article from business times

Winning debut in Singapore...

many exciting things have happened recently... just check out this comprehensive compilation on the recent marina south competition for further details... SKPS Projects

I personally don't quite agree to the articles written about us... basically theres no simple and short way of describing our scheme, perhaps maybe the others but definitely not ours!
So disappointing!

I'll post up snippets of the plaque/ trophy later. But seriously... please show us the MONEY!!

fallen sick...

realized that my stress level has been gradually increasing. which is indeed a concern.
explains my sleepless nights... just cant sleep coz of work.
horrible!! i need a distraction or something to deviate my thoughts away from work.
need to get my sleep time!!

quick reminder...

must collect bus ticket asap...
book accommodation in kl/pj - seapark maybe.
venue at holiday villa

query SIA regarding eligibility to attend fest FOC.

oh la la...

ow.. my neck is seriously aching.
trying to push for submission for my house. finally the client has been active again. i think things would have been much more convenient if the client was based locally. then again... convenience can also be a hazard. no freedom!

think i should stop and continue at home. the more i work on the house... the more i feel like staying there. yes im ineffectively praising my own work. but seriously, its becoming very personal to me. however, its still a dream up until the client gets seriously involve in the design. hope they are a compliant bunch.

still in the office...

kopi pun dah habis minum...

so sick of staring at each other's face...

never ending prints...

a sneak peak of the end result...

moving to chinatown...

in every job that's to be done, there is an element of fun.
you find the fun and.... BAM!
the job's a game.

Just a kilo full of sugar, helps the bitterness go down... in the most delightful way.

silence in the dark...

lately been busy with work. but on top of that, was asked to organise and lead a group of us in the office (still under the associate's watchful eyes ofcourse) to take part in this competition which is due in less than a months time.

it was pretty fun having just us colleagues working on the scheme. but then my superior insisted in getting really involve in the scheme... hence it was all reverted back to his propaganda.
he reminded us we shouldnt take his comments too literally as they are just mere oppinions. its more like "guidelines" for us to work on. because techincally he is not to get involve.
however, even though he insists on it being mere oppinions... the boss is still and will always be the boss. he has the final say on everything.

its a pity i was not able to present my personal scheme today... thought i had a pretty good scheme in my pocket. but then again... you're always biased towards your own work.

nevertheless... i can always try to wiggle or weave my ideas into the overall scheme. it be such a waste not to use this refine idea of mine.

partially looking forward to the trip up KL this weekend. its all part of the competition's working process as we're collaborating with an architect there. since he made the effort to come down... boss feels its fair we go up as well, since we were the ones who invited him to collaborate.

everyone seems quite excited especially the ones who've yet to visit... but for me, i feel... sigh theres work to be done.

but! if the office is paying, then why not. haha.

okay time to wrap up and go home.

I can C/U...

everyone in the office was handed a book- 'contract administration guide to the singapore standard form of building contract' to read. its a big signal for us to start registering ourselves. well atleast the book is FOC.

Signed up to attend a talk by Claudio Silvestrin (JohnPawson's ex-partner). Looking forward to it this coming thursday. He was featured in the Straits time few months back, where he was interviewed on matter of TASTE. ofcourse indirectly he was trying to say that basically good taste is HIS taste. but nevertheless he done some pretty nice works.

returning back to my title of C/Us. during my trip back to KK. i finally found my way around the kk city (something i've wanted to do for a long time). i managed to cover a fair bit of the CBD area. there is one thing that until today i can't quite understand and am very annoyed about is the lack/ no consideration for C/Us in the design process.

As we all, in Asia there is never enough aircond to go around. however, being such an obvious matter that man can't live without the Aircond, why do Architects still never factor it into the design considerations? ofcourse clients will always want the architect to maximize land the plot as usable space, but still... how much space can you save anyway, if you sacrificed it for C/U compartments. well, atleast have the courtesy to screen it off.

but the next problem is no one ever consider the fact of expansion, i give the architects the benefit of the doubt when they atleast provide C/U pockets, but after seeing so many buildings over flooding the facade with additional C/Us, then now architects should consider to over provide for the future.

seriously it is as simple as that... either you strongly insists that your building must not be airconditioned or you just have to give in and provide.

1234
1. It seems like this Post Modern building is undergoing its natural puberty phase... zits popping out of nowhere.
2. For this image, i'm not sure if i should give credit to the M+E and strangle the Architect or just leave it that the client just ran out of budget and couldnt afford the screens
3. Well, atleast the architect decided to integrate the C/Us into the facade making a strong statement of how we humans just can't live without them.
4. Amazingly managed to make the same mistake twice. or was it... intentional?

i in KK now...

its been awhile. i've taken a slightly extended weekend to take a break back home in KK. its always good to be home. i was welcomed with heavy down pours, rain always makes it nicer to sleep.

I am amazed how early i woke up this morning. way before my usual time which is 30 minutes after my alarm clock rings. partially due to mom bringing me a glass of her special brew of applejuice with 'other' ingredients.

must distract myself away from thoughts of work. todays agenda... relax. might pop by innotech and visit my former employer. must catch up with whats been happening in the KK construction industry.
ofcourse hopefully if the weather is fine, dad is bringing to some project site for view.

theres one building im keen on visitng. the old kk public library. see if i can take some photos.

the new maid has smelly armpits... its horrible. i can smell her scent all over the place. sigh... and buddy is freakin FAT!! like a big balloon. oh deary me! and ofcourse i got to sit in the new camry. so nice.

the long awaited images...

the great Angkor Wat... Detail.

the... temple where tomb raider was shot.



one of my favourite temple. i terlupa its name.


detail. interesting combination betwenn larva stone/brick/sandstone.

the only modern building in siem reap.

that's me... ready to leave.

theres more... but these are just some of the highlights.

a change in scenery...

Back from my trip to the land of the Wats over the weekend. What you say? yes im very funny indeed. so natural in fact.
At first I was pretty excited about going for this cambodia trip. However during the last month I was dreading to go, due to the fact that it would be a trip with the bosses. However, I did somehow manage to enjoy the whole thing despite the fact that it was pretty rush one. Its all about snapping as many pictures don’t care what it is your snapping, then reach home only start to go through them to really appreciate the place. Unfortunately, my camera died half way during the second day of the trip. Hence, wasn’t able to snap pictures at the Bayon temple and the inner parts of Angkorwat plus I took for granted the fact of not bringing my sketch book along. But I guess, sketching would not have been possible given that we had a very packed and rush itinerary. I hate going on these sort of packaged tour trips. You’ll never really get to experience in real time when you go for these sorts of schemes. Its all run here run there see this see that… cramming as much visits into such minimal days. In the end, all you get is just a bit of everything and never the full circle of things. So sad. But still interesting indeed, for the fact the past half year all I see is concrete modern buildings in a concrete jungle. Over at Siem Riep… its all low rise super old shops houses, lush greenery, farms, and ofcourse temples. I think there were more stray cows than both cats and dogs. If I was living there… I could just randomly catch one a kill it to eat. Its like having free steaks running around.Yummy.
i'll post some pictures real soon of my cambodia/SiemRiep trip soon.
for now, the night is still young!!
heres a question. what does SiemRiep mean in english?
haha. it means... Defeated Thais.
Siem=Thais and Riep=Defeat
why so? go figure...

whats been up...

the office has taken up a new competition. its an invitation only competition for NUS. we're asked to come out ideas and design for university's staff housing and to allow/ foresee future expansion.
pretty big feat huh? i guess so. but with such a huge group brainstorming... shouldnt be a problem.

anyway, we're into the final stages of the preparation. drawings have been settled etc. now its all about the pretty pictures and photoshoping.

i've been asign to monitor the photoshoppers- whom are bunch of grumpy workers, and to do the ultimate presentation layout boards. to me is the most important of all... consolidating everything thing to look good. at the end of the day, its all about looking good. funky diagrams, awesome perspectives, catchy plans and sections. sigh... stress.

im the last to leave the office today.

other agendas... suddenly the C&S engineer tells us our terraces structurally arent feasable. what?!! now you tell us? we've sold all the units. adding additional columns are just looking for trouble.
plus... i'm still waiting for the sentosa cove client to call. sigh. i havent done much since. wonder where is he off to now... the last was Canada.

test render...

trying to achieve an interesting spatial quality as you enter the space.

have yet to add in the water.

if only floating stairs were feasable... sigh.

damn be the laws of gravity.

One more day till pay day... i hope.

sigh.

im not working this weekend. nothing is gonna stop me from not going back!
ofcourse the OT was partially due to my own fault and stupidity. shame on you sam.

spank!
ouch!
painful lar...
your not in pain... you're just going nuts.

so much to do and catch up with. i'm a damn slow worker...

KL trip... syok.

My KL trip this time around was a much more inspiring one. Aside from being able to listen and see some of the current avant garde architects today at the conference. I finally was able to meet Kevin M. Low in person.

He managed to take us around to see some of his projects. one word to describe his work- REFRESHING.





These images were taken by my colleague. i lupa charge my camera.
Another interesting person i met was Seksan, a landscape architect with an engineering background. His works are similar to Kevin's. they collaborate alot, hence u will notice the similarities.

dream sketches...

before i head home... can anyone guess what this is?




haha... was thinking abt it the whole of last night. i even scribbled out some possible modifications (not included in this sketch).

Subvert the usual paradigm...

"do a paradigm shift my boy..." was the last advise given for the day by one of the associate.

It feels like im back in the design studio cracking out my brain to figure out an idea/ cutting edge idea for the bungalow. On one hand its pretty exciting to be designing. i've heard many who never got a chance to design since uni days until many many years later. But also it would be quite embrassing to come out with some cliche/ childish concept.


I know so little yet i've learnt so much...

Almost there...

We're almost crossng the finishing line in terms of completing the showflat. Hopefully all will be done by next week. They are intending to launch pretty soon. Its a pity that this building will only exist on a temporary basis.


okay... its a friday night... yes... ummm... yea.

It won't be soon before long...

Parents have left the tiny singapore island and back to my motherland- Malaysia. Sigh, it was fun while it lasted. eating non-stop similar to techno music.
Since non of you will be allowed to enter my current workplace (unless ofcourse you acquire mkpl as your designer), i have no choice but to post it up on the blog. With limited images ofcourse.

What more do you want to see aside from my working space?

Image 1- The main working area, split into 4 bays.
Image 2- I'm located at the 3rd bay
Image 3- I'm seated in the middle in-between the associate i'm to follow and the hired ID staff who smokes in the ladies every 3-4 hours. ofcourse this activity increases when she gets even more stressed out.
Image 4- My working space close up
Image 5- My 2 bosses' office a.k.a the FISH TANK.
Image 6- The model making area located opposite the FISH TANK.

Anyway, thanks mom and dad for making your way all the way here to visit me. So blessed and happy indeed. Not till another 6-7 months i'll see you guys again.

Before i leave the office...

i wrote a whole lot of stuff regarding this building.
but basically... this is where i work. my unique office. column free due to the twisted fins. those fins are purely structural which are 4 times stronger than an untwisted fin. amazing.
the slabs are post tension... therefore the slabs are able to be about 220mm thick.
its the first building in Singapore design with 2 levels of basement on clay soil. Built in the 1970s by KTP consultants.








The engineers must be enthralled by the images. a unique aesthetic created through structural rationalization. Why... is another question to be answered at another day.

Happy mother's day...

the showflat is coming along. dont be fooled by its external look. interior defects is a nightmare. we had to kick down all the walls to ensure they dont try to be funny and repaint the mouldy walls....

this project is one month past its actual completion date.

i shall spare u all by not showing u the interior shots yet. its still... too embarrasing to show.

Thanks for the e-card... my dear parents.

currently there is an uninvited big piece of LARD sleeping on my sofa. i was so angry when i had the sudden knews that the lard was coming to sleep over without my approval by the string bean. Some people will never change. Never change indeed, as the Lard is still as smelly as ever. my apartment now stinks like shit. smelly socks... smell of undried clothes/ sweaty clothes/ stinky body odour. i can go on and on about these mannerless people. but i've other things to think about. such as... yong tau fu.

anyway, my tonites plan with ahjihn has been cancelled. i was actually looking forward to it. good way to spend pre-labour day "partying". unfortunately, one of them fell sick so the whole thing was cancelled. nevermind... tonite is movie marathon on channel 5. Shoots! the smelly big is occupying the living area. maybe i should bring the tv into my room. i hate smelly people.

bought myself a pair of pants. realised that the color was darker than my suite. hmmm don;t think anyone would notice... would they? but anyway its still nonetheless a nice pair of pants. have to send it to be trimmed.

I've signed up for the DATUM: KL 2007/ UIA Regional Forum 2007 at KLCC on the 6-7 July.
so far all the AAs arent attending... must try to presuade them.
the key speakers?
Ryue Nishizawa (SANAA)
Ma Yansong
Cho Minsuk
Zhao Xiaoiun
Billie Tsien
CM Lee & Kapil Gupta
Mok Wei Wei
Lillian Tay
Rory Mcgowan

So exciting indeed. now all i need to worry about is the cost for the whole trip.

SIA Dinner...

its shopping time... My boss has apparently "invited" us to attend the SIA annual dinner coming May. Ofcourse its never a choice when it comes to office events. We are a proud bunch and face is very important at MKPL.

But problem is... we're required to dress up formally. mens attire- Lounge suite. my current wardrobe has nothing of that standard. Hence we junior architects are given a $300 wardrobe allowance. Unfortunately, a $300 budget is not enough for me to get an Armani suite. sigh...
Should try an demand for more... if he insist that we need to "build up our wardrobe".

Anyway, the weekend is here. but have to head back office tomorrow and hopefully not Sunday as well. Crunch time...

Speaking of which, i'm getting hungry. John has really spoilt me on them sandwiches at The Sandwich Shop. die lar... brie and ham... yum yum. NO!! Yongtaofu! yummier!!

Very very... behind schedule

Current project i'm involved with. This is the showflat for the development located somewhere in Bukit timah. very posh wan eh. sneak preview... possibly be selling at $2000/sq f.



Kiasu engineer? with columns that big for a canopy... i think the purlins are totally redundant.

moonlight serenade...

have not been writing in this space for a very very long time. thats the problem when you don't have internet access at home. but ofcourse eventually there will always be time to do so.

whats been up? tsk tsk! collected my first pay cheque. sadly it isn't the full sum of my salary as i only started working on the 5th. now the next thing is to pass my probation period and get my name card... that would be the coolest thing in the world. i currently feel like a nobody during meetings etc. no namecards to give out.

this is going to be a pretty short week. the time passes so quickly here... yet not quick enough. but theres just so much to do in such a short time, or actually the client keeps squeezing our time shorter and shorter. so many meetings... so little time to complete stuff. sadly, the interns will be leaving us and heading back to school. guess who's left to pick up the leftover pieces.

watched SHOOTER over the weekend. Mark Wahlberg was the main star of the movie. it was okay. the action was pretty enjoyable, but the story line and the development of the characters werent really there. but it was good entertainment nonetheless. cinemas are good places to get away from it all. the layout is as similar to almost any cinema in the world, that you wont be able to feel the difference. watching a movie in Sg was not any different from watching a movie in aussie. in a sense its a place you sometimes can feel at home.

had a meeting with the marketing people organise by the project manager regarding the current project im doing. it was truly slightly a waste of time. tomorrow would be a long day the client's office.

thinking of what plans to make during the weekend. thinking of heading up kl to celebrate easter and do my banking stuff as well. still deciding.

anyway. i'm heading off. time to sleep.