liveebyarchitecture

Ten Thousand Cents

There is something quite remarkable about the idea of lots of people or data making a tiny chunk of seemingly-unrelated contribution towards a single aim, consciously or not.

Here’s an interesting project by Aaron Koblin (also the creator of the really-cool Flight Patterns animation) and Takashi Kawashima, exploring the possibilities of crowdsourcing and digital reproduction:

The project is called Ten Thousand Cents — 10,000 people from 51 different countries were paid one cent to draw 1/10,000th of the $100 bill, having absolutely no idea of the overall task.

Oh well! In this day and age, who would really know the true consequences of our actions? Just a few days ago, the news of Michael Jackson’s death had millions of people talking, tweeting, blogging, sharing… Together, they almost killed the WWW.

It’s a marathon, not a sprint

Oh yes I realize I have not blogged for close to a month now. Same old reason, don’t feel I need to explain anymore. It was hardcore Architorture since I took three other electives besides my Research Studio this session. Work load’s been crazy and I constantly found myself struggling to keep my head above water, working on whatever’s due the very next day. Not to forget the freakin’ misfortunes I had with my computer! Oh well the results have not been released yet, but I must say that this session had been quite a feat…

This session’s final review was last Friday (focusing mainly on the analysis and programs: its actually more like a sneak peak of our proposals for the next session). My research and proposal was generally well received, aside from a few issues I will need to address and resolve, perhaps simplifying some of the diagrams before translating them architecturally.

I am actually quite psyched up about developing this, but for now, I think I need a break!!!!

But for the coming few weeks (before the next session starts) I will definitely need to spend some time tightening up the scheme and start updating my class blog!

I know I am totally stressed out

…when I find myself playing Raving Rabbids in my dreams!

I love how totally ridiculous it is!

And I absolutely love the evil screeching sounds they make.

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Darn the person who might be enjoying my Wii right now!

Map Bookshelf

Found another designer bookshelf:

Image from Cartophilia

It combines the two coolest things in the world: books and maps.

Check out more on Ron Arad’s website.

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Related:
Designer shelves.

Think!

I recently came across Dan Roam’s visual thinking toolkit in the Graphics course I am taking this session.

Dan Roam is the author of a very cute, witty book: the Back of the Napkin.

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Which got me thinking…

Any project will need to answer the basic questions, the 6W’s+1H… they make a good checklist to go through when developing an approach for a project.

However it had struck me that the “WHY?” is often overlooked, because most clients have already answered that for themselves and they sometimes come to us to simply implement the design process and achieve that vision they already have.

Some groups in our final year studio addressed this issue and proposed that the site and design briefs should be pre-determined by the tutors, so students do not have to spend time on unnecessary research to figure out the “WHY?” — which is very much the situation in reality. With these out of the way they can focus on the execution of the “HOW?” in their final year project, which I guess can be quite efficient and might even foster some brilliant proposals.

True, but shouldn’t architectural education encourage students to continuously ask “WHY”???

If we ask “WHY?” at the very beginning,  we might come to an understanding that the client’s brief may not be the best way to solve anything. If we do a little more research, we might find that a different approach should be in order… Shouldn’t we be trained to think critically, especially at this stage of our education, instead of executing tasks within a pre-defined scope?

Just thinking out loud…

Thoughts, anyone?

World Builder

The idea of guys going to crazy extents to build something for the girls they love is not new (think Taj Mahal). Well this short film, World Builder by Bruce Branit, is about “a strange man” who builds a holographic world for the woman he loves. There’s a reason why it had to be holographic — but you’ll need to watch it for yourself to find out.

It is an exciting concept, and it reminds me of the IPhone and some of the Sketchup tools. Well I am not so sure about the holographic keyboard but of course looks great on screen (remember the cool Recycle Bin scene from Iron Man?). 

But imagine a world where you could pick colours and textures from your fingertips and apply them to buildings and objects! How cool will that be?!  

ION Orchard, Singapore

Another post on the Singapore trip.

I was really hoping to see how the ION Orchard project was doing. I had come across some of the 3D renderings as I was shopping around the area last year. They were interesting images of a skyscraper, right in the middle of Orchard Road.

So I have decided to stop by Orchard Road this time around, despite our tight schedule.

It was still under construction, but the new MRT exits have already been in use since mid-2008.

ION Orchard is designed by Benoy and its retail component is expected to complete by the end of this year. The shopping mall has been the talk of the town since the announcement of the top luxury fashion brands which have confirmed they will occupy the double-storey flagship spaces on street level. In fact even the national airline, SIA, has decided to move its service centre into the complex.

Construction of the luxury residential+commercial tower will continue after the mall opens and is targeted to complete the following year. The top two levels of the 56-storeys skyscraper will be used as a (double-height) viewing deck.

I was looking for the actual renderings that I had seen last year, but my hunt had been unfruitful. But anyway here are some photographs of the model…

Well I guess Singapore has caught up with the whole bling-bling facade fad.

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Read more about ION, here.

Photographs of the model from Skyscrapercity.

Iluma, Singapore

There are some interesting new facades in Bugis this time around. I visit Singapore pretty often and from memory the building wasn’t quite like this in June 2008. They’re still doing some interior fitouts but with the facade already complete, the complex should be ready for its opening pretty soon.

The S$160-million Iluma, designed by WoHA, is located along Victoria Street — just across the road from Bugis Junction and right next to the Bugis Street Market. The facade (which costs S$3.5-million btw) features LED display screens, a silver skin of perforated aluminium and a textured curtain wall in louvres and glass.

Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) envisions the project as the “Urban Entertainment Centre”, as part of the plan to revive Bugis and to inject an exciting 24/7 life into the area. Iluma’s entertainment outlets (perfomance areas, cineplex and dance floors) are expected to set this development apart from the other shopping malls in Singapore.

I googled for the design proposals and found some images of the model:

Looking forward to see how this turns out!

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Read more about the Iluma: here, here and here.

Images of the model were taken from Skyscrapercity.

Back from KL!

Not a lot of action on LBA in the past month. I should’ve mentioned in the last post that I’ll be back in KL during the Chinese New Year holidays. I got back to Sydney last weekend, and I apologize for not blogging a little sooner. 

From the e-mails from friends I guess everyone is on the hunt for my holiday updates and I promise there will be posts on the way. Oh well! Since I’m back — and with the Archinerd and I once again sunken into our Withdrawal Syndrome – I guess I will be able to update more regularly!

It is pretty amazing how quick things change back home. Somehow it feels like being abroad, my memory of Home becomes less verifiable and invalid each time i return. It’s a difficult feeling to describe. But anyways, I’m really glad to have finally spent some time with my family. And to have enjoyed the luxury of having eating places open 24/7! (No, pubs and McDonald’s don’t count!)

PLUS I spent some quality time with my sister in Singapore. And spotted a few new buildings that weren’t there yet the same time last year. 

PLUS PLUS this time around, the Archinerd and I finally managed to spare some time to make a short trip to visit the BOH Tea Visitor’s Centre in Cameron Highlands. 

PLUS PLUS PLUS we travelled A380 with Singapore Airlines on our way back to Sydney. And spent a good couple of hours in the transit lounges of Changi’s Terminal 3!

Check back later for the updates!

Lviv’s giant crossword

Lviv, Ukraine.

From the news clip I watched I believe it was pronounced “el-li-vee-oo”.
Which I thought sounded a little like, “Eh, Livee..”
Lol.

But anyway, besides its weird phonetic similarity with my name… Lviv now houses the biggest crossword puzzle in the world!

It stands 100 feet (30 meters) tall on the facade of one of the apartment blocks in the city.

The clues for the puzzle can be found collectively at several tourist attractions, scattered around the city. And as the night falls, the giant crossword reveals the answers…

Fluorescent lights are used to form the letters in the boxes, which are switched on at night to reveal the solution.

Talk about interactive facades!

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Images from English Russia.