FUNNY FUTURE AHEAD

One of you asked me what kind of prospects he can expect when he finally becomes an architect. Will there be any? he asked. Of course there will be prospects, but in a varied sort of way, and not necessarily located in Malaysia. Here's an interesting email from my friend for you to ponder over... (Mind you it's only one man's opinion.)

Dear Ian, Do read the attached article from The ST, Singapore.Is it any wonder why Chinese schools in Malaysia are packed to the brink, Indonesia is reopening Chinese schools, Australia's new PM can speak Chinese fluently, NZ schools are teaching Chinese, Cambodia has many Chinese schools, Chinese is now a compulsory subject in Thai schools, rich Americans are employing Chinese speaking nannies to tend their young ones? A paradigm shift in world cultural, economic and military power is happening right now!It is still not too late for those of us English educated, Anglophile to learn Chinese ! Check out Chinesepod.com Warmest regards, AT

From The Straits Times Singapore :
'America is out of control... The best advice I can give to anyone is to teach your children and grandchildren Chinese.' - MR ROGERS, underscoring his bullish forecast for Asia, especially China
GRACE NG
THE STRAITS TIMESINVESTMENT guru Jim Rogers read the last rites over the bull run yesterday, declaring in Singapore that the good times have ended - at least in the West. He said that with the greenback set for a major decline and the United States economy in a recession, he is looking to Asia, especially China, for investment opportunities, while confirming his faith in commodities.
---The famed investor, who has made Singapore his home, told an Investment Management Association of Singapore conference that the US is increasingly in hock to other nations, with its debt swelling by US$1 trillion (S$1.4 trillion) every 15 months.
---'America is out of control,' he said, adding that while the global economy will inevitably be affected by a US slowdown, there are still many industries in Asia that will emerge unscathed. He cited the region's booming water treatment industry, which he believes will continue to thrive, while tourism will grow at a frenetic pace as Asia's three billion people earn more and start to venture overseas
---Mr Rogers, 65, who co-founded the Quantum Fund with billionaire George Soros in the 1970s, also raised Asia's demographic trends - ageing populations coupled with governments urging their people to have more babies. He said he invested in 'baby stocks' in Japan because he anticipated the Japanese government's efforts to encourage its citizens to have more children would bear fruit. The so-called baby stocks include toymakers such as Sanrio, which makes the popular cat character Hello Kitty.
---He remains bullish on China's long-term prospects but expects a shake-up soon. He noted that the Chinese government has been taking serious action and 'doing its best to cut back on speculation in real estate'. 'I expect to see some Chinese real estate speculators going broke this year,' he told an audience of more than 800 investment professionals. But China's rise as an economic powerhouse means no investor could afford to ignore it, said Mr Rogers, adding: 'The best advice I can give to anyone is to teach your children and grandchildren Chinese'. He also reiterated his view that a commodities bull run will continue - possibly 'until 2020'.
---He told the gathering that his four-year-old daughter perfectly embodies his investment philosophy: She grew up speaking Mandarin and holds a portfolio consisting entirely of commodities.

KHOO KONGSI 2/2

Here are the remaining 2 pic.

KHOO KONGSI SITE 1/2

For those of us who missed checking out the Khoo Kongsi site, here are 5 photos.

Thanks Kelvin Yong for the marvellous photography!

2 more pics will follow in the next post.

MAD PENANG

Hi guys...While you're zombying yourselves silly on the site model do dream away on how you might fit an architecture into an old context. You might be inspired by MAD Architects Office, Beijing.
---Don't necessarily have to replicate the existing language, not even just utilise a contemporary language...you can in fact project yourselves 44 yrs into the futre.
---Proposed in 2006, "Living in hutongs in 2050" just invites such a lively discussion! (Note the new pathway material accentuating perspective.)
---And "Island over the Central Business District of Beijing" is quite spectacular. (Note the cheeky location of the CCTV Building in the centre.) Singapore's already building a "cruder" form of something like that now. (Govin, remember the question you asked me at Khoo Kongsi? On reflection, it wasn't such a silly question after all!)

---TLM, if you're reading this...this is what I mean by letting loose and freaking out. You'll like it!

CRIT TUE 12 FEB 08

Find a space for ourselves, everybody pin up by 0815 and spend 20 mins or so studying each other's work. We then discuss for a while before going into individual crits which, of course, will be open to all.

Look forward to seeing you tomorrow!

Regarding the layout/arrangement for 3 spaces

Hi Ian, this is Issac
May i ask do we require to focus on the layout for experience, wokring& selling spaces? (Means, how the machines and furnitures being arranged+ organized
Aligator 谢谢 Ian

P/s:
Wish everyone Happi CNY!
*No nid wish prosperous la, Healthy cukup dah ^^

Conception

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR & HOLIDAYS to all of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ian, this is a very vague and simple pic(editing from photoshop) beside which is showing the outdoor amphitheatre u were mentioned in last tutorial class .. so .. ive kinda changed the circulation .. ( Entrance would be still the same "Exhibition&Gallery - outdoor exhibition - either go down into workshop and retail or go up to the outdoor amphitheatre through the stair-like structure to the roof top .. and i have measured the height of the structures accordingly to scale, it wont be an issue ..

kelvin

PRESUBMISSION REVIEW TUE 12 FEB 08

And before I get too caught up with the preparations and all...Here's wishing all Chinese bloggers HAPPY CHEESENESE NEW YEAR!!

Have loads of fun and red ones, but don't forget the forthcoming submission of Thurs 14 Feb. ....sigh!... I know, but that's how it is. You've all put in a lot of concentration at the crits so don't let yourselves down with a poor show.

Please treat Tuesday's presubmission review as a "full dress rehearsal." Pin up the full works, even if some bits are not 100% finished. It's important that we are able to see the whole picture, and you test run your verbal presentation, so we can tweak things. And I can suggest places to revise or refine before the real show on Thurs.

From last Thursday's Points of View crit, I'd say the following:

1. I'd like to commend those who responded to my call for study models--especially those who already had one on Tue and came up with another on Thur. We all saw how concrete our discussion was when we did a comparative analysis of the models. Let's keep up this habit.
2. Other than Carey's and perhaps Kelvin's and Govin's, the models were largely visceral, showing an intention of the kind of spatial composition desired. To take it to the next stage you have to start organising the internal spaces with walls, floors, ramps, stairs, roofs, structure, etc. all the architectonic elements to make it into a real building that we can walk through.
3. Remember our Points of Views, and you won't go far wrong.

Individually,

• Carey, make your entrance a more "happening" place. As this is a gathering-space and a first-impression-space it has to make an impact. (This applies to everybody when you get to it.)
• Issac, I like the frames in your first model. It had a great deal of potential. Overall the first model was more interesting, exciting.
• Kelvin, what happened to the amphitheatre?
• Hwa Lik, don't give up the waves. Just use them to compose your internal spaces. Play with the waves. Waves suggest a rolling motion. Don't be so serious, ok?
• Sunil, origami is fine. Think about folds and folding. There's a lot of that in architecture.
• Fred, nhuh?
• HL, ST, G, JL, PE, ER & MK you all already have very workable proposals! Just go for it!