award winning building

I worked at Housing and Development Board in the late 80s and I was lucky to be given the opportunities to design a few buildings. Most of the HDB architects were either designing public housing or managing the construction projects. My design won the SIA Architectural Design Award in 1991. Here is the citation published for the award.

CITATION - SIA ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AWARD 1991
on Clementi Sports Hall by Housing and Development Board
"The dramatic form of the building is entirely appropriate to its setting with the Ayer Rajah Expressway on the south and the parking plaza on the north. The simple sculptural form is sensitively related to surrounding developments allowing for a harmony of geometries and sympathetic ground treatment.

The grammatical permutation of forms is reinforced by the choice of materials and the detailing of the junctioning of the different building elements and the use of the louvred facade cladding."

details

cover story by a practising architect on my design

The Straits Times, our local newspaper on 19 Feb 1992

"Any building worthy of an award must have three basic qualities - be appropriate, practical and pleasing to the eye.This may seem obvious but the truth is, many buildings in Singapore do not possess even one of these criteria.For a country with such a short history, Singapore has quite an impressive architectural infrastructure. The country has many fine traditional, colonial, as well as modern buidlings.

In recognising this rich heritage, the Singapore Institute of Architects(SIA) gives design awards every few years to projects which have contributed to Singapore's architectural excellence.The last SIA Design Awards were held in 1987.This year's award presentations, the third in the series, will be held on Saturday at the Alkaff Mansion. It will see 7 buildings receiving the SIA Design Award and 27 others, the Honourable Mention.

One of the winners of the Design Award is the Clementi Sports Hall, which was completed by the Housing and Development Board(HDB). A formal simplicity is evident in the building, which is essentially a square box with repetitive elevations, and is a deceivingly clever architectural statement.

It sits on a higher level than the entrance approach and the impact of scale is exaggerated as you step up to it.Four perimeter walls support a steel roof consisting of a spaceframe system providing a clear uninterrupted open space for the sports hall.The overpowering roof completely dominates the surrounding townscape, giving it an unavoidable sense of importance.Specially-fabricated, curved-sectioned metal louvres suspended vertically within the outward sloping roof profile allow efficient cross ventilation, yet effectively keeping out rain and glare.

This, and the other five projects highlighted here, represent milestones by which standards for architectural excellence in Singapore can be set. They are functional, economical and elegant. They fit in with the neighbourhood, are user-friendly and are well built. They prove that good design need not be extravagant or gimmicky.

They also prove that Singapore architects are more than capable of producing prize-winning architecture."

Singapore Flyer

Beautiful Singapore Skyline. Visited on a Sunday 3 Aug 2008.

D&AD students award of the year 2008

IAD95 Gathering

After 13 years, we finally met again at SOFRA Turkish Restaurant at Shaw Tower.

old campus

Memories at old campus, Stirling Road. The students' work on the right already displayed a very high standard for first year students in 1991.

the symbol of rebellion

This is the portrait of Che Guevara and it is the most widely reporduced image in the history of the photograph. This image has become the universal symbol of rebellion. So we need to know who is the artist not just the icon. The photographer is Alberto Korda. Ernesto Che Guevara, the long-haired Argentine guerrilla wearing a soldier's beret with a single star. He helped Fidel Castro to power in Cuba's 1959 revolution - have propelled him to become a global symbol of rebellion. He was born on this day 14 Jun, 1928.

Finally, I have succumbed to......

Yesterday I finally crack......due to heavy workload. It was really unfortunate. I went to see the doctor and my blood pressure was exceptionally high at 140! Really unfortunate. I have to take medication. Damn it! Suddenly i realise i am not young anymore. However, I also realise I am really blessed and I am grateful!

Campus Sculpture

Official name is "Work Hard Play Hard"

meeting friends at Art Institute of Chicago

Thomas Kong, architect friend of mine teaching at Art Institute of Chicago, will be back for a workshop at singapore poly in july... till we meet again..


Tek Keong, artist friend now studying for his MFA, we met up at Art Institute of Chicago, working hard for a residency at RCA, all the best and don't know when and where I will meet him again.

The Bean

The name for the sculpture is cloud gate and it was affectionally called the bean. cloud gate is British artist Anish Kapoor's first public outdoor work installed in the United States. With other new additions to the millennium park, cloud gate remains as the icon for city of chicago.

First Day of Spring in Chicago

We arrived on last day of winter in Chicago. The date was 19 March 2008. Weather was sunny, very nice albeit a little windy. However, the following morning, it was snowing at about 5 am and by 6 am, the whole place was covered with snow. The first day of spring was 20 March 2008 and it was snowing in the early morning.

amazing

finally it's up

busy busy

busy busy for the last week, please rain rain go away next week ....

world coffee

it began with coffee at Lucca, Italy in Jun 2001 to coffee at Jerusalem in Nov 2007. Yeah, over a good six years......

tea & sympathy, NYC

my favourite place http://www.teaandsympathynewyork.com/home.php

world coffee series

I remember having project discussions with my American classmates at a small & cozy cafe in Brooklyn. I am afraid if i dont write it down here, it will be harder for me to remember the name of the cafe later, after all, it was between Sep 2001 and Feb 2003..... it start with a 't', tilly, tillie or tilie talle..... and i found it on the internet...
http://www.tilliesofbrooklyn.com/

chinese new year 2008

quick sketch of Jerusalem

i got the highest distinction

this is the proud moment for the record here since no one else is interested.

bilbao

I started collecting pencil holders after I acquired the first one in Japan in the 80s. I bought a crayon holder in Barcelona when my friend and I went to Bilbao in July 2001. I used it to do a sketch on the famous Frank Ghery's Guggenheim Museum. Norman Foster's underground stations were still under construction then.

I will like to revisit Bilbao one day. Bilbao is always reinventing itself and Singapore can learn from them. In early 2000, Bilbao was rejuvenated by building a new city with famous landmarks designed by world renowned architects including a modern airport by Calatrava. I built a website in 2002 for that trip here

Keep abreast with the world

not insane
just falling behind
at the rainbow end
catching the rainbow tail
holding it tight
hate to let go
seeing the trail
ok i tell myself
on the track again

memories

T I A @ U S A 2001-2003 N e w Y o r k, B o s t o n, W a s h i n g t o n D. C., T e n n e s s e, N i g a r a F a l l, T h o u s a n d I s l a n d s, B a l t i m o r e, L a k e P l a c i d, N e w H a m p h e r e, V e r m o n t, L a s V e g a s, L o s A n g l e s, F r e s n o, S a n F r a n s i s c o, Y o s e m a t i

teaching .... writing .... sketchbook.... pictures.......

watercolour study 12"x12"

thinking

In the old days, we had Edward de Bono six thinking hats, in the early 90s, I used Tony Buzzan's mind map, few years ago, I first heard about scamper techique by Bob Berle from a artist friend who was also an art teacher. She went for a thinking course by MOE and picked up the technique. In case you dont know, scamper stands for substitute, combine, adapt, modify, put to other use, eliminate and reverse. These are techniques that are so familiar, I use them all the time, I tell my students about techniques for manipulation of shapes and forms, techniques like addition, removal, enlargement, reduction, rotation, distortion, overlapping etc etc... are they new? So, should I also write it down and commercialise it? Why didn't I think of it? Seriously, give me a break! I am just plain lazzy, I guess.... but I am always thinking... doing... doodling.... thinking... so, why people make money from providing thinking technique? Why are we paying for learning how to think?






give me a break and smile
you are on 60 minutes

pastel artist seow hock meng

I first met the pastel artist, Seow Hock Meng in 1980s. I was with a group of portraiture artists who were painting once a week at the then cairnhill community centre. I need time to find my original portraiture work but you can see them at my website here

Tiazzi

quote from : http://www.fool.com/Calls/1998/Calls980724sbuxQ3.htm

"Tiazzi was recently launched and is receiving a strong welcome thanks in part to promotion and coupons to try the drink. Tiazzi represents the idea of constant self-renewal that Starbucks embodies -- not to embrace the status quo, not to rest on past success, but always to be a step ahead of any competition, sometimes by means of surprising customers with drinks no one else has considered. Starbucks must leverage its foot traffic, and Tiazzi introduces another beverage choice aside from coffee. "

Tiazzi is a tea-based summer frappuccinos introduced in 1998 according to Starbucks. It is a tangerine-lime flavor, a blend of tea, tangerine and orange juices with a hint of lime.

I am crazy about anything with Tia but tea drink from starbucks is a no no for me.

911

26 Aug 2001, i was there two weeks before it came down......

miss them

Having Fun
always never fail
http://www.tia.mysite.com

HETAP

I did a cartoon based on the quote by Paul Torrance. In early 2001, I was the first course manager in TP to enrol into HETAP and graduated with an impressive teaching folio. HETAP is Higher Education Teaching Accredited Programme with SEDA, Staff and Educational Development Association, the professional association for staff and educational developers in the UK.

katong park digging....

one fine saturday, we were with Lim Chen Sian at katong park working out..... trying to find gold.....