STUDIO 3 INTERIM GRADING, MON 3.11.08

Important Announcement: You are to ensure that the total built-up floor area of your scheme does not exceed the stipulated 600 sq.m. by more than 10%. Marks will be deducted for non-compliance. The only exception to this rule is if you have an OUTSTANDING concept which requires u to do so. (And it had better be outstandingly defendable!)

And make sure you deliver every single outcome required.

Make your scheme sooo good that people fall in love with it.......as illustrated below.

(Tx, Boon!)

PUBLIC SPEAKING

...practise your speaking skills to get you on the road to success.

• Join Toastmasters International (TMI)


• Relax and Pause


• Discard Outdated Tips


• Breathe Correctly


• Smile (....helps you think by releasing endorphins into your brain..)


• Keep it Simple


• Open with Pizzazz and Close with a Punch


• Talk the Walk You Walk

(for full article, see today's Star Metro Classifieds cover, "TALK YOUR WAY TO THE TOP", by Michael A. Podolinsky, a master trainer specialising in developing passionate leaders.

Also check out my previous postings, "PRESENTATION CONFIDENCE" and "PRESENTATION LANGUAGE" in April this year.)

DANCING IN THE RAIN

Sparing a thought for all the stressed up ppl struggling to finish their final design project, I just couldn't let this go by, esp after reading the last line ...haha. (Tx to BSP for emailing me the following.)


"In a zoo in California, a mother tiger gave birth to a rare set of triplet tiger cubs.. Unfortunately, due to complications in the pregnancy, the cubs were born prematurely and due to their tiny size, they died shortly after birth.

The mother tiger after recovering from the delivery, suddenly started to decline in health, although physically she was fine. The veterinarians felt that the loss of her litter had caused the tigress to fall into a depression. The doctors decided that if the tigress could surrogate another mother's cubs, perhaps she would improve.

After checking with many other zoos across the country, the depressing news was that there were no tiger cubs of the right age to introduce to the mourning mother. The veterinarians decided to try something that had never been tried in a zoo environment. Sometimes a mother of one species will take on the care of a different species. The only orphans' that could be found quickly were a litter of weanling pigs. The zoo keepers and vets wrapped the piglets in tiger skin and placed the babies around the mother tiger. Would they become cubs or pork chops?

Take a look...you won't believe your eyes!!

Now, please tell me one more time... Why can't the rest of the world get along?

'Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass; it's about learning to dance in the rain.' "

MY ONLY SUNSHINE

You are My Sunshine, My only Sunshine

Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her 3-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new sibling.

They found out that the new baby was going be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael sang to his sister in mommy's tummy.

He was building a bond of love with his little sister before he even met her. The pregnancy progressed normally for Karen, an active member of the Panther Creek United Methodist Church in Morristown, Tennessee.

In time, the labor pains came. Soon it was every five minutes, every three, every minute. But serious complications arose during delivery and Karen found herself in hours of labor.

Would a C-section be required? Finally, after a long struggle, Michael's little sister was born. But she was in very serious condition.

With a siren howling in the night, the ambulance rushed the infant to the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital,Knoxville, Tennessee . The days inched by. The little girl got worse. The pediatrician had to tell the parents there is very little hope. Be prepared for the worst.

Karen and her husband contacted a local cemetery about a burial plot.

They had fixed up a special room in their house for their new baby but now they found themselves having to plan for a funeral.

Michael, however, kept begging his parents to let him see his sister. I want to sing to her, he kept saying.

Week two in intensive care looked as if a funeral would come before the week was over.

Michael kept nagging about singing to his sister, but kids are never allowed in Intensive Care.

Karen decided to take Michael whether they liked it or not. If he didn't see his sister right then, he may never see her alive.

She dressed him in an oversized scrub suit and marched him into ICU. I (sic) looked like a walking laundry basket.

The head nurse recognized him as a child and bellowed, 'Get that kid out of here now. No children are allowed.'

The mother rose up strong in Karen, and the usually mild-mannered lady glared steel-eyed right into the head nurse's face, her lips a firm line.

'He is not leaving until he sings to his sister,' she stated.

Then Karen towed Michael to his sister's bedside. He gazed at the tiny infant losing the battle to live.

After a moment, he began to sing. In the pure-hearted voice of a 3-year-old, Michael sang:

'You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray.'

Instantly the baby girl seemed to respond. The pulse rate began to calm down and become steady.

'Keep on singing, Michael,' encouraged Karen with tears in her eyes.

'You never know, dear, how much I love you, please don't take my sunshine away.'

As Michael sang to his sister, the baby's ragged, strained breathing became as smooth as a kitten's purr.

'Keep on singing, sweetheart.'

'The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping, I dreamed I held you in my arms'.

Michael's little sister began to relax as rest, healing rest, seemed to sweep over her.

'Keep on singing, Michael.'

Tears had now conquered the face of the bossy head nurse. Karen glowed.

'You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. Please don't take my sunshine away...'

The next day...the very next day, the little girl was well enough to go home.

Woman's Day Magazine called it 'The Miracle of a Brother's Song.'

The medical staff just called it a miracle.

Karen called it a miracle of God's love.

NEVER GIVE UP ON THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE.

LOVE IS SO INCREDIBLY POWERFUL. Life is good.

'The evidence of God's presence far outweighs the proof of His absence.'

(received from bhy with thanks.)

A bit of comic relief for stressed out model makers..haha

CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED LOVE

I would recommend this play! Powerfully performed on absolutely relevant situations encountered by just about anyone who's vaguely human.


I caught the pre-premiere, and hope to catch it again in the forthcoming season @ KLPAC, 6-16 Nov 2008.

Check out the website of Footstool Players for more details, link in the reflection excerpt below.

" I think ultimately, every single person on this crazy planet is looking for love. Not just any old love, either; we want to be accepted as we are, we want to share ourselves with someone else without fear of rejection or ridicule, we want to have our intrinsic worth affirmed by someone who cherishes and cares for us, we want to connect with someone at the very deepest and most intimate level that two human beings can connect.
Watching the Footstool Players' Crazy Little Thing Called Love last night reminded me of this. So much emotion. You know love can bring lots of joy but can also lots of pain; there's potential for both as you make yourself vulnerable to another person."

(source: http://www.wilfulsunflower.com/2008/10/reflections.html, accessed 950h, 26.10.08)

FINDING PHARAOH (a lecture)

My next lecture is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday 29 Oct. This is yet to be confirmed as the top priority for that day is the STUDIO TUTORIAL: Nothing must come in the way of that!


FINDING PHARAOH - Architectural Impressions of Egypt

SITI & OMA - A Classic Love Story

I wish to express my gratitude to the following students who contributed content to my lecture, SITI & OMA - A Classic Love Story, this morning. They were, in the random order of the slides below, Kelvin Yong, Cheng Mao Yang, Jonathan Lim, Wong Ben Son, Tan Boon Ping, Thor Eu Ric, Nicholas Wong, Lee Sheng Hao, Lester Yong, Fong Yen Jin, Carey Ng, Ruth Dooley, Ong Jun Hao & Liew Wei Yang.

Comments are welcomed with thanks.

EGYPT baby!

Pix from Egypt. For the Star newspaper as well? :)

Foster+Partners at Lenbachhaus Museum, Munich

In celebration of Foster + Partners’ forthcoming project to remodel and extend the "Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus", the museum is hosting an exhibition to preview the design for the Städtische Galerie and to explore a number of related works, which address the theme of working with history (historic buildings at many times). This strand of the practice’s work is rooted in a belief that a passion for structures from the past can coexist with a pleasure and anticipation for the architecture of the future.

Lenbachhaus, Munich

The design scheme for the museum reveals a dignified and sensitive addition to Franz von Lenbach's historic villa. A new entranceway and an opening towards the Propylees and adjacent Königsplatz strengthen the museum's relationship to the city, while the new Atrium space and a new visitor guidance system will provide the best possible environment to showcase the museum’s internationally celebrated collection.

As Norman Foster has written:‘The history of our cities is the history of change – each age produces its own vocabulary and makes it own mark. Similarly, in buildings that have evolved over time the original layers of history can often be understood more readily when seen alongside the new. Sometimes we have to explore the past to find inspiration for the future.’

find out more @ http://www.fosterandpartners.com/News/352/Default.aspx & http://www.fosterandpartners.com/Projects/1198/Default.aspx & http://www.andypryke.com/pub/BlogJuly2005

highlighted is something i'd like to stress la..