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MASJID DAING ABDUL RAHMAN

RAZIN ARCHITECTS

VITRA CAMPUS

AN OPEN-AIR ARCHITECTURE MUSEUM

/ FEATURE /

/ WORDS LOW SHI PING

TEXTILES, FURNITURE, ARCHITECTURE Over three days, we travelled through Italy and Germany with Vitra, first to visit one of its factories and later, its Campus.

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t was a 22-hour journey involving two aeroplanes, two trains and a taxi, but we finally made it and were standing in front of the Vlinder sofa, designed

by Hella Jongerius.

Never mind that it had already been launched by Vitra at the Milan Design Week in 2018. What was special was we were admiring it in the very textile mill in northern Italy where its cover fabric had been made.

Artfully presented in an empty outhouse, the Vlinder sat inside, its colourful and contemporary appearance a counterpoint to the concrete walls, brick flooring and wooden rafters of the space that looked like it had been untouched for several decades.

Closer inspection reveals it is made of two parts: the sofa itself, with a cushy, 70cm seat depth, and a duvet-like cover fabric filled with a special mix of strippedquill goose feathers and down.

The latter is one of the reasons why we were invited on this press trip – to

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understand how the textile of the preciselytailored overlay was made, why it is so special and, by extension, showcase the capabilities of Vitra.

HAUTE COUTURE SOFA To say creating the Vlinder has been an adventure would be an understatement. It took more than three years to develop and saw seven different versions made before the final was selected.

In addition to the team at the textile mill, Jongerius, who is also Vitra’s Art Director for colours and materials, worked closely with Till Weber from the Swiss furniture company, who manages the Colours & Fabrics department.

“Vlinder is a master study in weaving.

A team of textile engineers and hand weavers joined forces to make this unique design possible,” says Jongerius.

“It shows a new way of producing a tailored ‘one-off’ pattern and creating an haute couture sofa that combines the

human touch of crafts with the possibilities of digital technology.”

Seven different jacquard weaves, from a combination of primarily wool and cotton, make up the cover fabric. These include basketweave, waffle weave, herringbone and quilted structures.

Then there are eight colours of yarns with two different thicknesses to give the tableau depth and texture.

Each section is woven separately, cut by hand and sewn together to form a geometric quilt, reminiscent of a colourful butterfly with outspread wings.

These are deliberately positioned relative to their place on the sofa encompassing the seat, back and armrests.

More than 65 million pixels are required to do the design, which come in four colour schemes: light and dark reds, and light and dark greens.

“The Vlinder is not a sofa manufactured from a drawing. Jongerius came up with the design, but it took time to develop not just the fabric, but also the sofa,” says Weber.

“The colouring was so complex we spent several afternoons in front of the loom at the mill crossing combinations to get it right. It looks like a graphical painting.”

STORIED SUPPLIER Everything about the textile mill Vitra collaborates with is testimony to its promise of offering high quality designs.

3 QUESTIONS WITH TILL WEBER

1. YOU HELP TO LOOK AFTER THE VITRA COLOUR & MATERIAL LIBRARY WITH HELLA JONGERIUS. WHAT FORM DOES IT TAKE?

Founded in 1885, it has a storied history of producing fabrics – especially wool – for ladies wear, blankets for luxury fashion brands and, during the World Wars, uniforms for the Italian army.

In 1980, it shifted its focus into producing upholstery for some of the top furniture companies in the world.

Today, the mill is owned by three Italians who have been friends for almost 40 years.

One of their major projects is making sense of the company’s physical archives – a painstaking process that involves cataloguing rooms full of fabric and hard copy documents (which we toured).

This treasure trove offers important snapshots of the mill’s history, but also serves as points of inspiration for the future.

On the production front, its stands out from others because it produces its own yarns.

At its heart is the weaving mill, a space that thunders with the sounds of 20 Jacquard and five Ratier looms working to create fabrics for its clients.

It is in there that fabric collections like Aura, Reed and Dumet, that can upholster Vitra’s furniture for the home, are woven (including the new fabric to make the Vlinder).

To meet its exacting standards, up to one year of testing is required for each fabric, checking for elements like abrasion on the skin, light fastness and chemical safety.

It is this very process that Jongerius and Weber play an important role in (see sidebar for the details).

It is a physical room in Vitra’s headquarters in Basel, Switzerland – a kind of war room – where we allow for creative messiness. You can find stacks of developments fabrics, plastics, miniatures, wood and sketches for projects. We constantly update the Library, to ensure we keep up with industry changes.

For example, sustainability is important now, so we offer our furniture in more natural, longlasting materials such as wool, recycled cotton or wood.

2. HOW DO YOU AND JONGERIUS COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER?

I have been with the company for 12 years, so am familiar with Vitra’s DNA and can bring a more internal perspective to the table. Jongerius offers the external one, providing ideas from outside the organisation.

We meet four to five times a year to do workshops with the teams and once a year, we go through the entire collection.

We also work together to develop new fabrics and collections. For the latter, we sample 600 to 900 colours through a colour blanket. Then we narrow it down to 27 to 35 colours to create a collection.

This entire process takes about two to three years, depending on the complexity of the textile or material.

Each collection has a standard spectrum of light, medium, dark and pop-y colours and we need to choose them. In reality, there is no right or wrong colour. The process is part intuition, but also something you learn from being with the company long enough.

There are rules to follow, such as starting with a light colour and ending with a dark one in the warp. We are also guided by the intention of the collection, what the Vitra portfolio needs, and what the market is looking for.

3. WHY IS YOUR JOB IMPORTANT TO ARCHITECTS AND DESIGNERS?

At Vitra, we curate colour palettes that help architects and designers find the right complements in different materials like fabrics, metal coatings or plastics during the design process. These colour palettes are thought through very well. They support and create a material concept for an interior. We are unique in this holistic view of our products, surfaces and fabrics, thanks to Jongerius’ art direction and our team at Vitra. It’s like offering a good toolbox to make a successful project. Another way of looking at it is helping a painter choose good oil colours to do a strong-coloured artwork.

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/ SPECIAL REPORT /

THE ART OF SUBTLETY A NEW SHOWROOM OPENED BY JUNG IN HANOI PREFERS TO BE REGARDED AS AN OASIS IN THE BUSTLING VIETNAMESE CAPITAL.

Deep in the heart of Hanoi’s old town is a 120m2 space for contemplation and relaxation. Made up of different rooms modelled like cocoons with wooden panels, it is easy to mistake it for a home.

In fact, S+ SEBENO, as it is named, is the showroom of switch and smart systems manufacturer JUNG.

depth infinitely.

Interspersed within them are JUNG’s switches.

The design takes its cues from the different

Materials such as wood, rattan and leather from

elements that have come together to make what

pieces by Vietnamese furniture manufacturer 282

the Vietnamese capital is today: an amalgamation

design blend with JUNG’s toggle switch LS 1912 in

of Southeast Asian, Chinese and French elements

classic brass, a homage to the firm’s founding year,

blended through 1,000 years.

to become a popular attraction. The visible surfaces

Every wooden panel is movable, revealing rooms composed of different materials. There is a star fruit tree planted in one, symbolising Asian

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culture; a mirror in another amplifies the sense of

meant to be touched have a clear-cut and open shape - unobtrusively confident.

The LS 990 in Les Couleurs® Le Corbusier adds

a strong effect, a prologue to JUNG’s story of the

with an expansive clay platform, which seems to hover

exclusive switches, sockets and building technology

above the ground.

systems available in 63 colours worldwide.

A square hollow in the middle represents Yin and

Plug & Light makes light control as modular

Yang, while its out-facing side offers a view of a nearby

and flexible as never before, its magnetic docking

temple. Light grey, natural illumination and cool air

facilitates allowing for the change of different lighting

evoke a sensation of freshness.

tops and moods.

That S+ is a special ambassador of JUNG’s is

Less visible is the KNX solutions, the intelligent

obvious enough. Its subtle approach tends towards

building system that is centrally controllable to

illustrating the materiality and aesthetics of the

offer maximum comfort and safety, and integrates

products and their diversity, than hard-selling.

discreetly into the overall concept.

The rooms are separated by gravel or stone paths. Take one and you might come across a space

This is something the Vietnamese architects will appreciate and hopefully leads to a prolonged relationship that will last another 1,000 years.

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/ REPORT /

DON’T ERASE OUR NATIONAL HERITAGE A conference held at the end of October put mid-century modern buildings in Southeast Asia in the spotlight. / WORDS LOW SHI PING /

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t the end of the 8th mASEANa International Conference Singapore 2019, the verdict seemed unanimous.

Despite the fact that it could cost more to conserve a mid-century modern building, than demolish it and build something new in its place, the benefits to society far outweigh any disadvantages.

Organised by the Docomomo-Sg Working Group-In-Progress, NUS Department of Architecture and Singapore Heritage Society, the three-day conference from 31 October to 2 November was well-attended by policy makers, building professionals, developers, scholars and students.

Across three sessions, experts from across Southeast Asia – including Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia – shared their experiences and research on conserving midcentury modern buildings in their countries.

Collectively, it served to build a base of knowledge in the region on this topic, and encourage a dialogue with their counterparts from North Asia, who were also present.

THOUGHT-PROVOKING AFTERNOON Also enlightening was a special plenary session where foreign experts spoke on the socio-economic values of rejuvenating modern buildings.

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Donovan Rykepma, President of Heritage Strategies International, talked about why incentives are necessary to save modern buildings.

He discussed their different varieties, such as tax-based, regulatory and public investment, emphasising how they are a good tool to close the gap between the high cost and lower perceived value from the developer standpoint.

Offering a wide range of case

studies were two speakers: Elain Harwood, an architectural historian and post-war architecture specialist from Historic England, and Mark Latham, the Regeneration Director of Urban Splash.

Harwood revealed that there are more than 400,000 listed post-war heritage buildings in the United Kingdom – something that countries around the world ought to learn from.

Examples include Bracken House designed by Albert Richardson (now occupied by the Financial Times newspaper), Balfron Tower by Erno Goldfinger and Sanderson Hotel by Reginald Uren.

Latham, on the other hand, discussed Urban Splash’s success in conserving and redeveloping Park Hill, a 985-unit council housing estate in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.

As testimony to how far it has come, from being in a dismal state of decline, to what it is today, The Sunday Times wrote,

/ PHOTOGRAPHY FENG YIKANG

WHAT IS THE END GAME? Although the conference lasted three days, the theme continued through an exhibition showcasing NUS Architecture M.Arch Theses (2017-19) on the adaptive reuse of Asian modernist buildings and sites in Singapore, Beijing and Seoul.

Held at The Projector located inside our

“Sheffield has been reinventing itself as a northern capital of cool... There’s no bigger indication of this than Park Hill…”.

Lending an engineer’s voice to the discussion was the well-respected Dr. Hossein Rezai-Jorabi, Managing Director of Web Structures, who is recognised for his work on reinforced and prestressed concrete structures.

In his presentation, he made a compelling argument for not demolishing buildings, likening the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere during the process to be no different than a forest fire.

He concluded his talk with a thoughtprovoking kicker, first by listing the challenges faced by humanity and the planet, then by asking, “Which of these challenges are served by pulling reasonably robust buildings down?”

Rounding off the afternoon was Dr. Lai

Choo Malone-Lee, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Asian Cities at NUS’ School of Design and Environment.

Her objectivity on the issue was refreshing, saying that developers and property owners “have the right to get the maximum benefit from their buildings”.

“The call for conservation is framed by the mighty dollar sign,” she added, elaborating that despite this, there is no need to be possessive of what is a public right – to not pull down modern buildings that bring positive values to a society.

modernist Golden Mile Tower, End Game questioned if we are “ready to relinquish the fate of this significant chapter in our modern history to speculative market forces, or are we prepared to critically assess the current modus operandi and proactively chart an alternative narrative”.

Strewn throughout the exhibition were cards with hard-hitting quotes and questions including one from Pearl Bank Apartments stating, “After all those years we spent together…”.

Just as evocative was one that spelt “What message are we sending to our future generation when all we do to our national heritage is erase?” [sic].

It is a pertinent question indeed and in response, we hope more action will be taken, both in the public and private sectors, to ensure that we never have to ask it again.

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/ MIXED-USE /

/ WORDS LOW SHI PING

ONE PLACE, MANY MOMENTS Paya Lebar Quarter is a sizable new precinct in the east of Singapore that is part of URA’s master plan to transform the area into a sub-regional business hub.

MASTER PLAN

Tony Lombardo, CEO, Asia of Lendlease

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Located on a 3.9-hectare site in the eastern part of Singapore, Paya Lebar Quarter (PLQ) is a mixed-use project developed by Lendlease and designed by DP Architects.

It sits on two angular parcels of land separated by Sims Avenue and is part of URA’s plan to transform Paya Lebar into a sub-regional business hub.

One plot borders the East-West train line on its northern edge, while the western edge runs parallel to Paya Lebar Road and connects directly to the Circle Line.

This contains a shopping mall with a total retail area of 340,000ft2, an open-air, covered plaza and two office towers, PLQ 1 and 2.

The second plot is bound by Geylang Road on its southern edge, and Paya Lebar and Tanjong Katong Roads on its western and eastern sides respectively.

On it is the third office tower, PLQ 3, and the 429-unit, three-tower-plus-podium residential development Park Place Residences, separated by a promenade.

In total, the three Grade A office towers offer close to one million square feet of workspaces that can accommodate up to 10,000 executives.

We were brought on a tour of the project by Tony Lombardo, CEO, Asia of Lendlease, who started by pointing out the connectivity of the project.

Not only is it joined to two train lines, but the Park Connector Network also runs through it. This provides joggers and

cyclists access to five different parks along the Eastern coastal loop of Singapore.

“We have more than 400 bicycle parking lots across the entire precinct,” he points out.

An Elevated Pedestrian Network offers sheltered walkways connecting all the buildings so that they are accessible whether rain or shine.

From these vantage points, it is possible to admire the 100,000ft2 of lush, green public spaces.

There are terraced rain gardens that detain and treat rainwater runoff from approximately 30 percent of the total site area.

These help to reduce peak flow runoff into the public drainage system when it rains.

PLQ also has a tree-positive strategy that will see it planting 300 percent more trees than previously on the site.

One of the challenges surrounding the construction of PLQ was the canal that cut directly through the site, flowing into the Geylang River.

“We couldn’t redirect it, so instead we rebuilt it and fully enclosed it, setting the pedestrianised area above it,” explains Lombardo. “We wanted to make it seamless for people to walk around.”

A consequence was that the second plot is diagonally “cut” into two parts, resulting in PLQ 3 having a triangular building footprint.

Park Place Residences takes up the other triangular half, with the towers carefully orientated away from the west to avoid the afternoon sun.

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/ MIXED-USE /

ARCHITECTURE DESIGN LANGUAGE

Angelene Chan, Chief Executive Office, DP Architects

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According to Angelene Chan, Chief Executive Officer of DP Architects, PLQ is designed to be a lively and sustainable commercial hub with a distinctive cultural identity.

“When conceptualising its dynamic mix of office, retail and residential programmes, the rich heritage of the site was the first thing that came to mind,” she says.

“Geographically, it is right next to one of the oldest Malay settlements in Singapore, Geylang Serai; and adjacent to the diverse communities of Tanjong Katong and Joo Chiat.

“Historically, the district was a melting pot of exchange of goods and services with materials and cloth being one of the major items.”

Because of that, the key inspiration was sought from the songket, a traditional Malay fabric that is part of the brocade textile family, typically woven with intricate patterns.

This therefore became the architecture design language of PLQ. “We wove a rich variety of patterns – lines, pixels and diagonals – into the design of the development, and like the songket woven in metallic coloured threads, used gold and silver accents.

“By applying the songket-inspired geometric patterns and colour palette throughout the development, we unified the buildings and public spaces into a single tapestry with a distinctive cultural identity.”

Admittedly, this is less obvious to the layperson, who might think the buildings are part of different projects unless it was pointed out to them.

Chan adds that DP Architects’ peoplecentric design ethos ultimately drove the endresult, “Community consultation and cultural context studies were primary drivers behind the design of PLQ, to reflect the user needs and people’s aspirations.”

PAYA LEBAR QUARTER LOCATION SITE AREA GROSS FLOOR AREA COMPLETION ARCHITECT INTERIOR DESIGNER FOR CSUITES DEVELOPER CONTRACTOR C&S CONSULTANT M&E CONSULTANT QUANTITY SURVEYOR LANDSCAPE AWARDS

SINGAPORE 3.9 HECTARES 1.8 MILLION FT2 TOP PROGRESSIVELY FROM Q3 2018 DP ARCHITECTS HASSELL LENDLEASE PLQ MALL – LENDLEASE, PLQ WORKPLACE – HEXACON, PARK PLACE RESIDENCES – KSH ARUP MEINHARDT SINGAPORE WTP GRANT ASSOCIATES WORKPLACE AND MALL ARE THE FIRST IN SINGAPORE TO BE AWARDED GREENMARK PLATINUM UNDER THE BCA GREENMARK FOR NON-RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS VERSION 2015 (NRB: 2015) STANDARDS; PARK PLACE RESIDENCES AWARDED GREENMARK PLATINUM RATING UNDER THE BCA GREENMARK FOR NEW RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS VERSION 2014 (RB:4.1) STANDARDS; WORKPLACE TOWERS ARE THE FIRST BUILDINGS IN SINGAPORE TO BE REGISTERED FOR THE NEW GLOBAL WELL CORE & SHELL CERTIFICATION; FIRST PRIVATELY-DEVELOPED MIXED-USE PRECINCT IN SINGAPORE TO BE AWARDED THE PUBLIC UTILITIES BOARD’S ACTIVE BEAUTIFUL CLEAN WATERS CERTIFICATION

OVERALL CONCEPT

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/ INSTITUTIONAL /

/ WORDS MICHELE KOH MOROLLO

MONOLITHIC, MONOCHROMATIC, MEDIATORY

The Waterfront Art Gallery in southern China’s Nanchang City energises, connects, and beautifies its surroundings.

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/ PHOTOGRAPHY XINGZHIARCHITECTURE

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n the west bank of Nanchang City’s Xianghu Lake is the Waterfront Art Gallery. Designed by Shanghaiheadquartered Lacime Architects, it is an art museum that’s both an architectural landmark and a gateway connecting the city’s urban and nature zones.

The project is commissioned by China Vanke – one of China’s leading urban and rural development and living services providers.

Its design evolved as a response to its surrounding geography, and is a striking contrast of massive volumes and green, manicured grounds.

The gallery sits between the intersection of Zhenjun Road and Yunjin Road, serving as an entryway from the city into a riverside.

/1 The rectangular gallery is grafted onto two courtyards.

/2 Waterfront Art Gallery is a museum that’s both an architectural landmark and a gateway connecting the city’s urban and nature zones.

SHAPED BY THE CONTEXT The Ganjiang River separates the eastern and western sections of the city, and is the defining feature of Nanchang.

On the east, where the tributary Fuhe River flows into Xianghu Lake before emptying

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/ INSTITUTIONAL /

into the Ganjiang, is a forested riverside recreational park with pedestrian trails. To the west are high-rise towers of a new town development.

One of obstacles the Lacime team faced was the existence of multi-lane highways that cut the museum’s site off from the riverside park.

To circumvent this obstacle, and to open up the museum to the park landscape, they designed the museum’s main structure as a narrow, box-girder-like, rectangular volume with its longest side overlooking the river to the north and south.

China Vanke also wanted to elevate the

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terrain, create a green oasis within the urban area, and fill a gap between two cultural landmark sites: Wanshou Palace on the south bank of the Fuhe River, and Wanshou Tower on the north bank.

In response to these requests, the architects organised the museum’s programme around a ring-shaped bridge and a walled courtyard.

“The topography of Nanchang City is shaped by the Fuhe River, which flows from the Tengwangge Delta. Relying on the typology concept, we embedded a sculptural ring bridge into the design,” says the project’s lead architect Song Zhaoqing.

/ ABOVE A view of the water feature from the mid-section of the ringed-bridge shape, pedestrian ramp.

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Song Zhaoqing, Lead Architect, Lacime Architects

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“This bridge serves as both a connector for the main building, and as a response to the undercrossing tunnel in the adjacent street. We preserved the landscape features of the city and transformed the bridge into a major element of urban design.”

He also decided on an architectural form that functions as a space frame for the buildings around the site.

The opposite side of the ring bridge expands naturally to form the main part of the foyer, enabling the Wanshou Palace and Wanshou Tower to appear larger and

more majestic.

“The space accumulation on different scales, the replication of shapes on the plane and in the altitude bring a dynamic yet restrained and unique perception of these two buildings,” says Song.

/ 3-4 The walls and bearing courtyard wall emphasises the horizontal arrangement of the building.

A STREAMLINED HORIZONTALITY He and his team chose a plane layout to enhance the art viewing experience and to provide the best possible circulation.

In doing so, he grafted a rectangular gallery onto the museum’s two courtyards,

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/ RELIGIOUS /

/ WORDS NIZAR MUSA

GEOMETRIES OF FAITH In Nusa Idaman, Johor, a suburban mosque trades iterative design norms for an impactful yet grounded architecture.

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low-rise building sits within a green landscape, a prominent dome upon its roof. A portico shades its stepped entrance, encircled by colonnades and mashrabiya screens, complemented by a pointed minaret from where a muezzin’s call to prayer can be heard.

This everyday sight, in a Malaysian context, is of the local masjid, a communal mosque whose iterations in form have over the decades remained largely unchanged.

But there has been a shift. And Masjid Daing Abdul Rahman, ensconced at the heart of Johor’s Nusa Idaman township, is leading the way.

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BEYOND BASICS In 2010, the building’s architects produced a smaller 200-person surau on the three-acre mosque reserve; their awardwinning design, a modest and naturallyventilated prayer hall of wide overhangs and freestanding brick walls, eventually landed them the bigger commission.

“We were called again in 2017 to build the actual mosque while retaining the surau,” shares Razin Mahmood, founding director at Razin Architects.

“The mosque committee wanted it ‘down-to-earth’ like the earlier scheme, intentionally basic, but also a showpiece, a

/ PHOTOGRAPHY MOHD YUSRI HASHIM, RAZIN MAHMOOD, AMIR ASYRAF

Razin Mahmood, Founding Director, Razin Architects

proper mosque completed with little budget and simple detailing.”

Viewed alongside the diminutive surau, the mosque is a 2,000m2 threestorey cube of glass, brick and steel; the pièce de résistance is a screen of faceting galvanised steel panels.

Its randomised triangular geometry, inspired by leaves in nature, is a contemporisation of traditional Islamic motif. What appears decorative at first glance, in fact, belies functionality.

Says Mahmood of the façade, “The main prayer hall is clear-glazed on three sides, so the need for a shading device was there from day one.

“Cost and ease of maintenance were key factors in choosing the material, and several options including lightweight glass reinforced concrete and perforated aluminium were on the table. Ultimately solid galvanised panels were chosen, due to their robust performance.”

That their lustre will fade over time is

/ ABOVE Tiered layers of courtyard trees, walkway canopy and ephemeral balustrade culminate in the mosque’s signature screen and its minaret beyond.

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/ RELIGIOUS /

SCREEN DETAILS

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2 MASJID DAING ABDUL RAHMAN LOCATION COMPLETION SITE AREA BUILDING AREA GROSS FLOOR AREA ARCHITECT LEAD ARCHITECT CONTRACTOR C&S CONSULTANT M&E CONSULTANT QUANTITY SURVEYOR

JOHOR BAHRU, MALAYSIA 2019 3.12 ACRES 12,140.4M2 2020.87M2 RAZIN ARCHITECTS RAZIN MAHMOOD PEMBINAAN ADINN OMNI PROJECT CONSULTANCY PSB ASSOCIATES PAKATAN UKUR BAHAN

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/2 Pockets of landscaping between outer screen and inner glazing are cleverly designed to accommodate worshippers.

/3 Forming a textured background, angled layers of brickwork bring light and air into the mosque’s concrete stairwells.

an acceptable outcome for the architects, returning to the idea of simplicity and pragmatism.

COMMUNITY FIRST At an almost-perfect square, the mosque accommodates up to 2,000 worshippers, entirely prayer space comprising an airconditioned prayer hall with large overspill areas, and upper floors convertible into classrooms and a multi-purpose hall.

The planning is open and generous – ablution and washrooms having been segregated to an adjacent pavilion – and the plaza entrance, shaded by canopy, welcoming.

“We studied examples of mosques in Singapore, the Netherlands and Turkey.

There, they function as a community centre, their planning taking into account large events, not forgetting the weekly

Friday congregations and those during Eid. In Rotterdam, the mosque even has snooker tables,” Mahmood elaborates.

“Likewise, we wanted a community aspect (for Masjid Daing). I think a mosque shouldn’t be just about praying five times a day. So, we are injecting activities to make it a happening place, such as Zumba, salon and spa facilities for the ladies, table tennis and kids archery. Plus a café open to both Muslims and non-Muslims.”

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/ HOSPITALITY /

/ BELOW The hotel is located along the bank of the Yellow River and enjoys views of the river, forests and Helan mountains.

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/ PHOTOGRAPHY SCHRAN STUDIO / SU SHENGLIANG

/ WORDS MICHELE KOH MOROLLO

HOW TO BE INVISIBLE By adapting the local vernacular, DAS Lab has created a boutique hotel that re-evaluates the relationship between humankind and nature.

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hanghai-based architecture and interior design studio DAS Lab has just completed Lost Villa Boutique Hotel, a 15-room property in the scenic Ningxia autonomous region in northcentral China that’s inspired by the land and local architectural vernacular.

Located near the region’s capital Zhongwei, within a 2,000m2 site in the village of Dawan, the hotel complex consists of clusters of low, unobtrusive rammed-earth style buildings that harmonise with both the natural landscape of austere mountains and dusty plains, and the local village architecture.

The hotel sits along the bank of the Yellow River and looks out to views of the river, forests and Helan mountains.

“For more than 200 years, the river has shaped the village’s cultural evolution.

Dawan Village is a threshold that connects the culture and economy in the Serindia area – a precious scenic area where the river and desert meet,” says Li Jingze, founding partner and creative director of DAS Lab. “We wanted to create architecture that would integrate with the natural environment and become part of this unique landscape,” he adds.

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/ HOSPITALITY /

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INSPIRED BY THE LOCATION The client – Ningxia Zhongwei Lost Villa Hotel Management – wanted to abide by local architectural traditions, while providing visitors holiday accommodations with pleasing, modern aesthetics.

“Referencing the local village houses, the hotel is designed with flat roofs, terraces, external courtyards and deep, reed-topped eaves to encourage outdoor activities within the shaded gallery spaces.

“We used a special treatment of cement mortar on the exterior walls to recreate the texture similar to the rammed earth used in the local architecture, so the buildings will look beautifully ‘aged’ after being exposed to wind and rain,” says Li. The hotel is comprised of five separate

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building clusters. The entrance area and public spaces – the lobby, reception, restaurant and bar, office and kitchen – are located within the first cluster.

The 15 guest rooms are housed within the remaining four clusters. There is also a swimming pool in a forested area to the north of the site.

Because of Dawan Village’s location – 105.19 eastern longitude and 37.50 northern latitude – in winter, the temperature here drops to as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius.

As a passive heating measure, Li took cues from the local houses, which are mostly bungalows with small windows.

He kept the number of the openings on the facades, and the size of these openings,

/1 Rooftop decks above the buildings allow guests to dine outdoors or relax and enjoy the views.

/ OPPOSITE A special treatment of cement mortar was used on the exterior walls to create facades with a look and texture of rammed earth.

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/ ABODE /

/ WORDS DAVEN WU

PUSHING BOUNDARIES A steep slope and an irregularly-shaped plot in a residential neighbourhood provides A D Lab with an opportunity to explore a less predictable silhouette.

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ost of Singapore’s original hills have long been levelled, reducing the island’s once curvaceous topography to a relatively staid flatness.

From an architectural perspective, this has resulted in designs that tend to stretch in horizontal linear axes, with predictable variations in the elevations.

All this explains why the site on which the Namly Hillside Villa is built proved – initially, anyway – to be such a headscratcher for A D Lab. Set on the border between normal mixed housing and Good Class Bungalows, the cul de sac plot is shaped like an irregular triangle

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anchored by a very steep topography which, in turn, creates an unusual height disparity of 17m between the bottom of the slope and its apex.

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX The first challenge, says lead architect Warren Liu, was to negotiate what was essentially a 17m high slope.

The solution was to demolish 90 percent of the existing house, while keeping the retaining structures, an engineering sleight of hand that significantly cut the project cost.

Additionally, there were a lot of grey areas, especially in establishing the boundary of the building envelope, Liu says, explaining

/1 The entrance to the Namly Hillside Villa sits on the site’s second stratum around which the rest of the house is slotted.

/ OPPOSITE The villa is terraced into the slope to create clusters of living spaces spread over four strata.

An abundance of greenery surrounds the plot.

/ PHOTOGRAPHY MASANO KAWANA

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/ ABODE /

/ ABOVE Numerous iterations of the plan, in conjunction with planning authorities, were required to create a series of spatial experiences.

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that the site has a 12m height envelope control with an 8.5m spring-off line for the house’s attic level.

The difficulty lay in defining the point to calculate the 12m from, since the site contours and gradient were irregular, resulting in complex discussions with the building authorities.

“We went through many iterations to see how we could manage the different levels of the house, while ensuring the spaces circulate. We did not want to have long corridors or odd residue, unusable spaces, a problem that normally doesn’t arise when you have a flat site.”

The solution came by arranging both the

vertical and horizontal spaces on a complex matrix that considered programming, site contours, views, wind and sun direction, and connectivity.

“The concept of horizontal stratifications as planar extensions from the ground orders the spaces in the vertical dimension according to the site terrain, unobstructed views and sun shading,” says Liu. “The horizontal dimension is organised by a series of architectural elements of planes, columns and voids that are ordered by a hierarchical series of axis arranged in an organic manner on each stratum.

“This derived the final footprint that cleaves to the sloping terrain as well as

FLOOR PLANS

STRATUM 1

1. AV ROOM 5. LAUNDRY ROOM

2. BATHROOM 6. UTILITY ROOM

3. LIFT 7. WINE CELLAR

4. HOUSEHOLD SHELTER 8. GUESTROOM 9. WALKWAY

STRATUM 2

2. BATHROOM 12. DRY KITCHEN

3. LIFT 13. DINING

8. GUESTROOM 14. SWIMMING POOL

10. DRIVEWAY 15. DECK

11. WET KICHEN

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/ ABODE /

FLOOR PLANS

STRATUM 3

2. POWDER ROOM 18. ENTRANCE FOYER

3. LIFT 19. LIVING ROOM

16. VEHICULAR RAMP 20. FAMILY ROOM

17. SHOE STORE 21. KOI POND

STRATUM 4

2. BATHROOM 25. STUDY

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3. LIFT 26. WALK-IN WARDROBE

22. BEDROOM 27. MASTER BATHROOM

23. ROOF TERRACE 28. MASTER BEDROOM

24. PLANTER

ELEVATION

B

C

D

E

F

G

BOUNDARY LINE

A

g drive

Slopin

way

Berming earth beyond

2

Warren Liu, Lead Architect of A D Lab

planar extensions that project from existing terracing site contours to form a complex arrangement of strata and hugs the site.”

Liu and the clients – a family of lawyers with three teenage children – were also clear that they did not want a monolithic structure.

This is why he ended up terracing the house into the slope to create clusters of living spaces spread over four different levels, all connected by a lift.

“The idea was not to reduce, but to embrace complexity and to let the project just grow,” says Liu. “And then, we began to create a series of experiences. It’s important to imagine the house as a trajectory of time, as a transition into the future. What could this house be in 10 years’ time?”

SPATIAL PROGRAMMING To that end, the house’s second stratum forms the main entrance around which the rest of the house is slotted – a particularly effective solution to the client’s requirement of a separate

garage to display his collection of bicycles and cars, alongside a dining area on the roof terrace, a cantilevered 15m lap-pool, and the fourth stratum is devoted to the four main bedrooms.

“The clients wanted their children to live on the same level as they did, while their parents are in residence in the guest rooms in the lower strata,” Liu says.

The biggest surprise about the Namly Hillside Villa is the elevated view over the neighbourhood, a feat Liu achieved by

/2 Extensive landscaping provides the cantilevered swimming pool on the second stratum with both verdant views and an unexpected degree of privacy.

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/ PEOPLE /

THE EXPERIENCE DESIGNER Tim Kobe is the Founder and CEO of Eight Inc., best known for conceptualising the original brick-and-mortar Apple Store. He shares the principles behind what drives his multi-disciplinary practice. / WORDS LOW SHI PING /

THE SECRET IS EXPERIENCE DESIGN:

The ultimate value of architecture is the experience that people have with it. It is what makes architecture wonderful. When you think about designing for human outcomes, the experience that people have when they engage with your client should fundamentally be the most important aspect of your work.

There is a narrative that goes into that and it is important to study, understand and apply it.

We worked with Steve Jobs for 12 years when he was running Apple. He didn’t talk first about the shape of things or materials.

He talked about what it did for people. And then he made the most beautiful objects, with the greatest care in crafting them. But his focus was on the human outcome first, because it’s the only way you create design that has meaning.

HOW THE DEVIATION CAME ABOUT:

In architecture school in the old days, the discussion was always around the ways of viewing architecture – be it through hand drawings, renderings or three-dimensional models. That meant the form and shape of buildings were at the forefront of the critique.

But these were only one small piece of what good design is about.

EXPERIENCE DESIGN SOUNDS OBVIOUS BUT...: The problem with most

architecture today is that ego has gotten in the way of the experience that users have.

An architect’s job is fundamentally to serve people. If the forms that they create are about serving their own personal marketing (and becoming starchitects), then it should not be architecture; it should be drawing, painting, sculpture. Architecture has a much more significant role in society, because it is more permanent. It has the opportunity to define

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and shape culture. It is important that the ego does not supersede the purpose of the design.

WE APPLY WHAT WE CALL THE “EXPERIENCE MASTER PLAN”: This

is split into four components aimed at connecting people: environment, behaviour, communications, and products and services.

Environment refers to the architecture and interiors. Behaviour represents the customers you engage with. Communications is the different forms that you convey the message. Products and services are the items customers engage with. We try to frame the experience in these four realms, and through that, define what the project should be.

WHAT THIS MEANS: It is like doing a master plan for a city. We would design the integrated systems – the roads, sewers, buildings etc. – and put them all together.

You then end up with a complex system of interconnected elements. Experiences are no different from such a complex system consisting of the environment, behaviour, communications, products and services.

Think of the Apple stores, the people working there, the products and the way they communicate. Those four things help you understand the values that Apple stands for.

The better you are able to communicate the things you stand for to other people that you want to connect with, the better the chance you have of creating value.

OUR TWO TOOLS: One is differentiation, the

other is emotional connection. By emulating someone, you are creating parity within the industry and starting to make others the leader. Why would you do that? From a strategic standpoint, look at opportunities to stand out with what you are doing, rather than make it just like the other 20 that preceded

it. Retail malls are a prime example of lack of differentiation – they all offer the same experience. Retail isn’t dead, bad retail is.

Emotional connection is about making people feel something. You should be building relationships that will create multiple opportunities for interaction. Relationships are built on shared values. Communicating them is one of the best ways to start to create emotional connections. For example, we did a project with JR East Water Business in Japan to sell their products vending

machines on the train station platforms. One of the things we recognised was when there is an earthquake in Japan, trains stop running and people get stranded on the platforms.

In response, we installed a battery pack in them and when there is an earthquake, it invites people to take the drinks. That built emotional connection, which built word of mouth, which created advocacy and brand awareness. We did it through a tactic that was just looking at the human outcome.

DON’T NEGLECT CREATIVITY: This unleashes things that have not been seen or heard before. It opens up an enormous world of possibilities, provided you are looking at it through the lens of creating positive human outcome. People love to see interesting new things. Those who can create those things, especially if they add value to people’s lives, will have passion, loyalty and all the things you want associated with your company.

EXPERIENCE DESIGN IN SINGAPORE:

We are in the middle of a conversation, that doesn’t end. We have to progress from looking at things as form gestures, and start to appreciate design as something that contributes to human outcomes. The fact that the conversation is being had in Singapore is already remarkable. I’ve been involved with the committee on helping to integrate design into the Singapore education system and that has been incredible.

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/ BEST PRACTICE /

ANALOGUE VS. DIGITAL Probe the client but also be open to technology-led development in architecture. The two best practices this issue reveal an interesting contrast in approaches. / WORDS LOW SHI PING /

O

“

ne of the most important best practices I’ve learnt is not to jump into anything straightaway. For instance, if a client says she doesn’t like the colour red, instead of offering alternatives, I will ask why and try to understand where that dislike stems from. This helps you understand the client better. This habit is also applied when dealing with other people in my life, like my staff or consultants. I am constantly asking who, what, why, when and how.

After running our practice for 20 years, it is second nature to me to do this. However, when we first set up the business, we nearly made a mistake relating to this. My business partner’s neighbour told him she loved what he had done for his mother’s house. It seemed obvious to propose an identical concept but after getting to know the client, we found that while she loved what we did, and could see our talent, she could not envision herself in such a home.

It was her wish to apply our skills to design

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a home suited to her lifestyle. It really taught us not to assume.

As a result, I am proud to say that since day one of running Wallflower Architecture, we almost never had a client who, during the design stage, say our proposal is not what they are looking for. Through asking the right questions – such as what you like, what you dislike – and doing our homework, we are able to encapsulate what our clients want in their projects.”

Robin Tan, Co-Founder, Wallflower Architecture

I

“

n my work for the Advanced Technologies department at Scott Brownrigg, I apply a technology-led development mindset in our projects. Our department recently completed a data centre in Singapore for a global telecommunications company. We repurposed an existing warehouse into a six-storey facility connected to its Asia Pacific cloud network.

We are witnessing more projects like this that represent the surge of technological

engagement in real estates both regionally and globally. The impact of this is most significant on urban forms and cultural aspects of how people are both connected and inhabit spaces. The traditional individual building type will evolve. In its place will be developments layered with different uses.

We developed the Smart Shed as one

such typology to address this evolution.

This typology pushes the understanding of a mono-use multi-storey warehouse to become a new urban production facility that delivers a flexible framework for Industry 4.0. It unlocks and layers real estate value and a wide mix of businesses and communities increasingly involved in urban logistics, data processing, advanced manufacturing, and clean-tech.

We believe that as local planning authorities are switching on to this phenomenon, we will see a further increase in technology-led development across urban and peripheral environments. As this becomes more recognised, designers will need to ensure they have the internal flexibility and structure to respond to this, and the skills and expertise to start creating designs that will soon become the new norm.”

Raymond Hoe, Director, Scott Brownrigg, Singapore Studio

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/ AVANT-GARDE /

FUTURE FLIGHT

morphology, from a centralised mass into a vessel-like network.

“While refraining from the inefficiency of turnaround, vast runways, long travel distance, huge labour force, convoluted programming and so on, the new model suggests a seamless transition from rail to flight – elementary yet expeditious.

“This gesture is denying the airport as an isolated system in the collective locomotion structure, bringing aviation closer to our regular transit as a unification where we expect a new civic role.

“This notion adopts the ideology of Hong Kong as a capital of movement and efficiency, being a creation of international identity. The other part of this concept advocates ecological concern to reserve a greater land compared to traditional typology.”

/ WORDS LOW SHI PING /

Two students from the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia have won the People’s Choice Award for their vision of what an airport will look like in the year 2075 in Hong Kong. Chai Yi Yang and Ng Yi Ming’s concept Y3M garnered more than 2,800 votes on social media.

They had participated in the 2019 Fentress Global Challenge, an international student competition organised by Fentress Architects to champion the advancement of innovative design in public architecture.

This is what the students said of their concept, “We envision the possibility of a synthetic amalgamation – the integration of an Elon Musk-like Hyperloop tube system and capsule fuselage technology.

“The great leap in technology advancement would manifest a subversive paradigm transformation towards current airport

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