d+a Magazine Issue 65

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design and architecture w w w . d e s i g n a n d a r c h i t e c t u r e . c o m

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DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR TANG GUAN BEE AND CHAN SAU YAN SONNY HANSHA REFLECTION HOUSE NAGOYA JAPAN BY STUDIO SKLIM HOUSE AT BUKIT TIMAH SINGAPORE BY RT+Q VILLA-A NAGANO JAPAN BY SATOSHI OKADA THE ALL-NEW SPACE ASIA HUB BY WOHA preview THE FLOWER DOME at Gardens by the Bay

ISSUE 065. 2012 | S$8

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editorial editor Thio Lay Hoon layhoon@key-editions.com contributors Adrian Lai | Raymond Ang Narelle Yabuka | Kenneth Cheong Wu Yen Yen | Rebecca Lo Rachelle Su | Tracy Tang Sergio Pirrone

layout & design art director Kevin Wong senior designer Mabel Leng senior photographer Alex Heng

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word Tang Guan Bee and Chan Sau Yan Sonny, two of Singapore’s foremost architects of groundbreaking works for the longest time, were each honoured as Designer of the Year in the 2011 President’s Design Awards. They speak with D+A on their views of making architecture in Singapore and what drives their continuing ambition to build p14, p18 The recently concluded 20th World Orchid Conference in Singapore had opened to the public a week-long sneak preview of the inside of the spectacular Flower Dome, the larger of the two glass biomes in the soon-tobe completed 54ha Gardens by the Bay South. Its 1.2ha enclosed and climate controlled environment replicates that of the Mediterranean and semi-arid regions. Organised as different ‘Cultivated Worlds’, plants native to the different regions are grouped together in clusters formed by raised planters, allowing a walk through the Flower Dome to be akin to taking in the many gardens of South America, South Africa, Australia and parts of Europe p26 ‘Gazing intently through its projected glazed frontage, articulated by its indents, two sides aloof to its neighbours with non-descript small openings to emphasize its unwavering frontality, the [Hansha Reflection House] sits in quiet survey of the lake waters, waiting to capture through its lens fleeting ephemerality of Sakura blooms that flank lake and garden opposite’ p36 The curved roof is Villa A’s most innovative element, designed to shelter the upper floor with an image of a bird’s wing fully extended over a nest. The roof plate is bent two-dimensionally and inclined at 1/5 gradient...then positioned at a gradual curvature onto the ground, giving the impression of the house sheltered under a bird’s wing. In this manner, the roof strategically reduces the visual mass of the building and intentionally blocks out the view of the neighbouring building on the east border p48 The new Space Asia Hub at 77 Bencoolen Street is bold in both design and concept. WOHA’s intuitive and innovative approach towards design and the environment in context saw three distinct blocks intertwined into a comprehensive space, transformed into the biggest flagship gallery for leading furnishing brands like B&B Italia, Cassina, Giorgetti, Kartell, Moooi and Vitra p60

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inside ISSUE 065. 2012

spin 10 | mediacorp’s new media complex at mediapolis@one-north 12 | 8 House in Copenhagen, Denmark, by Bjarke Ingels Group

wide\angle 14 | STILL STANDING Tang Guan Bee is one of the most respected and inventive architects in Singapore with a youthful infectious energy and strong passion for design 18 | TRUE TO FORM Chan Sau Yan Sonny is an excellent role model and inspiring mentor to the local and wider architectural community of the region 26 | SENSATIONAL GARDEN WALK The Flower Dome, the larger of the two glass biomes in the soon-to-be completed 54ha Gardens by the Bay South, invited visitors during the week-long 20th World Orchid Conference to a multisensory experience with cool temperatures, abundant daylight, smells and sights 30 | CONTRASTING DUALITY YTL’s d6 and d7 in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur, are designed by award-winning firm RT+Q Architects as two strikingly contrasting buildings

habitat 36 | A HOUSE SEEN AND SEEING The Hansha Reflection House in Nagoya, Japan, by Studio SKLIM, is individualistic – deeply personal to its inhabitants – yet universal in function, its timber construct a structural feat 42 | ONE TO THREE House in Bukit Timah by RT+Q Architects that is detached in more ways than one 48 | IN NATURE DEFINED Villa A in in Nagano, Japan, designed by Satoshi Okada, leverages on the soft tranquillity of its surroundings to integrate architecture and landscape quite naturally 52 | TREE-TOP SUBTERFUGE Ramesh Seshan of Custom Design Group’s latest addition to the KL office space of a local film production house in a series of renovations and evolutions that the house has undergone 56 | SPACES IN ONE LOOP Studio XMSL used a ‘loop plan’ effectively to improve the spaces in this odd-shaped east coast apartment built in the 80s

Cover from photo by Jeremy San Image courtesy Studio SKLIM

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inside complex 60 | URBAN DELIGHT The all-new 40,000ft2 (3,800m2) Space Asia Hub at 77 Bencoolen Street sets the benchmark for conservation streetscape and luxury furniture retail in Singapore’s arts district

dfusion 66 | RELEVANT AND VERSATILE Poliform, one of several leading high-end furnishing brands at Space Asia Hub 68 | THE KITCHEN? IT’S A BOFFI The Boffi Xila 09 system makes a perfect fit in this Sentosa Cove house 70 | EVERY VIEW DIFFERS Joey Ho Design’s Arthouse Cafe in a three-storey property exhibition gallery in Hangzhou, China 72 | THE BEST PLACE TO WORK UK-born Hong Kong-based industrial designer Michael Young 76 | EASTERN PROMISE Hangzhou born Berlin-based graphic designer and teacher He Jian Ping

pulse 78 | AN ART PATH OF SORTS Hub-to-Hub fringe event featuring urban art installations, as part of the Singapore ArchiFest 2011 82 | THE BIG RED BALL WAS HERE New Yorker Kurt Perschke’s travelling Big RedBall Project

beat 84 | CAN YOU IDENTIFY THIS FLYING OBJECT French artist and architect Jacques Rival’s site specific lighting installations

04 | 4WORD

85 – 107 | CATALOGUE

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spin 10

mediacorp’s new media complex at mediapolis@one-north

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ocated on the prominent corner of Ayer Rajah Extension and Wessex Link, the New Media Complex, on a long triangular site, is designed as a gateway to Mediapolis. The design, by Maki & Associates and DP Architects, represents a new idea for a broadcasting centre where the Media Centre is not only an efficient and functional working environment, but also a publicly-oriented facility that is open and inviting, that welcomes visitors from around the world.

It is aimed at attracting and inspiring visitors by showcasing the unique operations of the broadcasting centre. A distinct ascending tour experience is designed into the facility allowing visitors to learn and observe the fascinating work that unfolds within MediaCorp. Such activities are typically concealed in most other facilities.

The concept is also aimed at engaging the adjacent parkland to create synergies where the Centre and Park provide various attractions related to media for the public to enjoy. In this way, the complex will not only function as a base for broadcasting entertainment but the complex itself becomes an entertainment grounds where enriched experiences and creative culture energize Mediapolis as a whole.

The formal design strategy provides a unique form and place to each of the three primary programs: The 1,600 seat Broadcast Performance Arts Theatre, the Broadcast Centre and Mediacorp’s Corporate Offices. The three building forms in unison create a gateway, a ‘view corridor’ acting as both a pedestrian spine as well as public plaza with a grand stairway with 50 steps commemorating Singapore’s 50th year as an independent nation at the time of opening. At the top of the stairway is a ‘viewing plateau’ that links the park and traversing spine with major public amenities such as cafes, restaurants, and gift shops. Visitors and passerby can enjoy panoramic views from the viewing plateau over the park and Mediapolis beyond.

The purpose-built broadcast building, to be completed in 2015, will have intelligent and efficient systems to reduce energy consumption, in an initiative to earn the BCA Green Mark Platinum rating.

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spin

8 House, Copenhagen, Denmark, by Bjarke Ingels Group ‘Housing’ category winner at the World Architecture Festival 2011 With spectacular views towards the Copenhagen Canal and over Kalvebod Fælled’s protected, open spaces, 8 House will not only be offering residences to people in all of life’s stages as well as office spaces to the city’s business and trade – it will also serve as a house that allows people to bike all the way from the ground floor to the top, moving alongside townhouses with gardens winding through an urban perimeter block. 8 House is where you will find the attention to detail embedded in a larger context. Here, closeness thrives in the 60,000m2 building. This is where the tranquility of suburban life goes hand in hand with the energy of a big city, where business and housing co-exist. 8 House is where common areas and facilities merge with personal life, and where you can reach for the stars at the top of the building’s green areas.

The building’s housing program offers three kinds of accommodation: apartments of varied sizes, penthouses and townhouses. With a mix of suburban tranquility and urban energy, the townhouse and its open housing is ideal for the modern family, while singles and couples may find the apartments more attractive. And for those who live life to the fullest, the penthouses function as a playground with fantastic views over the canal and Southern Copenhagen. The different housing typologies are united by the exterior dimensions which provide inspiration for adventures, inspiring communities. Partly inspired by classic townhouses as well as the open, democratic nature of functionalistic architecture.

The architects have designed a long, coherent house with immense differences in height, creating a strong inflow of light and a unique local community

with small gardens and pathways. The bow-shaped building creates two distinct spaces, separated by the centre of the bow which contains the 500m2 communal facilities. At the very same spot, the building is penetrated by a 9m wide passage that connects the two surrounding city spaces: the park area to the west and the channel area to the east. Instead of dividing the different functions of the building – for both habitation and trades – into separate blocks, the various functions spread out horizontally. The apartments are placed at the top while the commercial programme unfolds at the base of the building. As a result, the different horizontal layers have achieved a quality of their own – the apartments benefit from the view, sunlight and fresh air, while the office leases merge with life on the street.

8 House’ 50,000m2 accommodates 540 residential units. The base consists of 10,000m2 businesses, spread out at street level alongside the surrounding main streets, and at the northern courtyard that houses an office building. 8 House is partly for rent housing and partly residential property varying from 65m2 to 144m2.

Two sloping green roofs of total area 1,700m2 are strategically placed to reduce the urban heat island effect, as well as providing the visual identity to the project and tying it back to the adjacent farmlands towards the south; 8 house is literally hoisted up in the northeast corner and pushed down at the southwest corner, allowing light and air to enter the southern courtyard – optimizing the daylight and natural heating for all inhabitants and users of the building and providing natural ventilation.

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still standing

BY NARELLE YABUKA | IMAGES COURTESY TANG GUAN BEE ARCHITECTS

The achievement of a large body of work dedicated to risk-taking and experimentation is a significant feat in any profession. In architecture, it is particularly so. Tang Guan Bee (principal of Tangguanbee Architects, established 1984) knows no other way to practise than with a bold passion for exploration and the pursuit of invention. His most wellknown projects – the original Picturehouse building, the Mountbatten Road house, Abelia condominium, Eastpoint shopping mall, Market Place at Bedok, and the Gallery Hotel (with William Lim) – tell the tale of testing limits and relentlessly innovating. Speaking with NARELLE YABUKA on the occasion of the President’s Design Award 2011, the joint recipient of the Designer of the Year accolade revealed a heart and mind still hungry to discover and develop.

(Photo courtesy MICA) ‘Tang Guan Bee is one of the most respected and inventive architects in Singapore and the Jury is amazed at his youthful, infectious energy and strong passion for design.

Following his own beliefs, he approaches each project with his unique set of values and styles. His extensive body of work showcases elements of great experimentation and bold expressions of forms, colours and materials. Possessing a quirky attitude and easy charm, Guan Bee is often admired for his ability to follow through his visions — at times, breaking conventions and setting new standards. He derives tremendous joy in working with the younger generation of architects and is an inspiration to them.

The Jury applauds Guan Bee’s steadfast passion for architecture and the significant contributions he has made to the profession throughout his many years of practice, both as a practitioner and as a mentor.’ (Jury citation, President Design Award 2011)

I came across some striking images of your former office space in an old 1984 issue of the SIA journal. Your black, art-filled space with its bold floor plan struck me as a kind of manifesto. Would you care to reflect on it?

This was my first office, when I had just left my initial partnership. It still looks quite current, doesn’t it? [We talk over a photo of the office.] The office had a board where anyone could add their thoughts without fear. Everyone picked up ideas. The ideas didn’t have to come from me all the time. The focus was cross-pollination. I like this word. When you talk to each other, new forms can emerge. I’m still very good friends with some of the younger architects who worked in my office – for example, Ling Hao, Randy Chan, and Chang Yong Ter.

What is your practice like these days?

These days I’m doing a lot of collaborative work. This collaborative way of working is very rich. It’s like inter-breeding. In my first 15 to 20 years of practice, I had to run the projects myself to make sure I knew what I was drawing. After a while, you build confidence. Then you specialise. It’s a learning process. A big firm is bankable because it’s a big firm. I want to be bankable as a designer – as an architect who can dream. I am scared of becoming comfortable. When you’re comfortable, you lose a certain heart.

Tongguan recreational hub, Guangzhou, China (2009)

What were some of your early architecturally informative experiences?

Who are some architects, designers, or artists whose approach has influenced you, and why?

I took influence from the masters – Wright, Corbusier... but I never followed one particular guy. I enjoy their thoughts. I let them digest within me and enrich me. I don’t make a point of following styles. The Case Study Houses were very good, and even now you can see their influence everywhere. And the Japanese Metabolist group; their work really makes me feel charged. Also Archigram; they dared to dream The Walking City! Now you can see a lot more science fiction-inspired work. Oscar Niemeyer’s work really challenges you to be yourself and to innovate rather than just copy.

plants don’t get looked after, they’ll die. The condition of mine was that the plants should be maintained by the building’s management.

Anyway, after we were appointed as architects, we worked on the project for two years.

Then the client asked us to remove the plants from the design. I said, ‘My dear boss, I would have no elevation. The plants are the elevation!’ It would be always changing as they grow, die, re-shoot, and get trimmed. The plants would allow the building to breathe and the occupants to see through – to penetrate. They would be a filter, like lattice. Plants are fantastic filters; they cut away sound, allow wind to come in, keep out sunlight, and keep away heat. The client said no. I was very upset.

I believe that you ask for a lot of trust from your clients.

Tell me about your unbuilt winning entry in the Eco-Housing competition of the early 2000s.

The main judge was Ken Yeang. Our design was a wind and water collector. The judges thought it was a great idea. It was a four-storey building that incorporated plants. A lot of architects put plants in their drawings – plants dripping down buildings. But in the end, what happens if the owners don’t have green fingers? Or if they’re never at home? If the

Clients ask me, ‘What are you doing?’ I say, ‘I’m not too sure. Just come along, ok?’ Equations are never on my mind. Equations can make money. When you find a good equation, you can multiply it very quickly. But if I did this, my soul would get slowly eroded.

Do you feel that a Singaporean identity has developed in architecture?

We are very cosmopolitan and our major buildings are done by foreigners. Identity, to me, is

Condominium with rooftop pool, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Oct 2011)

Gateway entrance to estate in Hangzhou, China (Jan 2011, the kindergarten opened in Oct 2011)

Hong Kong Tube – 1995 Competition

not so much in Singapore architecture, as in the Singapore architect. That’s more important.

Do you design a Malay kampong house and make it high tech? You just don’t do it! The kampong house is climatic. The soul of it is climate. Singapore is quite global now and our culture is borrowed. Where is Singapore architecture? First, find the architect!

Your work shows a preoccupation with colour. Could you talk about this?

Also, why do you so value humour and play in architecture?

I like the word ‘humour’. I like seriously having fun, and spontaneity. I sometimes go to site and find the contractor has made a mistake. He has misread my drawing. But it’s turned out pretty nicely. This kind of mistake really adds to your work. But I can’t take bad workmanship.

You can call me an accidental architect; I bumped into architecture. Actually, I’m more interested in art. So the colours I use are naturally related to painting.

Is there any particular thing in architecture that you would like to explore further?

I’d like to explore different kinds of work, like museums. I’m lucky to have had a variety of jobs in the past. It would be good to do a larger scale project – like a modern art museum.

Perhaps, a museum for an art collector who’s into futuristic art! It could be very exploratory.

I like to work with no set mind – no preconception.

How does one encourage a greater understanding of architecture among the general public?

Ecohousing Competition 1998 – First Prize

We all keep saying ‘educate’. The President’s Design Award is a good way to do this. The public honouring of designers allows people to understand that such things are here. We should try to encourage the growth of Singapore as a design centre. To me, this would be very healthy. London did it years back. And the Japanese are very good at it. When Fumihiko Maki gave a lecture at the URA, he mentioned the names of all the important Japanese architects – from Kenzo Tange onwards. He gave order to important architects and their role.

In Singapore, we don’t have this sense of fraternity. We need a community of sharing. We need a discourse – a dialogue.

wide\angle

[Chan Sau Yan Sonny] ‘...pursues authenticity with a deep passion. Guided by his three-key precepts — sensitive response to climatic conditions, harnessing of appropriate technology and a deep understanding of local culture — [Chan’s] designs achieve a high level of sensitivity, originality and intelligence which have become hallmarks of his works. This remarkable body of work, which has emerged over a long career, is characterised by rigour, seriousness and rich architectural expression. [Chan’s] technical knowledge is exemplary. His passion for tropical architecture translates into designs that demonstrate strong contextual and cultural relevance. His acute sensibilities towards local vernacular architecture, such as natural ventilation and minimal mechanical intervention, were adopted early in his career, and through his diligent application and skills, tropical architecture has been brought into a modern idiom.’

(Jury citation, President Design Award 2011)

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true to form

BY NARELLE YABUKA | IMAGES COURTESY CSYA

Joint recipient of the President’s Design Award 2011 as Designer of the Year is architect Chan Sau Yan Sonny.

With a career spanning almost 50 years to date, Chan ‘remains committed to practising architecture and is an excellent role model and inspiring mentor to the local and wider architectural community of the region.’ (Jury Citation) In this interview with NARELLE YABUKA following the award, he talks about his work past and present.

I

mmediately after graduating from architectural studies at the Northern Polytechnic in London in 1963, Chan Sau Yan Sonny took a course in tropical studies at the AA School of Architecture. His motivation to design in a manner suitable to the climate and culture of his home country – using appropriate building technology – would stay with him through decades of practise. After completing many notable projects with Kumpulan Akitek (including Hyatt Kuantan), he established Chan Sau Yan Associates (csya) in 1993. Projects such as the Nassim Jade condominium, Bishopsgate house, Bournemouth Eight strata bungalows, and Tokio Marine Centre are part of an ongoing investigation into building for the tropics.

What were some of your early architecturally informative experiences?

After studying in England, I returned to Kuala Lumpur in 1964 and joined Kumpulan Akitek. I didn’t leave the practice until 27 years later. Kumpulan Akitek had just established a KL office, but the main office was in Singapore. I came to Singapore subsequently for orientation, and I remained here after the separation in 1965. At that time, the practice was working between Singapore and Malaysia. My first project was the Parklane extension of Goodwood Park Hotel, which is still standing, and the Ming Court Hotel.

How do you think your approach to architecture may have been different if you had studied in Malaysia or Singapore rather than in the UK? Besides practicing, I have also been involved with academia. I’ve served as an external tutor at Singapore Polytechnic, and as an examiner, visiting critic, and adjunct associate professor for NUS. The pedagogy is very similar to what I experienced in England, which is in the Bauhaus modernist tradition. I have not detected much difference between myself and my contemporaries who have studied locally. If there is any distinction, it lies in the emphases and attitudes of the practices rather than the school.

Tokio Marine Centre, 2010

Robertson Blue, 2006

Your key student projects were a stilted house for a site in Petaling Jaya and a fishing village at Pulau Ketam. Your past work has illustrated two significant preoccupations – a preference for vernacular tropical forms and a modernist approach. What are some of your key projects in which you’ve combined these considerations?

The pursuit of vernacular architecture was part of a search for a national identity fermented by independence. We were in a generation of nationalism, I suppose. I always wanted to return home to practice rather than stay in England. As a student there, I used to buy AD magazine. In my third year of study, AD featured Geoffrey Bawa and Kenzo Tange. They gave me a lot of inspiration; they were doing work in which you could identify the sense of place – especially in Bawa’s work. So I took that path, trying to discover identity.

Hyatt Kuantan in Malaysia (with Kumpulan Akitek) was the first project where I tried to reinterpret the Malay kampong morphology and the colonial rest houses in Malaysia – they’re a bit like Singapore’s black and white houses, with a masonry base and everything lifted up. Hyatt Kuantan had this sort of imagery in a way; the lobby was on a podium and the bedrooms were in blocks with a courtyard. The columns had planters on every floor, so there was actually vertical planting in the 1970s! A lot of natural ventilation was incorporated.

8 Nassim Hill, 2010

The Nassim Jade Condominium is perhaps one of the first projects in which you combined the vernacular with the modern.

Nassim Jade was done in the mid-90s and it is less didactic to the regionalist theme. It was the beginning of an approach with the design imperatives based on climate, culture, and appropriate technology.

What do you consider to be your key design preoccupations today?

The issues of sustainability and social responsibility.

Mandarin Oriental Sanya, Hainan, China, 2009

How have you translated tropical design considerations to the high-rise context?

Our design for the Maybank headquarters competition in the ’90s provides a good example.

The site, beside the Fullerton Hotel, was only 1,000m2. The soil there is marine clay, so instead of doing deep excavations for the car park we excavated just two storeys down. We put the banking hall in the basement so we could widen the public space, and glazed the plaza to bring natural light into the hall.

We lifted the offices as high as possible, so they’d all get a view of the sea. The car park was elevated, and accessed by vehicle lifts. The whole building was hung from the top down.

We didn’t want to have a curtain wall, because there would be the problem with the sun.

So we hung a carved marble screen. Kerry Hill once saw the concept, and he commented that we had really designed a tropical high-rise building.

We adopted the same strategy for the Tokio Marine Centre. The car park is elevated, and most of the ground floor is a sort of public plaza. The design of the external columns was inspired by bamboo growth – the way bamboo stems criss-cross each other to brace against the wind. The client is Japanese, so we wanted to have imagery that is related to the East.

There’s a column-free internal space within the exo-skeleton. Again, we didn’t want to have a curtain wall, so we used a setback of about a metre behind the columns. So the columns and the setbacks provide interior shade.

Which of your projects do you see as your most innovative and why?

In almost all our projects we seek to re-define the building type and look for innovation in the concept design, detailing, and materiality. Recently, we completed a cluster housing project in Bukit Timah (Mont Timah on Hindhede Drive). The URA has been encouraging developers to build new forms of housing – strata bungalows and cluster housing. There have been several cluster housing developments built, but they’re actually more like terraces or semidetached. What we’ve done is really a cluster. Each block has four units, which are planned in a radial manner like a windmill. We used board-mark concrete – as we did for Hyatt Kuantan. In the bathrooms, we revived the traditional adjustable louvred windows, which are often seen as belonging to the context of low-cost housing. We used aluminium so light and ventilation can be regulated. Potential buyers think it’s an innovation!

You were a founding member of the Singapore Planning and Urban Research group (SPUR). Would you like to reflect on SPUR’s activities in the 1960s to early ’70s? If an equivalent group existed in Singapore today, what do you think it would be preoccupied with?

House at Cable Road, 2008

In the ’60s, the government understandably had a siege mentality and was wary of any external criticism as being politically motivated. We were touching on issues like housing, city planning, and conservation. I think we were seen as troublemakers. If a similar group existed now, I think it would be better received as the approach to nation building is now seen to be more inclusive and consultative. Actually, the URA is now implementing a lot of the things we proposed at that time.

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This project by Chan Sau Yan Associates was shortlisted in the Housing category at the recent World Architecture Festival Awards 2011 in Barcelona (Nov 2 to 4). Mont Timah (completed 2011), a cluster housing development on a 7,843m2 site off Hindhede Drive, next to the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, explores the notion of living at proximity with nature. The dwellings are arranged around a 25m lap pool and lush greenery, on descending terraces following the sloping profile of the site.

Using the pin-wheel as a diagram, a base unit is rotated to form a cluster of four identical units in each of the eight blocks.

All the units enjoy the ‘landed’ characteristics of bungalows, with their individual private enclosed space on the ground floor inclusive of a water feature, lawn and timber deck. From the ground floor, every household has either direct access to the landscaped areas or through landscaped footpaths.

One of the very first forest reserves established in Singapore, the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve retains one of the largest tracts of primary rainforest left. The landscape concept for the development, hence, is about luscious and abundant foliage, one that merges seamlessly with the dense and undisturbed vegetation of the nature reserve.

The development is also sensitive to this relationship to its natural surroundings and seeks to reduce its ecological impact with its ‘green’ features.

Articulated forms and generous fenestrations which maximize the view of the forested surroundings are characteristics of the development. The choice of materials of off-form concrete, wood and natural stone is in character with the rustic surroundings, giving a sense of honest materiality to the development.

Each unit consists of four bedrooms, private enclosed space and a sunken courtyard at the basement, two levels of roof terraces including a staircase to the roof top as a viewing platform to the nature reserve. Every bedroom is directly accessible to a private external area which provides an intimate quality to each of the private rooms. A standard feature to every household is the home elevator which stops at every level within the unit, providing easy access for all in the family.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY AARON POCOCK | STORY COURTESY WAF PRESS

Basement plan

1st storey plan

2nd storey plan

3rd storey plan

Roof plan

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Boffi Studio 9 Purvis Street #01-01 SINGAPORE 188588 t. +65 6333 9115 f. +65 6333 9116 boffi@boffi.com.sg www.boffi.com boffi.com

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sensational garden walk

BY LWYA | PHOTOS BY THIO LAY HOON

Two glass biomes and clusters of gigantic tree-like structures have started to take form on the south of Marina Bay over the last three years. Public curiosity as to the nature of these eye-catching forms and the gardens in which they sit is increasing and recently piqued further by the lit structures at nightfall. The chance to find out came with the week-long sneak preview of the Flower Dome organised as part of the recently concluded 20th World Orchid Conference in Singapore (Nov 13 to 20).

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he Flower Dome is the larger of the two glass biomes in the soon-to-be completed 54ha Gardens by the Bay South.

Clad in 3,332 trapezoidal double-glazed units, the gridshell structure spans the amazing lengths of 171m across and 87m from front to back to enclose a 1.2ha footprint of enclosed and climate controlled environment replicating that of the Mediterranean and semi-arid regions. Organised as different ‘Cultivated Worlds’, plants native to the different regions are grouped together in clusters formed by raised planters, allowing a walk through the Flower Dome to be akin to taking in the many gardens of South America, South Africa, Australia and parts of Europe.

Entering the Flower Dome via a black-box type corridor with graphic displays, the sheer expanse of the beautifully glowing space is an aweinspiring welcome and managed to take many a breath away. From here a viewing gallery beckons one forward where a flat timber rail atop laser-cut balustrades with wonderfully apt abstract reed patterns demarcate a vantage point from which the different cultivated worlds can be seen to spread towards the left. In-front and one level lower the Flower Field is a temporary display area that has been transformed into a beguiling Orchid show in synch with the conference. To the right and above, Baobabs, Ghost Trees and Cacti populate a raised display area called the Baobab Leaf.

The experience in the Flower Dome is a multi-sensory one. Primarily designed to suit the plants that will live permanently within, the cool temperatures, abundant daylight, smells and sights make it a sensational garden walk. Walking down comfortably gentle sloping paths winding through the different planted displays, one will find benches and other amenities that avail themselves along the way to complete the impression of the thoughtfulness given to visitors’ comfort in the design.

It was also a thoughtful move on the part of the National Parks Board to include amongst the many station guides, botanists, horticulturists, landscape architects as well as architects who managed to make this visit enlightening. Almost at every turn there was something to see and more to learn.

The designer of the Flower Dome, Wilkinson Eyre Architects won the international open competition for the masterplan and design of Gardens by the Bay in 2006 together with Grant Associates (landscape masterplanners and designers), Atelier One (structural engineers) and Atelier Ten (environment engineers). It is marvellous to witness its culmination in this milestone event where there are many things for Singaporeans to be proud of.

We await the official opening of the rest of the Gardens in June 2012 with anticipation and a good measure of pride.

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contrasting duality

d7 has garnered an honorable mention in the commercial office building category of the Singapore Institute of Architects (SIA) Architectural Design Awards 2011, and a Silver Award in the commercial building category of the Pertubuhan Akitek Malaysia (PAM) Award 2011.

BY KENNETH CHEONG | PHOTOGRAPHS BY ALBERT LIM (COURTESY YTL SDN BHD), RT+Q AND KENNETH CHEONG

Placed side by side, d6 contrasted by the dark solidity of d7 is a pearlescent whisper. The contrasting duality between these two polar opposites casts a delicious tension in the first of YTL’s Sentul East development energizing the urban renewal process.

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entul is one of Kuala Lumpur’s older quarters, rich with culture. The existing urban grain subsists with living and commercial spaces interwoven with religious structures.

Functioning tree shrines and Hindu temples dot the landscape sitting alongside churches and Chinese temples, a testament of a community untouched by current religious-biased political agendas.

The allure of Sentul lies in its rich textured community pregnant with history and rituals.

Some would argue that this charm adds a lackluster patina over the area from a commercial viewpoint. How then would one take to the task of building and maneuvering in an area dense with layers of urban stratification? The pair of d6 & d7 is RT+Q’s attempt to react and address issues of urban planning within the realm of architecture.

The pair of d6 and d7 is YTL Land & Development’s first commercial project in the urban renewal exercise of Sentul East and West. Originally planned for traditional shop lots which are to be sold en bloc, the land on which d6 and d7 sit were amalgamated into a contiguous piece. The larger piece of land then became a blank canvass for RT+Q to explore and push the boundaries of current and traditional commercial products.

d7 consists of seven stories of commercial space with F&B and retail space on ground level. d6 repeats this template with 9 stories of commercial space. The office suites with a multitude of configurations and features such as internal courtyards, skylights, garden decks, dramatic doublestorey height space redefines how we perceive the workplace. Functional programme aside, this is where the similarities end.

In plan, d7 is a ‘u’ shaped courtyard plan with the office suites feeding off a single loaded corridor. An unexpected crank in the rear adds a twist to the rear façade. d6 is the inverse of the courtyard plan with a central spine. The double corridor is further inversed at level 2 where the functional spaces become an island with a ring of circulation and deck space surrounding it. A skylight brings light down the central spine of d6, piercing the corridor voids alternating between link ways of frosted glass.

d7 section

d6 and d7, SENTUL EAST, KUALA LUMPUR client/builder architect project team landscape consultant

YTL – Syarikat Pembinaan Yeoh Tiong Lay Sdn Bhd RT+Q Architects – Rene Tan, T K Quek RT+Q Architects – Eddie Gan, Joanne Goh Seksan Design

d7 courtyard

In isolation, d7, which was completed earlier than d6, is a dark and mysterious heavy mass.

Clad in bronze-coloured aluminum panels, d7 sits quietly at a pivotal intersection of Jalan Sentul heralding a new phase in the urban renewal in Sentul. Random L-shaped windows like Tetriminos blocks in a Tetris puzzle are strewn on the façade, animating the vertical plane with movement as a piece of highway architecture, seen as you drive along Jalan Sentul.

Internally, the L-shaped windows carve out a multitude of fenestration configurations to the commercial space. The random L-shaped glazing provides for an individual identity to each office suite.

At ground plane the central courtyard space of d7 becomes an urban respite. Bernoulli’s principle naturally applies here, drawing in pedestrian movement into the innards of d7. Lushly vegetated, the courtyard is a cocoon of cool away from the hustle and bustle of Sentul – dark granite slabs highlighted with timber, and creepers strung along stainless steel cables that soar the seven stories of d7. Random glass bridges at different levels stitch the vertical fissure of the courtyard.

d6 section

The rear of d6 employs reflecting pools as landscaping at the rear of the building. Like shards of glass panes, the water reflects the animated patterns on the façade of d6. Where d7’s solidity is iridescent in dark cladding, d6 is a subtle aberration of d7, playing on translucency and transparency. Galvanized expanded metal deck sheath the full glazing of the entire façade like a delicate lace. The Tetris pattern is echoed in the translucent sheath. Placed side by side, d6 contrasted by the dark solidity of d7 is a pearlescent whisper.

In context, the pair is pulled apart from each other to expose a generous landscaped forecourt. As part of the overall master plan for Sentul East, this first phase gives a glimpse of what is envisaged of the future of Jalan Sentul – a lushly landscaped boulevard to link all the future components of the development.

As a master planning strategy, both d6 and d7 are bold powerful objects by themselves. How d6 and d7 react and complement each in this urban setting will determine the urban rejuvenation on a larger scale.

As objects in the landscape, the contrasting duality between these two polar opposites casts a delicious tension in the first of YTL’s Sentul East development, energizing the urban renewal process.

habitat 36

a house seen and seeing

BY RAYMOND ANG | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMY SAN

Is a house really a fixed object in a fixed environment? With its concept of reflection of ephemeral moments, the Hansha Reflection House in Japan, recently completed by Studio SKLIM, probes the extent a house sees to a fixed context and structural norms. RAYMOND ANG writes a firsthand perspective with poetic insight, followed by a Q&A discussion with the designer Kevin Lim.

HANSHA REFLECTION HOUSE, NAGOYA, JAPAN programme area design architect collaborators builder structure

two-storey detached house with courtyard and roof deck 124m² Studio SKLIM (Kevin Lim) Machiko Nakamura, Federico Mira (3D visualization) Sakae Advanced Housing Technology KES System Headquarters Shelter

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drive along a ubiquitous row of houses in suburban Nagoya. The Hansha Reflection House strikes me strongly with its projected overhang. Three cars parked under fully explain its column-free front.

As a result, living spaces are lifted to the 2nd storey and higher up, to the open roof deck. Programmatically, three distinct zones organize this house – ‘Public’ in front (storage, library, living room), ‘Service’ in the middle (stairs and airwell), and ‘Private’ at the back (bedrooms).

In a classic relationship-play between scenic foreground and form, Studio SKLIM visually connected larger spaces contained in the 2nd floor projecting form, towards Misakimizube Koen. Up a ladder from 2nd storey, soon I am standing on a landscaped open-air roof deck, sensory connection to low-rise surrounds.

I look down the adjacent airwell. A vertical breathing void, it links all levels within the house massing. On the ground floor opposite this airwell is a Nagoya 1-tatami-sized room in quiet juxtaposition. I think, ‘...this is where I may sit, have a drink, a read, keenly aware of nature’s change of daylight and seasons...’

Inclined surfaces for rain drainage and snowfall, daylight concerns interacting with the timber frame structure of this house, chisel the outer form – a stark black galvaniumpanel cladded camera obscura-like object in stark contrast to the neighborhood’s subtle grays.

Gazing intently through its projected glazed frontage, articulated by its indents, two sides aloof to its neighbours with non-descript small openings to emphasize its unwavering frontality, the house sits in quiet survey of the lake waters, waiting to capture through its lens fleeting ephemerality of Sakura blooms that flank the lake and garden opposite.

Timber is viewed as more pragmatic for small scale construction, in terms of handy industrial sizes and cost.

In many parts of the world, timber is preferred for low-rise structures. Attributes include high strength-to-weight ratio, and plant fibres being more pliant than brittle concrete.

Timber is more suited for earthquake prone areas like Japan where the Hansha Reflection House sits.

Of note is the year-long struggle by Studio SKLIM, the Engineer and Builder, in refining the house’s timber frame cantilever, to a final figure of 3.2m over the 3-car parking space – a feat, given the 1.5m norm. From a simple premise of a basic truss, it became a constant year-long straddle between twin structural ideas – of book-shelf bracketing and tensile bridge construction. ‘Cantilever’ as an idea was pushed to a new reasoned limit. Result – a new structural basis that underwrites a new level of spatial freedom for the family to explore, and grow in facing family life complexities.

As I move downstairs, I now become more aware of light/dark contrasts. White walls and vertical spaces bring out the full diffusion of sunlight, a feeling of lightness and movement, in airwell and living room space, kitchen and

dining. In contrast, of contemplative dark timber walls are library and entry – darkened lustre enhanced by careful spotlight placements and small windows.

Upon house entry, in an alcove display of dark timber, seasonal objects selectively placed under spotlight catch your eye; a reminder of time’s passage in a subtle yet unmistakable way. Beyond, as you sit in the 1-tatami room, its surrounding empty dark timber surfaces lend a mindful repose, all the more manifest in contrast with the ‘diurnal energy’ of airwell space opposite.

On toilet walls, gold leaf appliqué, surely garish in full light, through a small window, picks up struggling rays of low light to envelope your privacy in classy sheen – not unlike gold leaf kirikane on black lacquer screens (circa Heian era) that appear best in dim light bygone days before electricity.

‘Reflection’ off slanted stainless steel panel surfaces of the cantilevered space, surely is designed as more than just physical appearance, you think. As you gaze out, you are also gazed. A physical image, or a mental condition that flows from that image seen? And isn’t the exterior’s passing of time, the Sakura tree blooms and wither – nature’s ephemerality, not your reflection in time, not yourself gazing back at you, in your habitat? Whose reflection are you?

So, a cascade of thoughts emerge in you, dear Inhabitant, sitting in your Habitat – of contrastive relations between extroverted form/introspective personal space, of one-point of personal cognition/two-point perspective via flat reflection/onto 3-dimensional interior space/onto fourth dimension of time that links exterior to interior, as existence

evolves...this house asks that you think with your mind’s eye.

The Architect as Artist as Philosopher, and his counterpart the Intellectual Inhabitant – this relationship surely underpin emergence of these Questions that lead ultimately to basic ideas of House and Existence. So your mind grips... And what physical formula must emerge to rationalize answering of all these? Surely the raw black house form, yet highly contrastive light careening off steel panels, and yet the coy normalcy of life within, is a juggling act to thread this dissimilar fleet of meanings present in everyday life of this house to stimulate the mind’s eye? You ponder.

A house, by nature of private lives within, is highly personal, as opposed to generic public spaces that cater to a common denominator of masses. In other words, a sweeping view of impersonal humanity. Any notable house

by the great architects has a ‘house personality’, despite in same breath, their sweeping proclamations of universal design values. A house is a machine for living in (Corbusier).

Yet – All fine architectural values are human values, else not valuable (Frank Lloyd Wright). Clearly Studio SKLIM wanted to bridge these two ideals here.

Leaving this house, you have no doubt Studio SKLIM has aimed even further beyond. An Architect’s paean for artistry of human life and mental values, this rarefied pursuit to capture the subliminal Art of human ‘Reflection’ stands clear to you. Architecture can be lived in, moved around in, and simultaneously ignored (cultural theorist Frederic Jameson). However, in the Hansha Reflection House, from narrations by the family, you sense its deeper relevance is never seen, but always felt.

conditions explicit in a new light. Banal is almost a word associated with another B-word – boring, which challenges architects/designers to over create. Architects have increased pressure to create and perhaps overly complicate things. At Studio SKLIM, Banal could be Beautiful by relooking at spaces in a new perspective. For example, most modern Japanese houses have done away with the tatamiroom due to changes in cultural rituals. We have shrunk that concept from the common four-and-a-half mats to just a single mat in a cosy niche overlooking the courtyard.

In contemporary Japan, houses and offices are often full of personal items, yet temples and tea spaces are ‘empty’ – polarities you surely noticed. How did you address that?

Polarities of ‘emptiness versus full’ could be likened to the sequence of compression and expansion of spaces in the house. With areas of contemplation such as the 1-tatami room facing the courtyard placed in close proximity to the manga filled bookshelf of the library, and the low, dark and narrow entrance opening up to the bright double volume space, there has been a careful orchestration of these moments that allow polarities to juxtapose, exist and enhance each other by oppositional quality in the same space. Perhaps quite similar to macro urban conditions that you are talking about. Acceptance of pluralism seems to be a nonchalant aspect of Japanese life.

This house seems to be ‘assembled’ and ‘crafted’.

How do such processes define your space ‘making’?

Japanese modules and building systems have an extensive network of interrelated modular dimensions, from bathroom fittings to façade cladding that is country specific. It is a learning curve for any foreign company to execute an architectural fit-out in Japan, for instance – most items are smaller and follow a 910mm module. The process of

‘making’ is perhaps a more suitable word to describe the construction process in Japan as there is the connotation of crafting something of quality. Such perfect wall-plastering applied by hands of a 70-year old worker! We ‘make’ the house spaces through many physical models, sketches, drawings and mock ups, as architecture can only be grasped as an abstraction before built. Critically, I needed to be sure amidst all the cultural, language and working method differences. To achieve this extensive timber cantilever involved several tests and computer simulations by the timber structural engineer as well.

This architecture is unanimously without stylistic features, which are seemingly banished by certain strong primary design impetus...

I think of our work more as virtual archaeology rather than architecture, uncovering aspects that are already there or too banal to the common eye...

Archeology...? Banality...? Please elaborate.

‘Archeology’ rediscovers material which leads to an understanding of human lifestyle during past periods.

We rediscover parameters associated with the existing, in this case conditions such as sightlines, seasonal variations and building methodology. We try to make these

Certain design methods underpin your design process, surely. How do they affect its current and future usage?

Learning by observation, and pragmatics as a design tool are predominant in my design process. We are surrounded by a complex built environment and this design solution tries to tackle these complexities in the most obvious way instead of shrouding them with metaphorical ideologies.

The fundamental question was how to navigate a habitat on a modest site facing the larger context of a park and surroundings? Our answer – an elevated viewing platform cum sculpture that serves as an extension of the park for all seasons, which also happens to be a house! Pushing the program upwards was pragmatic as it solved the problem of parking for three cars, and provided a better view of the park.

Shifting scales down to interiors involved a shifting of sensitivity to the human scale informed by cultural and lifestyle rituals but in a new orchestrated way. Residential design should always cater for flexibility and evolution. Here, we created spaces that would serve the family well for next 50 years, and for various seasonal cycles. For examples, location of the master bedroom on the ground-floor in anticipation of later years, slope of internal courtyard form to optimize daylight during winter, and having south-facing roof slopes for future accommodation of solar panels, etc, all fundamentally very practical but involve re-thinking as design elements.

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15 Kian Teck Crescent, Singapore 628884. Tel: 6662 6830 www.blomberg.sg www.blomberginternational.com www.casaholdings.com.sg

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habitat 42

one to three

BY ADRIAN LAI | PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALBERT LIM COURTESY RT+Q

There is a certain class of the residential landscape in Singapore that has steadily taken on the architectonic language of the European and American late modernists as default. RT+Q has built up a portfolio of buildings to refine their brand of formalism. We look at its recently completed house in Bukit Timah through the lens of the practice’s stated ethos.

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he house is a distinctive addition to the street.

The building is consistent with many of the firm’s featured work, and provides a useful entry point for us to mull over the whats and the whys. It is a detached house in more ways than one.

There is clarity in the form – three 8m high boxes are lined up in series from front to back, each separated from the other, by about 2m between the front two and 3m between the two at the back. Nearly 5,000ft2 (465m2) of useable space is distributed over two floors in the three boxes and a basement extending downwards under the second box. Bridges within frameless glass enclosures link the boxes together to accentuate the separateness of each box, contrasting as they do with the boxes which are mostly opaque save for slot windows on the sides and larger openings on the ends. The three volumes making up this second detached house along the row of houses is clearly discernible even when viewed obliquely from the street.

Distinction between the three boxes is also heightened by the choice of cladding material. The first is clad entirely in handsomely flush-faced vertical timber strips. On the two end-faces, timber shutter-like brise soleil frames the glazed elevations on top and on two sides, in the form of an inverted ‘U’ visor. The second box is longer and finished in smooth painted render. Only the end elevations have timber cladding set in amongst the largely glazed elevations.

On the two end faces, the same ‘U’ frames are formed in painted metal. The third box is expressed as a floating volume supported on columns set in from the glazed first floor elevation. A glass clad balcony cantilevers above the deck and pool inserted between the second and third boxes.

The attention to detail accentuates the clear expression of the distinct volumes set out in series on the plot.

HOUSE AT BUKIT TIMAH architect

builder c&s engineer quantity surveyor cabinetry

RT+Q Architects Pte Ltd (design team: Rene Tan, T K Quek, Chua Z-Chian, Joanne Goh) Renown Builders Pte Ltd PTS Consultants PQS Consultants Team Decoral

The ends of each box could thus also be imagined as individual front and back elevations. With the different volumes separated from each other, these end elevations become internal elevations to address the facing one. Thus laid out, one could imagine a very long line of sight from one box to the next and beyond. Is the ‘transparency of space’ to be understood in this manner? And if so, is a transparent space better? Or does it serve to heighten the perception of the form?

In this house in Bukit Timah, most of these internal elevations are glazed. On the first floor, the large sculptural spiral stair takes pride of place in the interstitial between the first and second volumes, conspiring with the windowless enclosing walls to the service spaces housed in the second box to block off longer views from the front to the back.

A bedroom in the third box faces the deck and lap pool inserted between the second and third blocks, but one would imagine this shallow space concealing the private study at the back to be curtained off most of the time for privacy. On the second floor, the configuration of the rooms

and their enclosing walls work in a similar way to the first to ensure that there are no long vistas between the spaces in the boxes. Between the spaces on different floors, the effect of the relatively narrow gap between the volumes and the uniform floor levels between them is that visual penetration is shallow at best. The rationale discernible is perhaps that the rooms, configured by a negotiated ‘S’ shaped circulation space, has the effect of closing off views from one box to the next – affording expansive openings without loss of privacy.

Transparency of spaces is not sought for its own sake and its opposite is used instead to effectively maintain privacy.

A smaller scale ‘transparency of space’ is, however, discernible in each volume that effectively expands the individual spatial boundaries to its immediate adjacent. There are examples of both tautly choreographed and generally enacted effects of borrowed views and ‘boundary spills’. The slot window draws one’s eyes out to the side garden where bamboo is expected to fill allotted horizon as one takes a seat in the Reception Room. The large glass expanse at the ends invites one out into the interstitial and welcomes the sounds,

air and light in. These soft boundaries, accentuated by brisesoleil frames beyond and overhangs above, helps one see the possibilities of ‘transparent space’.

Contextualising the two scales at which an understanding of ‘transparency of space’ could be sought in this locality, one could argue that the effect of the two together detracts rather than heightens the sense of transition between the volumes. By blurring the individual spatial boundaries and closing off views between any two neighbouring volumes, the perception of moving through the different volumes is not as clear.

Certain structural elements in the house are especially articulated, expressing its European Modern lineage.

Circular columns supporting the third box on pilotis are set back from the elevations, allowing not just ribbon windows stretching from corner to corner but full height glass walls complete with glass-to-glass corner detail. The timber cladding to these columns lends them a sense of warmth and even luxury, but also suggests a deliberate choice from the material palette of many projects designed under the

increasingly loose banner of Tropical Modern. The edge of each bridge is neatly capped off by the supporting painted steel channels along its length and wherever possible, only glass spans between them to form the floors. The other concrete floors are similarly accented with the same painted steel channels, acting as fascia to visually thin out the slab edges with the slim lines of the flanges.

Such a use of steel channels and angles is increasingly ubiquitous in local residential design. Its origins in domestic design is however undeniably modernist – when the architectural avant garde of the mid-20th century saw the use of prefabricated components as a sign of progress in construction technology that the wider concerns of architecture needed to incorporate, literally and

symbolically. Architects like Mies Van der Rohe and the Eames also began to adopt the language of prefabrication as an embrace of the newest technologies of the time.

The comparatively more recent appropriation of just such an articulation of structure in the Singaporean or tropical Malayan context has passed without too much challenge or questioning. The significance accorded to such a deliberate act by the European and American modernists has not been replicated here in Asia and in the present.

Whether due to the state of local artistic discourse or to the irrelevance of the act of this late adoption, the manner of its use has led it to the basic premise of early Formalism – that is, a compositional and synthetic way of seeing and designing built forms.

There is no real danger in such a move. At stake, however, are an architect’s architectural relevance and the emergence of significant differences. The relevance of architecture, not just in Asia but in the developed world, is quickly being eroded and a greater clarity of purpose could only help slow the tide or even reverse it.

Poorly defined aims only serve as useful marketing tools in the short term and are useless for writing manifestoes.

RT+Q has displayed a clarity of form, transparency of spaces in parts and a predilection for the articulation of certain types of structures in the House at Unggas. One looks forward to the continued refinement of word and form from this young practice that should surely take it to the next level.

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habitat 48

Villa A by Satoshi Okada, in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.

in nature defined STORY AND PHOTOS BY SERGIO PIRRONE

Nested on a trees covered hill site 1000 metres above sea level, Villa A is a summer vacation house in a town that has earned a reputation for its beautiful summer residences. The site, situated in Karuizawa at the east end of Nagano Prefecture, is within easy reach from Tokyo. In order to protect the pristine environment of Karuizawa as a town of refined culture and tradition, the local building authority stipulates that buildings erected should be less than two-storey high and at least 10m off the borders of public roads, and any type of the roof constructed should be a minimum 1/5 gradient. Leveraging on the soft tranquillity of its surroundings, Villa A is architect Satoshi Okada’s experiment to integrate architecture and landscape, in collaboration with British horticulturist, Paul Smither.

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t is the nature of any organic building to grow from its site...the ground itself held always as a component...part of the building.’ (Frank Lloyd Wright) Indeed, the site marks the beginning of Villa A that aspires to be architecture under the technical perfection and craftsmanship of Satoshi Okada.

The side of the building facing the road appears closed off and concealed from the public eye, while the other side is entirely open to a panoramic view of nature. The triangular site gently slopes down towards the south where the surrounding landscape is integrated into a forest of towering deciduous trees and bamboo grass. Armed with an astute understanding of the hill site’s unique topography, Okada recommended that a spindle-shaped floor plan is the most suitable for existing contour lines, as well as for the posture of the load-bearing wall against the horizontal load from the earth. The building not only effectively made its mark but also mirrored the topography in its own form.

The curved roof is undeniably the villa’s most innovative element, designed to shelter the upper floor with an image of a bird’s wing fully extended over a nest.

The roof plate is bent two-dimensionally and inclined at 1/5 gradient. Structurally, the roof is only 15cms thick and made of sandwiched panels from Corten steel plates with lattice ribs in its interior. The roof plane is then positioned at a gradual curvature onto the ground, giving the impression of the house sheltered under a bird’s wing.

In this manner, the roof strategically reduces the visual mass of the building and intentionally blocks out the view of the neighbouring building on the east border. Okada has successfully drawn inspiration from nature to provide privacy for the villa’s inhabitants, achieving both function and form.

Despite its spindle-shaped floor plan, the Japanese ingenuity for enlarging limited interior spaces is well articulated in this design. The lower floor level, made of a reinforced concrete structure, has one section buried into

the ground and other half opened to the southern terrain.

The bedrooms, guest room, library and a bathroom are located in this semi-underground section of the house.

Okada has excelled in reinterpreting Japanese architecture while maintaining a minimal aesthetic in his design. Within the interiors are voids to create a flow of space. The void eventually takes a life of its own as the lines within the interiors flow seamlessly. The emphasis is on the almost spartan delineation of space with a subtle palette of colours and a tint of sophistication to its elegant finishes.

The aboveground spaces are designated the living room, dining area and kitchen; the building is constructed with a steel structure and encapsulates the interior with tall transparent glass walls. Driven by his penchant for merging the indoors and outdoors, Okada’s graceful solution creates

invisible boundaries while adding depth and richness to the interior. The overground section doubles up as a viewing point for its inhabitants where the distant natural landscape is captured as part of the foreground. This is achieved by designing a frame located some distance from the viewer, using glass panels to conceal the intervening space that has the visual effect of bringing the distant forest landscape forward to the built foreground.

Despite its simplicity, the architecture and design of Villa A evoke strong emotional impressions. The perception of freedom is accorded to its inhabitants to experience tranquillity and liberation away from the steel skyscrapers, tile-clad concrete apartment buildings of the urbanized cities, through the medium of a calm and soothing environment.

habitat 52

tree-top subterfuge

BY KENNETH CHEONG | PHOTOGRAPHY BY RUPAJIWA STUDIO

Hovering among sparse, mature foliage in the front garden of a semi-detached lot in an older suburb of Petaling Jaya, are the crisp lines of a tree-top subterfuge designed by Ramesh Seshan of Custom Design Group Sdn Bhd (CDG).

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his is the latest addition to the office space of a local film production house for post production work, in a series of renovations and evolutions under its current owners. The original single-storey semi-detached house, constructed in the ’70s, had previously gone through the usual rounds of renovations in its previous incarnation as a private residence for the changing needs of its former inhabitants.

The current owners had bought over the property in the late ’90s. The initial renovations involved the conversion of living spaces into work spaces with the usual tearing down of walls to create an open plan work-space. The perfectly symmetrical butterfly shape plan was conjoined at the connecting party walls as well as the previous covered car porch. A central courtyard was retained as a fissure in the open plan to allow light and ventilation into the work space.

As a film production company, the work space paradigm was challenged.

Notions of working in a routine nine-to-five job had to be investigated. Seshan says that the workspace has to be perceived as one that puts one at ease. Comfort and an ambience of relaxation were key in the functioning of a 24-hour operating office.

EXTENDED HOUSE AND OFFICE, PETALING JAYA, MALAYSIA designer Custom Design Group Sdn Bhd (Ramesh Seshan) project team Jeslyn Ko, Edmund Low builder Pyner Sdn Bhd (main building), Zandrite Sdn Bhd (extension) c&s engineer Projurutek Sdn Bhd

The public spaces like the dining area, games area and conference room are located at the rear end of the building facing a pool at the back. The public spaces were compressed in height to create a sense of intimacy. Sunken sitting areas were introduced for the staff to lounge and chill out. According to the client, the relaxed atmosphere of space worked out a bit too well perhaps. Their lament now is that their clients who come over for meetings and presentations refuse to leave, preferring to linger longer that they necessarily need to!

A glass picture window spans the length of the open plan to allow for the landscaped slope at the back of the house to become a backdrop to the chill out area. The original spiral staircase was retained in the courtyard as a sculptural feature, with a lone frangipani tree flourishing in the shaft of light which is brought into the work space.

Like Siamese twins conjoined at the hip and head, everything is mirrored in perfect symmetry. Editing suites which require solid enclosures and privacy were located further on the left and right wings of the building. The low ceiling of the interstitial spaces between the private editing rooms and public spaces on the right and left were removed exposing the rafters. The increased height is dramatically contrasted with the compressed low

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ceilings of the intimate public space. Glass boxes on raised platforms become aquarium-like producer ‘pods’ for the maestros who work here.

Upon completion of the first evolution from home to pseudo work space in late 1998, a huge portion on the front of the site retained a generous lawn with mature trees untouched by the renovations. Parking space was maneuvered around the existing trees as the owners were fiercely sensitive about preserving all the mature trees on site. Where the first renovations involved a surgical removal of walls and partitions with the insertion of glass pods, the second evolution involves parasitic add-ons to the exterior. Two years later, the owners decided that they needed more space. A temporary, economical solution with the shortest construction period was on the priority list. The mature trees on site had to be retained at all costs. Ideas of stacking and arranging cabins or shipping containers around the trees were discussed, but the utilitarian aesthetics of corrugated steel sheet and the noise from rain hitting on metal roofing did not appeal to the owners.

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CDG then came up the elegant solution of a raised rectangular workspace, clad in exposed untreated cement board in a natural timber grain. The rectangular hovering workspace, solid and in the palest of beiges is dissolved in the fine filigree of the pine trees.

The lifted tree house sitting on steel stilts allow for breezes to flow from the front of the lot to the older building at the back, and provide generous sheltered parking spaces below.

An additional smaller parasitic cube was constructed on the concrete flat roof of the previous car porch and is linked to the raised tree house via a steel link bridge. The new additions themselves create a dialogue between the old and new renovations. A sliding door along the faรงade finished in the same cement board material slides open to expose the inner workings of the tree house. The add-on room on the roof of the car porch then becomes a voyeuristic receptor to the tree house.

Completed in three months, the tree house challenges the conventional notion of what a workspace should be. With each evolution in the renovations, the current addition of a tree house proves that the workplace can be a place of delight, blurring the boundaries between work and play.

habitat 56

spaces in one loop

BY RACHELLE SU | IMAGES COURTESY STUDIO XMSL

In their design of this 80s highrise apartment off East Coast Road, Studio XMSL dissolved the usual hierarchy in domestic spaces to explore effectively the idea of a ‘looped’ plan.

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he architectural strategy was inspired by the studio’s keen interest in how different interior rooms could be integrated into a singular spatial experience, with functional spaces expanding and contracting seamlessly according to varying needs. Deliberately breaking away from the typical ‘living room-dining room-bedroom’ spatial hierarchy, design director Matthew Lai was intent on creating new types of living scenarios in the ‘small’ 1,250ft2 apartment.

Breaking out of its existing constraints, the designer’s initial idea of a continuous and linear spatial expression was eventually looped to improve the efficiency of the oddshaped floor plan.

Says Lai: ‘This design attempts to demolish existing physical and perceived boundaries that commonly existed between different programs and spaces within an apartment. Walls, which are traditionally used to separate and differentiate areas, are in this apartment employed to encourage movement and engagement between spaces.

Having this “ring” wall replace the unit’s original circulation route also helped to lengthen the experience of moving through the home with an injected sense of surprise at every bend.’

Explaining further how this ‘loop’ can improve the space optimally even if it means giving over substantially to circulation, Lai says: ‘The concern was that the resultant space given to the various key areas in the apartment could be compromised. As such, it was very clear from the onset that the circulation spaces had to be very efficiently worked in. Where it was possible, these were themselves integrated as part of the main spaces in the apartment. A variety of storage solutions were also neatly woven in together with

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the circulation spaces. Dimensions of the spaces were delicately balanced to ensure that optimum space was provided for both comfortable circulatory access and spatial experience. It was important that one experiences a varying sense of openness and enclosure while travelling around the loop.’

Completed in early 2011, the apartment was updated for a young and outgoing couple whose requirements were not fussy – their home is to be a simple, casual and delightful hang-out for friends and family, with emphasis on a dry and wet kitchen, and a walk-in wardrobe. The sizable portion of space dedicated to the lounge-like dining and living space are reflective of the client’s lifestyle needs. Taking reference from the couple’s most enjoyed restaurants, the materials adopted for the apartment were precise in creating a casual-chic atmosphere that is akin to the popular café culture predominant in most F&B scenes today. While white textured walls were juxtaposed starkly with black mosaics to create a strong play on visual depth and spatial volume, the floor took on both cement screed and solid timber to create a simple elegance throughout the entire space. Pastel shades of baby pink and blue hues on the bathroom mosaic walls also add to the user’s delight as they wonder into the space.

‘The resultant space created by the “loop” possessed an interesting duality. During larger social events, friends would distribute themselves comfortably around the entire apartment: girls prepare tid-bits at the dry kitchen counter while others gossip in the bedroom; guys watch TV in the living room while others muse over an ipad at

the study; then a larger group hangs around the dining area munching and enjoying good conversations. Despite being comfortably independent in their respective areas, everyone would still be able to experience a general sense of relation and proximity due to the “public-ness” of such a looped layout. During private day-to-day usage of the apartment, the opposite is also true. The couple will always be able to take alternate paths around the house (clockwise or anticlockwise) and hence, avoid infringing into each other’s personal space – the loop allows for a sense of privacy between husband and wife too. Living in this apartment allows one the flexibility of assuming both extroverted and introverted positions when required.’

Lai admits that his preference for homogenous and uninterrupted spaces is largely influenced by Japanese architect Kazuyo Sejima’s works. Evident in Sejima’s 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Japan and Rolex Learning Centre in Lausanne, both projects feature interior spaces that are left completely open and fluid – with differing degrees of illumination subtly distinguishing one area from another.

When designing an apartment’s interior, Lai is always concerned with three key overarching principles. ‘The apartment’s layout should be relevant to the end user; the design should be a positive representation of the client’s individualism and preferences; and it must function at a high level of utility and provide comfort where it is expected.’

Established in June 2009, Studio XMSL’s conceptual and aesthetic pursuits are towards conceiving spaces that intrigue and captivate.

Nominiert 2009 - 2010

2008

complex 60

urban delight

BY TRACY TANG | IMAGES COURTESY SPACE ASIA HUB

The all-new Space Asia Hub sets the benchmark for conservation streetscape and luxury furniture retail in Singapore’s arts district, through its expansive yet intimate setting spanning 40,000ft2 (3,800m2) over three distinctive blocks at 77 Bencoolen Street.

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OHA architectural statement: ‘Housed in heritage buildings within a gazetted conservation area, the new Space Asia Hub comprises two conserved buildings – a villa and a shophouse, flanking an infill unit. Through adaptive reuse and calibrated architectural intervention, this redevelopment proposal strives to create a contemporary retail showroom with expanded lifestyle facilities that retain the old-world charm of its heritage stature.

The design strategy aims to play up contrasts between the “old” and the “new”. In the two conserved buildings, new free spanning roofs are rebuilt in timber, to reveal high-volume column-free showroom interiors true to their original form and architecture. Parts of the existing party wall are also taken down and new staircases introduced to open up, connect and mediate the different levels across the three developments as an integrated showroom. The improved visual porosity across the units reveal new volumes of varying scales and enhances the overall appreciation of the spatial richness inherent in the built forms.

The areas carved out of the conservation buildings are redistributed to create a 4th storey addition to the infill unit (Glass Block) and an extension to the rear of the conserved villa. A new fully glazed “skin”, replacing the former solid façade, wraps around the infill unit and extends to the rear of the conserved villa. The new transparency of the curtain wall unveils new views that enhance the appreciation of the conserved buildings, while injecting the development with a contemporary façade that reveal its interior activities.

The three units are given distinct interior expressions in response to their existing architecture. Restored dark timber floors, carefully exposed brickwork and two free-spanning attics held up by exposed steel trusses lend a warehouse expression to the conserved three-storey shophouse (Heritage House). The twostorey conserved bungalow (The Villa), the most intricate and ornate of the group, is conceived as an immaculate historic villa with white-stained timber floors, windows and ceilings in an all-white pristine interior. The large volumes and intricate timber works often associated with these villas are made evident on the upper floor. Contrasting against these heritage interiors is the contemporary infill unit, in which the existing low ceiling heights inspired an industrial expression with open ceilings, exposed ductwork and services, impeccably planned and laid out as a deliberate design gesture.

At the street level, an urban plaza lends itself as a vibrant urban node and forecourt that aims to draws attention to the restored buildings. The plaza is a woven tapestry of terracotta and pebblewash strips in varying hues reminiscent of traditional materials and regional “sarong” textiles, giving the development a contemporary yet distinctive character that references its asian location. these finishes flow into the interior of the glass curtain-walled infill unit, giving a perception of a large, continuous and inviting urban space that integrates the three distinct buildings, and provide generous spaces for events and activities.

Integrated landscape aims to enhance the appreciation of greenery from both inside and outside the development. Pockets of greenery are extended into the plaza and around the conserved bungalow with variegated planting edges that blur the boundary between the soft and hardscape. a courtyard with vertical greenery is a feature of the conserved shophouse. Two landscaped roof terraces crown the infill units at the front and rear, stepping back as a response to the controlled envelope and introducing visible rooftop activities that further animate this unique cluster of heritage buildings.’

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reserving a part of Singapore’s eclectic history while moving with the times is never an easy task, but it is one that satisfies people’s insatiable curiosity for the past and also challenges their vision for the future. After all, as a young city in its prime, the citizens have grown accustomed to their mercurial landscape where monolithic skyscrapers share the same corner with modest heritage landmarks.

Balancing the contrasts of this dynamic yet delicate relationship and even assimilating both traditional and contemporary architecture together is no mean feat. To this end, the Space Furniture Group engaged criticallyacclaimed architecture firm WOHA to execute an ambitious S$50 million project in Bencoolen Street – the new Space Asia Hub. Positioned to take advantage of the nascent interest in luxury furnishings in Singapore and Southeast Asia, the new Hub is bold in both design and concept.

WOHA’s intuitive and innovative approach towards design and the environment in context saw three distinct blocks intertwined into a comprehensive space, transforming into the biggest flagship gallery for renowned brands like B&B Italia, Cassina, Giorgetti, Kartell, Moooi and Vitra.

Construction at the site, however, was briefly mired by neighbouring residents’ displeasure at the noise and debris generated – even the team at Space visited the site with much discretion, and had a construction hoarding erected depicting only the silhouettes of iconic furniture pieces, further intensifying the mystery of the new kid on the block. After two years of labour, Space has revealed a remarkable facelift on what was once a seedy karaoke joint and a dilapidated villa – a multiplex spanning an impressive 40,000ft2 across three separate blocks, all interlinked internally.

Each block has a unique quality all of its own, thanks to WOHA’s interpretation of each unit, as well as the designers and stylists who came to Singapore specifically to arrange their respective brand’s flagship space. Nestled in-between the revitalised conservation shophouse and two-storey colonial bungalow, a contemporary infill unit dubbed the Glass Block serves as the mediator for the Hub’s internal space and external environment while projecting fun vibrant colours through its glossy windows.

It is hard to dismiss this sharp trio of an urban delight, especially when dusk settles in and the Hub lights up, gently diffusing light through its windows much like a lantern would and enticing curious passers-by and customers to enter the premises. Inside the ornate bungalow, visitors are immediately transported from the street into a world of modern classic luxury, further enhanced by a pleasant and all-encompassing multisensory experience.

In spite of Singapore’s ever changing socio-economical and physical landscape, the new Space Asia Hub has already set the standard for lifestyle retail and, as Syddal Wee, General Manager of Space Furniture, Asia Operations, so succinctly puts it, ‘indeed second to none’.

the villa Awash in an immaculate all-white interior with whitestained timber floors, The Villa is as implicit as its namesake.

As your eyes sweep over the bespoke furnishings by Poliform as you wander through the space, a beguiling scent and bossa nova tunes playing from Bang & Olufsen audio systems gently spill over your senses; taste is also accounted for, with Varenna by Poliform live kitchens on the second floor presenting delectable culinary experiences for Space’s esteemed clients. Guided up the spiral staircase,

one of WOHA’s signature aesthetics, copper-laden wood doors open up to reveal the exquisite Giorgetti showroom.

Archetypical of Chi Wing Lo’s designs, the mood shifts to that of a quieter and more contemplative one, with timber augmenting the spatial relationship between the space and the Zen-like quality of the furnishings. Adding a highly personal touch are his specially designed American walnut and pau ferro wood boxes which discreetly conceal the item prices, as well as a limited edition gold Artichoke by Louis Poulsen poised perfectly over the dining room setting.

glass block A sudden shift in dynamics strikes you as you cross over to the ultra-modern Glass Block that sits on the conservation space in between the two heritage sites. Adding a touch of lightness to the showroom with its airy disposition, the adventure begins on the first floor as vibrant Kartell chairs greet you at the entrance while whimsical Raimond lights from Moooi float down from the lofty ceiling, creating a dazzling display reminiscent of fireworks. With a giant glass elevator to whisk visitors up each level, taking in every single detail is almost impossible on the first try – everywhere you turn, there is something new to be seen. High-end brands like Acerbis, Carl Hansen & Sons, Cassina, Flos, Flexform, Fritz Hansen and are strategically positioned in their respective showrooms, creating a cohesive flow from area to area.

heritage house The shophouse, known as the Heritage House, integrates an industrial-inspired interior, with restored dark timber floors and the building’s original brickwork beautifully exposed to add texture and character. At 7,000ft2, B&B Italia’s chic flagship showroom on the first floor is also its biggest one internationally, while exposed steel trusses and the addition of two attics for Flexform Mood and Maxalto add depth and enhance the full expanse of the space. Daylight from a skylight filters through wooden rafters, further articulating the elegance and sophistication of the restored shophouse which also features a lush three-storey vertical garden in B&B Italia and Maxalto’s Courtyard.

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relevant and versatile

BY TRACY TANG | IMAGES COURTESY SPACE ASIA HUB

In spite of an uncertain global economy, Poliform is confident of its continuing success.

The renowned Italian furniture manufacturer is as versatile as its signature systems and has gained a steady foothold with its burgeoning presence in Asia.

Poliform at Space Asia Hub, Singapore

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ertain words have a profound influence on the way we view the world around us. Take for example the words ‘Made in Italy’ – almost instantaneously, your mind conjures up images of highly coveted products synonymous with luxury, class and impeccable style. This power of association is more sensory than oratory, as anyone who has experienced firsthand such products of distinction will tell you.

Poliform is one such embodiment of this semiotic relationship. As a family-owned Italian company which has grown from a small artisan shop to a leading brand since its official establishment in 1970,

Poliform has always strived for excellence through its spirit of adventurous enterprise – and it has not looked back since.

Today, the company caters to an international clientele and has become the global leader for its comprehensive range of sophisticated systems and contemporary lifestyle furnishings which hit the right balance of form and function. Other than collaborations with a whole slew of world-renowned architects and designers like Paola Navone and most recently, Jean-Marie Massaud, they also employ more than 6,000 staff worldwide.

But in the face of a bleak global economy, how does the company manage to stay afloat or even rise above the waves?

Sitting on a plush sofa in the first floor of Poliform’s flagship showroom in the newly opened Space Asia Hub, export division manager Marco Longoni attributes his company’s core philosophy for keeping their business buoyant in difficult times. ‘Prestigious Italian furniture brands such as B&B Italia, Flexform, Poliform and Cassina are suffering less (as compared to low- and mid-level Italian manufacturers),’ he says, ‘because our designs cannot be copied or produced anywhere else – if you want the original, you have to come to us to purchase it, just like luxury Italian fashion brands. Exporting to other countries has also saved us – the European and American markets have a kind of stability that you feel will not grow anymore, so there is only Asia – from Turkey all the way to down to Australia, these areas are an important market for us in the long term.’

Modular UBIK walk-in-wardrobe

Poliform/Varenna Kyton kitchen by Paolo Piva

Poliform/Varenna Alea kitchen of eco canaletto (wood)

Breaching other Asian markets with exponential wealth like China and India will take some time though, adds Longoni, as they tend to favour classic furniture designs now. However, he believes the new generation of affluent and well-educated consumers are slowly making the transition to more modern styles.

Citing Singapore and Hong Kong as two key cities where the reception for Poliform products has been the strongest, he goes on to explain that this has been made possible due to the two cities’ cosmopolitan approach to education as well as a higher degree of exposure to European brands. Singapore, particularly, is a paradise for brands like Poliform, which has led to a greater appreciation of premium products.

‘Singapore is unique, in that there’s no market in the world quite like it not only because it’s extremely rich and still growing; the architects, designers and customers are so discerning that they able to recognize what is good and what is bad, what is original and what is a copy, which makes business here much easier.’

For the company, its signature piece has to be its bestseller, the exceptional modular Ubik walk-in-wardrobe, which has been installed in prestigious homes the world over, including Singapore. It is, however, the flexibility of this sleek wardrobe system that sets it apart from the other Italian brands. Customisable right down to your preferred door finishing, this sophisticated solution is not only impeccably gorgeous but also highly versatile, fitting into anything from a

grand villa much like the one exemplified in its Singapore showroom to a petite 80m2 studio apartment.

Presenting the two different styles may be a tough challenge but already, preparations are underway for the next Milan Furniture Fair where an impressive booth spanning 20,000ft2 (1,860m2) will debut Poliform’s new collection for large and small spaces, further cementing the flexibility of their products and their lead in the international arena. ‘On one hand, we’re trying to portray a big and luxurious modern home filled with bespoke furnishings and on the other, space-saving solutions which is as equally refined despite its small space – this is a very difficult task to do, but one that will be well worth it.’

Having further diversified their range to include Varenna kitchen configurations as well as furnishings for the entire home, it is easy to imagine a house completely outfitted with Poliform products, especially in The Villa, where you are encouraged to engage all five senses to thoroughly appreciate its heightened, multisensory environment. Immersed in its quiet aesthetic, the elegance of the space gives customers and curious passers-by a glimpse of unadulterated luxury, as well as a tactile idea of what to incorporate into their own homes. The complementary nature of Poliform’s products also allow for a seamless blend with other brands – a trait which, while not often accounted for by other brands, is duly embraced with gusto by this dynamic born and bred Italian company.

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the kitchen? it’s a boffi

BY TRACY TANG | PHOTOS COURTESY BOFFI STUDIO CREAM LUXURY COLLECTIONS

BOFFI’s excellence in kitchen systems finds a perfect fit in this Sentosa Cove house.

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he kitchen has often been said to be the heart of the home – after all, it is a place where family and guests gather together to partake in home-cooked meals and socialise, thereby creating a stronger bond with each other. In this sense, it is no wonder that open concept kitchens have quickly gained popularity in Singapore, especially among those who love to entertain or simply desire a seamless transition from one area of their home to the next.

For this resident staying in the exclusive district of Sentosa Cove, it was certainly no different. With a breathtaking sea view, the owner’s modern resort styled villa had everything and more, including a gorgeously personalised dry kitchen by esteemed Italian kitchen manufacturers Boffi, from Cream Luxury Collections. They chose the modular Xila 09 system which was first conceptualised by multi-disciplinary designer Luigi Massoni, and decided to install everything the gregarious homeowner would need to throw the perfect house party.

To contrast the predominantly white walls and linear timber panels, a high gloss black polyester finish was chosen for the tall cabinets, island hood and island kitchen counter for a comprehensive look, further accentuated by Zodiaq clay brown countertops to complement the marble flooring.

Premium stainless steel appliances, such as the Miele combi steam oven, coffee machine and plate warmers offered a cool contemporary aesthetic and gave the clean-lined kitchen a balance of different textures for a more cohesive look. Since the homeowner often hosted intimate dinner parties, a tall wine

chiller was also installed next to a massive double door refrigerator, allowing him to navigate the kitchen space with ease even when more than one person was in it.

The sleek island kitchen counter positioned in-between the cabinets and dining area perfectly balances the kitchen, creating a functional and welldesigned space. This keen sense of aesthetics also offered the family and their guests a magnificent and panoramic view of the waters even while meals are in the midst of preparation. Housing both an induction cooktop as well as a flushed kitchen sink, the length of the counter even offers room for decorative elements to create a warm and inviting ambience.

In spite of the kitchen’s enviable size, ample storage too has been taken into consideration to instil it with a streamlined and uncluttered appeal and was generously provided by Boffi to ensure that it is nothing short of completely top of the line. Everything from spice racks to ladle holders and plate racks were installed for easy organisation on the homeowner’s part.

In great design, even the smallest details count in the projection’s execution, no matter their function or even their size. To further maximise efficiency, stateof-the-art BLUM runners and hinges integrated with a soft-close function were installed to ensure minimum effort was needed to open and close the cabinet doors and pull-out drawers.

With all the details necessary to constitute to the homeowner’s dream kitchen taken into account by the intuitive team at Boffi, the homeowner himself has little else to do but host one the best home parties on his side of the island.

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every view differs STORY COURTESY JOEY HO DESIGN LTD | PHOTOGRAPHY BY WU YONG CHANG

A symphony of triangles in varying sizes and angles animate the Arthouse Cafe, located on the 3,000ft2 third-floor space of a three-storey gallery used for displays of property sales in Hangzhou, China. The project, by Joey Ho Design Ltd, was a finalist in the shortlist for the annual Gold Key Awards at the 96th International Hotel, Motel + Restaurant Show (IHMRS) in New York city (Nov 12 to 15).

Second Floor Plan

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s the space is to be free of corporate branding as suggested by the client, Joey Ho had a free-hand in designing the café’s identity, working out what would best suit the company’s image. Serving coffee in the day and alcohol at night, the Arthouse Café provides visitors a new dynamic ambience in the exhibition building. Movement and interior space usually appear in direct opposition – the dynamic verses the static. An interior setting is in general considered to be static, in contrast to the moving human body. Based on this concept of spatiality, a dynamic form was created for the static interior space. Movement of the human body through these dynamic space will then generate a non-determined concept of space where spatial and bodily boundaries are constantly blurring. With minimal use of materials such as timber, marble, glass and Corian, this area is constructed with basic components for building a new landscape. It aims to stimulate each visitor with a unique and complicated sensation.

Inspired by geometry and using triangles as blueprint, the ‘moving triangle’ concept is manifested by placing triangles in 3D form to surround the whole sitting area. Slight changes of simple lines construct the character of the cafe which is unique and could bring every individual into a new geometric context. Introducing a simple triangular form in various dimensions creates a mass that tends to dematerialise through movement. This design attempts to break the boundary between traditionally divided units such as the wall, floor and ceiling, enabling communication between the interior space and users.

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Illustration from Michael Young’s book ‘Works In China’, 2011

‘the best place to work’

BY REBECCA LO | PHOTOGRAPHY & IMAGES COURTESY MICHAEL YOUNG LTD

Hong Kong-based industrial designer Michael Young talks about what really matters to him: integrity, creativity and family.

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ong Kong’s Sheung Wan district has historically been a Chinese community. In recent years, Central’s sprawl and rising real estate prices have pushed developments well into Sheung Wan, with low rise tenements converted into trendy galleries, cafes, boutiques and gentrified walkup studio lofts. Yet the district’s northwestern side bordering Sai Ying Pun remains relatively unscathed, and continues to exude a traditional, local flavour. Among these mom and pop shops where coolies continue to unload daily cargos of dried seafood and other delicacies lies Michael Young’s studio.

Being part of the local scene has fared well for the 45-year-old industrial designer, who loves the quirkiness of the neighbourhood.

He describes himself as a duck in water: calm above the surface yet paddling 1,000 miles an hour underneath. The studio occupies an entire floor and houses eight other designers and admin people, all silently working on giant Macs. Scattered everywhere are prototypes of chairs, table top accessories, lamps and boxes spilling out into the elevator lobby. On the conference table sits a tray of inflight cups and bowls that resemble comforting cottage crockery rather than airplane tableware – a design still in gestation stages.

Born in Sunderland in northeast England, Young has always considered himself a visually creative person and began making things at a young age. When he first started out more than two

Michael Young: ‘I like working with companies who invest in products like chairs that will be around for 30 to 40 years...’

iPad Outercover P3, 2011

The Night Market Taiwanese restaurant in Central, Hong Kong (in collaboration with Alexi Robinson Interiors), 2010

Hacker Watch for ODM, 2011

Motolima Bike – a conceptual design in collaboration with DuPont/Corian

decades ago, there were only three outlets: music, art and fashion.

‘Design was a poor man’s occupation,’ he recalls. ‘In college, I just wanted to get a job.’

Tom Dixon and Ron Arad changed that. As Philippe Starck made design more mass market and chic, Young found his particular aesthetic of unabashed technology married with simple, intuitive forms in sudden demand all over the world. In 1995, he set up a studio in London where he unveiled his first series of objects such as the Stick Light for Eurolounge, the Tree coat rack for Swedese and the Dog House for Magis. His clients included architects such as Christopher Farr and SOM, along with Rosenthal, Cappelini, Danese and Artemide. In the late 1990s, some of those brands, such as Alessi and Rosenthal, began to manufacture in China. At the same time, Young was getting increasingly tired of old school Europe and wanted to forge new paths of his own making.

‘I hate creative dictatorship,’ he says, his voice resonating with residual frustration. ‘I’m too much of a hippie – I like complete freedom when I design and I felt chained by the old brands’ preconceptions and fixed marketing strategies. Asian entrepreneurs let me create from ground zero. A lot of CEOs here liked what I was doing: they trusted me. I love dealing with CEOs whose family opened a factory. They are proud of what they started. It’s a unique, direct relationship and cuts the fat out.’

GIANT Citystorm bicycle: ‘City Storm was a tricky one to get my head around, since there were a lot of people in the soup that did not need to be there, not only inside Giant, but around myself. When I design all I personally need beyond understanding the brand are my hands and a solid design engineer...’ (extract from book ‘Works In China’ by Michael Young)

Tittot glass vases

EOps NOISEZERO headphones, 2011

i24R3 speaker for EOps, 2010

In 2002, with many projects on the go in Taiwan, he relocated his office to Taipei. He moved again in 2005 to Hong Kong to be closer to mainland China and where he could see his designs finally being mass produced to a quality level he was proud to bear his name. He immediately adapted to the quicker pace of work in Asia.

‘This is the best place to work; I can do what I want. It was natural to open a studio here. For me, it’s all about moving forward.’

Young feels that the bad rap Chinese products receive on the international stage has much to do with the old adage that you get what you pay for. ‘The minute I came here, I saw companies who were exporting products while exploiting workers,’ he states. ‘The attitude of the West is very arrogant. It’s the American companies who refuse to pay the big dollars for quality products, not the Chinese that are making rubbish. I’ve watched America destroy the industry.’ At the same time, he is critical of what he sees happening in mainland China and the country’s thirst for luxury products. ‘It takes a city at least 20 years to develop,’ he says. ‘A lot of Chinese consumers are buying with empty minds.’

Today, Young is a designer who works purely for retailers and manufacturers; he is not an artist and he does not design for the sake of it. ‘I like working with companies who invest in products, like chairs that will be around for 30 to 40 years,’ he says. ‘And I prefer the economic side of design over the glamour. There are only so many glasses of champagne you can drink.’

Young has also collaborated on projects such as The Night Market, a Taiwanese restaurant in Hong Kong with his wife, Australian interior designer Alexi Robinson. She is currently taking a break from practise to spend more time with their baby boy Ruben. ‘With him around, we don’t need anything else,’ he confesses. ‘It’s great just hanging out with him. We tend not to go out on weekends. Maybe we’ll go for walks up to the Peak. And we have a country home in Australia, in Avalon, where we stroll on the beach for four weeks each year. But Hong Kong has become home. My view of the world comes from here.’

dfusion 76

eastern promise

BY REBECCA LO | IMAGES COURTESY HESIGN BERLIN

Graphic designer, teacher and founder of Hesign in Berlin, He Jian Ping references Chinese iconic images in his groundbreaking visuals that never fail to provoke.

REBECCA LO catches up with the Hangzhou native before he speaks at this year’s Business of Design Week in Hong Kong (Nov 28 to Dec 12) to talk about his award winning posters, working as a Chinese in Germany and the difference between how design is taught in China and Europe.

Where is your hometown? What was it like to grow up there in 1970s China?

I am from Fu Yang, near Hangzhou. Fu Yang is known primarily due to ‘Dwelling in the Fu Chun Mountains’, a painting by the late Song Dynasty master Huang Gongwang.

I was born in the 70s. During that time, the only way out was to study hard and go to university. At that time, the college acceptance rate was extremely low. But since having a degree almost guaranteed a secure job, every parent had the same goal for his kid: to get into university. For kids, that meant a lot of pressure. It took me two years of tests and exams before I was accepted by a university. I attended Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (now China Academy of Art).

There were a total of 7,000 people who applied, with a 50 percent acceptance rate. Getting in was like winning the lottery. I was admitted into the graphic design programme with a class of 12 people. I was the youngest one; the eldest was 11 years older than me. He tried for seven years before

being admitted. I’ve witnessed many talented students who tried hard to get into school. After five or 10 years, their talent has gone to waste and they went from being talented to being ordinary. I wonder what happened to these people – if they found another way to succeed or if they forever remained ordinary.

What influenced your decision to study graphics design?

Initially I studied calligraphy for six years. I concentrated on works by Liu Gongquan. I thought I wouldn’t succeed. Thus I switched to graphic design and suddenly I realised that I left the black and white world behind, having entered a world filled with colours. I suddenly felt much happier. During the 90s, graphic design wasn’t labeled as graphic design, as the discipline had just entered China. Instead, it was called arts and handicrafts. However, our study materials focused on the work of Hong Kong designers.

He Jian Ping (Photo by Vladimir Salesski): ‘...Even though design seems to play an important role in society, China is very big. It is so big that there are some areas where people don’t know what design is. Designers should be realistic. They need to understand that this is a career, not too hard and not too easy.’

Why did you decide to move to Europe?

Moving to Berlin was like going after my dream after being satisfied with the basics. After graduating from university, I was unsure of what to do. It was like facing the wide open ocean: I was curious about life, about freedom, about my future. I am really grateful to professor Lin Jia Yang. I met him while studying abroad in Berlin and he provided lots of professional help, which was rare at that time. His work ethic and devotion really influenced how I perceive graphic design.

How did you feel about being in Berlin so soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall? Did that affect your studies or work?

Berlin was known as being a microcosm of Europe, and the wall was the heart of Berlin with Potsdamer Platz as the main industrial site. I didn’t get to see Christo and JeanneClaude wrap the building, but I did witness the construction of the Reichstag dome by Norman Foster. As it was being built, I wondered why architecture in Berlin took so long. The whole thing took 10 years.

Who were your mentors and major influences in China and in Germany? What important lessons did you learn from them?

For me, they would be Bruno Monguzzi, Holger Matthies, Gunter Rambow, Cyan, Niklaus Troxler, Uwe Loesch, Shin Matsunaga, Asaba Katsumi, Eiko Ishioka, Wang Xu, Guang Yu, Liu Zhi Zhi, Henry Steiner, Kan Tai-keung, Alan Chan, Tommy Li and Stanley Wong. They had a huge influence in the field of graphic design, and they were the ones who gave me strength.

What were the major differences in how design is taught in China compared to Germany? Has that changed today?

EcoMarx 2010

Olympia 2008

China has a unified class curriculum, where the class revolves around assignments. Turning in assignments marks the end of the day. Students work extremely hard – and that includes the ones at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

They are told what to do and in some ways, what they learn

Taiwanlove 2009

with producing in mass quantities. Chinese design has brought traditional Chinese concepts to Germany, such as the use of bamboo, courtyards and water, which are all very classical Chinese elements.

What are your favourite materials for working?

China Image 2004

Berlin freie University, Oct 2009

Pencil, a little white notebook for writing and drawing, computer and camera.

What are some of the projects that you feel are your strongest? And clients that you would like to work with again?

This year, the project director of Hong Kong Design Centre Amy Chow and I worked together on De Sein Exhibition. It features architecture, graphic design and exhibition design, and includes collaboration with the German Poster Museum, where designers can work together.

How do you feel about graphic designers in China today versus when you were starting out?

Life+Design, Berlin & Guangzhou, 2004 – graphic design book series for the Lingnan Art Publishing House in China

depends on their instructors. However, in Germany, students have a choice: to invent and work in their own way. At the beginning of the school year, each student purchases a school manual; now it’s mostly online. In this manual, they record all their teachers, timetables, schedules, places, address, tools they need, everything that is required in that manual. While the schools will set certain requirements, students have to choose their own path. In the end, each person knows what he wants but each one has a different way of getting to that end goal.

Why poster as your medium for expression?

Actually I’ve done a lot of graphic design that is not in poster form, but my posters are more widely shown. You can’t be picky – everything should be done well.

What do you think two-dimensional graphics say that is unique to the medium?

With the rise in new technology and software, graphic design is not as respected as before. People are more interested in moving images, film, interactive media – isn’t that true? But then to some extent, two-dimensional design will always be there too.

Small Studios, 2009, published by PageOne (Singapore) and Hesign (Berlin/Shanghai)

What do you feel are the differences between an artist and a graphics designer? Do you see yourself as one, the other or both?

Art is more about concept. Once designers have attained that concept, they are able to let others fix and rearrange it. Artists react to the market’s influence on his or her art work, while designers need to fit their client’s requirements so that the work is suitable. I hope that I may find a balance between the two.

What do you teach your students today? Do you teach differently in China vs. Germany?

During class, I require all my students to solve a problem.

How they resolve it is flexible. Whether in Germany or China, I always require the same thing. I think teaching in class and working with clients are somewhat similar. But the more I think about it, the more I don’t think I am suited to be a teacher. A teacher needs to emphasise his beliefs and works, while I’m more concerned about innovation.

What do you feel Germany has to offer China in terms of design? And China to Germany?

German design tells others that design can be combined

Two dimensional designers don’t get a lot of business opportunities during tight economic times due to the restrictions. But when the market is good, we get a lot of client requests, which means a lot more business opportunities. Even though design seems to play an important role in society, China is very big. It is so big that there are some areas where people don’t know what design is. Designers should be realistic. They need to understand that this is a career, not too hard and not too easy.

How do you feel about the level of sophistication and imagination in Chinese versus German designers?

I wish that more designs would be less mature and not as polished. This happens a lot in Hong Kong as I think that people are afraid of being judged as not design-oriented enough. Experimental design helps the advancement of university education and value, which is not really appreciated or recognised as important. It is very important for Europeans.

What do you most look forward to at this year’s Business of Design Week in Hong Kong?

Cultural design, fine arts and experimental design will always be on the sidelines, as they are not as popular compared to more commercial designs. They are not tied so much to the business world. I hope that this year’s Business of Design Week will focus more on culture and history. Commercial design is popular and well accepted, but design that is more culturally and historically oriented will have a bigger impact on the society and on peoples’ lives.

pulse 78

an art path of sorts

BY RACHELLE SU | PHOTOS BY THIO LAY HOON

In Hub-to-Hub (Oct 14 to Nov 4), a fringe event in the Singapore ArchiFest 2011, artists and architects imagined the future of public spaces. The project showcased a collection of seven installations placed at specific sites in the city’s arts, culture, learning and entertainment district – Bras Basah/Bugis.

STILT HOUSE by Team Europe, Dhoby Ghaut Green – two interconnected structures made from recycled plastic waste

III MOVEMENT by Team Aural/Stamford Green

H

ow does architecture engage with spatial practice? Certainly not through installation art – or does it? The recent public installation project ‘Hub-to-Hub’ suggests that we should not reject installation art outright as an architectural device to understanding the city, but rather consider the position they play in creating and suggesting relationships within the public realm. Installation art, an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often designed to transform the perception of a space, appears to provide a rich source of theoretical tools for investigating the multifaceted relationships between people, objects and spaces.

The blurred boundary between the disciplines of Art and Architecture has intrigued many while on the other hand, put some others off. Dissatisfaction with many of the objects produced and described as ‘installation art’ are often triggered by the fact that many of such objects were commissioned with an intention to (at best) solve problems and (at worst) simplify issues. Since public

art was never a tool to accomplish such tasks, it then naturally resulted in a general preference to discuss Art and Architecture independently, where the dialogue could perhaps be left more determinate in nature.

However, a counter-dialogue to such a preference has always been around. Tracing back to artist and politician Joseph Beuys’ idea of a ‘Social Sculpture’, we are allowed to examine how the concept and practice of art has always suggested the relationship between people, actions and objects within any type of space. In social sculptures, one is able to create structures in society using interdisciplinary and participatory methods. A trait in modern criticism is also the shift towards understanding art as relational. If, in art, new relationships between people can be created through objects, how do such places then get assembled in architecture?

One recalls Diller + Scofidio’s creation of a cloud for the Swiss Expo in 2002. It was possibly the first and only attempt to make architecture out of an event (vaporization) while presenting a critique of architecture as visual

PATCHES: A THINNER SHADE OF GREEN by Team China, Cathay Open Space

LITTLE BIG ORCHARD ROAD by Team Minus, Dhoby Ghaut Green

spectacle – an occasion that could possibly be experienced much like a play or a performance. Although Diller + Scofidio avoided the classification of this work as neither art nor architecture, it seems that in these instances, the traditional notions of architecture has lingered into an uncanny realm where the possibilities of a site encapsulated in a precise moment in time or series of actions can be achieved. These are comparable processes operating in art – and particularly so within installation art. ‘Hub to Hub’ could then be best understood as a pilot project in addressing some of these similar procedures in both Art and Architecture within a local context.

temporary urban interventions Funded by the Urban Redevelopment Authority under their AUDE (Architecture & Urban Design Excellence) Promotion Programme and the private sector, ‘Hub to Hub’ attempted to bring about a collaborative synergy between artists, architects, designers and professionals of diverse disciplines to interrogate the

nature of Singapore’s public spaces. Launched during the Singapore ArchiFest 2011, the project showcased a collection of seven installation works strewn along the city’s arts, culture, learning and entertainment district – Bras Basah/ Bugis. The three curators of ‘Hub to Hub’ – Steffen Lehmann, Chong Keng Hua and Wynn Chi Nguyen Cam – were determined to demonstrate the ability of temporary urban interventions as agents in presenting new architectural dialogues about public spaces and planning. Their intention was to alter focus from the qualities of particular end-products to the artistic conversation involved in the processes of social and spatial exploration. The project was meant to be experienced in its entirety as a series of seven hubs, with support from a choreographed walking tour organized by Art Outreach. The name of this project itself suggests the mobile practice of walking ‘from hub to hub’. Walking allows the regular museum-goer or urban-dweller the chance to experience sites in motion, clearly expressing how encounters between architectures can be constructed in and through space.

FRAGILE BALANCE by Team Coincidence, Waterloo Centre

LAST TREE ON EARTH, Singapore Art Museum, Queen Street (photos courtesy ReallyArchitecture/re:ACT) MULTICULTURALISM AND THE GIANT MOP

by Team Australia, Sam@8Q (photos courtesy ReallyArchitecture/re:ACT)

The seven installation projects each feature unique readings of their individual sites, some more articulate than others. Team Aural – made up of architecture collective atelier | small, visual artist Tang Ling Nah and sound artist Zai Tang – created an installation entitled ‘III Movement’ to investigate the lifespan of construction and renewal within the city. Sound recordings from the urban environment were then translated as architectural mass to construct fresh spatial experiences of Stamford Green (the exact location where the entrance of the old National Library once stood). This work took the form of a quiet protest; using audio sound to critique the perpetual series of urban transformation happening within our landscape. In Team Coincidence’s delicate work entitled ‘Fragile Balance’, glass artist Tan Sock Fong skillfully used reflected glass hues to cast movement in an ubiquitous everyday space of a HDB void-deck at Waterloo Centre. Her idea was to insert urban theatricalities into a common space by using familiar kopitiam chairs as agents to question social rules governing behavior on public sites. Relating her experience on working out of the gallery, Tan said that residents and passers-

by were invited to transform the space together – constructing relationships that extended beyond the materials of the final product. In Team Minus’ exaggerated sale satire, architecture student Mervin Tan mapped local favorite past-time shopping onto Dhoby Ghaut Green and directed a giant exhibition of sorts using blown-up scales of shopping bags and discount placards. By putting public trees on a fake sale, the work produced offered a number of interpretations on the monetary aspects of our city’s greenery. Rather than tell us what to think, this work probes us to question the ways in which we assign value to matter.

Artists and architects alike are still working their way in and around public spaces of the city. In ‘Hub to Hub’, they attempted to do this by engaging the cultural politics of architectural sites, using art as urban insertions to disrupt city’s present contexts and focusing awareness to traditional spatial orders that would otherwise remain invisible or uninteresting. Situated between both art and architecture is perhaps the sensible right tool to use in understanding ourselves and the city better.

pulse 82

the big red ball was here

‘T Norfolk, England

Taipei

Toronto

Abu Dhabi

here is something undeniably joyous about a massive red ball. One that eases itself into unexpected public places is rather impossible to resist.’ (torontoist.com) Appearing in entranceways, basking beneath bridges or wedged into alleyways, award-winning New York artist Kurt Perschke’s irresistible RedBall has probably been to more cities around the world than the Travelling Gnome. Over the years, this giant red ball has landed in Barcelona, St Louis, Portland, Sydney, Arizona, Chicago, Toronto, Grand Rapids, Taipei, Norwich, and most recently, Dubai.

Its next destination is the Perth International Arts Festival (Feb 10 to Mar 3, 2012) where it will, typically, ‘invite you to view your city afresh. It sneaks into well-known places and half-noticed spaces, transforming Perth into an unexpected canvas of possibilities.

You can photograph it, touch it or bounce against its slick soft surface, but most of all keep your eyes peeled, for it pops up in unexpected locations.’ Says Festival Artistic Director, Jonathan Holloway: ‘The Red Ball works like acupuncture for the city, finding blockages, places where there’s congestion and wittily needling them out, allowing people to see their city afresh.’

The RedBall was first inflated on 27 Aug 2001 amid much nervous excitement and anticipation. The ball debuted at 15ft high, weighing 250lbs, and was created using over 530ft2 of 32oz pvc fabric. The material and construction of the ball is the same process used to create inflatable river rafts. A blower is needed to inflate the ball.

Kurt Perschke: ‘Through the RedBall Project I utilize my opportunity as an artist to be a catalyst for new encounters within the everyday. Through the magnetic, playful, and charismatic nature of the RedBall the work is able to access the imagination embedded in all of us. On the surface, the experience seems to be about the ball itself as an object, but the true power of the project is what it can create for those who experience it. It opens a doorway to imagine what if? As RedBall travels around the world people approach me on the street with excited suggestions about where to put it in their city. In that moment the person is not a spectator but a participant in the act of imagination. I have witnessed it across continents, diverse age spans, cultures, and languages, always issuing an invitation.

That invitation to engage, to collectively imagine, is the true essence of the RedBall Project.

The larger arc of the project is how each city responds to that invitation and, over time, what the developing story reveals about our individual and cultural imagination.’

Perschke is an artist who works in sculpture, video, collage and public space. His RedBall Project has received a National Award from Americans for the Arts Public Art Network. (redballproject.com)

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beat 84

can you identify this ‘flying’ object

V

isitors to London’s King’s Cross have been intrigued by an illumination artwork that has hovered over the area since Nov 2011. IFO (Identified Flying Object), by French artist and architect Jacques Rival, lights up the sky by night and comes to rest on the ground by day. It is as part of RELAY, an art programme created for King’s Cross redevelopment, and is the first installation. The bars of IFO’s 9m high, dome-shaped cage are wide enough apart to walk through, so visitors during the day can enter the cage and sit on the swing at its centre, enjoying the surroundings from this unusual vantage point. By night, the bars of the bird cage light up in a brilliant array of colours, and once a month the whole artwork will be hoisted up into the air by the biggest crane on the site.

RELAY is a nine-year arts programme that is set to turn the King’s Cross area into a destination for discovering international contemporary art (www.kingscrosscentral.com/relay). The title is inspired by the continual carrying and preserving of the Olympic flame and by King’s Cross as an international transport hub and a place in transition. RELAY plays with the notion of the human chain, the transfer from one means of transport to another and the phasing of the development scheme.

‘Jacques Rival’s response to King’s Cross is both poetic and pertinent,’ say Michael Pinsky and Stéphanie Delcroix, curators for the first three years of the programme. ‘This nomadic sculpture follows the flux and flow of this new district which is evolving day by day. Over the coming months IFO will be found over coffee kiosks, amidst the construction sites, on buildings and, of course, in the sky. Its structure will host seminars, cafes, gardens and performances.’

The area already has a rich tradition of artistic activity and is a hub for art lovers with Kings Place on the doorstep and 5,000 staff and students from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, part of the University of Arts London, now based in King’s Cross.

Jacques Rival, who trained as an architect, creates monumental objects and ephemeral outdoor installations that play with the scale of the immediate environment and alter the perception of its immutability.

He likes to intervene directly in the cityscape, taking ownership of sculptures, rivers and parks. (www.kingscrosscentral.com/relay)

Rival had also contributed a work in LUMIERE 2011 (Nov 17 to 20), the light festival in Durham, UK, where 34 artists created a dazzling series of installations and projections to illuminate Durham’s buildings, streets and bridges. Rival’s ‘I Love Durham’ covered the equestrian statue of Lord Londonderry, a much disliked 19th century pit owner, in an outsized version of a tourist snow globe trinket, encasing the unfortunate Londonderry in a snowstorm. For the Lyon Festival of Light (Dec 6 to 8) in France, he will create a work involving balloons that contain illuminated vignettes.

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Space Accessories – new section at Space Asia Hub Located on the third floor of the Glass Block at Space Asia Hub, Space Accessories is one of the latest additions to the offering of premium designs. Featuring racks that house brands like Pols Potten, ArchitectMade, Pieter Stockmans, Missoni Home, Bernardaud and more, the Space Accessories display is a tantalising sight for shoppers with the myriad of colours and shapes.

The range includes vases, ceramics, figurines, table ware, accent cushions, poufs and more. Styles vary from brand to brand; stylised patterns and colours define the Missoni Home range, whilst sobriety with a delicate touch defines the Pieter Stockmans range.

With the expanded range, Space Accessories has become the destination to visit for home owners and stylists looking for that extra touch of finesse to achieve a more polished and sleek setting.

A French brand that specialises in contemporary accessories with a curious Spanish name, the fun element in Adónde is undeniable.

The brand name actually means ‘where?’ – suffice to say, they take provenance and an openness on how things are made pretty seriously. The collection comprises a wide range from sober earthen tableware to unexpected vases with pops of neon colour.

As a fashion house, Missoni needs no further introduction to the trendy set. An extension of the house’s creative vision, Missoni Home collection comprises cushion covers, poufs and throws in the signature prints and colours.

Denmark’s most celebrated architects like Poul Kjaerholm, Hans Bolling and Finn Juhl are now made more accessible by ArchitectMade –manufacturers of timeless accessories conceptualised by these design greats. The collection is a diverse range which includes candle stands, trays to perfectly crafted figurines depicting the most endearing animals.

Designer Pieter Stockmans has been collaborating with his daughter Widukind to produce small quantities of precious handmade porcelain tableware for the past ten years. The harmonious collection consists of beakers, sugar bowls, saucer dishes, bowls and more.

Bernardaud, the premier manufacturer and exporter of Limoges porcelain, is one of the most innovative French companies and symbolises the tradition of luxury and savoir faire. Bernardaud is the go-to brand for Michelin star restaurants that are seeking a style that speaks of quiet sophistication with an appeal only visible to the most discerning eye.

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Superplan Plus – Indian Summer Colours

KALDEWEI Baths and ultra flat showers in coloured steel enamel are as durable as they are timeless – five new colours for the ‘Indian Summer’ collection The new bathrooms are all about natural sensuousness. The gentle feeling of warm summer rain on the skin; diving into and relaxing in calm waters – pure enjoyment and recuperation on every level. The trend is for natural materials such as stone and wood – the bathroom should touch the senses. Kaldewei’s ‘Coordinated Colours’ meet this requirement with five new colours, all taken from nature. Floor-level showers in the ‘Indian Summer’ colour range lend a timeless, modern appeal to bathroom design. The natural surfaces of wall and floor blend with the exclusive steel enamel of the shower surface in matching colours.

Modern bathroom architecture is notable for the generous conception of space, and wants to show authentic materials at their harmonious best. The desire is for the shower area to blend homogenously with the overall picture. The floorlevel Conoflat and Superplan Plus showers offer the possibility of following a single colour and surface mood in the bathroom or to use colour to create a deliberate contrast. This is entirely in line with the trend for individualisation in the bathroom. looking at the shower with other eyes The bathing experience is made up of numerous individual elements. Pelting rain from the overhead shower, warm water cascading over the shoulders down to the feet – now, wouldn’t it be lovely to be on a wet beach at this moment? This association almost comes to life with a shower tray in Prairie Beige or Seashell

Cream from Kaldewei’s collection of ‘Indian Summer Colours’. Many nature-loving bathroom owners like to give their shower area a contemporary frame in a suitable wood. Kaldewei shower trays in the finely mattified colours Woodberry Brown and Maple Brown complete the exclusive picture. Elegant Oyster Grey is perfect for a light, transparent bathroom architecture with high standards of design. exclusive colours of earth and light The five ‘Indian Summer’ hues in Kaldewei’s ‘Coordinated Colours’ collection combine the passion for natural messages. The colours convey warm signals to the user, grounding him with the colours of nature, and match the design language of modern architecture. Whether the delicate white grading of Seashell Cream Matt with its calm radiance, the simple elegance of Oyster Grey Matt or one of the lively browns, colour touches us. The showers in colours that ‘coordinate’ with the bathroom interior radiate luxury, and add a new sensuousness to the bathroom.

trend meets sustainability At Kaldewei, the subject of nature does not end at the shower trays and baths. The natural raw materials used to make the exclusive material Kaldewei 3.5mm steel enamel are themselves taken from nature, and at the end of its lifetime 100% of every single bath is returned to the raw materials cycle. Sustainable production meets timeless design at Kaldewei. And this includes the select ‘Coordinated Colours’. Inspired by and created from nature, the colours represent harmony, stability and elegance.

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Häfele E-Drive: Electric drive for sliding doors Sliding furniture doors can now be moved easily at the tap of a finger – made possible by the new E-Drive electric drive from Häfele. The Nagold specialist for hardware technology and electric locking systems presented the system at interzum 2011, adding a new exclusive product to its Slido range of sliding hardware. It is predetermined for use in both residential and business areas. E-drive is an electromechanical drive for one, two and three-leaf sliding doors running in front of the cabinet, eg, in combination with the new Häfele Classic 50 VFP fitting. By tapping them gently, you can close and open the doors all the way. The drive can be retrofitted and operates without making a sound. The trick behind it is, no cabinet door modifications are necessary, and installation is quick and easy.

Silent opening and closing With two-leaf systems a door follower ensures that tapping one door causes the other door which is already open to be closed automatically – sliding convenience of the highest quality. E-Drive is suitable for combining with Vorfront fittings of all kinds, and for sliding doors weighing between 20 and 100 kg. Cabinet widths of between 160 and 240 cm or between 240 and 400 cm are possible – meaning that doors that are large and/or heavy can be moved with ease. E-Drive is ideal for use with all Slido sliding door fittings, but can also be adapted to other Vorfront sliding fittings – a customer-friendly solution that meets the requirements of the furniture industry. Häfele Engineering takes care of individual technical connections.

With safety shut-off E-Drive has integrated obstacle detection with a safety shut-off – if an obstacle is detected, the door leaf stops.

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catalogue 90

KOHLER CO. (office) 120 Lower Delta Road #15-01 Cendex Centre Singapore 169208 t: +65 6264 6400 f: +65 6264 6411 www.kohlerasiapacific.com

Bathrooms of tomorrow Global brand Kohler has recently opened their sprawling 5000-square-foot showroom at Cendex Centre, giving homeowners a brand new destination for all bathroom needs. So, whether you are revamping your entire bath suite or just looking to replace a faucet, expect a plethora of iconic products such as the Numi toilet which has just won the Good Design Award handed out by the Japan Industrial Promotion Organisation.

The showroom hinges upon Kohler’s state-of-the-art stance in bathroom and kitchen design and technology, and showcases exciting bath suites of various styles.

Be it a modern or a glamourous Victorian theme, you can take inspiration from these fully furnished bathroom showrooms and get acquainted with the full range of products. For instance, if you prefer total control over your luxurious showers, you will love the DTV Prompt Digital Showering System where its technology creates an intuitive user experience of easy and precise temperature control and water use.

Kohler Flipside showerheads with Katalyst technology – this cutting edge technology intensifies the flow of water and heightens the sensory experience of the shower.

Many five star hotels like the Four Seasons, Trump International, Hyatt, Mariott and Ritz Carlton swear by Kohler products and have the range installed in their hotel suites. If that is not telling you something, pop by their showroom today and come face to face with bathroom fixtures that bridge design and technology to greater heights.

catalogue KOHLER CO. (office) 120 Lower Delta Road #15-01 Cendex Centre Singapore 169208 t: +65 6264 6400 f: +65 6264 6411 www.kohlerasiapacific.com

Kohler launches breakthrough ‘Karbon’ articulating kitchen faucet New kitchen faucet marries ultimate kitchen functionality with visually entrancing design. What does the ultimate in functionality for a kitchen faucet really mean?

For Kohler Co – a global leader in kitchen and bath design and technology – ultimate functionality can be defined as a kitchen faucet that possesses the functionality and performance of a pull-down faucet, while also allowing the user to position and leave the sprayhead right where it is needed, thereby freeing up both hands for kitchen prep and clean-up tasks.

The result is the KOHLER Karbon articulating kitchen faucet, a faucet of unexpected and intriguing design that will undoubtedly become the primary focal point of any contemporary kitchen setting. The original design impetus of the Karbon kitchen faucet was inspired by lighting and construction equipment with articulating joints. The Kohler design team took this concept and created a product that signals a paradigm shift in the functionality and design of modern kitchen faucets.

Unlike other kitchen faucets, the Karbon faucet will maintain the exact position where a user places it within its allotted reach in or outside the sink, keeping the spray head and water flow exactly where it is desired.

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catalogue 92

CHESTERS COLLECTION Block B-0-8 Megan Avenue 1 189 Jalan Tun Razak 50400 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia t: +603 2166 8330 Home Living division +603 2166 4121 Office Creative division e: info@chesterscollection.com www.chesterscollection.com

Bacher Tische coffee and side tables The mark of German quality and distinction, Bacher is synonymous with the clever and meaningful transformation of ideas into form and function – form that is inviting and surprising; function that is practical and new. Bacher design is not simply play, but an environmentally responsible process of exploration and innovation. The vision of architects such as Thomas Althaus, Brigitte Lichtner, Thomas Müller and Jörg Wulff, these cutting-edge products earned recognition in the Red Dot design award and the iF product design award. Bacher Tische is now showcased in its exclusive showroom at Chesters Collection in Kuala Lumpur. You will find an extensive range of furniture collections at Chesters Collection both household and office furniture either in single pieces or various configurations, choice of upholstery, perfect sets or mix and match, a varied language of colors and shapes to fill your home with harmony, elegance and freshness.

Arizona coffee table – contemporary coffee table with lacquered top and a small drawer beneath with lacquered black interior that may be opened from either side. Available in a range of matt lacquer colours. Chromed metal end frame legs in high gloss or matt finish.

Santiago Coffee table – the 15mm clear safety glass top swivels in a circle. The form of its square body is available in matte or high gloss lacquered finish standing diagonally on the point.

The square basic form of the glass plate and the body repeat themselves again in its chromium base plate.

TWO HIGH is astounding with its fascinating folding technology transforming a low coffee table into a desk or a dining table next to the sofa. Thanks to the console under which you can even put your feet.

Confetto glass coffee table – contemporary glass coffee table with 15mm thick clear rectangular glass top, high gloss chromed metal support and matt or gloss lacquered base in a range of colours.

catalogue CHESTERS COLLECTION Block B-0-8 Megan Avenue 1 189 Jalan Tun Razak 50400 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia t: +603 2166 8330 Home Living division +603 2166 4121 Office Creative division e: info@chesterscollection.com www.chesterscollection.com

DS-247 by de Sede Form follows you. A new sofa system for a new awareness of life, DS-247 designed by Gordon Guillaumier is a new 2011 sofa system that not only can be adjusted to various positions, but to every facet of your life as well. Relax, napping, reading, entertaining or do nothing whatever it is, the new DS247 can adapt itself entirely to you and your wishes: your needs. And it can do that 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. DS-247 – the name says it all.

Because of its uncompromising modular form the DS-247 is the ideal partner for what is called modern life. With a few flicks of the wrist you can change seating position, direction of view and sofa structure. You can read a good book and your partner can watch a good film at the same time.

And: you can remain quiet when a visitor appears unexpectedly. Whichever way you like, sitting, slouching or sleeping, DS247 remains cosy and comfortable through out the day.

The new 360° swivel function lets you do it all with a flick of the wrist. The equipment options for the DS-247 are almost limitless. You have the choice between different sofa heights and numerous add-

on elements. You also have the option to design the details of your DS-247 individually. The wide range of extras: Rhombic perforated welt, back cushions with side walls in expensive leather latticework, visible or invisible foot version, low cushioned or classically firmer seating comfort.

In addition you can choose between five exquisite leather qualities. DS247 allows you to create your own shape and configurations by putting each modular together or split them apart and have each individual piece stand by itself. Fairly certain that, in this form, your DS-247 won’t be repeated.

Of course the new DS-247 a design that never goes out of fashion is also a product of exquisite de Sede craftsmanship with perfectly fine finished, uncompromising as regards to quality and is only made in de Sede’s factory in Switzerland. de Sede is brought to you exclusively by Chesters Collection, at Block B-0-8 Megan Avenue 1, 189 Jalan Tun Razak, 50400 Kuala Lumpur.

Call CHESTERS COLLECTIONS at +603 21668330 for appointment.

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catalogue 94

MOROSO SINGAPORE 5 Purvis Street #01-03 Singapore 188584 t: +65 63387189 f: +65 63387198 e: moroso@moroso.com.sg www.moroso.asia MOON “MOON is a chair inspired by the beauty of light and shadow typical of the Moon. Lunar light is ephemeral, it suddenly appears and disappears. It’s the most subtle expression of the universe”, says the designer, emphasizing the inspiration he always feels when observing the processes of Nature

Tokujin Yoshioka’s sensational creations for Morosso ‘never fail to surprise’. He has been described as ‘one of the most innovative designers working today’.

Tokujin Yoshioka was born in Japan in 1967 and, in 2000, after studying at length with Shiro Kuramata and Issey Miyake, set up Tokujin Yoshioka Design in Tokyo. Working with Issey Miyake for over 20 years, Tokujin has created among many things, the Issey Miyake and A-POC stores and an installation at the Cartier foundation in Paris entitled Issey Miyake Making Things. Tokujin’s oeuvre includes Honey Pop and Tokyo Pop chairs for Driade, a futuristic Japanese garden in the Driade store in Milan, Tofu lamp for Yamagiwa, Stardust chandelier for Swarovski Crystal Palace, shop windows for Hermes and the Toyota stand at the Tokyo car show.

The chair designed by Tokujin Yoshioka is a poetic representation of Japanese perfectionism and aesthetic minimalism.

Moon has an implicit elegance. Its clean, flowing lines create a harmonic relationship with the surrounding space. But its originality lies in the visual effect it gives off when it is illuminated by light, and thus, the chair seems to emit a glowing effect over its surroundings.

In designing the Moon, Tokujin was not interested in designing the shape of a chair, he was instead interested in designing the function of seating, he researched and collected data on the way people sit and what they actually do in chairs. Apparently, what people naturally do in a chair is move around a lot. He wanted his design to flow out of his findings, and because sitting is not necessarily a stationary, static endeavor, his clean, smooth and very tactile Moon chair winds up being less about ergonomics than about freedom of movement. You shift, slide, slouch, and lean to your heart’s delight.

Moon is also the forerunner of the Memory design presented in 2010 at the Milan Furniture Fair. In fact Moon is the basic shell on which covers are placed to create the shape of Memory through a tactile, participatory process that made the chair such a success.

PANNA The first Panna Chairs were shown at the 2007 Furniture Fair, wellbeing and comfort were the key sources of inspiration for its design.

‘Memory’ features a unique technical covering that can be formed into any shape desired. A free interplay between the seat and the sitter, who intervenes directly in the creative process, shaping the anatomy of the product. Thus the importance lies in the gestures, which establish a physical bond at the time of use. The resulting beauty derives from its irregular form, and from the hands-on mutability of its appearance.

The fabric, cotton fibre with an aluminium core, is the upshot of a lengthy series of experiments performed by the designer in person on materials originally meant for the building trade. The fine textural quality is due in part to the combination of aluminium, which gives the fabric its malleability, with cotton canvas, which ensures that it is robust and easy to use. ‘Memory is a seat that completes its own design by changing shape. For this project I created a special fabric from recycled aluminium, and worked to make a chair that transforms and memorises its shape. This chair seeks to echo the beauty of nature, with its ever-changing expressions, giving the idea that the design doesn’t even exist.’

Panna means “Cream” in Italian and as it name suggests, the Panna Chair springs to life when someone sits on it, adapting its shape to that of the person. It is soft and yet embracing.

Its lines are graceful and sinuous. It is the product of careful research, elegant design and experimentation.

Panna Chair is comprised of injected flame retardant polyurethane foam over an internal steel frame. In keeping with his study of experimental materials, Tokujin chose fabric as the chair’s value-driven component. A fabric designed to be highly practical and functional is revisited and reinterpreted for its inherent poetry. Upholstery designed like a dress to be slipped on and pulled down over the body.

The name, material, stitching, gathering, softness, comfort and sombre colours all convey a message which interprets the soul and function of this chair and the feeling of joy it gives you.

catalogue BOFFI STUDIO 9 Purvis Street #01-01 Singapore 188588 t: +65 6333 9115 f: +65 6333 9116 e: Boffi@boffi.com.sg www.boffi.com

Kitchen on Wheels In 1963, Italian designer Joe Colombo designed a kitchen for Boffi that was a tribute to his design philosophy: more functional than aesthetically pleasing. The designer reimagined the works of a classic kitchen, creating a cube on wheels that housed three indispensable functions: cooking, storage and refrigeration in a mere 11 cubic feet. In a short span of a year, the mobile kitchen won the Gold Medal at the 13th Milan Triennale and was in exhibitions such as the Italy: the New Domestic Landscape.

The classic design is currently exhibited as a permanent collection in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Boffi has now re-issued the celebrated design with technical features including an induction hotplate with touch control, a mini-fridge and chopping board in solid teak.

Originally constructed of plastic, coated wood and stainless steel, the re-issue version will be available in Corian.

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catalogue 96

KITCHEN CULTURE 2 Leng Kee Road #01-02/05, #01-07 Thye Hong Centre Singapore 159086 t: +65 6473 6776 f: +65 6475 6776 45E Ground & 5th Floor, Jalan Maarof Bangunan Bangsaria, Bangsar Baru 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia t: (603) 2287 5010/20 www.kitchenculture.com

SIDE-BY-SIDE FROM LIEBHERR: SPACIOUS STYLE AND CHOICE Side-by-Side combined refrigerator-freezers are the freshness centres providing spaciousness and unique convenience. They offer the ideal climate zone for all types of food and their exclusive design is bound to make them the talking point in any kitchen.

Side-by-Side combined refrigerator-freezers from Liebherr are perfect for storing large quantities of vitamin-rich food. These freshness centres provide spaciousness and unique convenience. Their exclusive design makes them the attraction in any kitchen. Every detail, from the door handle to the storage shelves, is of the highest quality.

Liebherr’s Side-by-Side combinations provide not only generous, but also versatile refrigeration and freezing solutions. Whether you want to go for the combination of a refrigerator with a BioFresh appliance, with a BioFresh NoFrost appliance, with a freezer or a wine storage cabinet – the Liebherr range of freshness centres is sure to have just the appliance you need.

The top model, SBSes 7155 Side-by-Side combination with five different climate zones, boasts an array of innovative solutions. The multi-temperature wine cabinet has two independently regulate-able zones for storing wine at the very temperature you want ranging from +5ºC and +20ºC. The NoFrost freezer compartment offers expert freezing performance with an automatic IceMaker providing the appropriate supply of ice cubes for every occasion.

A spacious refrigerator compartment is at your disposal for everyday supplies of fresh food. And, in the BioFresh compartment, fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and dairy products stay fresh up to three times longer. With the cooling zone, BioFresh, freezing zone and two different temperature zones for wine, this all goes to give you the ideal storage temperature for all types of food and drinks.

Premium electronic control system. The modern, convenient MagicEye control system with the user-friendly SoftTouch feature ensures that the temperature selected and digitally displayed is kept to exactly the degree wanted. The functions are arranged in a clear and self-explanatory way around the LCD display.

LED lighting is the solution of the future. Liebherr has implemented this unique technology in the SBSes 7155 Side-by-Side combination. The two multitemperature wine zones and the refrigerator compartment come with LED lights, which bathe the interior in an even, pleasing light. With this innovative concept Liebherr sets the benchmark for interior lighting.

The two multi-temperature wine zones are elegantly fitted with wooden shelves mounted on telescopic rails for ease of selecting your favourite wines. In addition, the half-folding shelves is ideal for presenting your prized collection of wines and this also means opened bottles of wine can be safety stored.

The SoftSystem feature provides added safety and convenience. Integrated on the door, the SoftSystem cushions movement when the door is closed and further more, the door is closed automatically from an opening angle of approximately 30°.

catalogue KITCHEN CULTURE 2 Leng Kee Road #01-02/05, #01-07 Thye Hong Centre Singapore 159086 t: +65 6473 6776 f: +65 6475 6776 45E Ground & 5th Floor, Jalan Maarof Bangunan Bangsaria, Bangsar Baru 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia t: (603) 2287 5010/20 www.kitchenculture.com

Poggenpohl Porsche Design kitchen P’7340 The ‘kitchen for men’ concept is a design and technology endeavour by Porsche Design in collaboration with Poggenpohl, the oldest brand in kitchen technology. In keeping with its concept of catering to the male psyche, the ‘kitchen for men’ co-branded Poggenpohl Porsche Design Kitchen has all the attributes that generate a rugged appeal for the target customers. On the opening day itself at Hanover Trade Fair, this kitchen won one of the oldest and most coveted design awards in the world: the iF Gold Award 2008. It has also received the prestigious Red Dot Award for Design in 2008.

The appeal of the Poggenpohl Porsche Design kitchen stems from the fact that it is fundamental, not decorative. It is a product of design engineering where every object is reduced to its basic function to derive at a structured, linear form. Porsche Design’s origins in automotive construction gives the kitchen an entirely new dimension with Poggenpohl’s experience in kitchen systems lends a technological and functional perfection that is of irresistible appeal to male customers.

Aluminium profiles of different sizes, which permit individual styling, constitute the basic framework of the kitchen. The modular, spacious and extremely versatile system of frames and carcasses integrate clear spaces into the overall design concept. The frames come with integrated lights that directly and diffusely illuminate the worktop and the surroundings.

Painted glass in a satin or glossy finish fills the frames.

For the front surface, customers can choose between Driftwood, a heavily brushed type of pine that feels quite natural to the touch, and Dark Oak, a finely brushed type of dark oak. Thin worktops crafted from satin-finished glass or black granite convey an impression of elegance and lightness, which is rounded off by their alignment with the carcass.

Other special highlights of the Poggenpohl Porsche Design kitchen are: a complete handless solution, multi-functional lighting systems and a hightech audio-video system.

Foster 4000 Series The Series 400 from Foster embodies design devoted to practicality.

Clean, sharp lines, innovative technology and total attention to detail are the hallmarks of a complete product range that will seamlessly furnish your kitchen.

KWC-ONO Highflex™ faucet KWC ONO with its innovative Highflex™ hose technology represents a new dimension in the flexible use of water in sophisticated yet functional kitchens.

The Highflex™ faucet combines uncompromising functionality with stylish design, while its technical refinements make your work in the kitchen easier.

Highflex™ has the ideal professional spray for the semi-professional kitchen. Its simple and practical shape matches the design of the faucet without compromising on the ergonomics – this professional spray can be operated and moved into the required position using one hand. As you move the lever, the integral low-pressure setting switches automatically from the spout to a filtered stream. When the lever is pressed down completely, it is in the pressurised stream position. The professional spray and flat spout can swivel through 360°, allowing a wide range of activity when you stand at the sink. A defining feature of Highflex™ is the aesthetic feeder hose, which immediately returns to its original position after use.

Because it retains its shape when not in use, the hand spray bracket is not essential, but is available as an optional extra.

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catalogue 98

W ATELIER PTE LTD 75 Bukit Timah Road #01-02 Singapore 229833 t: +65 6735 6546 f: +65 6235 6645

Le Muse bathroom furniture TOTO’s newest collection Le Muse offer innovative solution for bathroom furnishing. Designed by award winning designer and architect Francesco Lucchese, Le Muse bathroom furniture not only functional but is also an integral part of a modern luxurious bathroom.

Giving special attention to the relationship between objects, humans and space, Lucchese designed a complete range of bathroom furniture that includes vanity units, wall hanging storage cabinets and also LED lighted mirror concepts that double as a shelf for every day toiletries.

Le Muse vanity unit is available in various sizes to match any bathroom setting. In each of these units, the striking curvature of the edges adds a soft touch that makes this furniture approachable and welcoming. The vanity units come in four predetermined neutral color combinations that are designed to evoke warmth and serenity, making the everyday bathroom an oasis of relaxation.

Le Muse wall hung storage cabinet is available in two heights. The storage cabinet features beautifully crafted asymmetrical curved surface with a build in mirror inside. The wall hanging unit is especially striking when coupled with Le Muse LED mirrors with the built-in shelf. This mirror is also available in two sizes. Lucchese has managed to seamlessly combine the mirror frame to a functional shelving unit that looks beautiful and most importantly functional.

Francesco Lucchese

TOTO’s Le Muse collection also features a wide selection of sanitary fixture and accessories that can further enhance the beauty of the Le Muse bathroom furniture.

catalogue Atlas Experience Audio Visual Boutique #01-14/15 TripleOne Somerset 111 Somerset Road Singapore 238164 t: +65 6339 0966 www.atlas-experience.com

ad notam® mirror LCD televisions The ad notam® range of mirror LCD televisions, available exclusively at Atlas Sound & Vision, Singapore’s leading premium audio visual retailer and distributor, has become the benchmark in a majority of Singapore’s luxurious five-star hospitality and residential developments. These are LCD televisions with front surface-reflecting mirrors, and come from the German technology company of the same name. They are made for the progressive consumer who wants to add either the convenience of an LCD television in the bathroom or bedroom. Using mirrors and glass has always been an effective way for interior designers to heighten the appearance and appeal of their creations. With ad notam® Mirror LCD televisions, Singapore businesses and consumers can take their displays and interiors to a whole new level. ad notam® Magic Mirror® televisions are created by a patented technique of mounting an LCD Active Matrix display behind a specially designed and engineered mirror. A specially

formulated first-surface reflecting mirror allows the LCD television to be mounted using a patented magnetic mounting system to the bearing mirror. When correctly attached, the effect is that of a smoked glass mirror without even a hint that a television is hidden just beneath the surface until the device is turned on. When turned off, the screen automatically blends into its surroundings, appearing as a front surface mirror with no visible depth of the LCD television’s surface. The LCD television thus appears native to the glass as opposed to hiding just behind it.

Only a few centimetres thick, the ad notam® Mirror television does not require any heat ventilation and comes with an optional splashproof casing. This unit is especially designed for use in wet and airtight sealed environments. The unit requires minimum space and can easily be connected to DVD players, cable set-top boxes, VCRs and even PCs and laptops. Available in various sizes, with screen sizes ranging from 6.4-inch to 37-inch.

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catalogue 100

SIN KIM HENG MARKETING PTE LTD 7 Link Road Singapore 619029 t: +65 6267 5060 f: +65 6898 0877 e: sinkimheng@perswood.com www.perswood.com (Above) Photo: Maurizio Marcato/www.mafi.at

Perswood WideBoards come in a wide array of unfinished or pre-finished hardwoods, with dazzling combinations of oil, wash and polyurethane coatings.

Want a special look or colour? Perswood will customize WideBoard flooring just for you! Go wide with sensational widths – up to 300mm wide (and up to 5m long) – for a breathtakingly bold, contemporary feel.

Wide widths open up the possibility of traditional wide board finishes like wire brushing – very popular – or hand-scraping or distressing, for a look of unequalled richness and distinction. There are even rough-sawn WideBoards for the ultimate rustic counterpoint – but with a level of fit and performance no farmhouse floor ever dreamed of.

Since the effects of changes in humidity are greatest across the grain, issues with swelling, shrinking and warping used to rule out wide widths for today’s precisely fitted floors. But not any more, thanks to a multi-layer construction called engineered flooring. Approximately a third of the thickness of these boards is solid hardwood, enough to outlast generations of wear and keep on looking beautiful.

The dimensional stability comes from bonding the hardwood to a base of plywood or plantation wood. The result: dramatic widths without theatrics from variations in humidity. Or the headache of using messy glues. WideBoard floors are installed using a new generation of highly elastic, silane-based adhesive Stauf SMP 930 that has zero water content and, once dry, simply peels off prefinished surfaces.

Sensible use of natural resources The top third of a Perswood WideBoard is hardwood – the rest is composed of fast growing, easily renewable softwoods. That amounts to making two-thirds less demand on hardwood resources. Besides this significant environmental benefit, many Perswood WideBoards are also certified by the FSC, an independent organization that promotes responsible forest management worldwide.

Your choice of strikingly contemporary or handcrafted good looks, dependable, long lasting performance and a responsible use of natural resources – Perswood WideBoards are a shining example of the promise, ‘Not just a better look, a better floor.’

Perswood has completed the newly opened Robinsons department store in MBS with a total floor area of 3,000 sq m covered in the stunning Vulcano Gold Series.

Vulcano timber is thermal modified for stability and color consistency. Perswood has also completed The Hour’s Glass flagship store at Knightsbridge opened in February and an upcoming project of a high end restaurant at Scotts Road. Visit the Perswood Showroom to explore more high end choices which you will find nowhere else. As for large orders or custom orders, Perswood take them in stride!

catalogue RICE FIELDS PTE LTD 66 Eng Watt Street #01-06 Historic Tiong Bahru Singapore 160066 t: +65 6227 3456 www.rice-fields.com

STONE PROJECT: TECHNOLOGY AND CREATIVITY FOR ARCHITECTURE WITHOUT CONSTRAINTS Ergon’s Stone Project (Italy) replicate the look of vein-cut limestone that is both beautiful and durable.

Stone Project’s unique secret in reproducing all the rich surfaces and variability of the natural materials, is the combination of double-loading pressing and Full HD digital graphics. This revolutionary technology does not just copy the stone’s perfect beauty but also ensures the best technical response, making it suitable for use in any condition. The hardness and compactness are so similar to those of natural stone that the same cutting technique – WATER-JET CUTTING – has to be used. ‘We went inside its natural substance and studied the ways it is cut and worked. We sliced through it to rearrange its structure.

The result is a new stone with improved technical properties but the same endless variation created by nature over millions of years. The Stone Project tile sizes range are available up to 600 x 1200 mm in dimension, in these textures:

natural A surface that is velvet-smooth to the touch but has all the resistance and anti-slip properties needed for use in any residential and commercial context.

honed A finish obtained by surface honing that does not affect the product’s technical characteristics but enhances its appearance by giving added depth and shine.

Especially suitable for floor and wall coverings in residential contexts or where traffic levels are normal.

structured A bushhammered but elegant surface that guarantees outstanding technical characteristics. Thanks to its R12 anti-slip properties, it is particularly suitable for use outdoors or where a surface ensuring exceptional grip is required.

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catalogue 102

IEQ GLOBAL PTE LTD (SINGAPORE) 1 Jalan Kilang #04-01 Singapore 159402 t: +65 6377 1300 (MALAYSIA) Lot 16, Ling. Sultan Mohd 2 Kws. Per. Selat Klang Utara 42000 Port Klang Selangor Darul Ehsan Malaysia t: +603 3176 3818 f: +603 3176 9818 (INDONESIA) Jl. Rorotan No. 8 Kawasan Industri Cakung Cilincing Jakarta 14140 Indonesia t: +62 21 4447 0138 f: +62 21 4485 2339 e: info@ieqglobal.com www.ieqglobal.com

32-storey building façade using six metal halide lights, consuming 3000W each.

32-storey building façade using four plasma lights, consuming 1000W each.

The Power of Plasma Lights High rise buildings can now be showcased at night and good architectural design elements may be brought to light by Plasma lamps.

Plasma lamps produce powerful, natural sunlight. It is that simple. With the strongest and farthest light throw available today, Plasma lamps are designed to illuminate long distances of several kilometres or buildings from 10 to over 60 storeys tall. Smaller than a golf ball, the cost effective Plasma bulbs are designed for over 40,000 hours of continuous use, producing the least amount of UV and the best colour rendering index (CRI) in its class.

The ideal alternative to conventional lighting, a single Plasma lamp can replace 3 to 10 units of high power metal halide or HID lamps. Plasma lamps significantly lower energy consumption by up to 85%, generate correspondingly lower heat and are environmentally sustainable as they do not contain mercury vapour. Available in 3 wattages and 3 throw angles, Plasma lamps can be customized in a variety of shades of white light or other colours.

As Asia’s Premier Green Solutions Provider, IEQ Global provides leading edge energy efficient lighting technology that improves the aesthetics of indoor and outdoor spaces, while minimising energy costs. IEQ Global also designs and manufactures LED lights and is the World’s third largest manufacturer of customized Induction Lights. IEQ Global is a Founding Member of the Singapore Green Building Council, Strategic Partner of the Singapore Institute of Architects and a Member of the Illuminating Engineering Society.

One 1000W plasma light fully illuminates the right side of this 16-floor building.

catalogue CASA (S) Pte Ltd 15 Kian Teck Crescent Singapore 628884 t: +65 6662 6830 www.blomberg.sg www.blomberginternational.com www.casaholdings.com.sg

Blomberg’s BEO 9790 X is an electronic pyrolytic multifunction built-in oven developed with a range of outstanding features to enhance your joy of cooking. One of these is a special filter that absorbs and destroys particles that give rise to unpleasant smells. This means no grease and grime around the kitchen, and is especially helpful when cooking in an entirely airconditioned home. The filter ensures that only fresh air combined with the aromatic wafts of freshly cooked food circulates in the kitchen and at home.

Another main feature in the BEO 9790 X is its sizeable cavity. Complemented with larger sized trays, even the largest of dishes fit comfortably within. This makes it easier to move food around inside and also allows for freer airflow during the oven’s operation, ensuring more even cooking.

Adding to the advantage of a large cavity is Blomberg’s proprietary SURF Surround flow cooking technology. Conventional ovens release hot air from a rear heater, often leading to uneven heat levels between the front and the rear of the interior. To overcome this problem, the BEO 9790 X is built with ventilation holes located on the sides of its cavity from which hot air is released. This homogeneous mode of heat circulation promotes even cooking without your having to constantly fuss over it.

To save you time in cooking is the Booster function setting, in which all heating elements are activated at the same time for quick pre-heating, and the oven is heated 35% faster in comparison to standard functions. Once the desired temperature is reached, the oven will automatically switch back to the preset cooking mode.

If you dread cleaning up, the BEO 9790 X has just the thing to make it less of a chore. Its Pyro Clean is the latest cleaning technology where the oven cleans itself with one touch of your finger. During the pyrolytic self-cleaning cycle, the heat within the oven cavity is boosted to an intense 480°C turning stains and burns into dust. Then, all you need to do is to wipe away the leftovers with a damp cloth. Blomberg ovens feature a 120-minute Pyro Clean cycle for heavily soiled cavities, and a 90-minute Eco-Pyro Clean cycle for more economic cleaning of lightly soiled ovens. Internal racks and grills are also easily removable to allow unfettered access to the oven ceilings and walls, making cleaning more convenient.

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catalogue 104

MULTICO BUILDING PRODUCTS PTE LTD 22A Lim Teck Boo Road #01-01C Henley Industrial Building Singapore 537002 t: +65 6283 8888 f: +65 6283 8138 e: sales@multico.com.sg

Tap into technology Combining convenience and cost efficiency, Zip HydroTap® eases your kitchen chores.

Remember the bothersome act of waiting in front of the kettle before the water boils? Or the frustration when you realise that there isn’t enough ice cubes to chill your drinks? Be frustrated no more as the Zip HydroTap® is the perfect water dispenser that saves time and money!

The Zip HydroTap® can provide either boiling and chilled filtered water, boiling and ambient filtered water. This water dispenser can be installed conveniently next to a kitchen sink. If you prefer one on your kitchen table top, the optional and specially designed Tap Font advocates water drainage with its drip tray.

With this water dispenser of ultimate convenience, you can make tea, coffee or any hot beverage in a flash and speed up cooking with instant boiling water from the Zip HydroTap®.

On top of this unprecedented convenience and cost efficiency, Zip HydroTap® ensures the safety of all family members. Equipped with childproof safety lock, it only dispenses water via 2-finger adult operation, making the kitchen safe for children.

Furthermore, the lack of wires and cords is a great bonus for uncluttered kitchen tops, reducing the possibility of accidents. With the Zip HydroTap®, fuss-free kitchen chores are really just a tap away.

catalogue HEMSLEY 39A Jalan Pemimpin #07-01 Halcyon Building Singapore 577183 t +65 6337 3136 f +65 6253 6803

AF/21 by Naoto Fukasawa – polished chrome washbasin mixer with separate spout

AF/21 by Naoto Fukasawa – washbasin mixer with integrated spout, satinised chrome brass.

ABOUTWATER is a partnership between two leading companies, BOFFI and FANTINI, based on the concept of creating a new collection of taps with a modern and elegant design, conceptually excellent with flawless production, and distributed through the commercial network of the two companies, co-operating and aiming at enlarging the market beyond their respective segments. The two companies have achieved undisputed leadership in their respective industries, thanks to excellent production qualities, a high level of creativity and a strong international profile.

ABOUTWATER features two tap collections designed by Naoto Fukasawa and Piero Lissoni. AF/21 by Naoto Fukasawa, in polished chrome and satinised chrome brass, is the result of an exploration into the simplification of forms, thought out in terms of maximum clarity. The design is reduced almost to a pure icon, where the aesthetic quality of materials is emphasised. The taps and mixers become discs and cylinders; the taps reminiscent of the forms found on the controls of a stereo, the mixers the concise elegance of the language of iconography. AL/23 by Piero Lissoni, in polished and varnished chrome, comes from a dedication to simplicity: simple in shape and easy to use, it recalls the basics of fountains and industrial engines, projected to be practical, tactile and efficient. The design is clean, simple and elegant; the tap would fit naturally into all environments.

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catalogue 106

SKY CREATION DESIGN PTE LTD (Head Office) No 8 Kim Keat Lane Singapore 328865 t: +65 6352 8809 f: +65 6352 8815 Website: www.skycreation.com.sg SKY CREATION MUSﾃ右 51 Ubi Avenue 1 #02-09 Paya Ubi Industrial Park t: +65 6748 8956

A stylish kitchen for your home Kitchens often make up the most expensive expenditure during the overhaul of a home. With that, you want to be sure that you are making a wise investment for your cooking space. Be it in quality surfaces, excellent workmanship in cabinetry or an outstanding kitchen design, Sky Creation has got you covered.

Providing a one-stop solution to all your interior needs, Sky Creation boasts its very own museum which features showrooms of luxurious show flats. Best of all, the museum showcases a kitchen gallery which offers different styles of surfaces such as Caesar stone for countertops.

To ensure the consistency in quality, the all-in-one interior design firm has developed its own labels for kitchen solutions. For starters, Acque addresses your needs for kitchen fixtures. If you prefer something more environmentally-friendly, its homegrown kitchen brand Himmel Kﾃｼche is at your service. Having earned a Green Label Singapore award which is a first for an interior design company, some of the highlights of this environmentally sustainable label include quality hinges and mechanisms; high quality water-resistance and scratch-resistance products and the versatility of being able to be incorporated with all kinds of kitchen storage solutions.

Aside from assuring the quality standards for the inner works of the kitchen, the design team takes pride in churning out excellent kitchen designs. No matter the style or layout of any kitchen requested, the designers will deliver and bring inspiration and innovation to the table.

catalogue Universal Dimmer

LEGRAND (S) PTE LTD Singapore Showroom 15 Jalan Kilang Barat #07-05/06/07 Frontech Centre Singapore 159357 t: +65 6416 1550 f: +65 6416 1580 e: customerhub.sg@legrand.com.sg www.legrand.com.sg

Universal Dimmer 300W with Touch Plate Dimmer (radio version)

temperature, sound distribution, alarms, etc. Scenarios can be pre-programmed to satisfy all requirements.

10” Multimedia Touch Screen

From switches to the most up to date home automation systems, ARTEOR has a multitude of stand-alone and system functions to meet the requirements of commercial and residential environments. Ease of use and attractive appearance underlie the design of these functions. Dimmers, lighting controls, scenario controls, multimedia touch screen, etc, are just some of the main items of equipment. commercial As well as the huge number of switches: automatic switch, micropush switch, 0-10 V dimmer switch, etc, ARTEOR also has numerous audio, video and multimedia sockets (RJ 45, USB, YUV, RCA, HDMI, HD15/JACK, TV/R/SAT, Wi-Fi access points) for the connection requirements of modern commercial buildings. For secure access or restricted areas, access control systems are provided using coded keypads, card readers and biometric readers. hotels Legrand has especially focused on functions specifically for hotels, taking account of guests’ and operators’ requirements. The Internal unit is designed to improve the quality of service for guests. Guests can let staff know from their rooms whether they want the room to be cleaned or if they do not want to be disturbed.

3.5” Touch Screen

The external unit enables staff working time to be optimised, as the status information provided tells them immediately what the guest wants: clean the room or do not disturb. The work can thus be carried out at the most convenient time. Installed within reach of the bed, the control unit combines several controls. Bedside lamps, the main room lighting and also the opening and closing of blinds or curtains can all be controlled at the same time. With symbols that are easily recognised by everyone, this device enhances guests’ comfort and thus increases user satisfaction. residences Like the equipment for commercial premises, numerous functions are available for the residential environment, incorporating sophisticated technological developments. The flagship products are the Touch Screen family and touch plate switches or sensitive switches.

The 1.2” Touch Screen has a touch control screen for adjusting the temperature, simply choosing a radio station, or creating scenarios.

The 3.5” Touch Screen is used for hand-eye control of all the systems in the home using universally understandable icons: lighting, roller blinds,

10” Multimedia Touch Screen The 10” Multimedia Touch Screen has the same intuitive functions and navigation systems as the 3.5” Touch Screen. It covers all the smart systems for the home: switching lights on and off plus dimmer function, controlling roller blinds, creating and controlling lighting scenarios, centralised temperature control with supervision by zone, and controlling alarms. This multimedia unit also has two further functions: video door entry system and video surveillance. The inside and outside of the house can be monitored from the wide screen by controlling the different cameras.

The multimedia character of the 10” Touch Screen is demonstrated by the range of services offered: radio, playlists, weather forecasts, traffic reports, and video system. Photos, videos and MP3 files can be downloaded via a USB input and an SD card reader.

The 4-scenario controls in micropush or touch plate version enable control of various lighting or sound environments with a simple touch.

A comprehensive offer for dimming lights Arteor has various models for dimming lights, ranging from the simplest to the most advanced. A whole new generation of dimmers in stand-alone and home automation versions is currently available for conventional loads as well as for new types of load.

Thus, the universal dimmer with touch plate (in home automation version and micropush switch version as a single wiring device) can be used to control all loads, including compact fluorescent lamps and LEDs. Status indication on the device is provided by LEDs.

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Office 68 Sungei Kadut Loop, #03-00 Nutzcentre Singapore 729504 Tel: (65) 6494 7400 Fax: (65) 6494 7401 Email: info@hafele.com.sg Web: www.hafele.com

Showroom No. 1 Kaki Bukit Road #01-27/28 Enterprise One, Singapore 415934 Tel: (65) 6848 9075 Fax: (65) 6848 9076 Email: showroom@hafele.com.sg

Arteor

TM

Everyone dreams of creating the perfect home, a haven that provides sanctuary away from the hustle and bustle of the outside world at the end of a long day.

The key to a perfect home. Combining user-friendly features with an aesthetically pleasing body, Arteor home automation redefines quality living. Access a multitude of features or choose a combination of controls such as temperature, lighting, alarms or scenario setting at just one touch. The vast range of functions encased in an immaculately polished construction makes the experience of entering your home or office akin to stepping into your own slice of heaven.

Legrand Singapore Showroom 15 Jalan Kilang Barat #07-05/06/07 Frontech Centre Singapore 159357 Website: www.legrand.com.sg