PORTFOLIO
JOWIN FOO
APPLICANT ID: 17145946 MArch DESIGN FOR PERFORMANCE AND INTERACTION THE BARTLETT, UCL
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JOWIN FOO DESIGN ARCHITECT I WRITER I RESEARCHER BA(Hons) Interior Architecture 2013-2016 I Northumbria University I Taylor’s University jowinfoo@gmail.com jfxa.co
EXPERIENCES 2016-present_Founder, JFXA Independent multidisciplinary design and research practice that focused on the relationship between reality fiction, social politics, and space. Works The paradox of basic-Radical Mutations (2016) Phytobaptism (2015) Lunarisk(2016) No Man's Land (2017) Hyperospective: Heterogenesis(2016) Academic Guest speaker - People's Youth Exhibition at Badan Warisan Malaysia (2016) Guest lecture - 3rd year Unit Mdrxa at Taylor's University (2017)
2016_Co-coordinator, Re:act exhibition Responsible in leading every expect of the Graduation Exhibition from Proposing, Planning, Managing till Execution.
2015-2016_Research and Design collaborator, M3 Design Lab A joint project with M3 design lab to design an Urban Living conceptual furniture for Mr Dream, an international furniture design company based in Guangzhou, China. The design prototype was exhibited in CIFF 2016 ( China International Furniture Festival 2016 ).
2015-present_Co-founder, Two Skinny Monkeys Collaborative and independant design practice co-founded with Ken Lim and Victoria Chew to advocate the idea of sincere design. In 2015, the studio written an urban regeneration proposal entitled ‘Kisah Lorong’ to rethink the context of back-alley of Kuala Lumpur and collaborated with Ngiom Partnership + Think City to further developed the project. The studio has completed a commission installation project for Kenneth Leow, Dusty Attic.
2015_Co-coordinator, Homecoming exhibition Responsible in delegating and managing the task given to the production and planning team. Assisted in the exhibition design and media design processes to ensure the team meet the goal set by the main coordinator.
2016_Design Trainee, Dot Line Circle Executed architecture + design research and supervised junior trainee.
2015_Design Trainee, Blu-water studio Assisted senior designers in every processes that are involved in a commercial projects like W-hotel and etc.
2014-2015_Research assistant, S.A.B.D, Taylor’s University Assisted professors to carry out academic research and experimentations. for Architecture and design faculty. The research topics were about rural and urban regeneration, community building, social design and architecture historical studies. Most of the research projects were publicised in academic paper and exbihitions while some projects were developed into community projects.
2014-2016_Global ambassador, Taylor’s University Represented as an international student delegate and leader to execute various diplomatic+social project local and internationally like Lead Local, Lead Hongkong with HKIED and Asia Pacific Student Leaders Conference, APSSA.
2013_Orientation Leader, Taylor’s University Served as an orientation leader to plan, organise and execute events to facilitates the freshmen. Was a coordinator for the design and sponsorship department. Orientation day is an important event for freshmen as it helps them to adapt and understand how the campus life is.
JOWIN FOO
CONTENTS
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NO MAN’S LAND HYPEROSPECTIVE:HETEROGENESIS LUNARISK THE PARADOX OF NEW BASIC CIFF 2016 : GZ JOKEVIC FEED DECEIVED HYPEROSPECTIVE ANCHOR AND ROVER THE PROTEST OF SEPARATION AAVS: STREETWARE MAKING PORTWELD HOMECOMING
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No man’s land 2017
Animal and mankind shared the same ground nor space on earth as a home to sustain the existence of their very own species. But for centuries of mankind perpetual strive to create and reinvent their own human-centric utopias that have neglected the coexistence of our fellow ally, the animals on earth. In the process of man-making their utopia to provocate their very own mythology of growth and progress, where it creates various issues like domination of spaces which it directly put some of our allies into the perks of extinction. As facts and statistic retrieved from the humanitarian organization like the World Bank have proven that scale of human civilization are constantly expanding resulting more spaces will be needed to house the entire race of human beings. Many mainstream manifestos along the years of enlightenment seek to resolve the scarcity and the ownership of spaces from massive scale urbanization, self-sustain city to vertical city but not a single vision to insurge spaces for our animal allies to foster their own habitat after mankind has deliberately consumed their habitable spaces to solve our desire and shortcomings. We believe that mankind has the capacity to solve the population pandemic by claiming more lands and spaces that partially belongs to our allies then it is time to envisioned an intervention on making spaces for animals to foster its own habitats to prolong their livelihood
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Hyperospective : heterogenesis (Thesis) 2015/2016
If structures were the potent legacy of Elysium Field, then the place is designed with the rhetoric nature of denial, Liberty and democracy is more over the icing of the cake, speech and expression become the suicidal tool of the inhabitants. Where is the next place that is a no place? We, as the citizens have once witness the cost of voicing out political opinions/ ideas as a responsible democratic citizen is dreadful in our context. Indeed, “they said it was for the country safety purposes� but lincoln ones said let the citizen know the truth, the country will be safe. The quote emphasised on transparency and democracy which every individual have equal rights to voice out, to know and to accept criticism. And freedom of speech was seen as an offensive act towards the government based on their recent action towards the people who provoked thru media and rally. The situation depicted there were no ground for dissent act and stage for public opinions. Hence, there was no leeway for freedom of expression at all in the daily basis where article by Human Rights Watch mentioned that the people cultivated a sense of self censorship as an individual basis because of the repressive law. It significantly caused the lost of voice and idea which it is so potent for to maintain nor improve a self-manage and collaborative society where it needs the opinions from the masses in order to sustain the social structure. And the only time we actually get to see the citizens voice out their inner opinions thru placement, words, writings, drawings, speeches and recordings was on the day of Bersih Rallies which the heterolandscape that appear once in the blue moon allowed them to do so mainly because it has the power of the masses. It lead us to hypothesised that, the kind of landscape only appear in the level of mass occupation that shown the glimpse of the power of democracy but it is impossible for that kind of landscape to happen in the intimate level where we also wonder that the practice of speech should be on daily basis not by event basis yet the place could made that possible is a no place.
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JOWIN FOO Solitude
Unfold
Reveal
Manifest
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Lunarisk 2016
Neil Armstrong’s first step on the Moon epitomised mankind’s boundless ambition for exploration. Indeed, a first step of the many to come, as we extend our thoughts on the colonisation of the Moon and beyond. Various agencies worldwide have proposed concepts of establishing infrastructure on the lunar surface. Yet, the process of setting up such a base is often overlooked, in particular the transport of resources to the moon. Through decades of orbital missions, hazardous space debris have accumulated around Earth’s orbit. Travelling at high velocities, these seemingly insignificant debris can cause huge damage to spacecraft, causing danger to the cargo and passengers within. We present a novel modification to proposed supply chain systems between Earth and the Moon. The addition of a harvesting system to spacecraft flying on these routes allows the collection of these debris during the transport process. Upon arrival on the Moon, the compressed debris are sorted based on their composition, similar to waste processing plants on Earth. Collected debris can supplement the main mining operations on the Moon, providing additional resources and keeping these transport routes safe at the same time. These processing plants will be situated near lunar lava tubes, hollow areas left behind by ancient basaltic lava flows. Due to the lack of an atmosphere on the Moon, the lava tubes offer an ideal location for the establishment for settler colonies as they offer protection from various cosmic hazards and drastic temperature fluctuations. It is with great hope that such processing plants are a mainstay of interplanetary colonisation, allowing efficient use of resources and protecting critical trade routes from the danger of space debris.
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The paradox of new basics : Radical Mutations 2016
It is the epoch of digital consumption, a race between intangible and tangible realm. It is hypothesised that there’s possibility of architecture evolve into a new state. Perhaps the architecture evaporated itself from the tangible urban to the virtual urban fabric. And this manifesto will be about how the archetype of mall faced a digital revolution that could possibly cause a drastic mutation on the earthly urbanism. It is to argue that the evolution of a past ordinary to new ordinary will cause a snowball effect towards the world of the built environment. But the evolution could be in the positive resolution and mutation. Shopping once holds a spectrum of intensifying programming will face the scenario of decentralisation because the society might no longer need to travel to a shopping mall to purchase their daily needs because shopping online is the norm by then. All they need is a gallery and hub. A pod. The moment when this space consuming complex decentralised and minimise itself into the smallest archetype which the pod. There will be more public spaces and more vacant space to solve the housing density issue as well. Other than that, more public spaces and decentralised places mean more possibilities of explorations which the urban itself has no boundaries and all the programs are weaved together, Perhaps it is called the infinity urbanism which the urban itself become more and more like the virtual world and internet urbanism. Therefore, it is certain that the digital urban has collided with the earthly urban which you need a phone a new digital map for the exploration. In a nutshell, the archetype of mall faced a minimisation and it enlarges itself again by consuming the whole city whereby the city is the mall, the mall is the city. It is site-less, all cities are generic.
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CIFF 2016 : GuangZhou 2016
M3 design lab was funded by Mr. Dream , china leading furniture manufacture to research and investigate the future prospect of urban living in China particularly in Guang Dong Province. “Soil� series was created based on the research outcome. And the prototype was exhibited in China International Furniture Fair 2016 as conceptual product that will be refine in the later stage to be produce into consumers goods. The composition of Soil consists of three components ; The stool, the table , and the partitions. We questioned the relationship between Urban living and Farming, also the notion of community as interiority that creates social circles. Hence, the team designed an ecosystem that could be utilised both at the urban and human scale. The ecosystem of the series emphasised on collective idea also provoke the idea of greater as whole and be functional as one. Soil can be the source of life when it has the right properties and compositions.
Scanned by CamScanner
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JoKeVic 2015
The parts of the Jokevic Stool was an extraction from the Ubuiquitous Monobloc Stool – an object, a stool we see daily with little amount of appreciation as it is perceived as a product easily attained. Upon further investigation of the Ubiquitous Monobloc Stool, we found out that given its design being so perfect in a way that it is lightweight and stackable – this fulfills part of the design brief and development. The monobloc stool functions like an architectural system that is feasible to be implemented as a storage structure. Jokevic stool is a designed modular unit that is user-friendly in the sense that prior lesson to using it is not required. It is a cognitive product whose manual is encrypted in its user. The rigid structure albeit minimal component makes it easy to be packed for moving purposes. Jokevic stool forms a modular unit by stacking up the base of a plastic stool using the designed connectors. Having the monobloc stool cut into rationed pieces does not mean that it is handicapped, but it is easily turned back into a normal working stool by connecting the right pieces together. Finally, philosophical wise, the undervalued monobloc stool could be significantly upholded by transforming it into something that is more prominent than just stools
FEED 2014
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Deceived 2014 Objects, space, and living beings in films and photographs were designed to fulfilled the requirement of the script, it is artificial, unreal, fake and replicated. Feeling, expressions, behaviours and emotions aren’t at its purest form in the scripted medium, because he/she has been instructed to act for the filming process. It is purely the art of performing and mimicking. The purest form of expression and emotion being express is by reacting towards something provoking. It forces out at least 20 distinctive different facial expression and the 7 common emotions that we as a human being have. What If some sort of movie sets nor scenes from the movie script been extracted out and build it in the actual environment that functions, like the public spaces, would it be a total different thing. The inhabitants of the space is the actor of from the movie script, the installations of the sets is the catalyst that manipulate the acts of the inhabitants. Turning the authenticity of expressions to be the act of the drama from the script. But who is the protagonist and the antagonist in such experimental and such format? It depends on the storyline itself, every scene has it’s own protagonist and antagonist which it can be back and foreground of each scene . Otherwise, the scene manipulator has higher hierarchy than the other entity because the object itself is the main driver of the scene. Apart from that, the antagonist is a character that is designed to have conversation with the protagonist, the protagonist forced the antagonist to react against it. The installation infill to the certain space has to be spontaneous and anonymous, it has no certain date to alarm and notify the end users that something is coming. Therefore, it creates a moment of curiosity in the altered space changes how one perceives the space and react towards the spatial disparity. The ample space around the corridor was pregnant with alienated form of blockage, looks like an egg and an additional decorative structure. People was deceived by the installation, because it was built there as a medium to record their behaviour change towards the sets. The truth behind this installation, it wasn’t a structure of obstruction, it is a void . it is a portal to the another space, a space that disconnected from the surrounding. The actor will disappear from the frame when he/ she enter to the particular inner space. In a way this installation also acts as the transitional scene from movie scene 1 to 2 from a script. But this scene is purely based on the consciousness of the inhabitant in the reality
Hyperospective
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2014
The deafening sound of the Culnature song which composed by the voices of the vast variation of beings were transmitted in the speed of light where the sound of the birds chirping were not longer presence in the composition and the voice of the human being was dominated by the sound of the androids. Things has metamorphosed. it was devastating and ugly. Human being anatomy has evolve and revised into a mystifying state. They looked more like a distorted turtle-like being with a short neck where gravity is pulling their head to face down to the ground making them have perplexity in real life communication. The world became so prosaic and more hideous than a zombie influenza outbreak where human interactions are unseen and emotionless but what was seen is the communication between the androids and androids. The souls and spirits departed from the tangible body and dwelled in the body of virtual and codes, Human beings has became the pillar of eternal damnation on earth ever since they have abandoned their nature in physical interaction and communications over interactions thru androids as well as devoting to bread than love. Culture and human nature once held the throne of humanity since day one of earth are no longer ruling the reign and bloodlines of humanity ever since we have overthrow it. The anthropoid broke and renounce the bonds of our culture, tradition and nature behind letting it to perish in vain. All because we have gone berserk like a hungry and gluttonous serpent, yearning for something beyond Moirai, an Arcadia of everlasting abundance with our bare hands, but it turned out to became an inhuman nemesis to humanity. The chaos came too soon and consumed partial of mortal. The divine divided us into two races, which the ones who has landed his/her foot on the dark side and consume by chaos are called the Dissentiousents, while the others who still hold the light and bloodlines are called the Seraphicents. We, the Seraphicents hold the sword of cosmos shall salvage the innocent Dissentiousents from chaos, the one who entrusted the nemesis of chaos shall perish in vain.
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Anchor and Rover 2013 When designing the backpackers hostel, the future of backpackers was the main concern especially when comes to the generations millenials and beyond the future generations to come . They are borned in the world of social media, messengers app, internet and et cetera. It is called the digital age as everything is one tap away from over electronic devices. The rise of these technologies changes the way how we communicate and how we live. Hence, it also affect the destiny of backpackers culture. When real life social experiences started to decline and become more introverted, the backpackers trend and culture will slowly meet its end road as well. Because social skills and communication are the main elements that keep the backpackers stay strong and determined like nomads, they moved around to meet new peoples,understand cultures and traditions as well as finding a place that they can share their stories with others. Backpackers are the extroverts and optimists but the next generation are moving into the praxis of social isolation which this epidermic can cause harm more than good to the backpackers culture. Perhaps, the widespread of virus has already started.
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The protest of separation 2015 The ageing royal town in kuala kangsar faced an uncertain coming future . It is either faced an irresponsible act of genetrification by the capitalist developer that will certain hike up the estate value of the place turning it into a fragmented the place that will separate people from all walks of life especially the ageing population and the lower class of the population. Indeed it is a struggle to regenerate the place inclusively due the place has already being planned by the authorities projected to be one of the World Tourism zone which could drive revenue for the country. Now, the lack of public place as a catalyst to connect the younger and elder generation is the major epidermic in place like cause the lack of conversation will contribute in speeding up the process of irresponsible gentrification. In order to slow down the pace of upcoming gentrification process, the invention need to be strategic enough to stimulate back the vibrancy among the ageing population first then it has to hollistic as well to cater the younger populations so that they become aware that the essense of their place would exist even without the heavy foreign investment. A community cinema combine with a prototype new housing scheme was invented to experiment in this context that need to be preserved as well as to move forward into soften the impact to the local . Historically, cinema used to be key element that drive the state of Perak into the road of glory. Everyone will spend their night at the cinema just hangout with neighbours and friends. Well, the general culture has not changed because the young generation still doing the same activity. But the key was the cinema in the royal town was long gone which we suppected the degeneration has something do with it as it was the only catalyst in those days.
Architectural Association : Visiting School 2014-2015
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Making port weld 2015-2016
Homecoming 2014-2015
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