Tuesday 29 January 2008

Study Models, Please

U5ers at our crit this morning would have seen how indisputably (this word's for Issac) useful models are for discussing ideas. So please present one for discussion on Thurs.

With the models it was easy to assess how successfully the designs handled the programmatic requirements of this project, how well they orchestrated the 3 main functions, and how well the routings through the building worked. And, more, how new ideas suddenly popped up--like Kelvin's amphitheatre seating on the roof, or the triple waves instead of a single wave in Hwa Lik's "wavy" building. Govin's sculptural form enclosing 3 clear, yet complex and varied but unified, spaces was clearly shown in the quickie models, and only need detailed development along those same lines.

So get those fingers working!

Poetics of Architecture

Just a reminder not to miss Ms V's lecture on the poetics of architecture next Thurs 31 Jan.

Another good lecture happens at KLPAC tomorrow @ 6.30pm. "Econography" by Dr Tan Loke Mun---all about iconic architecture and designing in the now. I'll be there. It's a PAM Design Series lecture and, I believe, it's RM10 for students.

Saturday 26 January 2008

UM 2nd Year

My students @ UM: can one of you contact me (sms) please?

Thanks

Ian Ng

Interim Review coming Tue

(Ooops... thot this message had been published. Hence my last sms might have been baffling. Sorry...)

Just a gentle reminder that Tues' interim review should be treated like a trial run of the final submission from the point of view of coverage. Show all items you intend to present on the final day, in its rough and ready form. Don't bother about being too fine or final.

You'd need to, at the least, have all the plans and at least 2 sections---freehand's good as long as it's to scale. And either a study model or lots of 3-d sketches---preferably both. (Put the words aside for a while, ok? We can come back to that later.)

I know some of you are still sorting out all the ideas flying about and fighting with each other up there. But to win the war in the end, you'd just have to kidnap some---now---and put them up for interrogation on Tue. They might not be the "big one" you're after, but chances are they will cough up enough to lead you to it.

IT, I guess, is what we're all after.

Ian

Thursday 17 January 2008

Unit 5 Kicks Off!

Welcome to Unit 5!

Frederick, Kelvin, Hwa Lik, Pei Ei, Carey, Euric, Jessmine, Govin, Sunil, Mee Kei, Hui Lih and Issac, it was good chatting for the first time this afternoon. I appreciate your sharing your individual agendas (some quite personal) and hope you appreciate mine, too. We'll just have to do it together. I think we can do it.

Just to recap, for your meet-up with Veron next Tue, the aim is to show evidence of a thorough "analysis of trade". (See your brief.)

Make full use of the tutorial by researching thoroughly. Visit some trades over the weekend if you can. The points I mentioned this afternoon were:
  1. Its history
  2. Processes of the trade
  3. architectural responses and accommodation
  4. social significance
  5. essence, special quality and "beauty" of it
  6. your personal connection to it

Your main task is to convince everybody that the trade you've chosen or shortlisted is in fact a "disappearing" trade needing your attention. And that needs a sound argument based on your research. Would be good to support your argument with tangible outcomes--pics, quotes, data, statistics, text. Do a "prove-and-sell" presentation.

And complement that with some conceptual proposals (wild ideas) on what you're interested in exploring for the 3 spaces.

Have fun! I'll see you on Thursday and look forward to checking out your first stabs at study models and sketches and stuff.

(Would be good if someone can inform Sieu Theng about the happenings.)