GSA BA(Hons) Interior Design Portfolio by Raymond Wong

Portfolio’s Guide to Perfect Home

© 2018 Portfolio 2.0: A Compilation of Projects All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the editor, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the editor, addressed “Attention: Portfolio Permissions,” at the address below.

R.wong1@student.gsa.ac.uk www.rwportfolio.com Printed in Singapore Cover illustration, photos and words

by Raymond Wong

2 CONTENT PAGE 5 WELCOME

ONE

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016 NEGOTIATING SPACE

062 GENDER, SPACE AND IDENTITY

Introduction

018 MY HOUSE: CASE STUDY 1 Negotiation, Adaptation and Expectations

026 ALLYSON’S HOUSE: CASE STUDY 2

Introduction

066 INDIVIDUALS Designing for Zhi Kai, Charrier, David and Cherissa

150 COUPLES

Assumptions on the Natural Order Manifestation of Spatial Privacy

Designing for Chang Couple and Wong Couple

036 HOMES OF SINGAPORE: CASE STUDY 3

160 CONCLUSION

Moderation between Taste and Function

046 03-FLATS: CASE STUDY 4 Realization of Order

054 CONCLUSION 056 LIST OF FIGURES

What’s next?

THREE 164 A PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY

By Cherissa, Charrier, David and Zhi Kai

168 PAST PROJECT DIRECTION HDB Reimagined

190 CONCEPT MODELS AND COLLAGES Translating Text to Visual Elements

206 RESEARCH MINDMAP Readings and Thoughts

208 REFERENCE LIST 212 CREDITS 213 KEEP IN TOUCH

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Welcome home...

Portfolio 2.0: A Compilation of Projects is a documentation of past projects done in Year 4 Interior Design offered by Glasgow School of Arts. It is a continuation from the first compilation which seeks to explore and understand design methodologies, typologies and theory in the University level.

The aim of producing this issue is to document the growth of my design journey in GSA. You will notice that similar to the first issue in the the features, photography, and general aesthetics, there is an added dimension of interrogating social, cultural and political aspects of life.

It reflects the way I feel designing should be: simple yet complex, thought provoking, fun and 006

real. I recognize that design is deeply personal and anchors on our principles, beliefs and views on what esthetic is and should be.

In this issue, I present to you my manifesto in designing the perfect home for yourself. Features begins with an autoethnographic dissertation, which provides an overarching research and understanding of the issue. It acts as a platform for critical inquiry in understanding Gender, Space and the way we live at home as a theme.

The first project experiments with friends that are recently married couples as they try to negotiate their spaces as individuals, and setting up an alternative scenario where they lived alone in their apartments. It is more fun looking at them negotiating on what represents themselves as individuals living in their homes. The intimacy of the interviews conducted echoes the design outcome and its visual representations in rejecting the polished perfection; places where it appears as nobody actually lives in. A designed home should take into consideration of the occupant’s habits 1

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Negotiating Space, page 016 Couples, pages 150 - xxx Individuals, pages 064 - 149 Plan and Section Perspectives, pages 086,087,106,107,128,129, 148,149

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and routines, personality and character, therefore providing possibilities in utilising every pocket of spaces possible, showing ways in which the occupant could utilise their space to the fullest.

The design process albeit uncommon in the interior design practice as it is way too time consuming in making a project profitable, but it is definitely fruitful in its revealing of how each gender are represented in their individual spaces.

As such, bringing a new form of honesty in design and representation.

The second project, takes a step further as an attempt to challenge myself and maybe the system, even though it might not be adequate in its efforts to do so, but oh well, its still fun to try. I argue that individuality rather than gender specific or “insert word� specific should be considered in the everyday design which includes a community of public housing dwellers. I offer to reimagine the housing 5

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block as a amalgamation of nuclear families and individuals, reimagining of the possible social and tectonic interactions which may arise in a retroactive state where individuality is valued in the design and construction of public housing.

This book is a guide to designing with honesty for ourselves, when a interior design student is willing to help you imagine what your house is like living in it. Our homes that we live in is not the same, everyone is different and they have the right to be different. In our life time of living in our home, its almost impossible to standardise everything, what about the way we live? Standardisation is boring. and hopefully this portfolio is a perfect balance between fun and serious; inspirational and practical. Thank you and Salut!* 10

... my MANIFESTO 009

5) Habits and Routine Diagrams, pages 074-075, 094-095, 116-117,136-137 6) Interviews and Interpretations, pages 070-073, 090-093, 112-115, 132-135 7) Design Decisions, pages 076-083, 096-103, 118-125, 138-145 8) Conclusion of Gender, Space and Identity, pages 160-161 9) Past Project Direction, pages 178-185 10) Past Project Direction, pages 170-177 *) Watch Alex French Guy Cooking on YouTube, he is really interesting!

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1 Negotiating Space

Just a heads up, the following spread is in bright yellow. Just in case you go blind, put on your sunglasses if it helps, you are entitled to.

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A Note

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Homes of Singapore: Case Study 3

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Negotiating Space

My House: Case Study 1

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03-FLATS: Case Study 4

Conclusion 013

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Allyson’s House: Case Study 2

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List of Figures

WARNING! Chunky text blocks after this page.

However, I consider the writings an essential part of the year long project as it brings context to some of the decision making in studio.

P.S. If for some reason, texts blocks and research bores you and makes you sleepy. Skip to the visual parts after page 061, otherwise, reading the conclusion on page 055 is good too.

Thank you.

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“Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for.”

- Socrates 015

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S t art er i n t ro d u c t i o n

NEGOTIATING SPACE Dissertation

ABSTRACT: Objects act as artefacts in translating the hidden messages within the home, structured by the social politics of the nation. The narrative brings forth the dialectic of individuals within the domestic setting in a typical Housing Development Board (HDB) unit. Subsequently, presenting a series of observations that shed light into the embedded social politics of Singapore. How much does social politics influence the interiors of a HDB flat in relation to gender and space?

Hominess is not neatness. Otherwise everyone would live in replicas of the kinds sterile and impersonal homes that appear in interior-design and architectural magazines. What these spotless rooms lack, or what crafty photographers have carefully removed, is any evidence of human occupation. In spite of the artfully placed vases and casually arranged art books, the imprint of their inhabitants is missing. Can people really live without clutter?1

–WITOLD RYBCZYNSKI

Introduction: I first chanced upon this quote when I was doing research for a project on Apartamento magazine, an interior design publisher that focuses on the interiors of home and its honest representation.2 They advocate cluttered interiors, plants and the occupants as it shows life in the representation of home. In one of the presentation at Here 2016,3 they quoted Witold Rybczynski’s Home: A Short History of an Idea which was central in their philosophy, it brought relatability of a cluttered home. The notion of home seems to be a vague abstract of functions that aid in our daily routine in fulfilling our basic functionality of a being. I was a spectator of the house and the audience of the family, spending the time at home to sleep and wash up before heading out of the house and back into it to sleep only at night. What intrigues me are the objects that I find in the house at the particular location and order, it is almost like a detective trying to find out information in the crime scene, piecing together clues and hints of what happened when I was gone and often find out something interesting.

Often, the findings of the interior are extension from the exterior of society, for instance, marriage has become spatial in a way that gender is a criterion in buying a house. The paper started with a curiosity into how society and its policies affect the way we live in our home, drawing relation to my house as an example.

The paper will attempt to dive deeper into the notion of Gender, Space and Social Politics. Gender refers to a set of identity4 that an individual display based on specific social activities.5 It is a form of gender binary role performance6 that an individual performs specifically within a construct of a socially constructed space, defining it as per more than binary from biological characteristics. However, I will not be looking into Queer studies and Gender non-binary studies as the inclusion of the studies saturates the topic of discussion.

Space refers to the interiority of the public housing unit, defining it as being socially constructed. As such, the discussion of Gender and

Space differs from the ones of Gendered Spaces in my approach as a snooper trying to understand and relate in a larger scheme of things.

The sociologist Daphne Spain in Gendered Spaces and Women’s Status,7 provides cross-cultural and historical contexts using three different typologies in Dwelling, Workspace and Schools. The three typologies act as the common places where individuals spend most of our time in, the papers offer to investigate in the realms of home spaces in her examples of how gender stratification has caused gender segregation in their inhabitation of space, in extreme cases, both gender can occupy entirely different buildings,8 however, due to the constraints of Singapore’s land space and implication of social policies, segregation of majority dwelling spaces has transformed into a form of negotiation between occupants. The study will therefore be centred in public housing units as a main representation of dwelling typology specific to the context of Singapore.

This research will be facilitated through case studies in presenting the different factors in which social policies affect how people react to the space. I will be undertaking different approaches in the analysis of primary and secondary sources, thus highlighting the ideological aspect of the studies.

Method: For this research, I first started with the question of investigating Gendered Spaces by looking into multiple discourses from the fields of Sociology and Design. Subsequently, the manifestation of the spaces through the years to have a better understanding of the topic of choice. In this paper, I will be using case studies as an approach in comparing the observations gathered from the sources. The four sources consist of a mixture of primary and secondary sources which varies in its medium – two autoethnographic accounts, a photographic narrative published as a book and a documentary. The process of research proves to be a challenging one as gender, space 016

ies draw hybridity between everyday knowledge of the home and academic knowledge of the school in application to public housing units, negotiating of spaces within genders and occupants and the social politics between them.

In Frame Analysis, the socialist Goffman argues that our behavior is cued by expectations and is determined by the frames that we are in that constitute our context of action. In this instance, the activities of the occupants and their roles are important in providing actual context to the space; for example, when a lecturer starts a private conversation with a student in a classroom, onlookers are aware that they are having a consultation. It is a framed activity in determining the behavior norms which happens unconsciously, as such this allows me to provide context of the structured spaces and objects from within by give meaning to the activities connected to the occupants.

In The Sense of Order, the art historian Gombrich argues that we experience and understand the world by a equipped sense of “preexistent framework or ‘filling system’”.15 In this instance, I will be looking at the natural order of the objects in relation to its setting by providing contextual meaning in considering the surrounding of the objects, its locality, experiences and sometimes instinct to draw a clearer understanding of gender, space and social politics. This also allows me to challenge some of the assumptions that may occur within the domestic setting of a home.

The theories will be applied in the case studies, acknowledging Lefebvre’s association of space and social construction. The social practices are presented within the case studies in the format of Soja’s application of the physical and material space, the representation of it, thus, unravelling the ideological space; which corresponds to the trialectics of Firstspace, Thirdspace and Secondspace. This is supported by employing Frame Analysis and The Sense of Order to “start a discussion about the theatre rather than the play, the pots at a wedding rather than a marriage, the wallpaper of a room rather than the cosy chat we can have together in the room.”16 In addition, each individual case studies may draw from other sociological, gender or design theories to test on the ideas presented.

The aim of the research is to test the validity of social politics through the frameworks of The Trialetics of Space, signifying that there is an ideological space that bridges between the physical and perceived. This is done by using the Frame Analysis and The Sense of Things, to question the validity of the subjects and objects into providing an ideological answer in relation to social policies. Autoethnographic accounts were conducted as primary sources in the case and visual analysis is used to analysis the secondary sources.

and social politics discourses are often huge topics to discuss based on its complexity and multiple factors in contributing to the individual discourses. However, it is also interesting to explore the themes in the context of Singapore and the impacts of social politics in shaping interior spaces. This is especially so, in recent years, the rise of gender orientation and identity politics has questioned the fundamentals of our society and the decisions of individuals in purchasing our future houses.

The use of case studies as a method allows the reader to comprehend complicated social phenomenon9 in the case of Singapore’s society and public housing. However, I acknowledge that there are limitations in the method as which, the case studies do not provide a comprehensive analysis of the entire organization of social politics and its influence on public housing as it consists of a myriad of other factors, instead, the case studies presented, focuses on certain ideas and acts as a unit of analysis.10 The case studies allow for conception of the case by offering valuable information. Despite critics’ claim of inadequate scientific rigour and reliability, there are other researchers that believes it can strengthen knowledge with the use of previous researches and perspective of certain phenomenon,9 as multiple sources and evidences were considered.

The case studies presented are evaluated independently and cohesively as each of the cases bring forth different ideas and discussion which acts as a critic of other sources. At the same time, it also provides a wider narrative to the question of how social politics influences interior spaces in our primary mode of dwelling in Singapore.

Each of the case studies will be using different methods and frameworks in its analysis to provide a better insight to the case presented.

The methods and frameworks will be introduced independently in each of the cases for discussion and each case would have a conclusion on its own which contributes to the overall research as a whole.

The selection of the said cases provides a diverse overview of HDB flats from different estates range from Ang Mo Kio, Bishan, Queenstown, Bedok and Sembawang ; different flat types and distinct artefacts within the spaces which provides a speculative perspective on the social class, age and gender in its relative order to identify the occupant or occupants within the household.

Theoretical Frameworks: I will be employing three overarching theoretical frameworks as forms of inquiry into the case studies; Edward W. Soja’s The Trialectics of Spatiality,11 Erving Goffman’s Frame Analysis12 and Ernst Gombrich’s The Sense of Order.13

In The Trialectics of Spatiality, Soja further developed and applied Henri Lefebvre’s theory in The Production of Space14 of the objective space, conceived space and lived space which corresponds with Soja’s Firstspace, Secondspace and Thirdspace. The case stud017

Cha p t er 01 neg otiatin g s p a c e

S t art er case study 1

MY HOUSE Case Study 1

Preface: The aim of this particular case study was to provide contextual insight as to how we live in our homes; especially when majority of Singapore’s population dwell in city-state owned Public Housing units.

The autoethnographic account provides cultural analysis and interpretation with the use of the objects, through the narrative details of personal accounts.

“Take the table: a crazy jumble of a table with some dreadful metalwork. But our table, our table! Can you imagine what that meant? Can you imagine what wonderful hours we spent at it? … And the pictures of my parents! What dreadful frames! A leftover from grandmother’s home. And here an embroidered slipper in which you can hang the clock. Made in kindergarten by my sister Irma. Every piece of furniture, every object, every thing had a story to tell, the story of our family. Our home was never finished, it developed with us, and we with it.”17

–ADOLF LOOS eldest son fits into the aspirations and mold of my father, the often neglected, do what you want just don’t get into trouble middle child and the willfully pampered youngest child. I could still remember the vast difference in treatment as I was taught in a stricter manner, subsequently gaining the trust and freedom from my parents and on the other hand, pampering my younger sister as she is a girl, the older brothers must protect her and give her whatever she wants.

The shoe racks on the side of the steps validates the relationship, where on the left (figure 3) holds the footwears of my mother and younger siblings. The rack is mainly occupied by my sister with my brother owning a small portion of the rack and my mother’s footwear at the side of the rack. On the right (figure 4), holds the footwear of my father and I, it is mainly occupied by my father while have one or two shoes on it. The ash tray highlights a common space where my father smokes, respecting the fact that we dislike the smell of smoke in the house and it contaminates our clothes and soft furnishings that we have in the house, validating the spheres of public and private that corresponds with: “the progressive distinction between male and female spheres came about during this period when men went out to work as the breadwinners of the family while women remained at home to care for the children.”20 My father works as a deliveryman. His work tools are placed outside the house for easy access as they are often bulky, exemplifying the ideology of a working man belonging to the public and the stay at home woman that takes care of the family at home.

This notion of how a mother should embody the qualities of security, safety and permanence, and ‘is always home’,21 changed as my youngest sibling grew older and were at an age to take care of herself.

My mother went out to work to help improve the financial situation in the family, which challenges the personification of ‘a place which did not change’.22 Instead, my father seems to be the one that is at home most of the time as the work hours are usually more flexible as

The Architect Adolf Loos adequately described how the furniture and objects has a deeper meaning as opposed to its function by providing contextual insight to the usage of it and its relation to the occupants.

The case study progresses through the house with a visual aid of a diagram and pictorial field notes (figures 1 to 10) to detail some of the key ideas that I want to bring forth in this case study.

The house that I am staying in is classified under the new generation three-room flat that were built in the year of 1981, in the estates of Ang Mo Kio.18 The flat is located at the third level of the block at the right most side of the block, facing the open-air carpark, adjacent to a corner unit and a stairwell and elevator. A common feature of the new generation flats is the short flight of steps that runs for 3 threads in front of the entrance of the flat (figure 2).

Unbeknownst to the ordinary passerby that does not live in one of the many public housing units in Singapore, the exterior of the unit, the common corridor of the unit acts as an extension of my family from within, following a distinct perspective of ‘“seeing beyond” the photograph’19 from the architectural theorist and historian Charles Rice. Shoe racks and other objects can be seen before entering my house, the objects detail the journey of negotiation between the occupants starting from the exterior.

On a neater day, the footwears are shown in figures 2 to 4, the slippers before and on the steps were organized subconsciously by the family. My father and I have our slippers on the common corridor while my brother occupies the first thread of steps and my mother and sister occupy the second thread leading to our home (figure 2).

A simple placement of the footwears shows the relationship between my family members. I am closer to my father, my younger sister closer to my mother while my brother maintains a healthy relationship between two while occasionally more inclined towards my mother.

How typical of a conservative Asian family that we are, while the 018

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01 Diagram of my unit and orientation of image position 02 The steps towards the entrance of my house 03 Shoe rack on the left side of steps 04 Shoe rack, basket and push cart on the right of steps 05 Stacks of clothes 06 Newspaper reading space, tv console, cabinet and desktop space 07 Desktop and its surrounding 08 Dining Table full of books, and a bag of uneaten potato chips 09 Kitchen area 10 An arched wall leading to the bedrooms and storeroom

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compared to my mother’s. The introduction of women into the workforce was an effort to boost the economy in the early 1970s,23 this is put into context when indicating that the other half that contributes to the economy are essentially men, and that it is not wise to neglect the other half, especially so when Singapore’s only resource is the people.

Moving on and into the house, one will be greeted by a huge pile of clothes (figure 5) that are placed on the floor. Folded and stacked according to the size of the owners and gender. Male on the left and female on the right, in the order of my father, myself, my younger brother, younger sister and mother respectively. Accessibility is key in this household, amidst the mess and clutter in the house lies the carefully organized stack of objects in the home. The stacks of clothes along the wall of the living room happened over a period of time as my mother likes to sit on the floor while folding clothes as it cools her down from the torment of the tropical weather. Each stack was given a designated floor tile and multiple stacks create a grid of clothes for the respective individual, invisible boundaries segregated by my mother, a deliberate decision to organize it in the manner.

The front space of the living room (figure 6) basically belongs to my mother as she spends most of her time at home at that spot. Often, we would be able to see her resting on the floor next to the stack of clothes after her long day at work. My younger siblings

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share the desktop space (figure 7) that is placed along the wall of the living room, obstructing the television. The front part of the living room basically belongs to my mother as she spends most of her time at home at that spot. Often, we would be able to see her resting on the floor next to the stack of clothes after her long day at work. My mother’s collection of dramas and movies are kept separate from the rest of the discs, stored in her archival space to be forgotten. She sits on the floor amidst her chaos of lottery paper and newspaper, practicing her hobby of lottery guessing. “There is hope when you buy” she said, reflects the aspiration of a typical Singaporean hoping to earn some extra money in a developed country with a high cost of living. The unused tv in the living room and the juxtaposition of the computer that blocks off the television (figure 7), while reflecting on how much time the family spends our time in the living room, it also embodies the technological advancement and accessibility to media in our society, taking over the traditional medium for media consumption.

The black Ikea dining table (figure 8) is placed jutting out into the living room which acts as a separator of space dividing the living room into three distinct parts: Study, Dining and Prayer places.

On one corner of the dining table is another heap of clutter in the form of letters that are usually directed to my father. At the end of the living room marks the invisible boundary of the altar placed at the furthest corner of the living room next to the opening towards

the kitchen. The clutter on the dining table reflects the uncustomary dining habits at home. Often, my siblings bring their food to the desktop table to consume while actively engrossed on the desktop monitors. The usage of the spaces shown in figure 7 and 8 are negotiated between the multiple family members in the household.

In deconflicting personal usage, the spaces are deconflicted by time and spatially in a way that is carefully planned and mapped out to overlap with one another. The quality of the space changes in the communal and private spaces within the house and as an extension of the occupants and their interaction with space, object and people.

As Goffman rightly highlighted that ‘a basic unit of our society is the domestic establishment with its nuclear family, ideal or fragmented,’24 reflects the societal values of the city-state despite the developments of modern Singapore in inheriting from ‘British Victorian attitudes’,25 the societal values of Singapore ‘is basically a conservative one,’26 by committing into ‘our families as a basic building block of society.’27 With the government’s profamily stance since its formation, housing and social policies has always indicated that family and our people is the foundation of our society.

My father cooks most of the time now (figure 9), but rarely do you see everyone eating together at the dining table, most of the time the family eats in a staggered timing based on our differences in our daily schedule. Not only does it highlight that the table serves as 021

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a study, reading, dining table deconflicted through time, it also highlights the shift in traditional values, social construct, roles and responsibilities that Goffman introduced: “Given a definition of a category of persons, in this case sex-class, it would seem that any apt label we employ to refer to its members - in this case, “men,” “women,” “male,” “female,” “he,” “she” - can easily come to function as a characterization, symbol, and overall image of the class,”28 highlights the social classifications created in order to make sense of our biology.

West’s, Zimmerman’s of display theory: “the notion of gender as a role obscures the work that is involved in producing gender in everyday activities, while the notion of gender as a display relegates it to the periphery of interaction. We argue instead that participants in interaction organize their various and manifold activities to reflect or express gender,”29 highlights the adaptiveness of displaying an identity that interacts with the activities that we have. In which, simply put, my father is adopting the gender role of a mother in caring for the children at home and performing other domestic duties “as required” of a mother. Whom traditionally is responsible in the practice of domesticity, as established previously in the public and private spheres of our society.

Last but not least, the bedrooms in the family are segregated by gender (figure 10), to allow for more privacy within the family. The room at the right fulfills the basic need for resting and sleeping for the male occupants. Between the two wardrobes in the room, one is shared between my father and myself while the other belongs to my mother. The allocated rooms and wardrobes within the family provides some form of privacy for my family in negotiating our individual spaces, the stack of clothing at the side of the living room (figure 5) and master bedroom on the left (figure 10), when put into context of the existence of the wardrobes in placed, creates a unique dialectic where multiple individuals are trying to stake claim in the small space available in the house. Multiple identities can be observed through the clothing that acts as an extension to the individual. Instead, wardrobes that are not frequently opened are kept aside for important items, for instance, my mother keeps all the important documents of the family in her drawers, inside them are some of her jewelries and pictures of my siblings and me. In a sense, my mother was given the authority by my father to safeguard the important objects of the family in his absence, which further amplifies the traditional relationship of the married couple in their attempt to navigate the domestic realms.

Similar to the examples Spain presented in her paper,30 gender segregated spaces were apparent due to the social and cultural construct of rituals which manifested into the design of the house or building in the early years of Singapore history. These can be seen in traditional shophouses in the likes of NUS Baba House as an exam025

ple, a small wooden block in the bridal room can be removed to reveal a peep hole into the reception hall below, this function allowed the brides of the family to peep at their future groom. The presence of an adjacent single bed next to the alcove bridal bed allowed for the husband to sleep in as and when he chooses31 as narrated by Leon Battista Alberti: “The husband and wife must have separate bedrooms. not only to ensure that the husband be not disturbed by his wife, when she is about to give birth or is ill, but also to allow them, even in summer, an uninterrupted night’s sleep, whenever they wish.”32

Relatively, it is also because that the space within the house is adequately spacious for the occupants, the circumstance would very well be different when the number of occupants increase. Which differs from HDB flats due to the relative compactness and openness of it to begin with. In the case of the HDB flat, gender segregation through space has caused little or no contribution to the spatial constructs of the house, even when there are signs of it; access can be easily granted through the process of negotiating as a means of deconflicting privacy issues.33 In the domestic setting of Singapore Public Housing, the negotiating of spatial occupancy therefore possesses complex patterns of spatial zoning through declaring of communal and private space and time zoning through deconflicting spatial utility by time and schedule connoting complex dialectics within the occupants exemplified in the likes of using the dining table by the family.

I note that through this case study, in using Frame Analysis and The Sense of Order in my observation of the objects stemming from the house, I was able to narrate the objects by providing contextual knowledge in the method of an autoethnography. The ideas presented within the narrative, while highlighting that gender is a social construct which is performed within a site.34 An individual has the ability to adopt a certain characterized social role to fulfill the needs of a conservative Asian nuclear family in our behavior and expectations of others to behave adequately in the setting. The shifting changes in the conservative ideology while acting as a counter argument in the relationship between the family, bring forth the cultural aspect of the society as well. Spatial qualities within the house can be seen as a social interaction; a phenomenon in denoting the spatial negotiations in the family. By understanding the gender and space I was able to relate to the influences that are deeply embedded in our societal values and views of our city-state, long term housing policies that started off as an emergency solution to house the troubled population, thus, becomes a framed setting for discussion and negotiation.

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S t art er case study 2

ALLYSON’S HOUSE Case Study 2

Preface: The aim of this particular case study was to provide contextual insight into a household that employs a domestic helper under the foreign domestic servant scheme. The case study looks at the interiority of the HDB flat, its occupants and the notion of privacy. Similar to the previous case study, I will be using an autoethnographic approach in the analysis, providing additional frameworks in facilitation of the discussion.

“Having given his wife apparent authority over the house on which his public authority depends, the paterfamilias consolidates his control by secreting the family documents- the interrelated financial and genealogical records-in a locked chest in his study. The whole economy of the household is literally written down at the hidden center of the space it organizes . . . The woman maintains a system without access to its secrets”

–MARK WIGLEY powerful trajectory of academic thinking. The adage ‘form follows function’ was prominent in modernism and remains a trope in design and architecture.37

Function remains the driving force towards any explanation of the objects around us, labelling and classifying them into their different category of stuff. It is an aspect of how we adapt to our environment. Following that chain of thought, I will be employing on Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E. Moore’s structural functional theory as the frame which creates the natural order of things in social stratification. However, I would argue that the social stratification that is apparent in the domestic servant scheme will come in the expense of privacy for the individuals inhabiting the house.

The sociologists Davis and Moore’s Structural functional theory of social stratification identifies that inequality in social status is functional and necessary in maintaining the state of equilibrium in the society.38 The Foreign Domestic Servant Scheme was introduced in the efforts to encourage and employ skilled Singaporean women in contribution to the nation’s economy who are “being burdened with household duties,”39 the scheme will enable “households in Singapore to employ female domestic help from other countries.”40 I will be examining Allyson’s house and her domestic worker’s influence on the interior of the household using the overarching frameworks of Goffman and Gombrich. Similar to case study one, I will be using a diagram (figure 12) and pictorial field notes (figures 13 to 23) in presenting the related ideas.

The house where Allyson stays in is classified under the model A five-room flat that were built in the year of 1992, in the estates of Bishan.41 The flat is located at the sixth level of the block at the left side of the block, a corner unit that in its overall design connects with the other unit from the other block. This unique configuration of units was built above the roads connecting to two

I started to look for sources that could provide me with a glimpse as to how gender and space was like historically in Singapore, the search manifested in a painting by Percy Carpenter (figure 11). The painting showed an extensive view of Singapore from Pearl’s Hill to Tanjong Rhu, with the early settlers of Singapore. It can be inferred that the people in the scene were of an Indian descent based on the headdress that resembles the turban. The focus, however, should be brought to the segregation of people as portrayed in the painting. Men were seen in the center of the painting overlooking the settlement, while at the bottom left corner, woman were seen with children at the vicinity of the hut shows the common gender roles in the era.

As Moira Munro and Ruth Madigan suggested: “Associated with this meaning is the idea that the home should also be relaxing and welcoming for visitors. … Although at first glance these expressions seem closely linked, further examination reveals conflict between two strong ideologies.

Because a core part of the definition of a “welcoming” home is that it should be presentable – namely, that it should be clean and tidy and there should not be embarrassing amounts of domestic clutter facing any visitor.”35

The sense of order in the domestic setting is that “everything is orderly arranged, not in the first chance place, but in that to which it naturally belongs.”36 The order of the home is therefore deemed that it is only “natural” for a house to be well kept with minimal clutter. The responsibility of maintaining the order was entrusted to woman as a “natural” and reasonable decision as man has to leave home for work. As part of the efforts to organize and maintaining the order, we would have to understand the function of the objects there for knowing their place in the space. We can look at function as our: default gear in driving towards any explanation of why we have what we have. It is the way we label goods from frying pans to swimwear. But as well as dominating colloquial relationships to things it also provides a 026

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11 View of Singapore from Mount Wallich 12 Diagram of Allyson’s unit and orientation of image position 13 Walkway towards the main living area of the house 14 Piano and the open space behind 15 Balcony as the storeroom 16 Kitchen area 17 Domestic helper’s room 18 Clutter of books 19 An organized mess 20 Empty space leading to three rooms 21 Allyson in her “bedroom” 22 The master bedroom 23 Walk-in-wardrobe in master bedroom

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open air carparks.

Pass the standard silver metal gate and a wooden door that divides the interior and exterior of the unit, I was greeted by a piano across the linear walkway that acts as a transitional space towards the intimacy of the home (figure 13). The windows on the right allowed sunlight to penetrate into the interior, revealing the orderly placed boxes and cabinets of footwears. A peek into the drawers of the cabinet reveals many types of footwears and a number of sizes, leaving me wonder how the occupants organize their objects. My hypothesis is that the domestic helper while fulfilling her domestic duties, erases the traces of Allyson’s family way of negotiating space which in turn affects the identity making of the occupants within their home.

Moving forward to the main living space (figure 14), the photo frames provided a hint to Allyson’s family, their travel endeavors. There was no sight of the domestic helper within the photographs, seemingly as if the past 13 years of service to their family was in vain.

The domestic helper seemed like a guest or in some sense an invader of the family in their use of space. Books and trophies can be seen next to the piano, while they were all neatly placed and exude a sense of organization, there was no sense of order in its identification of the owner. More trophies can be discovered on the other side of the wall (figure 19), placed in a display cabinet while some overflowed to the tv console. All were neatly placed, but there was something lacking, as

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if there were no soul in the objects.

Peeking into their storeroom that is next to the piano (figure 15), revealed different forms of sports equipment and boxes of well kept children’s toy. I was curious as of why there are still toys in the house, Allyson’s younger siblings are both in secondary school now, it seems a little odd that they would be needing those toys.

This curiosity adds on to my hypothesis that perhaps, because of the employment of a domestic helper that is so good in doing her job in a repetitive environment, she was able to put things away and neatly (figure 16). Therefore, in the communal spaces within the home, signs of the occupants were overwritten by the intervention of the helper. It makes sense that 13 years ago, Allyson’s siblings were at the age of playing with those toys, because, without the helper, there will be a point where clutter has grown beyond a point of tolerance and the family would be compelled to intervene in reviewing on the importance of different objects. Therefore, discarding or recycling the objects, creating space and opportunity for the occupants to manifest and renegotiate space in an adaptive manner.

This cycle would go on and repeat till the day when the family leaves the house and a new family comes in and a new cycle would begin.

That is a sign of a truly lived in space. A space that grows and adapts with the occupants.

In this case, the domestic helper performs the domestic

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duties with monetary incentives; an argument that feminist studies would justify that: the family home, far from being a “haven in a heartless world,” can also be a prison and the locus of oppression, ranging from the frustration of women who find themselves tied to a narrow domestic role to those who are victims of sustained violence.42

Wouldn’t that solve the issue of under appreciative female individuals that work tirelessly in making sure that their family are well taken care? As a matter of fact, it doesn’t, it is demonstrated that kinship within the family compels individuals to provide in abundance to what they can give or afford in the formation of their home and family as: Many women are constantly on duty, attending to other people’s needs and looking after the house whenever other members of the family are at home. In this way, they subsume their own relaxation to fostering it in other members of the family. This is not something that they complain about to any extent.43

The domestic helper, on the other hand, is not akin to Allyson’s family; her job is to organize and put things in place to where it should be, there is no need to categorize according to the occupants’ habits and needs. The same could be said in the kitchen (figure 16), clutter of the kitchen appliances can be seen across the cabinetry along the side of the wall, amidst those appliances, one of it had broken down. Looking back at the theories of Goffman and Gombrich, where the setting of the place is appropriate and the order of the object is 029

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that they need, often employing the help of the domestic helper as she was the one who kept them. The placement of the objects was blurred because of the mixed materials that indicate the presence and identity of its owner. It is further exemplified on Allyson’s desk (figure 19), the organization of the objects were placed neatly, but Allyson has no idea where some of her items are, often she would have to search high and low and they were sometimes hidden in bags. Just like the brown paper bag that we see in the figure, once, Allyson was looking for her belongings and when she attempted to search that paper bag, unwanted plastics, wrappers and paper litters can be found in it, fulfilling the maxim: “Out of sight, out of mind.”

Adding on from the discussion on the topic of domestic helper, the sense of privacy in the house is affected by the “invasion” of the domestic helper identity at home, this can be seen in the clean and empty communal spaces within the unit (figure 20), most of the time, the doors are shut when the family members are at home.

The sense of privacy was gradually produced throughout the next centuries by redefining the spaces of the house into a complex order of layered spaces and subdivisions of spaces that map a social order by literally drawing the lines between hierarchies of propriety.45

Their identity and negotiation of space has manifested into their comforts of their private room. The social and individual activities of the family are all constraint to the boundaries of their individual

placed according to its setting, the object is left in its natural state. The spoilt appliance is left at its position. The objects in the kitchen can be seen to serve its function without personalization from the other occupants, crockery and utensils used for their meals were uniform and standardized its design, there is no claim as to which of it belongs to each individual. Even though there were plenty of other crockery and utensils, they were all stored in the cabinets.

Similar to how the helper’s room (figure 17) is organized by the tasks that she has to complete. The confines and privacy of her room is filled with the functions of the family, where anyone can access her room when they need something. The form of function in the case of a house, by all means doesn’t mean functional, but instead seems to draw reference to Taylorism.44 The correlation of objects within the household, which are managed by the domestic helper, is based on the idea of being efficient, that it should be accessible to her when she most often accesses it. Even though, it is not scientific in her approach, but rather, based on her collective experience and observations within the house.

My hypothesis can be confirmed through the analysis of figures 18 and 19. The stacks of books placed on the cabinets (figure 18) was placed neatly at its place, however, it is not organized specific to the occupants, in this case, Allyson’s siblings have to rummage through the stacks and the cabinets to look for the objects or books 033

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rooms, other than Allyson who inhabits the ideological typology of a living room (figure 21), a necessary trade off in employing a domestic helper as listed in the ministry of manpower’s guide for employers.46 The “complex order of layered spaces”47 that architectural historian Mark Wigley suggests, becomes apparent by the segregations of space by the occupants.

A home which is supposed to be an intimate space becomes “a privacy within the house developed beyond the privacy of the house.”48 Communal spaces are often left empty and void of social interactions; instead it manifests itself into the private spaces of the master bedroom (figure 22), a place where her parents reside. The master bedroom changes into a dining, entertainment and work space as different interactions and activities defines the nature of the space. In this space, I could examine the manifestation and negotiation of the three occupants – Allyson’s parents and youngest sibling.

The cabinet that is full of soft toys and exhumes the identity of her younger sister. Her father’s informal workspace when going through emails in his comfort of his bed.

The case can be summed up with a walk-in-wardrobe in the master bedroom (figure 23), I note that in this case study, a singular example of how a domestic helper partake in the domesticity of a household as representation of the larger population seems a little farfetched as cases varies in different forms and criteria which determines in our way of living. But I can not ignore the fact that implementation of social or political policies from our city-state affects the interiors of our houses and how we inhabit in it as well. Using domestic helper as an example, implementation of social policies in aid to the agendas of improving our society affects our engagement and interaction with space; carves out different meaning of privacy in space for different genders. In a “natural” state of home (figure 23), it is a cycle of constant adaptation, negotiation and interaction between the occupants and space to cement the identity of the occupants and their gender. As presented in the first case study, the objects tell how the different occupants and negotiate space, thus forming a set of ritualistic routine, habits and behavior that is appropriate specific to the site.

In the next case study, I will be under taking different methods to present on hedonism and functionalism in relation to the perceived interior, in my efforts to argue that gendered characteristics and attributes in classifying interior spaces and its design do not necessarily denote the gender of the space, but instead, looking at the entirety of the objects that connotes the identity of the occupant.

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S t art er case study 3

HOMES OF SINGAPORE Case Study 3

Preface: I was utterly surprised on my trip to the National Library in search of sources that are able to provide information on Singapore domestic setting from publications available are often overtly generic, outdated and unable to represent the majority of over 80% of Singapore’s resident population,49 therefore, a lost in translation in conveying the essence of our domestic setting in an HDB flat.

I suppose we could argue whether a sari was more or less functional than a skirt, but very quickly we would find that we were talking about function in a very loose fashion. If a sari is better in expressing modesty, is that a function? If a skirt signals gender distinction, is that a function? If most of the women in India who mend roads and work in the fields wear saris, does this imply they are more functional than skirts or trousers?

–DANIEL MILLER practical experiences and knowledge of the certain objects and their function, understanding the denotation level of the image and therefore able to understand the ascribe meaning to things in the connotation level. Without the experiences and knowledge of the image, it quickly becomes a myth in our application of limited, man-made perspectives, expressed in the intentions of its teller.

This case study is broken down into 3 parts that discuss on gender performance, gender representation and hedonism and functionalism of space. The first part of the case study, in analyzing the imagery, we can assume the gender of the occupant in the lived space this is done through stereotyping of the occupant with a set of gendered characteristics. However, I argue that gender, as a social construct of the society, that we should consider other factors like taste, experience and material culture influences instead of the generalization of space. The second part of the case study presents that, the generalized characterizing of spaces by the attributes of masculinity and femininity is due to the skewed representation of women in social and digital media. Therefore, resulting in a stereotypical image of how a home should be. The third part of the case study, argues that it is not a matter of hedonism or functionalism that is commonly associated to femininity or masculinity respectively, but that an interior space can possess both qualities as an extension of the occupant.

I remember asking my peers around me in the studio54 as a small experiment, if they could tell what gender the occupant/occupants are by looking at the pictures in the book (figures 24 and 25).

The captions of the pictures were covered deliberately so that they can assess the picture based on the objects, interior fittings and material furnishings of the house. After examining the photos, 3 of them gave me the answer that this space belongs to a guy. I was curious as to how they derived in that assumption, because I too, thought that the house belongs to a guy.

The search of HDB related housing and concise narrative for the interiors of HDB flats came to fruition in the form of HDB Homes of Singapore50 by keyakismos and Tomohisa Miyauchi. Despite the majority of its content being photographs and descriptive captions without the detailed floor plans of the interior, the publication possesses a detailed documentation in its myriad of HDB flats, making it a suitable source to undertake in the paper to better understand gender and their utilization of space as representation of the major domestic setting in Singapore.

The book project was published in the year of 2017 by Eitaro Ogawa and Tamae Iwasaki (keyakismos) with the idea of documenting and showcasing the ordinary HDB flat when they had to leave their landed property and move into an HDB flat. The meeting of later partner and photographer Miyauchi in 2013 proved to be a crucial driving force in fulfilling the conceived idea. The publication collected over a hundred HDB homes in a span of three years51 to create a photographic journey almost like an encyclopedia of HDB flats in its variety of flat types built in different time frames and exuberant styles that echoes the identity of the occupants. As a collective of images documented, it was able to provide a distinct narrative in the occupants within their homes by their belongings and artifacts.

Often, one could tell if there were the contrasting juxtaposition of identities and objects.

I will be employing on Roland Barthes’s visual semiotics theory as my approach to analyze the visual images of this case study.

The representations are perceived in their denotation and connotations forms;52 a superficial description of the image and expressed underlying ideas and values of the image in its intended representation. “For example, it is very difficult to attribute meaning to a photograph without a caption or accompanying the text.”53 This is only possible when we are able to make sense of the image through our 036

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The photo frames hung up on the walls of a supposed workspace while juxtaposed with an old electric fan exudes a sense of nostalgia. The dark-colored office chair, when placed into contrast with the heaviness and sturdy of a dark wood parquet flooring, brings out a feel of mid-century modern (figure 24). We could infer that the individual is working in one of the creative fields due to the placement of an iMac desktop. The well organized and white cabinet unites with the white walls to create a simplistic contrast with the flooring and objects. Moving to the other areas within the house, our attention was brought to the paper lighting fixture which provides a warm atmosphere in a corner of the house (figure 25), again, framed up pictures could be seen, prompting us to wonder if the individual has any relation to photography. He/she might be a photographer or just someone that likes to take photographs as a habit. The organized and clean lines in the living space, shows consistency throughout the private workspace, communal living area, kitchen and bedroom.

Light colored curtains were furnished to allow nature, light and wind to invade into the house, bringing in a certain airiness into the house with the natural ventilation. The contrast of the trees from the exterior, brought in by the windows, with the simplistic home furnishings and wooden flooring exudes a certain relaxing vibe, a retreat from the exuberantly hectic lifestyle.

Upon revealing the identity of the occupant through the captions (figure 26), we soon noticed that our assumption of gender characterization and association of material properties proved that our guess is wrong. The occupant is a single woman working as a photographer. Without contextual knowledge of the house in the form of captions and accompanying text, our experiment proved that a denotation in the form of an image can provide multiple connotations in our attempt to make sense of it. The assumptions from this example can be shown in: A picture of women and their tastes – their preoccupation with surface rather than with substance, with ephemerality rather than universality, with appearance rather than with utility, and with the inessential rather than the essential.55

This led me to conclude that, material choices, interior qualities which include styles and the juxtaposed objects cannot be associated with gender characteristics; in all societies, all infants at birth are placed in one or in the other of two sex classes, the placement accomplished by inspection of the infant’s naked person, specifically its genitalia, these being visibly dimorphic-a placement practice not dissimilar to that employed in regard to domestic animals. This placement by physical configuration allows a sex-linked label of identification.56

Like how I have considered gender roles and how individuals adopt different roles in situations in case study one, the approach in investigating and examining interior spaces should also be opened to subjectification, the interior design of the home and its inherent

24 Opening pages of “What to Shoot”, pages 136,137 25 Interior Photography of “What to Shoot”, pages 138,139 26 Description text of “What to Shoot”, pages 136 27 Opening pages of “Love Is the Way”, pages 628,629 28 Interior Photography of “Love Is the Way”, pages 630,631 29 Drawing of TLN - Living Room, 03-FLATS 30 Opening pages of “Do It Myself ”, pages 366,367 31 Interior Photography of “Do It Myself ”, pages 368,369 32 Interior Photography of “Do It Myself ”, pages 370,371

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style should be justified as personal taste. As Russel Lynes explained: The consumers and makers of taste cannot be divided according to the conventional social strata. Good taste and bad taste, adventurous and timid taste, cannot be explained by wealth or education, by breeding or background.57

Taste is something that cannot be classified and aligned to traditional social stratifications, it varies individually and various factors can attribute to the taste of an individual, in this sense, individualism should be explored in The Sense of Things as a renewed order, putting ourselves into that frame of discussion.

Moving on from the previous example, I quickly realized that through the many examples of Singapore homes, visual representations of homes are often mediated by the designers of the home, showing clean and detailed perspectives of the house, a lived-in characteristic of the home is lacking in the visual representations. In cases where activities were captured from within the house, women and children are often present in the scene (figure 27). In HDB Homes of Singapore, what I thought the authors of the book did well was to really capture the home in its most natural state, subtly hinting on the identities of the occupants and their lived-in habits of the space. The portrayal of interiors is different from mainstream media and sources.

As Penny Sparke elaborates: Given that the majority of the goods we consume have been mass produced or “mediated” by the process of indus-

trial manufacture and commercial distribution, our private, interior spaces – and often our public spaces – are not only part of a spatial, material, and visual reality but are also, perhaps more significantly, representations of idealized environments that are “mediated” through lifestyle and interior magazines, shop windows, exhibitions, and voyeuristic television programmes.58

Truly, the way in which we consume social and digital media in our society would eventually affect our ability to differentiate on what is the “natural” order of things (figure 28). As we integrate cohesively into our society, being born and bred in the system, it is also evident that we are oblivious to this framing that we have discussed previously. Sparke suggested that in order for us to break away from the idealized environments, there is a need for us to “negotiate our gendered identities by interacting with our goods and environments, interactions frequently, although not exclusively, undertaken through the act of consumption.”59 In this sense, I would like to rethink into the ways in which represent homes and its interior, by considering clutter as a manifestation of human behavior and activities, a truthful representation of activities in space to produce my theory that I would like to call Honest Humans. It is a theory where I prioritize the truthfulness of the content, an honest representation of the interior and be human. This is an approach where we can closely relate to in our conceived, perceived and ideological spaces. That, we acknowl042

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edge that we are a part of our society and its structure, we recognize individuality and welcome it.

For example, consider the AutoCAD drawing in figure 29, of a living room space that captures details of the home like no one have seen before. Traditionally, drawings were specifically technical with minimal display of individual details like the diagrams presented in case of studies one and two (figure 1 and 12). By incorporating details like shadow and clutter in the house, it brings forth another form of aesthetics where this form of medium was usually deemed as a mundane technical tool for construction and communication purposes, instead, I argue that the drawing in figure 29 brings forth an added dimension of human activity into the flat drawing.

Last but not least, in this example of an interior that mediates between the hedonism and functionalism school of thought, Daniel Miller questioned the meaning of function: I suppose we could argue whether a sari was more or less functional than a skirt, but very quickly we would find that we were talking about function in a very loose fashion. If a sari is better in expressing modesty, is that a function? If a skirt signals gender distinction, is that a function? If most of the women in India who mend roads and work in the fields wear saris, does this imply they are more functional than skirts or trousers?60

I realize that function in societies has a very contrasting set of values. In my attempt to understand the correlation between the

two school of thoughts, I will be employing s structuralist approach in understanding the meaning of both. In some sense, I come to understand the meaning through the segregation of gender into the domestic and public spheres, “an environment which was dominated by morality, social aspiration, the exercise of taste and display, which kept men in the much more so-called rational world of work, progress, technology and utility,”61 which resulted in “the emergence of a set of polarized value systems and ways of relating to the world,”62 for different genders.

I argue that instead of the opposing school of thoughts, I would prefer the chain of thought that functionalism is a byproduct of hedonism.

The raw and gritty industrial style interior that is apparent in the brick wall (figure 30) and the storage unit that resembles the cool pre-cast concrete (figure 31). The furnishes exude a mixture of warm and cold atmosphere, but also masculine due to the utilitarian image that comes to mind when the spaces and storages blend seamlessly through the constraints of the unit. But if we look at the basis of design, it coincides with a form of self-indulgence in the material choices, and a pursuit of happiness in designing and doing the house himself. The juxtaposition of the handbags (figure 32) to the cold hard surfaces of a cement paneling, is a testament to femininity and modernity integrating as well. The material choices, and a pursuit of happiness in designing and doing the house himself. The juxtaposition of the handbags (figure 32) to the cold hard surfaces of a cement paneling, 043

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is a testament to femininity and modernity integrating as well. In my opinion, it is not a one size fit all solution where one has to be more apparent than the other, it is a collective of both school of thought that allows a careful and well-negotiated interior, a dialogue between the occupants and space.

The aim of this case study is to break the stereotypical assumption of the relation between gender and space, arguing that taste is an aspect that we have to consider; the influence of social and digital media in the representation of home that inevitably affects the way we consume visually as exemplified by Sparke: In the contemporary industrialized world, women, feminine taste, desire, pleasure, and material culture make up a stereotypically gendered package. Short of a complete social, economic, and cultural revolution that would transform the framework that constructed that package, the stereotypes we have inherited will remain in place, with only small mutations occurring to them over the years,63 adding that we should re-look into the medium and its material to: extend the idea of the “media” beyond the obvious forms of films, television programs, mass circulation magazines, and advertisements – the familiar subjects of media studies discussions – to include designed goods and the interior spaces we all inhabit on a daily basis,64 calls for the need to introduce my theory of Honest Humans and last but not least; the notion that it is not a matter of hedonistic or functionalistic approach to design, but a considered dialogue between the two in negotiating between occupants and with their spaces.

In the next case study, I will be looking into 03-FLATS, an ethnographic documentary that looks at three single women living in their HDB homes, to act as an approach to sum up the ideas in the previous case studies. I will also be relating those ideas to the larger context of Singapore and the social politics involved in shaping the built spaces in relation to gender.

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03FLATS Case Study 4

Preface: 03-FLATS follows the domestic existence of three single women who strive for independence at different stages of their lives. The film moves between the ordered public spaces outside these flats, and the well-meaningly empty or cluttered, and at times flamboyant, lived spaces of its occupants.

“Homemaking consists in the activities of endowing things with living meaning, arranging them in space in order to facilitate the life activities of these to whom they belong, and preserving them, along with their meaning.”

–IRIS MARION YOUNG tion owners of the new public housing in the Queenstown housing estate. Her flat used to be the centre of family reunion and gatherings, now that her mother has passed on in 2011, she faces a unique situation where she has to live alone. Looking at scenes of Mdm Sim in her modest 3-room flat, I was reminded of how I used to live in one of the older public housing flats, when I was still a primary school boy, living in the Toa Payoh housing estate. The layout and the furniture from within (figure 33) resembles the ones that my family had, more than 17 years ago, with furnishings down to the bare minimum. The physical characteristics of the home, if categorized would be deemed spartan in nature, where she lives a modest live, occasionally visited by a man and his daughter, (figure 34) created a scene where contrasts from what ordinary Singaporeans are familiar with, the idea of living in a nuclear family unit. The juxtaposition of the characters from three different generations posed an argument as to what constitute a family unit?

Homemaking consists in the activities of endowing things with living meaning, arranging them in space in order to facilitate the life activities of these to whom they belong, and preserving them, along with their meaning.68

Mdm Sim and her interaction with the man and his daughter reveals how gender is performed within the house, the absence of the other characters in Mdm Sim’s house renders it to be a feminine household, reinforces the idea that gender is a social construct that is performed within the constraints of a site. Having been living with her mother for over 40 years, the bare interiority echoes the emptiness of her being and her yearning for kinship, companionship and social interactions with people, while indicating the absence of, also brings out the importance of the social framework, the fundamental building block of our society that is based of on kinship and family procreation.

While much has been written about the effects of development in the past forty years in the Asian Dragon economies, for example about the plunging birth rates, or quickly aging population, it is for this documentary to show us how it is played out inside the home. Specifically, inside the homes of three single women in Singapore. In this deceptively simple work focusing on the daily rhythms of their home lives, the film has invited us to peer into changes in expectations of women’s roles and to question whether housing and social policy is responsive to these changes.65

The approach for this case study is to analyze the interior spaces of the occupants, applying some of the ideas as frames to the natural order of things, therefore allowing me to corelate with the larger social context of Singapore and its implications. This case study acts as a deliberate consolidated source in showing how the ideas manifests itself in homes of singles dwelling in public housing that is primarily for nuclear and procreating families.

The documentary provides a filter, almost voyeuristic in nature through the 9 months of uninterrupted filming, providing the most authentic experience and overlay that juxtaposes nationalistic ambitions against struggles to maintain personal routines, preserve traditions and create space for individual identities. By overlaying routinized time and space with customized domestic practices that inevitably challenge spatial and temporal norms in these flats.66 03-FLATS shows how, within the domestic realm, gender and spaces are enacted through incremental micro-changes that are opportunistic rather than oppositional. These actions counteract the spatial-temporal ennui of government policies and mass housing.67 The spaces within the home provides an interesting composition that reveals the identity of the occupants, therefore creating a perspective of an individual that silently opposes or oblivious to the highly embedded social policies, highlighting the gaps of home ownership and usage of spaces.

Mdm Sim Boon Ngoh was one of the proud first-genera046

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33 Stills of Mdm Sim cleaning her house, 03-FLATS 34 Stills of Mdm Sim and her family eating their meal, 03-FLATS 35 Stills of Lin Nah drawing in her living room, 03-FLATS 36 Stills of Lin Nah looking at children playing, 03-FLATS 37 Stills of Lin Nah watching a live televised of National Parade, 03-FLATS 38 Stills of Amy’s silhouette set against the window in her room, 03-FLATS 39 Stills of Amy’s friend in her apartment, 03-FLATS

The second protagonist, Ling Nah gave up her possible career as a pharmacist in pursuit of her dream of being an artist.

She rented flats for many years before she was finally able to buy her house. Since then, she has transformed her flat into an art studio, hinting on thoughts of art-studio-homes in cities like New York or Paris. The house is an empty shell that envelops the activities within, a living room has changed in its function by Ling Nah and her usage of the space. Therefore, the purchase of the house and its transformation signifies her entry in becoming an owner of a public housing unit, albeit mundane, but interesting in her usage of space.

The interiority of the communal spaces within the home seems chaotic and cluttered with works and equipment (figure 35), at first glance, which differs from her organized private spaces in her bedroom. The focus of this discussion however is not about how she lives in her space, but about her ideology and resistance to the oppressive social norms of the society. In search of her individuality and expression as an artist, she posed a resistance to the social responsibilities of the formation of family unit. I vividly remembered a scene where she visits her parents at their house, her parents seemingly in wonder as to why she is pursuing her passion of being an artist in the expense of being a pharmacist. The scene echoes subtly on the conservative Asian family ideals of her parents in a good and stable job and the notion of marriage. When immediately the scene cuts back to her, alone in her comfort of home.

The family is the basic building block of our society. It has been so and, by policy, we have reinforced this and we want to keep it so.

And by ‘family’ in Singapore, we mean one man one woman, marrying, having children and bringing up children within that framework of a stable family unit. 69

Ling Nah’s attempt in defying the conventions of marriage and homemaking as stated by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Parliament address, can be seen as an attempt to oppose the idea of making marriage spatial. When marriage is seen as one of the criteria in purchasing a house, with added subsidies and schemes to entice people in purchasing one.70 She, like the other protagonists in the

documentary, under the policies and legislation of the government, are considered to be not a part of the “proper nucleus” family category.

She was only able to purchase a house after renting for many years.

This highlights flaws in which the public housing policies has in the past, where single women are only allowed to purchase a house with two or more women, with one over 40 years old at least.71 It is only until recent years where the policy has loosened to the minimum age of 35 and above, where gender is not considered in the new policy. In this case, singles have to wait for the age of 35 and above to qualify in purchase of a public housing unit as compared to the age of 21 and above for private housing units. The matter of fact is that given that public housing units are marginally more expensive as compared to public housing which is supplemented with different kind of grants plays a big part in the decision of singles to wait till the age of 35, in order for them to purchase a house. These restricts all other categories of Singaporean not under the categorization of a “family unit” in their ability to own their house. The introduction of social norms of the society has created a niche divide of gendered social stratification, where a person’s gender contributes to the eligibility to purchase a house.

Perhaps, the idea of transforming her house into an art-studio-home was a truthful attempt in visualizing herself in the societies of New York or Paris, perhaps, but I would also concur that she is deeply embedded into the fabrics of our society (figure 36), having gone through the stereotypical social stratification, norms and responsibilities. At the end of the documentary, Ling Nah is sitting at a corner of her home, retreated to her comforts and privacy of a room, watching the television in an unconventional manner (figure 37). The national day song We are Singapore72 plays and she finds herself singing in the chorus of the song, emotions seemed to build up and I could hear her sniffing a bit while singing to the song. In that instance, I can infer that her sense of national identity has overwhelmed her, while she, seemingly, recall the moments of hardship, to have survived the system without being directly apart of it in its believes and structure.

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S t art er case study 4

37

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S t art er case study 4

38

Amy Tashiana, from the entertainment business, has brought Hollywood to the neighborhood of Eunos. From boudoir-looking drapes to patterned crockery to sequined cushions to delightful bouquets of flowers, one is reminded of the characteristics of a boudoir interior, immediately forgetting the original cell-like structure of these public housing units.

The interiors of her house (figure 38) reminded me of how interiors were reduced to its functional meaning of construct, “Nowhere was there a space for display, social interaction, or another form of psychological fulfillment of a stereotypically feminine kind,”73 set in a frame of a bourgeois culture. The intimate setting brought together by the lighting, materials and furnishings of the taste of a nineteenth century lady, in celebration of individuality. The living room transform to a woman’s private bedroom that resembles the layout of traditional boudoirs that links the dining room and the bedroom together. Little did I know, Amy was a transwoman.

The conflicting dialectic between he and her in the subjectivity of the public sphere, ceases when she enters into her home.

The focus, however, should be shifted towards her experience with

the public housing interior. In recent years, the attitudes of the government have changed in: Singapore, there is a small percentage of people, both male and female, who have homosexual orientations.

They include people “who are often responsible, invaluable, and highly respected contributing members of society”74 and that “they too must have a place in this society, and they too are entitled to their private lives.”75 The speech, while addressing the homosexual community, also in evidently addresses and considers the trans community as a minority similar to homosexuals. Even though singles can purchase houses at the age of 35 or 21 depending the type of public or private property that you are buying, strict regulation and legislation still applies in our society in governance of purchasing and renting of the public housing unit. Which lead me to infer that it is one of the reason as to why, Amy has downsized her house from a private property to living in a 3-room flat. In this case, gender has an active correlation with spatial occupation of public housing, because: this is the way the majority of Singaporeans want it to be. So, we should strive to maintain a balance, to uphold a stable society with traditional, heterosexual family values, but with space for homosexuals to live their lives and contribute to the

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39

society.76

The restrictions and criteria of public housing has thus played a part in providing a structured framing in the ways we live, affecting on our way and need to negotiate space between occupants and gender within the constraints of the public housing, often, the negotiation and demarcation of space extends out of the boundaries of the home, manifesting into the public scrutinized corridor spaces.

Communal and private spaces are also structured in the architectural layout of the houses, favoring the heteronormative nuclear family as the default occupants as a social agenda in accentuating conservative Asian traditions of profamily aspirations. Ethnicity77 also plays a role in the allocation of public housing units as a means to maintain diversity within the community and racial harmony of the HDB units (figure 39), adding to the constraints of purchasing a house.78 Other categories that do not fall into the social classification therefore suffers silently, settling on a mentality of this is how it is, we have to comply to social norms. The result of non-compliance would also mean that there is a possibility, be subjected to public scrutiny within the social and digital media, therefore acts as a form of deterrence in voicing out

our concerns and opinions of our society.

The 3 protagonists of the documentary while practicing domesticity in their household, unknowingly was subjected to the framing of the viewers. They create a physical setting in allowing us to critique and perceive through their activities in their natural state, highlighting the ideological influences of the exterior which manifest itself into the interiors of their houses.

The construction of a highly standardized housing solutions, while in essence caters to majority of the individuals in Singapore, doesn’t necessarily translate to individuality, because in order to consider individualism as a social construct in our society, we would have to favor the freedom of action for all individuals over state control, which result in me questioning as to what direction are we, as a society, is heading to?

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IN

CONCLUSION 054

My aim for the paper was to understand in which the way we live, based on the informed experience of the physical space and backed with theoretical frameworks and methodology in looking at social politics, I’ve come to realize that we constantly tussle between our known thoughts that we experience79 and new knowledge that provides a different perspective on things,80 which lead me to discover81 the negotiation of spaces by occupants, an adaptation of roles within space and their behavioral expectations in case study one; assumptions on the natural order and manifestation of spatial privacy in case study two; moderation between taste and function in case study three; realization of order in case study four. All of which attributes to the term social, the basis of a society.

Beginning from case study one, the physical space is set in the house, with a perception of my family living in segregated spaces is negotiated with the occupants through a precise and detailed planning of overlapped spatial zoning that is deconflicted with time. Therefore, indicating that social policies have forced our society into the mold of a standardized public housing, leaving to our own adaptations of the space. Also, the physical presence of my father is set as the natural state of the house, with my perception of how he should behave within the domestic setting brings me to realize that gender is a social construct which can be adapted in different situations towards the display of different social roles. Therefore, indicating that the housing policy should review on their regulations of unmarried single parent family, to consider them as part of a family unit.

Moving on to case study two, the presence of the domestic helper is set as the natural state of the house, with my perception of her responsibility to ensure order within the home as a substitute to the traditional embodiment of the mother as the sole practitioner of domesticity, brings me to realize that the domestic helper is not the natural provider of domesticity, simply because she is not akin to the family, it is not required of her to understand the dialectics of the family in their attempt to cement their identity. Which reflects on the society’s position towards social stratification, and that our only resource is our people, therefore there is a need to employ “foreign talents” to aid in our process of living. Also, the physical embodiment of privacy in the bedroom, that is perceived as an enclosed space, allows the privatization of the communal space as much as the private spaces. Privacy can be manifested with a different set of conditions within the house, depending on the social interactions and activities performed within the space, affecting in the way we use our spaces.

Subsequently in case study three, shows the physicality of a cluttered house is set as the natural state, the perceived is often the moderated, aesthetically pleasing representation of the interior by different forms of media and medium, shows that it is not only about being functional, but rather, a lived space is an amalgamation of social

interaction, rituals and adaptation to the surrounding. Therefore, suggests that we should be honest humans and consider the portrayal of an honest interior in our media and social representations.

Last but not least, case study four, having able to set my frame in a distinctive manner to analyze the physical qualities of space and perception of human activities associated with space, therefore I was able to relate and provide social policies that affect the way we live in our HDB flat and home.

In my attempt in understanding the natural order of things, presents a consolidated overview of the man-made order, by “framing, filling, linking,”82 I was able to provide an insight as to what it means to Singaporeans in the future. It becomes evident that the social policies and the society determines the way we live and because of how embedded those policies were, that we are unable to tell that something is amiss. It is only when I bring myself out of the framing of the society and as a member of it, that I was able to better critic and interact with the cases. We assume that it is only “natural” as in where and how we live because of how we lived in the past but isn’t it also our duty as part of the society to also question on how we should live in the future? I think that we should not just wait for the next big incident83 or social issue84 to rethink our position?

I think the position that we have now is to look forward to how we as a society have always been doing but detached from it.

As we move towards a more egalitarian society as Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong suggests, We have to be an open and egalitarian society, you must not have rigid hierarchies or class distinctions. People must be able to interact comfortably up and down the social ladder, comfortably, self-confidently, without obsequious scraping and bowing.85

Although we can see a shift in the government’s position in the equal treatment and rights for all of its people, but I readily contest that we are still not ready in the acceptance towards an honest egalitarian society in consideration of all individuals including that of the non-heteronormative minority groups, as basically, we are still a conservative society.86 This is further exemplified in the need for Same But Different: A Legal Guidebook for LGBT Couples & Families in Singapore.87 As our society gradually adapts and move on from its position to provide an equal society, I hope that I could live to see the day when we finally answer the hard questions in our society, perhaps

by SG100 we will truly see an egalitarian society able to live together in harmony, but for now, till then.

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S t art er li s t o f fo o t n o t e s

1. Witold Rybczynski, Home: A Short History of an Idea, 2nd edn.

(California: Penguin Books, 1987), pp.17-18.

17. Adolf Loos, ‘The Interiors in the Rotunda’, in Ornament and Crime: Selected Essays, trans. Michael Mitchell (Riverside, California: Ariadne Press, 1998), p.58.

2. Apartamento, ‘Apartamento – An Everyday Life Interiors Magazine’, Apartamento Magazine, <https://www.apartamentomagazine. com/> [accessed 20 October 2017].

18. Block 156 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4.

19. Charles Rice, ‘Photography’s veil: Reading Gender and Loos’ Interiors’, in Negotiating Domesticity: Spatial Productions of Gender in Modern Architecture, (London: Routledge, 2005), p.292.

3. It’s Nice That, Here London 2016: Apartamento, 2016 <http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=HViHj5kLih0> [accessed 15 November 2017]

20. Lilian Chee, ‘The Public Private Interior: Constructing the Modern Domestic Interior in Singapore’s Public Housing’, in The Handbook of Interior Architecture and Design, ed. By Graeme Brooker and Lois Weinthal, (s.l.: A&C Black, 2013), p.200.

4. Judith Butler, Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, (New York: Routledge, 1990), pp.1-34.

5. Erving Goffman, ‘The Arrangement between the Sexes’, in Theory and Society, 4.3, (s.l.: Springer, 1977), pp.301-331.

21. David Morley, Home Territories: Media, Mobility and Identity, (London: Routledge, 2000), p.64.

6. Candace West and Don H. Zimmerman, ‘Doing Gender’, in Gender and Society, 1.2, (s.l.: Sage Publications, Inc., 1987), pp.125151.

22. Doreen Massey, ‘A Place called Home’, in New Formations, 17, (s.l.: Lawrence & Wishart, 1992), p.11.

7. Daphne Spain, ‘Gendered Spaces and Women’s Status’, in Sociological Theory, 11.2 (Washington, DC: American Sociological Association, 1993), pp.137–151.

23. Kuan Yew Lee, ‘SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER, MR. LEE KUAN YEW, AT THE NTUC’S INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S YEAR SEMINAR CUM EXHIBITION AT THE DBS AUDITORIUM ON MONDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER, 1975’, National Archives of Singapore, 1975 <http://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/ data/pdfdoc/lky19750901.pdf> [accessed 18 December 2017].

8. Ibid, pp.139-142.

9. Robert K. Yin, Case Study Research: Design and Methods, 2nd edn. (California: Sage Publications, 1989), p.3.

24. Goffman, The Arrangement between the Sexes, p.307.

10. Khairul Baharein Mohd Noor, ‘Case study: A Strategic Research Methodology’, in American Journal of Applied Sciences, 5.11, (s.l.: Science Publications, 2008), p.1602-1603.

25. Stephen Sackur, PM Lee Hsien Loong’s Interview with BBC HARDtalk, (Singapore, 2017) <http://www.pmo.gov.sg/newsroom/ pm-lee-hsien-loongs-interview-bbc-hardtalk> [accessed 22 November 2017].

11. Edward W. Soja, Thirdspace: Journeys to Los Angeles and other Real-and-Imagined Places, (Massachusetts: Blackwell, 1996), pp.5370.

26. Katherine Chen, ‘Transcript of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s Meeting with ASEAN Journalists at the 7th ASEAN Journalists Visit Programme (JVP) on 4 June 2015’, Prime Minister’s Office Singapore, 2015 <http://www.pmo.gov.sg/newsroom/transcript-primeminister-lee-hsien-loongs-meeting-asean-journalists-7th-asean> [accessed 22 November 2017].

12. Erving Goffman, Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organisation of Experience, (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1974), p.45.

13. E. H. Gombrich, The Sense of Order: A Study in the Psychology of Decoration, 2nd edn, (London: Phaidon Press, 1994)

27. Hanwei Lai, ‘Speech by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at Unveiling of SG50 Commemorative Notes on 18 August 2015’, Prime Minister’s Office Singapore, 2015 <http://www.pmo.gov.sg/ newsroom/speech-prime-minister-lee-hsien-loong-unveiling-sg50commemorative-notes-18-august-2015> [accessed 22 November 2017].

14. Henri Lefebvre, The Production of Space, (Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 1991), pp.25-26.

15. Gombrich, pg. 1

28. Goffman, The Arrangement between the Sexes, p.305.

16. Daniel Miller, Stuff, (Cambridge: Polity, 2010), p.50.

056

29. West, Zimmerman, Doing Gender, p.127.

30. Spain, pp.141-145.

31. Ronald G. Knapp, Chinese Houses of Southeast Asia, (Singapore: Tuttle Publishing, 2010), pp.90-101.

32. Leon Battista Alberti, On the Art of Building in Ten Books, trans. by Joseph Rykwert, Neil Leach and Robert Tavernor, Book V, (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1988), p.149.

33. The concept of privacy and its meaning in interiority will be elaborated in case study 2.

34. In this instance which is the interior spaces of the house.

35. Moira Munro and Ruth Madigan, ‘Negotiating Space in the Family Home’, in At Home: An Anthropology of Domestic Space, ed. by Irene Cieraad, (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2006), Pp.115-116.

36. Xenophon, ‘Ooeconomicus’, in The Works of Xenophon, Vol. 3, trans. by H. G. Dakyns, (London: Macmillan and Co., 1897), p.209.

37. Miller, p.44-45.

38. Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E. Moore, ‘Some Principles of Stratification’, in Inequality and Society: Social Science Perspectives on Social Stratification, ed. by Jeff Manza and Michael Sauder, (W. W. Norton & Co., 2009), pp.137-141.

39. Ministry of Labour, ‘Foreign Domestic Servant Scheme’ (Singapore, 1978), National Archives of Singapore, 233-1978-05-20, <http://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/data/pdfdoc/233-1978-0520.pdf> [accessed 1 March 2018].

40. Ibid.

41. Block 214 Bishan Street 23.

42. Munro and Madigan, p.108.

43. Ibid, p.116.

44. Oxford Dictionaries, ‘Definition of Taylorism’, in English Oxford Living Dictionaries, (Oxford, s.d.), <https://en.oxforddictionaries. com/definition/taylorism> [accessed 1 March 2018].

45. Mark Wigley, ‘Untitled: The Housing of Gender’, in Sexuality and Space, ed. by Beatriz Colomina, (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1992), p.345.

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S t art er li s t o f fo o t n o t e s

46. Ministry of Manpower, ‘Rest Days and Well-Being for Foreign Domestic Worker’, Ministry of Manpower Singapore, <http://www. mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits/work-permit-for-foreign-domestic-worker/employers-guide/rest-days-and-well-being> [accessed 21 March 2018].

47 Wigley, p.345.

48. Charles de La Ronciere, ‘Tuscan Notables on the Eve of the Renaissance’, in A History of Private Life, Vol. 2: Revelations of the Medieval World, ed. by Georges Duby, (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1988), p.212.

49. Housing & Development Board (HDB), ‘Public Housing – A Singapore Icon’, About Us, 2017 <http://www.hdb.gov.sg/cs/infoweb/ about-us/our-role/public-housing--a-singapore-icon> [accessed 28 February 2018] 50. Keyakismos and Tomohisa Miyauchi, HDB Homes of Singapore, 1st edn, (Singapore: Keyakismos, 2017).

51. Keyakismos and Tomohisa Miyauchi, pp.16,20,21,667.

52. Roland Barthes, Elements of Semiology, trans. by Annette Lavers and Colin Smith, (New York: Hill and Wang, 1977), p89-94.

53. Brian M. Curtin, ‘Semiotics and Visual Representation’, in Semantic Scholar, (s.l.: n.p., 2009), pp.54-55, <https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Semiotics-and-Visual-Representation-Curtin/ e10668409de8b1ab9b1965fee0a94432699e074d> [accessed 14 March 2018].

54. Glasgow School of Art Singapore, Interior Design Year 4 studio.

55. Penny Sparke, As Long as It’s Pink: The Sexual Politics of Taste, 2nd edn., (Canada: The Press of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, 2010), pp.x, xxi, p.35.

56. Erving, Goffman, The Arrangement between the Sexes, p 302.

57. Russell Lynes, The Tastemakers: The Shaping of American Popular Taste, (New York: Dover, 1980), p.340.

58. Sparke, p.x.

59. Ibid 60. Miller, p.46-47.

61. Sparke, p.xxi.

62. Ibid.

058

63. Sparke, p.171.

76. Ibid.

64. p.x.

77. Housing Development Board, ‘Ethnic Integration Policy and SPR Quota - Housing & Development Board (HDB)’, in Residential <http://www.hdb.gov.sg/cs/infoweb/residential/buying-a-flat/resale/ ethnic-integration-policy-and-spr-quota> [accessed 22 March 2018].

65. Lilian Chee, ‘A quote from Tan Pin Pin, jury of Busan’s Wide Angle International Documentary Film Competition 2014’, in a booklet, in 03-FLATS, (Singapore: 13 Little Pictures, 2014) [on DVD].

66. Lilian Chee, ‘Synopsis’, 03-FLATS: Three Women and Singapore’s Public Housing <https://www.03-flats.com/film-synopsis> [accessed 19 January 2018].

78. The Ethnic Integration Policy regulates the percentage of ethnic diversity inclusive of permanent residents, in a block and neighborhood.

67. Ibid.

79. Corresponds to Firstspace, the physical and material qualities of.

68. Iris Marion Young, ‘House and Home: Feminist Variations on a theme”, in Gender Struggles: Practical approaches to contemporary feminism, ed. by Constance L. Mui and Julien S. Murphy (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002), p.331.

80. Corresponds to Secondspace, the mental image and academic frameworks in perceiving.

81. Corresponds to Thirdspace, the findings of the real and imagined spaces that are able to transform human experience.

69. Singapore LGBT Encyclopedia, ‘Transcript of Lee Hsien Loong’s Parliamentary Speech on Section 377A, 23 Oct 2007 - S’pore LGBT Encyclopedia <http://sporelgbtpedia.shoutwiki.com/wiki/ Transcript_of_Lee_Hsien_Loong%27s_parliamentary_speech_on_ Section_377A,_23_Oct_2007> [accessed 27 November 2017].

82. Gombrich, pp.6-7.

83. National Library Singapore, ‘Bukit Ho Swee Fire’, Infopedia <http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_825_2004-1230.html> [accessed 22 March 2018].

70. Housing Development Board, ‘Schemes and Grants - Housing & Development Board (HDB)’, in Residential, <http://www.hdb.gov. sg/cs/infoweb/residential/buying-a-flat/new/schemes-and-grants> [accessed 22 March 2018].

84. Bei Yi Seow, ‘Social Mobility, Ageing Are Singapore’s Big Challenges: Tharman’, The Straits Times, 2018 <http://www.straitstimes. com/politics/social-mobility-ageing-are-spores-big-challenges> [accessed 22 March 2018].

71. Lily L. Kong and Jasmine S. Chan, ‘Patriarchy and pragmatism: Ideological contradictions in state policies’, in Asian Studies Review, 24.4, (s.l.: Asian Studies Association of Australia, 2001), pp.501-531.

85. Prime Minister’s Office, We Must Be an Open & Egalitarian Society: PM Lee (Singapore: Parliament, 2014), in YouTube, <https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4b2mB5JfgU> [accessed 22 March 2018].

72. Hugh Harrison, We Are Singapore - Original Tv Version 1987 (Singapore, 2011) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=SG&hl=en-GB&v=cts6ssZ_8mw> [accessed 22 March 2018].

86. Sackur.

87. Same but Different: A Legal Guidebook for LGBT Couples & Families in Singapore, ed. by Indulekshmi Rajeswari (Singapore: Indulekshmi Rajeswari, 2017).

73. Sparke, p.69.

74. Singapore LGBT Encyclopedia.

75. Ibid.

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2 Gender, Space and Identity

062

Introduction

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Cherissa’s House

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Zhi Kai’s House

Charrier’s House

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Couple House

Conclusion 061

108

David’s House

Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 briefing

Gender and Space: An Introduction and Method The year long project started out as an investigation on gendered spaces in public housing which seeks to investigate and analyse on the construction of gendered experience and meaning in a space. The proposed topic of research attempted to provide an introduction of gendered spaces as discussed by various academics from Beatriz Colomina, Mark Wigley, Daphne Spain and Lillian Chee who exposes the invisible spaces in which daily gender segregation occurs. However, through the course of the research as pointed out in the previous chapter, I have come to realise that, afterall, it is not about gendered spaces, but rather, it is about the interactions of people with others and their interaction with the space from within. Gender comes in as a sort of classification in identifying people in the space.

Drawing from the findings and experiences from case study 1 in Chapter 1, I set out to better understand the dynamics of occupants, their usage of space in relation to their gender. We live in a world where we try to constantly make sense of our surroundings and give meaning to it, causing a paradigm shift of stereotypical classifications and expectations of it. Is there really a difference between how 2 genders occupy their space? Expanding from that question is a list of other factors that may or may not contribute to the result of, for instance: colours, materiality, function of space. Is blue only for boys/male and pink only for girls/female? Does physical properties of materials corelate with our biology? How does a space function for the occupants that coexists under a same space?

This is conducted by presenting a total of 6 residential designs for 2 pairs of recently married couples, a total of 3 designs are presented for each couple, 2 individual designs as representation of individuals and a design for the couple, by providing an insight into the interactions between them and their space. The typical residential projects are put into comparison as the case studies presented are evaluated independently and cohesively as each of the cases bring forth different ideas and discussion which acts as a critic of other sources. At the same time, it also provides a wider narrative to the question of how social politics influences interior spaces in our primary mode of dwelling in Singapore.

Despite the inquisitive nature of the designs, they do share one common element: they are made by the people who live in them.

The presented designs are out-of-the-ordinary residential projects because of who is in them, not what is in them.

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GENDER, SPACE AND IDENTITY SITE ANALYSIS

Just a heads up, the following spread is in bright yellow. Just in case you go blind, put on your sunglasses if it helps, you are entitled to.

(66-67; 108-109) Understanding The Sites and its locality The surrounding landscape affects how we perform in a locality, to understand the locality is to understand its conditions which may affect us.

THE PEOPLE, THEIR IDEOLOGY AND PROFILE (070-073; 090-093; 112-115; 132-135) In Conversation with Zhi Kai, Charrier, David and Cherissa An interview conducted to understand their profiles.

DIAGRAMMATIC STUDIES & RESEARCH (074-077; 094-097; 116-119; 136-139) Understanding correlation between Clients and Space Using diagrams to detail the people and their relationship with their space and their partners, along with a photographic essay taken with Kodak Powerflash Disposable Camera.

EXPLORE & EXPERIMENT (078-083,098-103, 120-125, 140-145) Clients’ Personality and Identity through Objects and Materiality of Design The construction of material moodboards, collages and key furnishings that exemplifies the people living in it.

CONCLUSION (160 - 161) What’s Next?

063

The colours chosen were not at random. It represents the personality of the occupant. But also it acts as a striking backdrop for their portraits after this.

064

Introducing the Chang couple: Zhi Kai and Charrier; Wong couple: David and Cherissa. Both Zhi Kai and David got married with their wives recently, anxious to embark on a new journey to adulthood.

What does it mean to truly live with your partners in a new abode?

“A person’s home is part of their self-definition, which is a reason we decorate and modify the immediate surroundings to our taste – displaying their homes as an extension of themselves” -Susan Clayton 065

Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 u n d e rs t a n d i n g

Sun Study The white dotted curves on the top and bottom corresponds to the sun trajectory during the summer and winter solstice respectively, the arrows pointing inwards to the site corresponds to the sunrise and sunset, from east to west. The orange area around is the variation of sun trajectories during the year.

Having said that, what it means for units in the site is the direct sunlight into the unit during the sunrise and sunset hours, due to the units facing in a north-west orientation.

Zhi Kaiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unit is located on the third storey of the site, with low lying buildings obstructing the thresholds of the unit, it allows ample sunlight into the unit during the morning and in the afternoon. Opaque window coverings are advised to provide additional shade for them.

SS

WS

Wind Study The blue arrows pointing towards the unit corresponds to the general wind direction in the North-North-East and South-South-West orientation. The blue area demarcates the wind direction distribution in the year.

Zhi Kaiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unit is located on the third storey of the site, with low lying buildings obstructing the thresholds of the unit, it generally allows good ventilation and wind distribution across the width of the unit.

Zhi Kai might want to consider creating an open floor plan layout in his home to value add to its interiority.

Circulation and Proximity Study The red lines demarcates the passage ways and roads that provides proper circulation of traffic around the site. The yellow line demarcates the East West train lines that connects to the rest of the city. Bus stops and taxi stands in front of the site provides added accessibility around the city.

Within the vicinity of the unit are various eateries, shops and markets that ensures adequat food and shopping choices, coupled with various communal and institutional facilities around a 1km radius, proves an ideal location to start a family.

066

067

Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 d e s i g n i n g fo r z h i k a i

068

“Your psychology, and your consciousness and your subjectivity don’t really depend on the place where you live… they come from inside – from inside your brain, or inside your soul or inside your personality.”

-William S. Sax 069

Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 u n d e rs t a n d i n g

Chang Zhi Kai Zhi kai is 26 this year, he is currently working in the military as a military expert and he was recently married in November 2017. He had since moved into his new apartment in December 2017.

“Every part of the house has to have something functional.”

What is your vision of a perfect home?

Home should be a comfortable place, functional, orderly, neat and compartmentalized. So that I do not waste time thinking about where are my things but rather spend more time resting and leisure.

An ideal couch should not be made of leather, but rather, something that is more comfortable, like a sofa bed and more cushions.

As a kid, what are the things that interests you?

I like watching television, spending almost half of my time in the living room. There were times when I spend the whole day watching cartoons in the living room. Spending time with my family in general and playing soccer.

What is your fondest memory growing up?

I love to spend time with my family. As a kid, I love animals, everytime when my family goes to the zoo, one of the happiest memories I have.

What is your favourite corner of your home?

Living room.

What are some colours that bring you comfort?

Dark blue, Black, Grey and white, monotone colours.

How would you describe yourself?

I’m not traditional per se, I try to keep up with practicality and trends, always finding the best fit for my lifestyle.

Would you see yourself making changes to your house every few years?

I would prefer a long lasting design, spending more upfront so that I don’t have to spend additional costs for additional makeovers.

What values do you hold dear to yourself?

I would say practical, systematic and logical.

Out with the old, in with the new?

If some things can still be used I will keep them, however if it is impractical, I will throw them out.

Before meeting your wife, What was your daily routine like?

On weekdays, I would usually wake up at 6 in the morning, make breakfast and head to work around 6.30 and I will usually end work around 6 in the evening. After that I’ll usually head home for some down time or go for an easy jog. On weekdays, I’ll usually get take aways for dinner from whereever is convenient.

What is your take on functionality and aesthetics?

Mixture of both, as you cannot forego any of it, having good aesthetics would make it an ideal space for living in; functionality and aesthetics should go hand in hand.

On weekends, would usually go for good brunch in the morning, visit the gym, go for a walk in places of interest within Singapore.

If I have time, I would take a short nap at home or catch up with current affairs, do some self reading on whatever that interests me.

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Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 t ra n s la t i n g

Design Rational Translating from the personality of Zhi kai is a sense of cold, monotonous facade that exudes with the infamiliarity of the interview. As he gradually opens up during the process of the interview, he gradually grew more comfortable in the setting, allowing him to express himself more and was able to hold the conversation very well.

The design of the house attempts to exemplify his personality trait of cold and simple in the facade and warmth in the interiority with the play of materiality of the furnitures.

The duality of functions within spaces offers opportunities for exploration by the users but at the same time shows logical planning that interplays with privacy within the space. The organised and clean storage solutions exemplifies his character traits, allowing for plenty of space to express himself in the comfort of the home. The more he interacts and open the furnitures, the greater warmth can be felt inside.

The use of the different accents and colours within the space is influenced by Zhi Kai and the likes and dislikes were adhered to.

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1 A functional space where it can be converted into 2 bedrooms, cabinets acts as partitions for the user/s.

2 Wood accents are used throughout the entirety of the living spaces, they are hidden in the interiority of its construct. The wooden materiality of the furnitures and cabinets give warmth and life into the clean canvas that is simple but complex when interacted with.

3 Spaces adapt to the function of the activity, which allows fluidity through the space within. This is possible by employing space saving furnitures into the space.

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White is clean and minimal. It embodies simplicity, clean and modern quality. The preference of dual function and openness is not that simple though, the details are crazy.

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Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 mapping

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Habits and Routine Diagram Diagrams were done in a 24 hours format to track his typical weekday and weekend routine. This is represented by the marble clock surface with colour coded arcs to represent a certain duration required for certain activity.

The activities are divided into three tiers for better clarity and breakdown of the activity. The diagram can be seen with an outer and inner diagram, a typical weekday and a weekend routine, the size of the chart is relative to the number of days in a week.

Subsequently, the routines were implemented spatially into the the site to understand and draw relation between the usage of different spaces. The method was used for all of the individuals in this study and is presented at a later stage in this chapter.

The diagram tracks the prominant spaces that Zhi Kai frequent the most where he spends most of his time at home in the order of the bedroom, living room, bathroom, reading space and kitchen. Shows his priority of space usage in his current home.

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Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 mapping

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Spatial Diagrams Bubble diagrams were used to quickly draw up spatial relations and interaction, based on Zhi Kaiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s input on certain programmes within the space.

The approach for this particular design is to create an open floor plan concept, allowing him to have total control and surveilence of the house. This is done by puncturing 2 walls demarcating the other rooms in the unit.

Subsequently, cuts along the X and Y axis of the unit were done to create zones in the layout. Diagrammatic blocks were used to understand the volume and relation between spaces and its interaction, therefore creating a specific layout for him.

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Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 v i s u a li z i n g

Mood Board and Collages Mood board and collages were quickly done up to provide visual cues based on Zhi Kaiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s personality, like and dislikes. The colour choices are in a monochromatic palette of whites, greys and blue, with light wood accents. The unit is furnished with a mixture of hard and soft furnishings. The strategy employed was to utilise low lying furnitures to accentuate the ceiling height of the unit, thus allowing the space to feel more spacious. Furniture pieces are limited to keep a clean and organised layout, exaggerating the spaciousness of the unit. While, decorations are kept to a minimum as emphasized by Zhi Kaiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reluctance on the decorative.

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Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Living/Dining/Hall The living room is extended by opening up a room. By doing so, it allows overall flexiblility to control how the space is being used, with multiple configurations for the right activity happening in your space.

Project 01 c u ra t i n g

01

Chloe 2 seater sofa and Naomi Ottoman by Castlery.

Chloe is the quintessential Scandinavian 2 seater sofa. It features accent buttons on the back cushions and the whole piece sits delicately on tubular timber legs. Most importantly, it is one of their most comfortable sofas. Pair it with Naomi to create a perfect leg rest when needed. castlery.com

02

Kobe by etch&bolts. Twin-tones intuitive, Kobe is a beautiful everyday furniture. It brings modernity to your living space with its clean lines. Table-top can be expanded when storage underneath is stretched out. etchandbolts.com

03

Custom carpentry work with Tandem runner system by Blum. The concealed runner system for wooden drawers has a feather-light glide and brings enhanced user convenience to the entire home. blum.com

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Interior doors with invisible frame by Anyway Doors.

Modern made-to-measure interior doors with invisible frames.

IBO: Built-in door frame to be fitted completely into the wall. anywaydoors.be

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Customised swing door with System 3 pivoting hinges for doors from FritsJurgens, door customised to fit interior space. Thanks to the innovative design of System 3, the door requires a slight touch to start moving, then it continues to rotate by itself thanks to the patented spring construction. fritsjurgens.com

06

Mammoth console/dining table + chairs by Spaceman.

The ever popular Mammoth table offers even the smallest apartment the ability to host a banquet. Suitable for all those gatherings that you dream of hosting in your house. spaceman.com

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Bone Gloss by Perini, Cube collection. Cube is a dynamic porcelain collection that takes geometric pattern to another level. The 3D cubes create an effective aesthetic that is suitable for floors and walls. perini.com.au

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FlexYah Bench by Expand Furniture. The FlexYah Bench stretches from an amazing 6 inch size to seat up to 8+ people.

We love how flexible it is; you can bend and curve it to how you like. expandfurniture.com

Work/Reading/Kitchen/Dining The converted bedrooms allow for pockets of space to be created. Both spaces are set near the window allowing natural sunlight to penetrate into the interior for the needs of working and reading.

Kitchen space is striped to its bare neccessity as Zhi Kai seldoms cook at home. However, it does not compromise on the functionality, allowing Zhi Kai to whip up a decent meal still. At the end of the kitchen space is a table that extends from the countertop, allowing a space to dine and a space to fold the laundry.

01

Horizontal single murphy bed desk by Expandfurniture.

The horizontal Single bed orientation can fit well in narrow but wide rooms or spaces with lower height ceilings where a normal bed would not fit. expandfurniture.com

04

Goldline Pillar Less Counters by Hoshizaki. The unconventional compact below the counter fridge and freezer allows it to be hidden in the counters, yet still able to house his groceries comfortably. hoshizaki.com.sg

02

Vista Girevole by Albed; exterior furnished in Bianco, with CLIP top BLUMOTION hinge system by BLUM as cabinetry. The skill and talent of Vista to divide and organise the space is also expressed by containers that slide and turn around themselves, showing, holding files and hiding, customised with impeccable, clock-like precision. Integrated soft close is innovative technology at its best. Effective and integral to delivering soft and effortless closing to cabinet doors. etchandbolts.com; blum.com

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Custom Kitchen carpentry work with Movento runner system, CLIP top BLUMOTION hinge system, orga-line dividing system by Blum.The customised kitchen fixture is fitted with the Blum systems, allowing for a smooth tactile experience throughout. blum.com

06

Mini dynamo lamp by Superliving. The danish design brand features a signature solid background, shapes and colours in the design, inspired by the organic shapes and colours from the 50s and 60s. superliving.dk

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IKEA crockery with Kitchen appliances from Gain City. Tablewares and appliances is not a focus for Zhi Kai, however, he still wants some form of quality assurance in his purchases. ikea.com; gaincity.com

03

Queen Wall Bed Sofa (MurphySofa Clean) by Canadia-based furniture firm Expandfurniture. This wall bed couch combination is designed so that it folds over the sofa without having to move it, and can lower down over space saving tables or ottomans which can stay in place. expandfurniture.com

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Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 c u ra t i n g

Bedroom The Vista Girevole by Albed divides the space into 2 bedrooms when fully closed and extended, providing adequate intimacy and privacy for individuals without compromising connectivity with each other. The space saving furnitures allows for adequate amount of storage for the needs of the occupant, providing a clean and organised solution without compromising on the finer details.

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Queen Wall Bed Sofa (MurphySofa Clean) by Canadia-based furniture firm Expandfurniture. This wall bed couch combination is designed so that it folds over the sofa without having to move it, and can lower down over space saving tables or ottomans which can stay in place. expandfurniture.com

02

Shallow Depth Cupboard by Expandfurniture. Twin-tones intuitive, Kobe is a beautiful everyday furniture. It brings modernity to your living space with its clean lines. Table-top can be expanded when storage underneath is stretched out. expandfurniture.com

03

Vista Girevole by Albed; exterior furnished in Bianco, with CLIP top BLUMOTION hinge system by BLUM as cabinetry. The skill and talent of Vista to divide and organise the space is also expressed by containers that slide and turn around themselves, showing, holding files and hiding, customised with impeccable, clock-like precision. Integrated soft close is innovative technology at its best. Effective and integral to delivering soft and effortless closing to cabinet doors. etchandbolts.com; blum.com

04

Horizontal single murphy bed desk by Expandfurniture.

The horizontal Single bed orientation can fit well in narrow but wide rooms or spaces with lower height ceilings where a normal bed would not fit. expandfurniture.com

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Bathroom The importance of the bathroom is often not emphasized by users and designers alike. A good bathroom allows us to stop and indulge in our personal space while we relax and unwind in the cold showers. Comtemplation occurs spontaniously from the sounds of the water, further emphasize on the importance of a good bathroom design.

01

Onyx rain shower in black by INOVO. Change your daily shower into a luxuriously relaxing experience with our latest Germany technology innovation Rain Shower Set. Indulge in our rain shower set to soothe your body and mind, washing away any tension and stress. inovo.com.sg

02

Vero Washbasin designed by Kirk Merki Jr. with L-Cube Vanity wall-mount unit designed by Christian Werner for Duravit. Vero ceramic series a modern design classic that has now been a Duravit bestseller for more than a decade: its consistently rectangular design is not only elegant but also timeless. With the new bathroom furniture collection, Vero has been promoted to a complete bathroom. duravit.us

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Starck 3 Toilet wall mounted compact by Philippe Starck for Duravit. The toilet is an essential part of every bathroom. The wall-mounted toilet that is closed at the side becomes a distinctive highlight. duravit.us

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Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01

Final render With explaination

By now you should have noticed...

A space abundance of different qualities is sentient to us. A space is a space, it is not a place, there is no meaning to it. It is a entity, the entity is a void. We can definitely feel it when it is there, but somehow we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t understand what it is. Therefore, we give it meaning by putting a noun infront of it so that we can conceive, therefore allowing us to perceive and there is meaning.

A space is neutral, it is neither male or female, it is only when we have context of it, therefore allowing us to perceive. A male/occupant is sitting on the sofa. Zhi Kai is sitting on the sofa. An individual is in the space...

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Project 01 d ra w i n g

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Findings The process of designing for Zhi Kai was an interesting journey of self exploration and realisation. Having been friends with him for a couple of years, it still intrigues me to find out so much more than what I have known him.

Through this design, I was able to realise that space is like a blank canvas. It is neutral and has no meaning without context, in order for us to comprehend what a space is, we have to give it a purpose and meaning. This is likened to how society has built its foundation on, sense making and classification.

I believe that design is highly personal, it is designed with an intention of improving and that we should break away from the stereotypical representation and templates that limit us in our creativity, our personal touch and above all, the knowledge and ability to connect with people.

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Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01

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“Visualize what you want even though it may not seem attainable…”

-Peggy Crowe 089

Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 u n d e rs t a n d i n g

Charrier Tan Charrier is 26 this year, she is currently working at Deloitte as a tax senior and she is married to Zhi Kai.

“Furniture is something that will bring out the (essence of) home.”

What is your vision of a perfect home?

Specific room to have a projector screen and walk-in wardrobe is a must. It has to be cozy and nice essence oil for the smell of the house. where are my things but rather spend more time resting and leisure. A functional kitchen to aid in cooking. Induction cooker is a must. Space has to be constraint to its function, segregation of spaces, individual rooms to have different looks and theme, however overall should still have a unified look.

As a kid, what are the things that interests you?

I was a very curious kid when growing up, I’m interested in everything, very observant about things and also adventurous. I like to get in touch with the environment.

What is your fondest memory growing up?

Eating a lot of different kinds of food and snacks.

On a scale of 1 - 10, how would you rate your own cooking?

8.

What is your favourite corner of your home?

Bedroom and shoe cabinet.

How would you describe yourself?

I’m a very straight-forward kind of person, clean cut, doesn’t like to beat around the bush, logical but also not structured all the time. I would say that I am more flexible over systematic.

What are some colours that bring you comfort?

White, Gold, Silver, Grey. Unique bright colours.

What values do you hold dear to yourself?

I would say authenticity, likes things that are built to last over temporary items.

Would you see yourself making changes to your house every few years?

I would prefer a long lasting design, spending more upfront so that I don’t have to spend additional costs for additional makeovers.

Something that would last through time.

Before meeting Zhi Kai, What was your daily routine like?

On weekdays, I would usually wake up at 7.30 in the morning, bathe, occasionally I put on make up, leaves house at around 8 or 8.15, works starts at 8.30. After work, goes home and laze on the bed, watch tv or uses phone.

Out with the old, in with the new?

Don’t fancy built-in items. Will definitely throw before buying new items. Other than the wardrobe, things have to be hidden.

What is your take on functionality and aesthetics?

If some things can still be used I will keep them, however if it is impractical, I will throw them out.

On weekends, I will usually wake up at about 9 or 10 in the morning, have breakfast, head to my kickboxing regime and heads to Orchard Road to shop. I like to go to The Editor’s Market and Zara.

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Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 t ra n s la t i n g

Design Rational Charrier exudes a sense of confidence, straight-forwardness and inteligence in all things in general. She has the ability to express herself and hold a substantial conversation of different subjects provided a statement to her character.

The design of the house attempts to exemplify her personality trait of confidence and directness. The directness of wanting a gallery home to showcase her finds is fulfilled in the realisation of it, allowing the displays likened to the cabinet of curiosities to take center stage.

The openness and flexibility of the gallery space is contrasted by the intimacy of the other spaces; kitchen, bedroom, entertainment and reading space; in the house, thus allowing for adequate amount of privacy to counteract with the openness.

The enclosed spaces were allocated with a distinct theme likened to the seasonal change of fashion in a boutique shop, while maintaining a distinct identity throughout the house with the luxurious fittings in the space.

The use of the different accents and colours within the space is influenced by Charrier and the likes and dislikes were adhered to.

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1 The interiors of a home that resembles the construct of a boutique through the displays and spatial programming.

2 Individual rooms are given a seperate theme of its own, inspired by the seasonal change, the rooms exude different spatial qualities in the use of different colours and textures with the exception of the displays that spans across the entirety of the unit.

3 A luxurious inclusion of a bathtub in a HDB flat, uncommon sight amongst the rest, exemplifies Charrierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lifestyle and indulgence of the finer things in life, having been independant and money savvy from a young age has allowed her to reap her rewards.

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Purple is luxurious and enigmatic. It embodies her indulgence and knowledge in the fine things. She wants her home to be a boutique gallery that showcase her bags and shoes.

Wow. 093

Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 mapping

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Habits and Routine Diagram Diagrams were done in a 24 hours format to track her typical weekday and weekend routine. This is represented by the marble clock surface with colour coded arcs to represent a certain duration required for certain activity.

The activities are divided into three tiers for better clarity and breakdown of the activity. The diagram can be seen with an outer and inner diagram, a typical weekday and a weekend routine, the size of the chart is relative to the number of days in a week.

Subsequently, the routines were implemented spatially into the the site to understand and draw relation between the usage of different spaces. The method was used for all of the individuals in this study and is presented at a later stage in this chapter.

The diagram tracks the prominant spaces that Charrier frequent the most where she spends most of her time at home in the order of the bedroom, living room, walk-in wardrobe, kitchen and bathroom. Shows her priority of space usage in his current home.

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Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 mapping

096

Spatial Diagrams Bubble diagrams were used to quickly draw up spatial relations and interaction, based on Charrierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s input on certain programmes within the space.

The approach for this particular design is to create an closed floor plan layout, segregating the rooms in its specific usages.

This is done by pushing the entrance wall, of the other room, out to align itself.

Subsequently, cuts along the X and Y axis of the unit were done to create zones in the layout. Diagrammatic blocks were used to understand the volume and relation between spaces and its interaction, therefore creating a specific layout for her.

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Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 v i s u a li z i n g

Mood Board and Collages Mood board and collages were quickly done up to provide visual cues based on Charrierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s personality, like and dislikes. The colour choices are in line with her choices of whites, greys, gold, silver and other unique bright colours with brass/aluminium accents. The unit is furnished with a mixture of hard and soft furnishings. The strategy employed was to create an unique experience within individual spaces by framing the thresholds with different colour tones of seasons to indicate the transition into a different space. Display cabinets are placed along the walls and protuding from a wall which acts as a divider from the entrance hall to other spaces. The display cabinets brings forth a sense of showmanship likened to a gallery space.

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Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Kitchen/Dining/Work/Reading The Kitchen counter is shifted away from the convention of flushing the counter towards the wall. The central kitchen counter provides a new sense of interaction between Charrier and the space, presenting the process of culinary goodness to whoever that passes by.

The initial hall and living space is replaced with a viewing gallery, that acts as a space divider in indicating different spaces, the entrance hall and the working/dining space.

Project 01 c u ra t i n g

01

Custom Kitchen carpentry work with Movento runner system, CLIP top BLUMOTION hinge system, orga-line dividing system by Blum and Eternal Statuario quartz Kitchen top by Silestone. The customised kitchen fixture is fitted with the Blum systems, allowing for a smooth tactile experience throughout. blum.com; silestone.com.sg

02

Leo Lamp by KosiLight. The Leo lamp is a minimalist pendant light. Its shape and the use of raw material will make it fit perfectly well in a modern kitchen or a large living space. kosilight.uk

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Crate&Barrel Crockery with Kitchen appliances from Bosch. A great kitchen space needs great supporting items to bring out your inner masterchef. For this, we look at Crate&Barrel and Bosch to bring your culinary game to the next level. crateandbarrel.com; bosch-home.com.sg

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Bench Izzy Parrot by KARE Design.

Just because. kare-design.com

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Gliss master wardrobe by Vincent van Duysen for Molteni&C.The melamine offering is enriched with a new internal finish, a Wax/White texture, and a new warm Bronze finish, feminine and sophisticated, which represents the latest interpretation of this metal. molteni.it

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Book-Matched Black Walnut table on powder coated legs by Grey & Sanders. Natural yet minimalistic, this book matched piece is unparalleled in elegance. American Black Walnut (Juglans Nigra), is a premium hardwood known for its beautiful chocolate colour and its great workability and dimensional stability. greyandsanders.com

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Deco Figurine Horse Black by KARE. Fibreglass horse sculpture, sure to take your breathe away. kare-design.com

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Agnada Magic Branches Hanging Light by Screed. This is an elegant multi-heads tree branch-like lamp as a centerpiece to be utilized in living room, dining room, kitchen, restaurant, lobby and many more places you like. screed.com.sg

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Living/Reading/Walk-in-wardrobe The conventions of a living space is shifted into a specific room to deliberately seperate the individual spaces, according to Charrierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s idea of how individual activities should be bounded by a specific room.

The segregation of the rooms are brought together in harmony by the furnitures and wall finishes that is consistent in its entirety.

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Armchair kimono by KARE. A unique composition of a shiny blue and white striped upholstery with stainless steel chromed legs. kare-design.com

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Sideboard Kensington by KARE. Elegant sideboard with straight-lined silhouette and graphic elements. Great combination of modern forms, natural materials and attractive surface. Fits perfectly into many living styles.

Doors with push-to-open function. Series: Kensington. kare-design.com

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Hiroshima Sofa by Naoto Fukasawa for Maruni.

Perfectly symmetrical design coupled with walnut wooden legs. maruni.com

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Floor Lamp Work Station White by KARE. A reading corner with a proper floor lamp allows you to focus and spend your time reading. kare-design.com

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Rust Ombre wallpaper by MuralsWallpaper. With its distinct, inviting color scheme and smooth appearance, the Rust Ombre Wallpaper Mural has its unique way of warming up the room with touches of rustic style.

This wallpaper mural showcases a smooth blending of warm orange, brown and red tones, creating a flawless fade-effect wall that can make any house feel like a home. muralswallpaper.com

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Gliss master wardrobe by Vincent van Duysen for Molteni&C. The melamine offering is enriched with a new internal finish, a Wax/White texture, and a new warm Bronze finish, feminine and sophisticated, which represents the latest interpretation of this metal. molteni.it

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Elov Galazy Stars Lamp by Screed. There is no chemistry lecture here, merely just simple architectural beauty. The scientific appeal of this lamp makes it very modern chic. screed.com.sg

Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 c u ra t i n g

Bedroom The interior of the bedroom, breaks away from the gallery in the hall, once entered, Charrier is able to withdraw back into her comfort zone and just relax. The bedroom, a space that we spent most of our time in our lives resting, rejuvenating and comtemplating; deserves the intricacy and detail in making sure its perfect.

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Bedding accessories by ZARA Home. As a avid lover of Zara boutique shops what better way to indulge yourself with a set of Zara beddings that has the same quality assuarance and materiality in their clothing brand? zarahome.com

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Special Collection Coral Cushions by ZARA Home. The special collection cushions compliments the interiority of the bedroom with blue and white accents. zarahome.com

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Attento secretary by KARE. Solid wood secretary desk with drawers. Versatile in its daily use with different draws to keep your belongings in. kare-design.com Industrial Edison Bulb Wrought Iron 8 Light Large LED Semi Flush Ceiling Light in Black by Beautifulhalo. Exposed industrial ceiling light is used to complete the overall look. beautifulhalo.com

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Side table east living brass by KARE. Accented brass and glass finishing brings a sleek and modern side table that can safe you additional space. kare-design.com

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Altitude Blue Wallpaper Mural by Muralswallpaper. Bring organic elements of the ocean into your space with our Altitude Blue Wallpaper Mural. Its beautiful art was hand-painted by our in-house design team. The cool, soothing blues of this wallpaper offer a timeless feel that is perfect for any interior and will allow you to express your modern style. muralswallpaper.com

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Bathroom The importance of the bathroom is often not emphasized by users and designers alike. A good bathroom allows us to stop and indulge in our personal space while we relax and unwind in the cold showers. Comtemplation occurs spontaniously from the sounds of the water, further emphasize on the importance of a good bathroom design. This bathroom is fitted with a luxurious bathtub that helps to slow you down and focus on yourself. Uncommon in a typical HDB unit, the bathtub will ensure that even your bathroom is an eye stopper.

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Pegasus by Inzwerks. White body of the bathtub with coppet chrome finished feet is compact enought to fit into your standard sized bathrooms, not compromising luxury with spatial constraints. inzwerkz.com.sg

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Falper Lavamani washbasin by Roger Seller. Falper Lavamani washbasins are designed especially for bathrooms of modest dimensions. The range presents various shapes manufactured in Ceramilux, an innovative material used to enhance the appearance of the washbasin, allowing unprecedented levels of slenderness. rogerseller.com.au

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Geberit Monolith Puro by Geberit. With Geberit Monolith sanitary modules, you do not have to compromise. After all, truly impressive design comprises not only the aesthetic design, but also the function, the product material and the technology behind it. geberit.com.sg

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Frame by Norm Architects. The collection is inspired by bathroom consoles from industrial interiors and mid-century Danish design furniture, creating a light, airy set of bathroom furniture which can evolve along with your home whilst decorating many different living spaces. archiproducts.com

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Onyx rain shower in black by INOVO. Change your daily shower into a luxuriously relaxing experience with the latest Germany technology innovation Rain Shower Set. Indulge in the rain shower set to soothe your body and mind, washing away any tension and stress. inovo.com.sg

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YALDEMAR Stylistic hanging lamp by Screed. This ceiling hanging lamp spots industrial elements like small bolts and a rustic shape top. Furthermore, it also tries to add a modern contemporary touch by smoothening out the rough and rustic appearance with a sleek and glossy finish. screed.com.sg

Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01

On Privacy What does it mean to retreat back to oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s private space? Does a door in front of you, indicate the idea of privacy? Or is it a feeling that you feel when you are in the space?

Privacy is more than just demarcating a certain boundary to say that this space is private, semi-private and public. There is a level of transition that happens between the spaces, one that blurs the boundaries.

I think that privacy has to do with the level of comfort one has within the space, the idea of how the occupant feels at home within the space. We fill up the emptiness with the things that we like, with the objects that represents us.

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Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 d ra w i n g

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Findings I enjoyed the process of designing for Charrier in her very unique depiction of how her perfect house would represent her. The design outcome in a sense, fits into a stereotypical mold of a feminine design that relates itself with fashion and retail experiences, fitting as a description to describe how retail and fashion therapy is a womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hobby. With the focus on showcasing her collection of bags and shoes, it is also important to highlight that during the interview conducted to understand more about her, I felt that she possesses qualities like, confident, direct and independence, all of which are qualities that are often associated and identified as masculine traits.

This further emphasizes on how gender is a social construct, we adopt different roles and personas in reaction to situations in our environment. This is especially prominent in single parent families. A parent constantly threads between different roles in hopes of providing a holistic environment for the child.

Gender in this sense is like a performance, and the surrounding space is the theatre, portrayed for everyone to see.

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In Singapore, marriage becomes spatial, it is a condition for the majority of the population to own a house. An infamous question below to ask your partner. BTO means Built-To-Order, BTO means marry me.

Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y Project 01 u n d e rs t a n d i n g

Do you want to BTO?

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Sun Study The white dotted curves on the top and bottom corresponds to the sun trajectory during the summer and winter solstice respectively, the arrows pointing inwards to the site corresponds to the sunrise and sunset, from east to west. The orange area around is the variation of sun trajectories during the year.

Having said that, what it means for units in the site is the indirect sunlight that travels across the unit during the sunrise and sunset hours, due to the units facing in a north orientation.

Davidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unit is located on the fourteenth storey of the site, the high vantage point with the full height windows allowing ample indirect sunlight into the unit in the day. David can consider light and translucent window coverings to enhance a sense of privacy to the occupants.

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Wind Study The blue arrows pointing towards the unit corresponds to the general wind direction in the North-North-East and South-South-West orientation. The blue area demarcates the wind direction distribution in the year.

Davidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unit is located on the fourteenth storey of the site, generally allows good ventilation and wind distribution across the length of the unit.

David might want to consider creating an open floor plan layout in his home to value add to its interiority.

Circulation and Proximity Study The red lines demarcates the passage ways and roads that provides proper circulation of traffic around the site. Bus stops are located at the back of the site provides added accessibility around the town.

Within the vicinity of the unit are various eateries, shops and markets that ensures adequat food and shopping choices, coupled with various communal and institutional facilities around a 1km radius, proves an ideal location to start a family.

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Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The strength of a good design lies in ourselves and in our ability to perceive the world with both emotion and reason.â&#x20AC;?

-Peter Zumthor 110

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David Wong

Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 u n d e rs t a n d i n g

David is 26 this year, he is currently a navy officer working in the navy. He was recently married on February 2018 and is waiting to move into their new house in June 2018.

“Out at sea, you’re not bounded by land, wherever you look to, looking over the horizon, it gives me a sense of peace, a place you’ve never been to before.”

What is your vision of a perfect home?

Generally, there is no specific requirements, but a cozy space, comfortable. Nothing compared to the already chaotic world.

Basically a place that makes me feel peaceful, like out at sea. I’m a “Out of sight out of mind” kinda guy.

“I like things to be in it’s place, the things that are not meant to be displayed should be kept”. The lesser cleaning required for the house the better, displays will be generally pictures of loved ones, a family space, home. Does not fancy flowers and trophies etc. as it is not very important.

As a kid, what are the things that interests you?

Playing games, playing football, playing music.

What is your fondest memory growing up?

When I was young, everything is nice.

How would you describe yourself?

I would like to think that I am a very calm person. Calm in a way; when there are obstacles ahead of me, I will access the situation first, adapting to it and responding logically and rationally. I’m not the kind that seeks adventure, however I will enjoy the process while I’m at it. Like hiking for example, while I’m doing it, I enjoy it.

What is your favourite corner of your home?

Maybe my PC area, having said that, generally speaking, I need my own area, like a form of ownership of the space.

What values do you hold dear to yourself?

Responsible, trustworthy, respect is important, I try to do things that are just. Punctuality is utmost to me; a man of his words and I would say that I am traditional in a sense that I like to have my ‘family’ rituals like spending time with my loved ones, have meals together, I’m the more down to earth person.

What are some colours that bring you comfort?

Not the bold and striking colour, perhaps more pastel Muted colours Would you see yourself making changes to your house every few years?

Generally, some areas would be timeless, long-lasting. Perhaps only switching up the dining area and bedrooms, more intimate spaces, different stages of my life would then bring in different changes. As a bachelor, things should just be timeless, lazy to change

Before meeting Cherissa, What was your daily routine like?

On weekdays, I would usually wake up at 6 in the morning, wash up, bathe and change out. I’ll make my way to the carpark to drive to work at around 6.25 and I’ll probably reach camp at say 7.10. My work starts at 9 but I likes to go early and not be in a rush. I usually don’t have breakfast in the morning. I’ll end work latest at 7 in the evening. I prefer going back home for dinner and usually watches Tv, sleeps by 11 at night.

Out with the old, in with the new?

I am not very sentimental to material stuff (objects).

What is your take on functionality and aesthetics?

Aesthetics with functionality, there is no one over another.

There should be a balance, for example, drop down lights, chandelier etc. are not a very functional item. It limits your capability to be flexible with switching up with the layout of your house.

On weekends, I will usually wake up between 8 to 9 in the morning and will usually play my PS4, go out with friends, play sports like tennis and soccer, swim and then meet friends.

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Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 t ra n s la t i n g

Design Rational Davidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s composure and calmness were contagious. What I gathered from the interview was his reference on how he loved the sea. There was a certain timelessness in the process of the interview, a very laidback atmosphere.

The design of the house attempts to exemplify his personality traits of calmness by a combination of white, grey and blue accents that is associated with the colour palettes of the sea, furnished with soft furnishings to invoke a certain lightness within the space. Only the neccessity of certain furnitures that helps ground the overall design, exemplifying his down to earth personality within the space.

The spatial planning of the activities follows his hobbies and daily routine to provide structure within the lived space, one that helps a â&#x20AC;&#x153;traditional family manâ&#x20AC;? to navigate through the space.

The use of the different accents and colours within the space is influenced by David and the likes and dislikes were adhered to.

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1 The blue wooden floor tiles is put into contrast with the white and brown accent materials that resembles a stereotypical beach house.

2 An interest or certain habits is not something that should be neglected within the space. It is not something that we do out of the blue, instead, it is a form of lifestyle which reflects the unique qualities of an individual.

3 The modularity of the aligned units when looked at from the inside, sets an interesting contrast to the interiority of a home.

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Blue is calm and trustworthy, just like my friend. He loves the sea thats why he is a naval officer. He wants a home where he can chill and stay there most of the time, like really.

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Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 mapping

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Habits and Routine Diagram Diagrams were done in a 24 hours format to track his typical weekday and weekend routine. This is represented by the marble clock surface with colour coded arcs to represent a certain duration required for certain activity.

The activities are divided into three tiers for better clarity and breakdown of the activity. The diagram can be seen with an outer and inner diagram, a typical weekday and a weekend routine, the size of the chart is relative to the number of days in a week.

Subsequently, the routines were implemented spatially into the the site to understand and draw relation between the usage of different spaces. The method was used for all of the individuals in this study and is presented at a later stage in this chapter.

The diagram tracks the prominant spaces that David frequent the most where he spends most of his time at home in the order of the bedroom, living room/gaming space, working/reading space, bathroom and kitchen. Shows his priority of space usage in his current home.

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Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 mapping

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Spatial Diagrams Bubble diagrams were used to quickly draw up spatial relations and interaction, based on Davidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s input on certain programmes within the space.

The approach for this particular design is to create an semi-open floor plan layout, segregating the rooms in its specific usages and creating tresholds at key points to help connect the spaces together. This is done by making incisions at the kitchen wall and opening up one of the room to allow the natural sunlight to penetrate into the unit.

Subsequently, cuts along the X and Y axis of the unit were done to create zones in the layout. Diagrammatic blocks were used to understand the volume and relation between spaces and its interaction, therefore creating a specific layout for him 119

Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 v i s u a li z i n g

Mood Board and Collages Mood board and collages were quickly done up to provide visual cues based on Davidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s personality, like and dislikes. The colour choices are in line with his choices of pastel, light overtones accompanied with wood, rattan and earthy accents. The unit is furnished with a mixture of hard and soft furnishings. The strategy employed was to create a space where he can fully devote himself into his hobbies and activities when he is at home, by utilising the full height windows to allow for ample indirect light source and good ventilation to create an airy, light and calming interior stripped down to the neccessities, with minimal decoratives.

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Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Living/Dining A Traditional family man needs specific space to put activity to area. The living dining spaces are carved out by the placement of low lying cabinets, effectively demarcating areas stereotypical of a templated activity zoning to create familiarity with the lived space. The low lying cabinets allow proper light distribution towards the corners of the unit.

Project 01 c u ra t i n g

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Mears sofa Spuncrylic by Emerald Home. Beige fabric and gray wicker provide a bright, neutral color scheme that will add to the beauty of your view. Start relaxing and soaking up some sun today, with Mears. houzz.com

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Expo Multicoloro by Hafary. Expo is a wood effect tile that features a perfect blend of natural, vintage, painted and distressed wood, reproduced onto porcelain using digital technology. hafary.com.sg

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Small white half closed sideboard by Originals. File it! Hide it. Display it! You can find a piece of history in their special collection of handpicked teak cabinets from Rajasthan. And it will look totally at home with you. originals.com.sg

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Haiku by Big Ass Fans. The Haiku H Series is synonymous with elegant design and powerful performance. Its signature modern style perfectly complements any space, while at the same time delivering unparalleled comfort. haikuhome.com

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Side board light oak by Mobler. A timeless 1960s swedish side board crafted in light oak. A furniture that can follow you where ever you live in. moblersingapore.com

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Leland Dining Table by HipVan. Constructed in solid acacia wood treated with an uneven distress finish, the Leland Dining Table is the perfect example of combining craftsmanship with the beauty of natural materials. With minimum fuss, this small dining table adds character to your dining room simply by being. hipvan.com

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Lily Dining Chair by Vincent Sheppard. Take a seat with Vincent Sheppard. Their extensive range of dining chairs from this iconic international manufacturer, combines comfort, quality and style with modern design profiles. vincentsheppard.com

Workspace/Playspace/Kitchen/ Laundry The wall of this particular was hacked and to create openings for a window and a folding doors, effectively opening up the space which allows connectivity but yet demarcating a change of setting by the window and doors. The work and play space is perfect for some added privacy.

Kitchen/laundry area is done up with the minimum functionality as the kitchen is not Davidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s priority, having said that, it is still functional and allows him to whip up a meal when he has to.

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Work table by Hock Siong & Co.. Nothing beats a newly refurbished table from Hock Siong. hocksiong.com.sg

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Fibre Armchair Swivel Base. The streamlined swivel base and curved shell of the Fiber Armchair makes it ideal for the working space at home or in the office. muuto.com

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Stanmore Multi-Room by Marshall. Stanmore is the most versatile speaker in the Marshall line-up and is perfect for any room, big or small. Stanmore delivers on the promise of high-performance sound that is synonymous with the Marshall name. It produces clean and precise audio, even at the highest levels, thanks to the advanced components packed inside this music machine. marshallheadphones.com

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Teak Side board by Originals. Their most popular sideboard and for many reasons. The elegant lines and elevated base of our light frame sideboard gives the piece a modern and timeless aesthetic. originals.com.sg

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Wave Blue wallpaper by MuralsWallpaper. Their Blue Wave Watercolour Wall Mural will add a splash of color to your space for an impressive look. This mystifying design was created in-house by their design team. The earthy blue color is reminiscent of the ocean which will offer a calming, natural vibe to a drab living room or dining room. muralswallpaper.com

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Modular cabinets by Smart Zeev. The modular cabinets fits into all kinds of spaces with their variety of sizes to cater to your needs. smartzeev.com.au

Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Bedroom/Entertainment room The bedroom interior is a sanctuary for David to retreat to after a long day at work. A change of flooring material demarcates a transition to a more intimate and enclosed space for him to relax and contemplate on matters to his heart.

When is he going to start a family?

The entertainment room, unleashes the inner gamer, equipped with a projector and a day bed made up of cabinets and cushions. A space that he can spend hours in, indulging himself in some proper gaming.

Project 01 c u ra t i n g

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Seb Bed by Castlery. The Seb bed is made using the finest acacia wood we could find. The bed showcases tapered solid timber legs and rounded timber rails. The Seb is designed to create a masculine, yet retro vibe. castlery.com

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Vince by etch&bolts. With it’s modern lines and gorgeous grains, this design pays tribute to classic 1960s décor. The bold design will make a stylish addition to your space. etchandbolts.com

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Kurt sideboard by castlery. The Kurt collection is the perfect blend between classic industrial design and Scandinavian purity. The metal frame is made in steel with a hand finished powder coating. castlery.com

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Alexa Stool by Castlery. The Alexa stool has four solid oak legs and a pitted Resin top. The seat is gently curved for comfort and safety. Its happy in most interiors due to this diversity. castlery.com

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Spray wallpaper by MuralsWallpaper. This wallpaper mural flaunts subtle color blends, which remind us of the seaside’s calm and relaxing temperament. Richly detailed and carrying the right fusion of colors, their Ocean Mist Blue Ombre Wall Mural projects a peaceful image of the open ocean, gently spraying up mists of water over bright skies. muralswallpaper.com

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Epson Home Theatre Full HD Ultra-short Throw 3LCD Laser Projector by Epson. This projector is ideal for everyone with a guaranteed convenience of saving space and simple installation. Designed to project at near distance while displaying a larger screen size, it delivers outstanding performance through the colours of perfection. epson.com.sg

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Frame Teak Sideboard by Originals. Each Frame sideboard is unique - carefully constructed using salvaged teak sourced from India. Inject a little colour with this unique sideboard.

Besides being a good looking piece, it is also a practical storage solution. originals.com.sg

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Bathroom The modest bathroom reflects Davidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s down to earth character, with nothing too fancy, just a space where you can unwind with a cold shower and a decent enough bathroom vanity, ensures his daily needs are met.

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Chroma by Hansgrohe. Indulge in a nice cold bath with the RainAir technology that makes bathing feel like standing under the rain. A step closer to nature in an enclosed space. hansgrohe.com.sg

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Single Vanity Unit with Doors by Hock Siong & Co.. A traditional vanity unit, fitting for a traditional individual. hocksiong.com.sg

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Velin by Domaco. Invest in a good toilet bowl, it goes a long way. domaco.com.sg North Peak by Hafary. North Peak is a wall tile collection featuring a marble pattern, where the white is interwoven with a network of fuzzy and different widths of veins, exuding a beautiful and elegant effect. hafary.com.sg

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Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01

On Functionality In my process of interviewing the participants of my experiment, I noticed that the word functionality is a very common word that was used by them.

In a conversation with David, in trying to understand what does functionality mean to him, he quoted an example of how pendant lights in his opinion is not functional as it obstructs and limits the option of having to change a new layout in his home. I was quick to agree with him during the conversation as I was trying to dig more information from him, he is a quiet lad.

But I soon realized, when revisiting the interview recordings that functionality in some sense is personal.

It is not an universal definition on how things should be, similar to how taste is uniquely individualistic.

It brings me to conclude that in order for a space to be functional to the occupant, the focus should be brought to the occupant, what is functional to him, may not be for you. So, stop searching for functional funitures and assume that it will be for you.

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Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 d ra w i n g

Findings Personallly, I thought that designing for David was quite challenging in a way where generally, he is quite tight lipped and I had to spent sometime to dig more information from him. Similar to Zhi Kai, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve known David for quite some time and again I was intrigued by how little I actually know about him personally.

Even though it was challenging, I thought that it was a fruitful experiment that allowed me to re-connect with him after a long period of time spent studying abroad.

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Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Essentially, what your home does is distill a very long history of behaviors and choices.â&#x20AC;?

-Sam Gosling 130

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Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 u n d e rs t a n d i n g

Cherissa Cheng Charrier is 25 this year, she is working at Chijmes as a marketting communications executive and she is married to David.

“I’ve never been to a museum, however I do have the eye for details, aesthetics.”

What is your vision of a perfect home?

Storage space is a must have, I like to keep old stuff, with sentimental value, I do like to keep. If there is an item that I do not need it now, I might have a need for it next time therefore I would not throw it away. I do like the full length mirror, you can see your overall appearance before heading out and it helps to widen the whole room. A swing on the balcony, my mum used to hang a swing, and that was very memorable.

As a kid, what are the things that interests you?

In primary school, I was quite sporty. I like to play badminton, skipping, as there are a lot of free time.

What is your fondest memory growing up?

I remember cycling to school, parking and locking the bicycle outside the school, meeting friends along the way, playing sports, last time I really love pre-cut watermelon and I usually buy them in bulk.

What is your favourite corner of your home?

My bed. The only space is my room. Bed, super single, that can be flipped up, with a storage space. Unworn clothes can be placed underneath.

How would you describe yourself?

I think I am quite an introvert, I can talk to people when I have the need to, I get drained interacting with too many people. However if I have a party after a good rest, I can be an extrovert.

What are some colours that bring you comfort?

Pastel colours, pink, lavender, yellow hues, it is very soothing.

What values do you hold dear to yourself?

Honesty, candid-ness, open (not secretive), very keen on sharing, frank. Family wise, I am very traditional, I would want to start a family, have children.

Would you see yourself making changes to your house every few years?

Maybe. If I don’t have things that are built-in, I can shift things around every now and then, unless it is of disturbance to me, I am generally easy going and will leave things as it is.

Before meeting Zhi Kai, What was your daily routine like?

On weekdays, I would usually wake up at 6.30 in the morning, to get prepared, leaves house at around 7 or 7.10, works starts at 8.30.

After work I will head home for dinner, chill and watch shows/ dramas, sometimes I wait till the next day to bathe.

Out with the old, in with the new?

Medals, trophies from primary and secondary school, items that will make me think back of the past. Good memories, old birthday cards from friends means a lot to me. However they are very personal so I do not think that there is a need to display them.

On weekends, I will usually wake up between 11 to 12 for brunch.

Usually stays at home unless people asks me out, hassle of preparing to go out and there is a need to spend money. I like having Macdonalds big breakfast, all day breakfast, English breakfast, I like eggs.

What is your take on functionality and aesthetics?

Both are very important. If there is something that is ugly that serves a functional value, I would look for something that is similar but prettier.

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Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 t ra n s la t i n g

Design Rational Cherissaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interaction with the surrounding and people reveals a certain kind of honesty and candidness while talking about her past. Her willingness to share and ability to be engaged in a meaningful conversation was enriching and reveals a child like caricature that is innocent, vibrant and happy.

The design of the house attempts to exemplify her personality trait of an introvert and an extrovert in the interiority by using different materials and furnitures to bring out a playful side, while maintaining her sensitivity with the balance of soft furnishings. Her attention to detail and approach in finding value in her purchases allows her to snap up decent pieces with an affordable price.

The use of the different accents and colours within the space is influenced by Cherissa and the likes and dislikes were adhered to.

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1 Patterned tiles were used to demarcate spaces and also to bring our a unique character in the space.

2 The open kitchen layout is a perfect space to focus on relationship with people, interaction through food in the warmth of a home.

3 Wood accents are used throughout the entirety of the living spaces, balancing out the striking and vibrant patterned tiles in the front of the house and allowing Cherissa to be able to retreat to a comfortable and warmth space within her rooms.

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Yellow is bright and cheerful.

It embodies the friendly nature of her. A pale yellow represents her introvert nature that values purity of traditions and family.

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Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 mapping

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Habits and Routine Diagram Diagrams were done in a 24 hours format to track his typical weekday and weekend routine. This is represented by the marble clock surface with colour coded arcs to represent a certain duration required for certain activity.

The activities are divided into three tiers for better clarity and breakdown of the activity. The diagram can be seen with an outer and inner diagram, a typical weekday and a weekend routine, the size of the chart is relative to the number of days in a week.

Subsequently, the routines were implemented spatially into the the site to understand and draw relation between the usage of different spaces. The method was used for all of the individuals in this study and is presented at a later stage in this chapter.

The diagram tracks the prominant spaces that Cherissa frequent the most where she spends most of her time at home in the order of the bedroom, living room, dining room and bathroom. Shows her priority of space usage in her current home.

137

Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 mapping

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Spatial Diagrams Bubble diagrams were used to quickly draw up spatial relations and interaction, based on Cherissaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s input on certain programmes within the space.

The approach for this particular design is to create an open floor plan layout, that allows the spaces to be connected. This is done by making incisions in the walls to open up the kitchen and one of the room to allow the natural sunlight to penetrate into the unit.

Subsequently, cuts along the X and Y axis of the unit were done to create zones in the layout. Diagrammatic blocks were used to understand the volume and relation between spaces and its interaction, therefore creating a specific layout for her 139

Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 v i s u a li z i n g

Mood Board and Collages Mood board and collages were quickly done up to provide visual cues based on Cherissaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s personality, like and dislikes. The colour choices are in line with his choices of soothing pastel colours accompanied with wood and stone accents. The unit is furnished with a mixture of hard and soft furnishings.

The strategy employed was to create a space the reflects her introvert-extrovert personality. By using soothing colours on walls to act as an intial layer to the blank canvas of the interior, vibrant and patterned furnishings in the form of floor and wall tiles were used to bring out the extroverted trait.

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Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Living/Work/Reading

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The living space consists of multiple art and design movements to coexist in harmony, creating a distinct characteristic of Cherissa. Her keen eye on the details and taste in appreciation of different styles created an eclectic living space that is one of a kind.

The workspace is furnished in a saturated violet hue, soothing and complimentary to the wood accents in the space.

Project 01 c u ra t i n g

Quinn Loveseat - Marble Blue by HipVan. Built for the ultimate comfort, the piece has been filled with a premium quality foam. Relatively soft. Subtly smooth. It gives you a cosy place to recline with gentle support. hipvan.com

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Varese CAA by Hafary. Inspired by the falling of rain, leaving behind droplets of water on the cement floor.

Varese CAA is the perfect porcelain tile to bring a unique character into your house. hafary.com.sg

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Refurbished White ornamental Tv console by Hock Siong & Co.. One of a kind ornamental furniture that Cherissa saw while hunting for good and affordable pieces. hocksiong.com.sg

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Morey Working Desk - Natural, Penny Brown by Malmo.

Create an industrial yet simple style to your home with this Morey Working Desk. She features one drawer to store your pens, papers, books, cables and much more so that you can have the creative space to work freely. hipvan.com

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Roluudo Molecular Atomic Hanging Light by Screed. A classy and grand molecular multi-heads tree branch-like lamp as a unique lighting centerpiece screed.com.sg

Zig Zag Rack by Elements Concept.

This Zig Zak Rack is made of black powdercoated steel and teak shelves. The full height shelving acts as a wall partition that separates two distinct spaces and allows visability across the spaces. elementsconcept.com.sg

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Laundry/Kitchen/Dining/Hall A fully equipped kitchen space ensures that you are taken care of when hosting a party or a dinner with a few friends. The open kitchen allows interactiona dn participation amongst individuals and helps foster relationships.

The dining space grew from a singular chair to a set of 4 different chairs. The space right behind the hall helps to create a cosy atmosphere, allowing for more than just eating to occur there, it is a space where deep conversations starts.

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Custom Kitchen carpentry work with Movento runner system, CLIP top BLUMOTION hinge system, orga-line dividing system by Blum and Eternal Statuario quartz Kitchen top by Silestone. The customised kitchen fixture is fitted with the Blum systems, allowing for a smooth tactile experience throughout. blum.com; silestone.com.sg

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Driftwood Pearl by Hafary. Driftwood, by Pamesa, is a porcelain tile collection reminiscent of the textural grains of natural wooden floors. Offered in three beautiful warm tones. hafary.com.sg

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Batik Deco Cobalt by Hafary. The Batik collection, white body single-fired wall tiles in the size 10x10 cm, is available in the solid-coloured or Art Deco versions: tiles decorated with different patterns, developed in 5 colours on a chalk coloured background. There are 5 different patterns in each colour for the art deco collection. hipvan.com

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Xavier Marble Dining Table with Assorted Chairs

by HipVan. Angled legs are the highlight of this dining table which is easily explains the name, Xavier Dining Table. It is topped with Polaris Marble, unique for its pure white tone and streaks of light grey shades. hipvan.com

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Customised Acoustic Panels by HowEasy. But why do I even need to control my roomâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s acoustics? Every room has its own unique acoustic characteristic, and so all rooms have their own resonance which can be detrimental to your listening experience. Improving room acoustics isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just for music. howeasy.space

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Customised Aluminium Screen by 4321Design.

The aluminium screen acts as a divider between the hall and the dining space, without obstructing the view of the space.

4321design.asia

Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Storage/Reading/Bedroom Storoage space, one of the important criterias and must have of Cherissa, is seemlessly fitted into the bedrooms in the form of system wardrobe, cabinets and platform bed to safekeep all the important memories. The bedrooms are detached from the vibrant extrovert expression of herself and reverts back to the quiet and introvert self. The rooms are rid with technology, avoiding the distractions that it may offer, but instead, echoes a calming silence that helps soothes the mind and rest the body.

Project 01 c u ra t i n g

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ALUMIX System Wardrobe by Besglas Singapore.

ALUMIX Walk-in Wardrobe will not only provide you with a fantastic method of storage, but a new improved way of life in terms of getting ready for the day and generally keeping us organized. houzz.com.sg

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Cabin Bed by Kuhl Home. Sometimes you just need a room for it all. The perfect bed for storage, sleepovers and cosy times. kuhlhome.com

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Oak Natural by Hafary. Oak is valued for its natural beauty and durability. This series of engineered timber flooring therefore showcases these strengths which warrant a second look. With tighter and straighter grains, the surface is also distinguished by longer and darker lines. hafary.com.sg

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Custom Platform Bed carpentry work with CLIP top BLUMOTION hinge system. The customised platform bed is fitted with Blum systems, allowing for a smooth tactile experience throughout. blum.com

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Assorted Beddings and Cushions from Affordable Style Files. The collection of soft furnishings from their Home collection ensures a good night sleep. affordablestylefiles.com

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Grasshoppa Floor Lamp by HipVan. The Grasshoppa Lamp was first produced in 1947. This iconic floor lamp has a lithe frame and an elongated conical shade that rotates to direct light where it is needed. This is a unique, modern and classically designed product. It mixes well with a variety of decor and fits easily in any space. Versatile in function, placed it next to a reading chair or use it as a bedside floor lamp for your night reading. hipvan.com

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Start of the day by preparing to interact with people again, the bathroom helps to lift up the spirits with the vibrant set of colours and material accents, making sure that Cherissa starts the day right, ready to face the daunting conversations that lies ahead of her.

Jaipur Multi by Hafary. The wood effect in porcelain tiles has evolved to unexpected levels. The fusion of new technologies and creativity have allowed the development of Jaipur, this unique tile collection that mixes graffiti woods with pickled woods and other woods presented in an unprocessed state that achieve to bring a modern style to the room without losing the vintage charm. kare-design.com

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Milano Stone basin by Lusso. One of the most important drawing factors to wall mounted basins is the power in the top of the actual basin. This is particularly beneficial in homes with youngsters - as they will with any luck be able to without problems get right of entry to the sink and wash their fingers. lussostone.com

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Rainshower Set by Azora. Pamper yourself with a Rain shower to clear your head. Slow down and enjoy the little delights in life. azora.com.sg

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Wash Basin by Marko. Indulge yourself with this sleek and modern basin. architonic.com

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Adhere wallpaper by MuralsWallpaper. Their Blue Textured Cement Wall Mural is all about giving your wall an edgy yet stylish appearance. This wallpaper muralâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s key takeaway is its neutral color, which is significantly enhanced by its roughed-up faux cement appearance. muralswallpaper.com

Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01

On Materiality Characteristics I think at some point of time, you would have heard how a bachelor or a bachelorette home should be like and what is the â&#x20AC;&#x153;starterâ&#x20AC;? pack in achieving that stylistic approach to interior design.

In my opinion, I think that material characteristics has nothing to do with how a space is classified into a masculine or a feminine space. The choice of materials and furnishings is attributed to the individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s taste and preferences. A guy is equally entitled to choose pink as his favourite colour and a girl in choosing blue as hers.

The first step in ensuring that we step away from the stereotype and classification of is to treat everyone the same, in designing specifically for. Therefore, limiting the assumptions that we may have in our design. A honest design a day at a time.

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Findings I really enjoyed myself designing for Cherissa and her home. I thought that amongst all of the other designs, this seemed to me to be the most interesting design, a design that some how contradicts itself in its materiality and styles. A amalgamation of all things good or bad that reflects how Cherissa is, an individual that embraces the many differeing qualities of people, of herself and design as well.

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This is not just an ordinary interior design project where the designer throws a template in. It is unique and specific to the occupant/s.

A celebration of Individuality.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;In a relationship, you should never be a tree, you should always be a vine.

Trees grow, but they topple. Vines? Well pieces fall off, but it keeps going.â&#x20AC;?

-Ruben Toledo 150

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;People and the places where they reside are engaged in a continuing set of exchanges; they have determinate, mutual effects upon each other because they are part of a single, interactive systemâ&#x20AC;?

-William S. Sax

Project 01

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“The home’s decor and accessories can be made to foster strong family relations by serving as a reminder of roots and times past.”

-Avi Friedman

Cha p t er 02 g ender, s pace and i d e n t i t y

Project 01 d ra w i n g

Whose house is that?

When two individuals come together and decides to live togethe, it takes hard work and communication to make things work. It is a constant fine tuning and negotiation between the two people to deconflict space and time.

The final outcome of the couple houses is nothing complicated, it showcases their identity within pockets of lived space. Its a amalgamation of past personas coupled with future aspirations and a whole lot of compromise. As time passes, they forge common identities and make the spaces work for them.

So whose house is that?

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m pretty sure you could tell, using an investigative eye that was shown throughout the process of designing for people.

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Project 01 c o n c lu d i n g

â&#x20AC;&#x153;If people find themselves living in a world in which some hopes are realized and some joys are incandescent and some boundaries between individuals and groups are lowered, even for an hour or a day or several months, that matters.

Memory of joy and liberation can become a navigational tool, an identity, a gift.â&#x20AC;?

-Rebecca Solnit 160

So Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Next?

Through this experiment, I was able to bring forth certain notions in relations to gender studies. By making design personal, I was able to focus on the individual rather than their stereotypes that follow a conventions. Thus, creating a design that is uniquely them. In doing so, this acts as a methodology in pursuing an honest representation on design, an honest design decision that is beneficial to the client and tackling honest designs a day at a time.

You might ask, so what happened to the gender study from within the project? A space is nothing but a space, whoever occupies it, belongs to them. There is nothing gendered about it. Just like the collages above. I think is rather self explainatory. We adopt different roles when situation calls for; materials are just materials, everyone is entitled to any kind of material and furnishing, its personal taste and preferences.

Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all focus on the individuals and their identities rather than blurring ourselves with the differences that we have. Onwards we go. It was fun while it lasted. So long!!

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3 Appendix

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A Photographic Essay with Disposable Camera

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Past Project Direction

Concept Models and Collages 163

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Research Mindmap

Photographic Essay with Disposable Cameras

A honest attempt in capturing the corners of the house, unfiltered, without proper framing and reliance of technology. An attempt to look at their living spaces from their eyes.

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Past Project Direction 168

OBSERVATIONS “We are undermining a generation’s happiness by depriving them of national identity, religious identity, and gender identity.”

-– Dennis Prager

not translate to boy and girl, the colours in this instance is socially constructed. Therefore, both the outcomes of the “Gendered” Home should be presented: a personal outcome and a outcome for the interior.

The development of the new outcome questions the gap/interspace/hybrid space that was presented in the earlier parts of the project. Gathering from the narrative texts, I would be looking into the hierarchy of spaces and the voyeuristic gaze as the focal of the project, employing on angles, lighting and reflection to construct the space.

The outcome of the project is a space that is unique to its occupants, the spaces within are both private and public at the same time. The space becomes like a theatre, awaiting to be uncovered by the occupant. The exploration of the space is ritualistic and is analogous to the exploration of self. The design hopes to help the occupant in finding, understanding and accepting the identity of self in the comfort of home.

Subsequently creating an unique identity of the occupant through living in the space.

As I reevaluate on this project, I started to contemplate on the outcomes of the project and re-looked into it as a whole.

The outcome of the project seems to be more architectural then interior. As the exterior informs and carves the spaces of the interior, the focus on shaping the individual units was shifted away from the original intend of Interior Design.

The intented outcome of the project was to investigate on the social political policy and the society that affects the design of a space.

Therefore, informing on the construction of Gendered Spaces through a statement of intent by designing a collective of individual units as a whole. However, the result of the project did not successfully convey that message.

In turn, I came to question on the execution of the project. The dilemma now is to then choose between what is interesting in my perspective and what is to me, superficial as a entirety of the project for Gendered Spaces. Even though colours, material choices and objects in the space often conveys the identity of the occupant, it does not necessarily portray sexual orientation and gender identity. Blue and pink does

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32 Holland Close

the external as a boundary â&#x20AC;&#x153; A house is not a machine to live in. It is the shell of 172 his spiritual emanation.â&#x20AC;? man, his extension, his release, - Eileen Grey

32 Holland Close

reshaping of the internal â&#x20AC;&#x153; To create, one must first question everythingâ&#x20AC;?

173 - Eileen Grey

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furniture MAQUETTE 2 CORRIDORS

Elements of the furniture maquette were extracted from the textile design and given a whole new meaning in its functionality. What does it mean if the furniture has holes and openings in it? Is the furniture piece brittle and fragile as a result of the openings? Can it be mitigated by exploring on its materiality? In questioning the structural stability and function of the furniture, therefore, accentuates the quality of the furniture piece.

32 Holland Close

the home as an extension of identity â&#x20AC;&#x153; Place is security, space is freedom.â&#x20AC;?

174 - Yi fu Tuan

32 Holland Close

representation of space and identity 175

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32 Holland Close

breaking the stereotype of 176

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SITE ANALYSIS “We’re going to build taller buildings, but we can’t build them closely together. There must be a sense of playing fields, recreational areas for children and old people – a sense that this is a full country with all the facilities which you expect of a large country but in a confined space,” – Lee Kuan Yew Public housing in Singapore generally comprises of high-density, high-rise developments, mostly located in suburban areas.1 The majority of public housing estates are self-contained communities with not only the essential facilities to meet the residents’ basic needs but also various community amenities such as schools and recreational facilities.2 The larger estates are known as “new towns”. Singapore’s first new town, Queenstown, had been initiated by SIT in the 1950s but was completed by HDB. Queenstown was formerly a swampy valley with two hills named Hong Lim and Hong Yin. The Hong Lim hill was a cemetery for over 100,000 Chinese graves, while Hong Yin hill was covered with orchards and rubber plantations. A village called Bo Beh Kang, was settled by mainly Hokkien, Teochew and Hakka dialect groups. The area also housed a British military camp, known as Buller Camp, at Alexandra Road. The swamp, cemeteries, farm land and camp site were eventually cleared to make way for the development of Queenstown housing estate.3 Queenstown is bounded by the Ulu Pandan

Canal, Ghim Moh Housing Estate and the former Tanglin Camp area to the north, Alexandra Road to the east, Clementi Road to the west and the sea to the south.

The selection of the site was influenced by the 03-FLATS documentary as the first satelite town that was introduced to Singapore. Its historical importance to the growth provides an interesting take to the project development further forward. The question of Colonial British’s influence of Victorian Interior Design and its affects on the spatial planning of the HDB flats. What if Queenstown was developed in a different era? A postmodern era where individuals and identities were celebrated for its uniqueness.

The specific site of interest is situated at Block 32 Holland Close. The location of the site provides an interesting juxtaposition where a Hakka cemetry now resides. It provides a stark contrast and difference in the result of the uniformity of the graves and the diversity of the flats in design.

1. Aline K. Wong and Stephen H.K. Yeh, Housing a nation : 25 years of public housing in Singapore, (Singapore : Maruzen Asia for Housing & Development Board, 1985), pp.8-10.

2. Beng Huat Chua, Public housing policies compared: US, socialist countries and Singapore, (Singapore : Department of Sociology, National University of Singapore, 1988), p.24.

3. Li Yong Kwek, My Queenstown heritage trail, (Singapore : Urban Redevelopment Authority, 2015), pp.35-36.

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trademark CORRIDORS The corridors outside the HDB units are an extension of the occupants within the unit, without entering the unit, one could seemingly visualize the interior and the identity of the occupant by looking at the exterior of the unit. The corridor, a public space, acts as a viewing gallery that showcases the myriad of identities within the estate.

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hakka CEMETERY Surrounded by Housing Board flats and a MRT track, Shuang Long Shan Cemetery has been the only constant in Holland Close since the late 1960s.

Unchanged since its graves were re-interred from a bigger graveyard that covered 40ha in the Ghim Moh area, the now smaller cemetery for the Hakka community - about the size of 2½ football fields - has completed half of its 99-year lease.

The unique location of the cemetery within a HDB estate creates an interesting juxtaposition to the surrounding. The tombstones symbolises the tussle for space in land-scarce Singapore, to act as a reminder to the residents that much of the estate was Hakka burial land that was sacrificed for the construction of the modern flats and home.

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DIAGRAMMATIC STUDIES & RESEARC H “Everyone should be respected as an individual, but no one idolized.”

–Albert Einstein narrated the use of lighting and strategic positioning of the occupant as a counter measure to regain control within the space. The text further elaborates with the example of the Rufer House, by deconstructing Adolf Loos’s intention of the Facade design of the house. It emphasizes on the tension between the interior and exterior, which provides a certain neutrality in treating the interior and exterior.3 Mark Wigley’s Untitled: The Housing of Gender quoted Xenophone’s Oeconomics further prompts on the gaps between the spaces, the interspace, that contrasts with the natural order of place, society and gender.4 In the attempt to understand the narrative texts, the common entity seems to be on the gap/interspace/hybrid space that is undefined.

The Différance5 between the definite that associates with the key concept of Jacques Derrida’s Deconstruction. So where is the silver lining? Is there a definite answer to the binary of public and private? Or is it that it too has become like a scale, similar to the scale of gender as it is no longer binary.

The next phase brings us into developing the narrative texts and developing it into spatial qualities of the design. The essence of the individual texts provides an overlap of complex notions. The diagrams allowed myself to explore and experiment on the possibilities and opportunities of the design.

In Lilian Chee’s The Public Private Interior: Constructing the Modern Domestic Interior in Singapore’s Public Housing highlighted the interaction between corridor spaces and different units as an extension of the occupant within the flat.1 It represents and reveals the identity of men and women. The corridor belonging to the units creates a distinct identity of the occupant from within the space. This phenomenon blurs the distinction between the public and private sphere of the home. What is the specific definition of private and public spaces? Where is the boundary?

Is the public space now private as well?

In Beatriz Colomina’s The Split Wall: Domestic Voyeurism mentioned Adolf Loo’s Moller House as an example. The house creates a certain sense of security in reaction to the voyeuristic lens of the observer from the exterior.2 The example

1. Lilian Chee, “The Public Private Interior: Constructing The Modern Domestic Interior In Singapore’s Public Housing”, inThe Handbook Of Interior Architecture And Design, ed. by Graeme Brooker, Lois Weinthal, 1 Edn., (A&C Black, 2013), pp.204-207.

2. Beatriz Colomina, ‘The Split Wall: Domestic Voyeurism’, in Sexuality & Space, ed. by Beatriz Colomina, (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1992), pp. 74-85.

3. Ibid., pp. 94-96.

4. Mark Wigley, ‘Untitled: The Housing of Gender’, in Sexuality & Space, ed. by Beatriz Colomina, (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1992), pp.

332-341.

5. Jacques Derrida, ‘Cogito and the History of Madness’, in Writing and Difference, trans. by Alan Bass, (London & New York: Routledge, 1978), pp.

36-76.

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private PUBLIC

angles HIERACHY OF SPACE

The interaction between corridor spaces and different units is an extension of the occupant within the flat. It represents and reveals the identity of men and women.

The corridor belonging to the units creates a distinct identity of the occupant from within the space. This phenomenon blurs the distinction between the public and private sphere of the home. This diagram illustrates the correlation between the public and private sphere.

Adolf Looâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Moller House was used as an example. The house creates of security in reaction to the voyeuristic lens of the observer from The angles of the space and the postioning of the occupant and th of themselves allows for proper screening and coverage of the privat hierarchy of space was used to manipulate the occupants eye level occupant to have control over the space and the voyeur.

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E

a certain sense m the exterior. he positioning te sphere. The l, allowing the

inter SPACE The example of the Rufer House, by deconstructing Adolf Loos’s intention of the Facade design. It emphasizes on the tension between the interior and exterior, which provides a certain neutrality in treating the interior and exterior. Mark Wigley’s Untitled: The Housing of Gender quoted Xenophone’s Oeconomics further prompts on the gaps between the spaces, the interspace, that contrasts with the natural order of place, society and gender.

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add picture here Fred Boissonnas, Immeuble ClartĂŠ, Geneva, <http://www.fondationlecorbusier.fr/CorbuCache/900x720_2049_402.jpg?r=0> [accessed 13 November 2017].

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READINGS THAT INFORM “The house does not have to tell anything to the exterior; instead, all of its richness must be manifest in the interior.”

–ADOLF LOOS

In the initial research on Gendered Spaces, an extensive search for scholarly texts were conducted in an attempt to understand the complex relations between gender and space.

4 main academics were highlighted in their writings on Gender and Space. In Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble. Feminism and the subversion of identity, argues that Gender is no longer binary, but of a scale, where individuals perform the roles of masculinity and femininity to a varying degree based on time, social relations and space. She acknowledges that Gender is a performance and the constant repetitive enacting of various images as performativity.

In Beatriz Colomina’s The Split Wall: Domestic Voyeurism, she provided examples of works from Adolf Loos and Le Corbusier. Examples of Loos’s work bring forth the notion of control and surveillance, Hierarchy of Space and The Voyeuristic Gaze of men within the interior space.

Loos further added on the metaphors of mirrors which hinted on Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalysis Theory and referenced Rene Descartes’s Traite de Passions to emphasize his ideas on the perceptual and conceptual. Loos talked about how the exterior should be of a men’s coat, void of all expres-

sive details while the interior should show all the intricacy, which highlights on the visual representation of architecture and interior design.

Examples of Corbusier’s work also highlighted the visual representation of women within space.

His objectivity of women within his space and association of women being in the interior while the men are often seen in the exterior. Both of which brings forth interesting ideas and provided an interesting outlook on gender and space.

In Daphne Spain’s Gendered Spaces and Women’s Status, provides a sociologist’s point of view, she attempt to provide an in depth analysis on Gendered Spaces by providing cross-cultural and historical contexts. She narrated those context using 3 different typologies of Dwelling, Workspace and Schools.

In Lilian Chee’s The Public Private Interior: Constructing the Modern Domestic Interior in Singapore’s Public Housing, provided an outlook on public housing in Singapore. She highlighted on the spatial planning of the interior and the privacy of the interior.

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Corbusier and His eatrics gender and representation

An extensive search of scholarly texts was conducted to locate papers that contains the key words of “gender” and “space”. The online search of scholarly texts was narrowed down to existing articles, reviews, books and research reports that are written in English.

The search was limited to the following disciplines to underline the basis of the research: Anthropology, Architecture and Architectural History, Asian Studies, Feminist and Women’s Studies, Film Studies, Interior Design and Interior Design History, Philosophy, Sociology and Urban Studies.

The expansive search provides a wide spectrum of perspective in the theme of “Gender” and “Space”. Subsequently, the results were carefully curated and chosen, mainly from works of notable academics like Beatriz Colomina, Mark

Wigley, Daphne Spain and Lillian Chee.

Their literary texts were deconstructed in an attempt to interrogate Gendered Spaces and its hidden and underlying meaning. Subsequently, a series of collage were created to represent the text and its context. The essence of the texts and its meaning could then be translated into visual forms that provokes and creates an avenue for inquiry.

Similarly, in the deconstruction of films, several short films and a documentary was selected for its interesting portrayer of gender in relations with space. The crux of the films was captured by another series of collages that accentuates a deeper meaning and understanding to the theme of Gendered Spaces.

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oppressed MAJORITY The film by Eleonore Pourriat narrated a world that reverses the gender in their performance in the daily lives. The film follows a father in his daily journey of house chores. Along the way, he was harassed on the streets and ultimately got raped. The collage shows the key parts of the film in a condensed manner.

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voyeuristic GAZE The voyeuristic Gaze is common throughout Gendered texts. It narrates the power and authority over public and private spheres, of the maleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s uncanny gaze that is often sexualized, which is often highlighted within Le Corbusierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s representation of the gender in his work.

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gender REPRESENTATION In Beatriz Colomina’s text, she highlighted the representation of gender and the notion of conceptual and perceptual representation in space through Corbusier’s and Adolf Loo’s works respectively.

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PUBLIC HOUSING & ITS T YPOLOGY “This was the plan which we had from the very beginning, to give everybody a home at cost or below cost and as development takes place, everybody gets a lift, all boats rise as the tide rises,” – Lee Kuan Yew ‘Public housing’ evokes a powerfully negative spatial iconography in many western countries.

The term is often associated with ‘dysfunctional neighborhood imprints of a discredited welfare state’ in popular discourse and policy debates in the west.1 Yet, nested at the core of every public housing project is a modernist utopian ideal—the possibility of a more equitable distribution of wealth in society; where the basic human right of having a roof over one’s head would be met.

Public housing is a dominant feature in the everyday lives of most Singaporeans, where more than 80% of the resident population live in HDB estates.2 Home ownership became one of the normative feature of Singaporeans, as part of a rite of passage into the society.3 Children grows up to be adults to work and earn for the economy and their family and create their own family, therefore allowing them to own a house. Marriage has been closely tied to public housing. The government prioritizes public housing to heteronormative

family units over unmarried individuals, as heterosexual family nucleus is the basic building block in Singapore’s attempt in nation building.

Before 1991, for instance, singles were not allowed to buy HDB flats on their own, in line with the government’s pro-family and pro-marriage stance.4 However, the rule was gradually relaxed, initially giving singles access to three-room or smaller resale flats in certain areas, and later to such flats in any location. Now, single Singaporeans who are 35 years old or older can purchase resale flats of any size in any location on their own.5 The main categories of public housing can be classified by; one-room flats, two-room flats, three-room flats, four-room flats, five-room flats, executive flats (including executive apartments and maisonettes), studio apartments (reserved for Singaporeans who are at least 55 years old) and HUDC flats. The size and layout of new flats are guided by standard design plans, with some degree of variation.6

1. Elvin Wyly and James Defilippis, ‘Mapping Public Housing: The Case of New York City’, Wiley Online Library, 2010, <http://http://onlinelibrary.wiley. com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-6040.2009.01306.x/full> [Accessed 30 October 2017) 2. Singstat, “Resident Households by Selected Type of Dwelling”, Singstat.Gov.Sg, 2017 <http://www.singstat.gov.sg/statistics/visualising-data/infographics/population#reshhla> [accessed 12 March 2017].

3. Bao Tan Mah, Reflections on housing a nation : a collection of commentaries, (Singapore : Ministry of National Development, 2011), p.37.

4. NewspaperSG, “Singles above 35 may buy HDB flats on their own”, The Business Times, 1991 <http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/ Article/biztimes19911018-1.2.10.2> [accessed 12 October 2017].

5. Housing and Development Board, “ Single Singapore citizen scheme”, Housing and Development Board, 2015, <http://www.hdb.gov.sg/cs/infoweb/ residential/buying-a-flat/resale/single-singapore-citizen-scheme-or-joint-singles-scheme> [Accessed 15 October 2017) 6. Aline K. Wong and Stephen H.K. Yeh, Housing a nation : 25 years of public housing in Singapore, (Singapore : Maruzen Asia for Housing & Development Board, 1985), pp.57,65.

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add picture here Amy Tanasha on her couch, screenshot taken from03-FLATS Official Trailer (2014).

Lilian Chee, 03-FLATS Official Trailer (2014) <https://vimeo.com/107021359> [accessed 22 November 2017].

concept MODELS 3 conceptual spatial models were created for the 3 individuals within the documentary. The concept models maps out the spatial elements within the homes of the 3 women, showing key representations of their homes and domesticity.

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ON WATCHING 03-FLATS â&#x20AC;&#x153;The viewing subject inhabits partially the unstable position foregrounded in the film (as if, figuratively, a home movie) and partially the expanding position of participating in other ideas and worlds (as if, figuratively, a documentary).â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Timothy Corrigan The next phase of project looks into 03-FLATS, a Singaporean documentary by Lilian Chee and Lei Yuan Bin. The documentary follows domestic existence of three single women who strive for independence at different stages of their lives. The film moves between the ordered public spaces outside these flats, and the well-meaningly empty or cluttered, and at times flamboyant, lived spaces of its occupants.

Ling Nah is an artist and has transformed her flat into a art studio, hinting on thoughts of art-studio-homes in cities like New York or Paris.

The interiority of the public spaces within the home seems chaotic and cluttered with works and equipment, which differs from her organised private spaces.

Amy Tashiana, from the entertainment business, has brought Hollywood to the neighbourhood. From boudoir-looking drapes to patterned crockery to sequined cushions to delightful bouquets of flowers, one immediately forgets the original cell-like structure of these public housing units.

The third character Mdm Sim Boon Ngoh lives a simple and prudent life alone in her flat

with her furnishing down to the basic essentials, but we are given a back story of how her flat, when her mother was around used to be the venue of numerous family gatherings and Chinese New Year reunion dinners.

The documentary provides a filter, almost voyeuristic in nature through the 9 months of uninterrupted filming, provides the most authentic experience and overlay that juxtaposes nationalistic ambitions against struggles to maintain personal routines, preserve traditions and create space for individual identities. By overlaying routinized time and space with customized domestic practices that inevitably challenge spatial and temporal norms in these flats. 03-FLATS shows how, within the domestic realm, gendered spaces is enacted through incremental micro-changes that are opportunistic rather than oppositional.

These actions counteract the spatio-temporal ennui of government policies and mass housing.

The spaces within the home provides an interesting composition that reveals the identity of the occupants, therefore creating an overlay of individual that silently opposes the social policies, highlighting the gaps of home ownership and usage of spaces.

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schools undermine the status of the boundary between inside & outsid e

public

text

mirrors

sensory awareness

metaphorically mark wigley

eye & window

(Spouse)

performativ e

workspace

daphne spai n

in relation

sociologist

private

scholarly

lilian chee

capitalism

dwelling

singapore

home

blurred lines across centuries

domesticity

beatriz colomina talked about

image as enactment

(portraying women)

windows as gateways the eyes

eyes as the window to the soul

le corbusierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; s representation

adolf loosâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sensory awarenes s

the voyeuristic gaze of control and survelliance

traite de passions

hierarchy of space psyche

rene descartes

(how knowledge is acquired)

mirrors (as a metaphor)

perceptual & conceptua l

sigmund freud

appear to be openings (openings often mistaken as mirrors )

(Differance)

uncertainty of in-b

lr

?

MASCULINE

men

spacing (undefined)

feminine

(noN- binary)

Sexual organ

binary

scale bar

women

virtual space

Identity

time

of metaphors & visual representa

(a knowledge) conceptual

talk walk

actions

act

by a series of effects (Called impression)

performativity (phenomenon)

performance

GENDER trouble:

roles - actions

(things we do) -

speak

GENDER femenism & the subversion of identity

on the concept of

Judith butler author

206

social relation

(thinking

SPACE (in which we experience)

p

(F

gender - space

gendered spaces

interviews

qualitative method & record

conSISTs

quantitative

1. reality of space in physicality

surveys diagrams

of

socialization process

spaces gendered al as a ritu

gender construction immaterial architecture

invisible boundaries

ethnographic

notes

longitudina l

occassions where gender difference needs to be perfectly clear in dress timelessness of relations

activities

r& elpe space h c i st o dome access t r thei of gender ? s roles ting house if h s when

small kitchen limits? enables singular user?

opportunities to desig n a hdb block with 1 t emplated te interior as a n alternative to the cu rrent templa of home division between front & back public & private Female & m ale vict orian house

private

wc K

what i s ed spaces, in documenting gender the best a series oF sentation? repre To show immateriality the is what of comparison w (in spatial) outcom e? est b ze the g a shophouse/ hdb

w public/ private sp aces

wc

sR LR

room

layout & Diagram

angles that allows/disallows vision.

room

public

shophouse 100 People

jacques derrida

between

DECONSTRUCTION central concept

(noN- binary)

in search for the underlying

deconstructing of text & film

of visual mean s

ation

angles privacy

g)

perceptual

Feeling)

in representation of which encompasses multiple factors and constructs

rituals

sequence of

2. virtual space

physical spac e of senses and visual reception

the in between

private (interaction of)

public

blurred lines

hybrid

spillage integrated shifting identities

207

multiple families

HDB 1-2 families 1- 10 people

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CREDITS Raymond Wong

Pushing My Brain Cells: Allyson Chin Portfolio Layout: Inspired by Kinfolk Magazine, The Monocle Guide to Better Living, Apartamento Individual Projects: The Ways We Live, The Shop Window, The Office & The Manifestovvv

Allyson Chin

Chang Couple

Wong Couple

Special Mention: The Chang and Wong Couple for their help in Identities: An Experiment with Recently Married Friends, Lecturers: Nadia Wagner, Lee Seung Ho & Elaine Lee for their care, patience and guidance in the creation of the Portfolio series in Glasgow School of Art Singapore.

Port fol i o

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