part

of it.

Anurendra Jegadeva, Wei-Ling Gallery, Southeast Asia Platform

7Adam Gallery

Entrance arch, The Continuous Gate, by Joko Dwi Avianto

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‘FROM THE PEOPLE, TO THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE’

NaTHaN COLEyMaR 7 TO May 4FuTuRE PERFECT 47 MaLaN ROad #01-22 GiLLMaN BaRRaCks

With ‘The Honour Series’ (2012), Coley reworks

black-and-white photographs featuring spaces for public

assembly, obscuring critical passages of the image with gold

leaf so that viewers must look to other signifiers – gesture,

environment, context – for meaning. In ‘03.03.09 (A)’, the

subjects of one of the world’s most famed public sculptures,

Auguste Rodin’s ‘Burghers of Calais’, are literally gilded,

transformed into anonymous devotional objects, recalling

their heroic self-sacrifice during the Hundred Years War.

In the ‘Square of the Three Powers’, Coley foregrounds a

starkly rectilinear concrete structure designed by renowned

architect Oscar Niemeyer that occupies a public square in

Brasilia. Its function is ambiguous – it could be a bandstand

for official declarations or a space for demonstrations – but

the figures reclining at its edges suggest a failed utopian

project. Golden skies cast this melancholy in relief, a

lustrous backdrop to an abandoned modernism. Adopting

the aesthetic of the fairground sideshow, Coley’s illuminated

text works speak to the role of religion in public life. While

the non-denominational ‘Faith’ (2011) is a declaration

of fundamental human belief, ‘Heaven Is A Place Where

Nothing Ever Happens’ (2010) strikes a more agnostic note.

An important strand of Coley’s practice, these text pieces

appropriate expressions from proverbs, news media and

song lyrics, removing them from the original context and

introducing new and ambiguous meanings.

With reference to the instruments of ideology (choirs,

placards, demonstrations, prayer), Cole interrogates the

ways in which civic life becomes freighted with symbolic

political or spiritual significance. Through decontextualising

and reframing them, he brings a critical awareness to bear

on the spaces and places of protest and worship, proposing

an alternative understanding of the public sphere.

about the artistNathan Coley (born 1967 in Glasgow, Scotland) is one of

Britain’s best-known artists, having been nominated for

the Turner Prize, the most prestigious award for a UK-

based artist under 50, in 2007. Since completing his fine

art training at the Glasgow School of Art in 1989, he has

worked in a variety of different media, his work consistently

concerned with the way in which architecture reflects and

conditions our social environment..

his is British artist Nathan

Coley’s first exhibition in

Southeast Asia. Bringing together

photographic and sculptural

work from the past five years,

the exhibition complements

Coley’s representation in the 19th

Biennale of Sydney (Mar 21 to June 9). ‘From the People,

To the People, For the People’ explores the ritualised nature

of protest and mourning, particularly with regards to their

expression in civic space. More broadly, the exhibition

explores how architecture conditions social behaviour,

and questions the place of religion and ideology in the

public sphere.

At the centre of the show is ‘Choir’ (2012), a series of

five blank demonstration placards, made from painted steel,

their slogans white-washed and muted by their diminutive

scale. Although the message has been removed, these

objects retain a political charge, functioning as a spectral

testament to protest.

Faith, lightbox, 600 x 1240 x 80mm, 2011

Heaven is a place where nothing ever happens, lightbox, 770 x 1550 x 100mm, 2010

Square of the three powers (East), gold leaf on giclee print, 500 x 700mm, 2011

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100 CASA (S) PTE LTD 15 Kian Teck Crescent

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DesigneD for DreamingThe Dream Chair is the culmination of a close, multi-year collaboration between Japanese architect Tadao Ando and Carl Hansen & Son. Together, they have created a lounge chair that embodies Tadao Ando’s desire to encourage people to take more time to dream.

A tribute to Hans J. Wegner, who would have turned a centenarian this year, the Dream Chair seeks to express the same harmonious, minimalist expression typical of Wegner’s design.

Like Wegner, Tadao Ando is interested in exploring materials’ possibilities and pushing the boundaries of what is structurally possible.

Tadao Ando explains: “I have been an admirer of Wegner’s craftsmanship for many years. For the development of the Dream Chair, I followed an approach similar to the one I use in architecture. I often use concrete as the only material in order to create unique rooms. In the same way, I only used one material – plywood – for the Dream Chair to define the chair’s space.”

A sculptural work of art in itself, the Dream chair is well suited to be a centerpiece in order to fully showcase the beauty of its floating expression.

Tadao Ando

SPACE FURNITURE77 Bencoolen St

Singapore 189653

t: +65 6415 0000

info@spacefurniture.com.sg

Lot 3-12 Intermark Mall

The Intermark

348 Jalan Tun Razak

50400 Kuala Lumpur

t: +603 2166 2212

info@spacefurniture.com.my

www.spacefurniture.com

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102 CASA (S) PTE LTD 15 Kian Teck Crescent

Singapore 628884

t: +65 6662 6830

www.blomberg.sg

TasTemasTerTm Oven by blOmbergAlways wanted your very own high-skilled chef for your kitchen? You now can with Blomberg’s latest TastemasterTM oven! Offering up to 80 delicious recipes and will help you to cook traditional dishes, the TastemasterTM gives you the opportunity to try the best of the world cuisine recipes.

How it works is simple. With its automatic cooking programmes, all you need to do is prepare and place the food in the oven as described in the receipt shown on the animated display with colourful TFT LCD screen of the oven and push the play button. Then, let your oven create the best meals for you. It will automatically select the best cooking function, temperature and duration. You can even adjust the settings according to your own taste.

Boasting a TFT LCD screen, TastemasterTM also provides you a very user friendly and elegant on screen menu with coloured display along with two rotary knobs and four touch control buttons. You can even change the colour of the screen between three different options.

What’s more, Tastemaster even allows you to save 20 per cent more energy than “A” class standards – which means that you can enjoy scrumptious meals while preserving the environment. In fact, the model has been awarded with Good Design by the Chicago Athenaeum in USA.

Truly, TastemasterTM will be one of the best designed appliances in your kitchen.

SPACE FURNITURE77 Bencoolen St

Singapore 189653

t: +65 6415 0000

info@spacefurniture.com.sg

Lot 3-12 Intermark Mall

The Intermark

348 Jalan Tun Razak

50400 Kuala Lumpur

t: +603 2166 2212

info@spacefurniture.com.my

www.spacefurniture.com

Fritz Hanse

Ro – The New ComfoRT ZoNeSpanish designer Jaime Hayon together with Fritz Hanse have created today’s answer to tomorrow’s easy chair. Ro is a 1½-seater where you can find room for your inner space and take a break from the hectic bustle of everyday life.

Meaning tranquility in Danish, the name Ro was chosen because it captures the point of the chair in just two letters, thus reflecting the Nordic approach and concept of beauty.

The design of the shell is elegant and simple. Its form allows you to relax, change positions and have your newspaper, computer or child next to you and create a new comfort zone of your own.

Ro is made with great craftsmanship and in the highest sustainable quality. It is available in nine colours: three traditional options (black, grey and taupe), three bright colours (violet, blue and yellow) and three soft colours (light pink, sage-green and sand).

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Legrand Singapore Showroom15 Jalan Kilang Barat

#07-05/06/07 Frontech Centre

Singapore 159357

t: +65 6416 1550

f: +65 6416 1580

e: customerhub.sg@legrand.com.sg

www.legrand.com.sg

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Legrand’S one-of-a-kind gueSt room management SyStemDon’t we all want the comfort and convenience of doing everything at a touch of a button, especially when we’re relaxing in a hotel room? Well, it is now possible, thanks to Legrand’s Guest Room Management System. An integrated approach, the Guest Room Management System interconnects everything in the guest room for a new and unique experience.

Satisfaction guaranteedThe objective of the Guest Room Management System is to consistently satisfy guests needs and expectations in their rooms. Guests will appreciate the ability to control the lighting, the curtains, the temperature and the fan control unit easily through the user friendly interfaces. Using Legrand multimedia connectivity solutions, your guests will be able to connect and use their high-tech equipment in their rooms.

With the Room Controller, different lighting and temperature control can be adapted to suit the different scenarios such as welcome, living, studying and sleeping. What’s more, Legrand’s open solutions are highly flexible and uses standard protocols as DAli, KNX®, BAC netTM over IP and ZigBee®.

the Scenarios4-Scene touch Control (wireless Control)With the wireless control, the guest can create four different scenes (such as watching TV, working and more) by controlling several functions with a single touch.

main room Switch (key Card Switch with internal Control unit) Guests can select the desired setting of the room by introducing the card in the wall mounted key card switch.

6-Scene touch Control (Bedside panel)The bedside panel control allows guest to maneuver several functions to create various scenes at ease. Lighting pathAt night, the sensor will detect guest motion and turn on skirting lights between the sleeping area and entrance and/or bathroom area. This means that the Key Card Switch with Internal Control Unit (Main Room Switch)

4-Scene Touch Control (Wireless Control) 6-Scene Touch Control (Bedside Panel)

guest do not need to turn on the lights or activate the astronomic function to go to the bathroom.

Building managementWith Legrand’s integrated solutions, you can use the Building Management System (BMS) or any Building or Property Management System (PMS) of your choice to reduce the total cost of ownership and increase the efficiency of your building. The Room Controller is fully compatible with Property Management Systems (PMS) such as Fidelio Suite and Opera.

Moreover, the Room Controller can be integrated with the global Legrand hospitality building

solutions which includes all Legrand wiring devices, building management system, lighting management system, consumption measurement, access control system, intruder alarm system, video monitoring system, fire alarm system, central battery system and fibre optic network.

It’s true, wherever and whenever you want to improve customer comfort or make work and management easier for hotel operators, Legrand has solutions for guest rooms.

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SUB-ZERO WOLF25 New Industrial Road

#03-01 KHL Building

Singapore 536211

t: +65 6284 6776

e: info@subzerowolf.com.sg

www.subzerowolf.com.sg

Wolf AppliAnce inc.’s neW line of M series Built-in ovensThe industry leader in premium cooking equipment, Wolf Appliance Inc. presents its all-new line of M series built-in ovens. M series boasts Wolf’s sleekest and most full-featured ovens yet. Available in a variety of styles and sizes, M series ovens will seamlessly integrate into any kitchen. new M series Design stylesComing in three distinct styles – Contemporary, Transitional and Professional – the M series ovens give users the option to choose products that cohesively fit a specific kitchen design. The new styles – ultra-sleek contemporary, classic, yet flexible transitional and

bold professional – offer unlimited design possibilities ranging from 686 mm (27”) to 914 mm (36”) in width.

contemporary: The minimalist, handle-less design, black glass and a colour LCD touch panel creates a sleek look. Offered in single or double 762 mm (30”) widths.

transitional: Available for the first time in single and double 686 mm (27”) width, this new size can easily integrate into any kitchen design. Better yet, transitional is available in single 762 mm (30”) and 914 mm (36”), and double 762 mm (30”) widths. Transitional ovens are stainless with tubular handles and come with a full-colour LCD touch-panel display.

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professional: Models are stainless with professional handles that combine the LCD touch panel display with control knobs. Signature red knobs are standard, but black and stainless knobs are also available. Comes in single or double 762 mm (30”) widths. New built-in M series ovens now fit standard cabinetry installation (610 mm (24”) deep) and can be installed proud or flush inset. M series performance featuresThe new M series ovens incorporate Dual VertiCrossTM convection. Unique to the industry, it provides more consistent cooking results. The oven houses two columnar vertical blower fans and reconfigured heating elements that produce uniform heat and air flow throughout the oven, minimising cool spots.

The M series even offers ten cooking modes via an LCD touchscreen control panel. These modes are what owners find most helpful to achieve precisely the results in mind: roast, bake, broil, convection, convection roast, proof, dehydration, bake stone, warm and Gourmet. Additional features include control options that help precisely set and monitor cooking and a new LCD touchscreen control that makes accessing all of the oven’s features easy.

M series wall ovens are also compatible to sync with home-automated control systems like Control4, Crestron and Savant, which provide the ability to monitor the oven via smartphones and tablets (linked to the control system).

Available from third quarter of the year onwards.

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107Chesters ColleCtion(Kuala Lumpur)

Block B-0-1 & B-0-8 Megan Avenue 1

189 Jalan Tun Razak

50400 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

t: +603 2166 4121 Quality Offices Division

+603 2166 8330 Homeliving Division

e: info@chestercollection.com

SIDRA (Singapore)

t: +65 8161 9959

e: sidrasin@gmail.com

We Dynamics (Kota Kinabalu)

t: +6088 388 388 / 488

www.chestercollection.com

Wagner – the CorreCt Chair for Your Comfort and needsWe can all tell between good chairs to an uncomfortable one. The reasons are simple, the normal sitting chairs are rigid, stiff and will leave you with debilitating back pains.

But, before being able to classify a chair as being ergonomic, affirmative answers must be given to these questions. Does the chair allow ‘strain-free sitting’ and encourage motion? Does the seat allow a forward tilt movement? Does the chair provide all the adjustments, required because of anatomical variations between people, regarding lumbar-support, headrest-height, and seat-depth?

If you’re talking about Wagner’s range of Ergonomic and Orthopedic chairs, then your answer would be yes to all the above questions. A hundred per cent made

in Germany, Wagner Ergonomic and Orthopedic chairs are durable, efficient and provide premium comfort.

With that said, do keep in mind that there is not one chair that fits everybody. Hence, it is important that you visit Chesters Collection’s showroom to test the Wagner range of Ergonomic & Orthopedic chairs yourself!

At Chesters Collection, our well trained customer care team is always sensitive to your sitting comfort and back care so finding the correct chair for your specific needs will not be difficult. What’s more, enjoy a sensational stress-free sitting while allowing your ideas and inspiration to escalate.

For further information, please call +603-2166 4121 (Kuala Lumpur) or +65 6778 9921 (Singapore).

TOTO @ W. ATELIER PTE LTd 75 Bukit Timah Road Level One

Singapore 229833

t: +65 6270 8828

f: +65 6270 0020

www.watelier.com

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108 TOTO Technical cenTer in SingapOreA 400 square-meter visitor and training center, TOTO’s Technical Center enables specialist customers to explore the technologies which are at the heart of all TOTO products.

The center makes it possible for guests to observe, listen to and experiment with various technologies. For example, functional cutaway models reveal inner workings of TOTO products and interactive shower displays allow guests to feel the various spray patterns.

What’s more, explanatory films are installed in every section offering a closer look into each technology. Additionally, training sessions offered in specially equipped stations provide instructions on how to safely install, troubleshoot and repair TOTO products. These stations even have transparent walls that reveal the in-wall plumbing structures.

Truly, the Technical Center is a testament of TOTO’s commitment to the advancement of technology and to the production of high-quality products for the sole purpose of improving people’s lives.

historyEstablished in 1917, TOTO has been producing superbly designed, high-performance, lifestyle-enhancing sanitary ware for luxury hotels, residential and commercial restrooms, and major airports around the world. It is a name that has been synonymous with the advancement of bathroom culture and has consequently become an iconic and much-loved brand in Japan.

TOTO concentrates on creating a more enjoyable bathroom experience through products that infuse sophisticated style, high-standards of quality, optimised water conservation, and exceptional performance. More than 1,500 TOTO engineers and employees are committed to achieving the seamless integration of performance, conservation, technology and innovation.

GF+A GlobAl 24 Mohamed Sultan Road

Singapore 239012

t: +65 6222 2112

f: +65 6223 2112

e: info@gfaglobal.com

www.gfaglobal.com

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MAXFINE by GF+A GlobAlHoning characteristics that are one-of-a-kind in the world, MAXFINE’s tiles are the only one that displays an impressive surface area of 1.5m by 3m with reduced thickness and is also completely polished to guarantee an incredible aesthetic quality and a high resistance to stress.

Rigorously made in Italy, MAXFINE expands the intended use of the contemporary porcelain gres tiles with thickness of 6mm − ideal for walls and flooring and also for high-traffic areas such as shopping malls and busy areas.

Enhancing the rooms with unique and enveloping effects of visual continuity, the tiles can be laid with a minimum joint. The design is enhanced with new compositional opportunities due to the ease of cutting. This gives users the freedom to create their own tiles of all shapes and sizes.

Coming in 23 stunning colours, MAXFINE gives free reign to the creativity of architects and interior designers by providing environments with high-technical quality and new aesthetics pleasantness. Onice Perla, Onice Oro and Travertino are latest additions to the wide array of colours.

Varied and versatile, MAXFINE offers the most compositional possibilities to the design. With its combination of low thickness with large formats, and an aesthetic quality never seen before, MAXFINE redefines the boundary of contemporary architecture.

Truly, everything is possible with MAXFINE.

For more information, or to view MAXFINE at GF+A showroom, please email to info@gfaglobal.com or call (65) 6222 2112 to arrange an appointment.

KOHLER SingapORE ptE Ltd(Kitchen & Bath group)120 Lower Delta Road

#15-01 Cendex Centre

Singapore 169208

t: +65 6264 6400

f: +65 6264 6411

e: kohlerplumbing.sg@kohler.com

www.kohlerasiapacific.com

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KOHLER pRESEntS KataLySt aiR SHOwERHEad witH SupER SLim dESignRenowned for their one-of-a-kind bath designs, Kohler is pleased to introduce its latest expansion of overhead showerheads that come with Katalyst Air technology and boasts a super slim design. One of the most sought after alternative showering experiences, overhead showerheads simulate the experience of natural rain fall with large, heavy water droplets guided by gravity − making it an almost must-have for all custom showering environments. Enhanced FeaturesThanks to the range of super slim designs, design professionals are now able to easily select products that coordinate throughout the shower space. Available in 14- and 12-inch sizes currently, the Katalyst Air technology in the solid brass collection features a novel air induction ball joint design to generate large water droplets that deliver a luxurious and

drenching experience without overusing more water than a standard showerhead.

Engineered to provide soothing shower and superior water coverage through a redesigned spray face, Katalyst Air technology enhances the benefits of the overhead showerhead experience to create a completely satisfying shower.

What’s more, the air-induction technology maximises the air or water mix for a powerful, even flow. By infusing two liters of air per minute, Katalyst Air delivers a powerful, voluptuous spray that clings to the body with larger and fuller water drops.

Founded in 1873 and headquartered in Kohler, Wis., Kohler Co. is one of America’s oldest and largest privately held companies. Kohler is a global leader in the manufacture of kitchen and bath products, engines and power generation systems, cabinetry, tile and home interiors, and international host to award-winning hospitality and world-class golf destinations.

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111SPIN994 Bendemeer Road #05-01

Singapore 339943

t: +65 6298 1038/ +65 6298 8948

f: +65 6298 0780

www.spinfans.com.sg

SPIN CEILING FANBringing ceiling fans to a new high, Spin is proud to introduce the latest revolutionary BLDC (Brushless DC) motor technology – UDDCTM (Ultra Dynamics DC) motors with Spin Green Performance.

Besides reducing energy consumption significantly, the UDDCTM motor technology also produces a simultaneous increase in performance of the fans. The Spin Ceiling Fan is equipped with intelligent energy management through the microchip in the UDDCTM motor.

As it uses Polycarbonate for its airfoils, the construction of the motor is lightweight. With the airfoils manufactured to precise aerodynamics and perfectly balanced for unrivalled wind delivery, this has to be the most powerful DC motor ceiling fan yet.

The other features which bring this ceiling fan to the forefront are its six speed Dual Core remote control which even boasts an ‘N’ mode for natural airflow.

Good news! In April 2014, Spin will be launching its latest LED Light kit for all fan models.

Quincy

Savannah

Espada

Ultra Dynamics DC MotorTM

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