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MUSEE DES CONFLUENCES COOP HIMMELB(L)AU

BOMBAY SAPPHIRE DISTILLERY HEATHERWICK STUDIO
CASAMAN, DESA PARKCITY UNIT ONE DESIGN
dwell

COURTYARD HOUSE HYLA Architects

TREE HOUSE Formwerkz Architects
7 DEGREE HOUSE wynk;collaborative
RON GILAD designer extraordinaire from Tel Aviv

ISSUE 084. 2015 | S$8

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iN THIS ISSUE
In habitat this issue are three houses in Singapore, that focussed on the celebrated feature of a courtyard,
light- and air-well at the heart of their spatial organisations:
The three-storey Courtyard House by HYLA Architects has, in the centre of its rectilinear space, a prominent
courtyard lined with a thick band of timber that not only emphasises its importance within the home, but
has the effect of framing an artwork a solitary frangipani tree floating above a pond of bronze mosaic. The
pond is raised to seating height, becoming part-feature, part-furniture. The courtyard rises diagonally to the
second storey such that one entire face of the house is open p38
In Formwerkz Tree House on Saraca Road, a triple-volume central atrium is introduced on the ground floor
family room, where a planter holds two towering Sterculia foetida that connects the communal spaces
through all three floors, rising up to a pitch-roof skylight on the third-storey attic p44
The 7 Degree House by wynk;collaborative, a young design consultancy set up in 2011, is conceived from
the inside out with a cavernous light well punctured through its centre. Built up from a previously two-storey
house to fit the additional number of rooms required, the introduction of the void has resulted in a light-filled
house and a more engaged way of living as well as the sense of a bigger home for the occupants p50
The Muse des Confluences, a science centre and anthropology museum located in Lyon, France, is
conceived as a public gateway that stimulates a direct, active use, not only as a place of contemplation, but
also as a meeting place in the city...The striking interface situation of the construction site at the eponymous
confluence of the Rhne and the Sane (rivers) inspired the superposition in urban space of two complexly
linked architectural units crystal and cloud p16
Heatherwick Studios intrinsic masterplan and design of Bombay Sapphires first dedicated distillery and
headquarters in Laverstoke, south of England, included building two intertwining botanical glasshouses to
house and cultivate the 10 plant species that give Bombay Sapphire gin its particularity. The glasshouse
structures spring from a gin distillation hall, recycling the spare heat from the machinery to make the perfect
growing conditions for tropical and mediterranean plants p70

iNSIDE
IS S U E 0 8 4 . 2 015

spin

08 | SAFDIE ARCHITECTS JEWEL AT CHANGI AIRPORT

10 | BUILDING ON SUSTENANCE: EXPO 2015 MILAN PREVIEW
14 | STEVEN HOLLS NEW WING FOR THE MUMBAI CITY MUSEUM

wide\angle

16 | GRID-LESS RELATIVE SPACE

Muse des Confluences in Lyon, France, by Coop Himmelb(l)au
24 | AN ECO-FRIENDLY LIBRARY
Bibliothque du Bois in St Laurent, Montreal, Canada

habitat

30 | BOXES IN THE LANDSCAPE

Casaman in Desa ParkCity, Kuala Lumpur, by Unit One Design
38 | INSIDE OUT
Courtyard House by HYLA Architects
44 | ROLES REVERSED
Tree House on Saraca Road by Formwerkz
50 | SUBTLE SHIFTS
7 Degree House by wynk;collaborative
56 | LINEAR NOSTALGIA
Loft apartment in Joo Chiat by Studio XMSL

browse

60 | SUSTAINABLE LUXURY
The new Singapore House; Solutions for a livable future
Book by Tuttle Publishing, a review

Cover image from photo of Muse des Confluences

(p16) by Duccio Malagamba

CASA
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iNSIDE
community

64 | NAN MIGHT LIKE IT

The Arpage Antoine de Saint-Exupry home for the elderly in Villejuif, France,
by Naud & Poux

dfusion

70 | FROM PAPER MILL TO GIN DISTILLERY

The Bombay Sapphire distillery in Laverstoke, UK, by Heatherwick Studio
74 | UPBEAT TRANSPARENCY
Molteni&Cs Glass Cube showroom in the province of Monza and Brianza, Italy,
by Ron Gilad
78 | MANY FRAGMENTS IN A FORMULA
An interview with Ron Gilad, renowned designer based in Tel Aviv and Milan
84 | A MONTAGE OF HIGH-STYLE LIVING
Macsk, Singapores all-new luxury furnishings store, at Robertson Quay
86 | A CAGE FOR BELONGINGS
Neri & Hus installation of Das Haus at IMM Cologne 2015
90 | ALL OUT ON THE TABLE
The Cooking Table by Moritz Putzier wins a top prize at IMM Cologne 2015

pulse

92 | STILL REFLECTION
Reflection model of the Itsukushima Shinto Shrine by contemporary artist
Takahiro Iwasaki at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
96 | A COMMON SENTIMENT
A Thing of Beauty by Dawn Ng at Chan Hampe Galleries
100 | BLUEPRINT
Exhibition at Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York
iNTRO 03 | CATALOGUE 101 to 107 | SUBSCRIPTIONS 108

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spin
8

Safdie Architects Jewel

at Changi Airport
Safdie architectS deSign of a major new addition
to Singapore Changi Airport, known as Jewel, will
enhance the airports position as a major aviation hub,
integrating airport facilities with shopping, entertainment,
and leisure activity to create a public gathering space for
Singaporeans and international travellers, and establish
a new model for airports as discrete destinations.
Strategically located at the heart of Changi Airport,
Jewel is envisioned as a world-class lifestyle destination
that will enable the Changi air hub to engage passengers
and strongly boost Singapores appeal as a stopover
location. To ensure a seamless flow of movement for
passengers and visitors, Jewel will be connected to
Changis Terminal 1 (T1) through its expanded arrival
meeters-and-greeters hall, and linked to Terminals 2 and
3 by pedestrian bridges.
Housed under a soaring glass dome, Jewel will
encompass a total gross floor area of about 134,000m2
and feature an expansive garden, cabin hotel, restaurants,
retail, and attractions in addition to its facilities for

airport operations. The two centrepieces of the project

are an indoor landscape of trees, palms, and ferns with
walking trails, called the Forest Valley, and the 40m tall
waterfall that will cascade from an oculus at the top of
the glass dome, called the Rain Vortex.
This project redefines and reinvents what airports
are all about. The new paradigm represented by Jewel
Changi Airport is to create a diverse and meaningful
meeting place that serves as a gateway to the city
and country, complementing commerce and services
with attractions and gardens for passengers, airport
employees, and the city at large, said architect Moshe
Safdie. Our goal was to bring together the duality of a
vibrant marketplace and a great urban park side-by-side
in a singular and immersive experience. The component
of the traditional mall is combined with the experience
of nature, culture, education, and recreation, aiming to
provide an uplifting experience. By drawing both visitors
and local residents alike, we aim to create a place
where the people of Singapore interact with the people
of the world.

Jewel evokes Singapores unique identity as a

City in a Garden, recalling the tradition of metropolitan
centres with great parks. The route to Jewel on the main
transportation roadway to Changi Airport is lined with
large canopy trees and lush greenery, connecting the
green exterior experience with that of the gardens on
the interior.
The curved geometry of the building creates a natural
location for the Rain Vortex and easily accommodates
connections from the garden centre to the surrounding
terminal buildings. This shape also provides inherent
structural strength to the glass and steel dome facade,
allowing the framework to be delicate in the tradition of
glass conservatories, while also enhancing the immersive
experience of the gardens within. The arching glass roof
is supported by a series of tree-like structural columns
that ring the inside edge of the roof garden and the
gathering space at the top level of the development. The
roof garden, known as the Canopy Park, has a series of
garden-oriented attractions designed in conjunction with
PWP Landscape Architecture (Berkeley, California), the

landscape consultant for the project. The suspended roof

arches over the covered atrium, which is connected at
multiple levels to the surrounding retail floors.
At the heart of the project is the dramatic Rain
Vortex that cascades from the oculus down to the centre
of the atrium. At night, this will become the backdrop
for a light and sound show, which will be visible from
the dining terraces that face into the garden centre.
Additionally, rainwater will be funnelled into the waterfall
and harvested for reuse. This unprecedented integration
of leisure activities, natural amenities, and airport
facilities represents an innovative approach to travel and
the experience of these discrete activities. Construction
has begun in Dec 2014, and the project is scheduled for
completion at the end of 2018. (www.msafdie.com)

spin
10

Building On
Sustenance
more than 130 countrieS participating in EXPO
MILANO 2015 (MAY 1 TO OCT 31) will be presenting their
experiences and solutions in the field of nutrition, based
on the event theme FEEDING THE PLANET, ENERGY FOR
LIFE, expanded on through the architecture of spaces,
exhibitions, and appointments and shows during the sixmonth period. Expo Milano 2015 aims to be the place
for dialogue among many voices (countries, international
organizations, civil society and businesses) on issues
of agriculture, sustainable development and the fight
against hunger for the common good. The keywords
are innovation, energy saving, environmental protection
and natural resources. The event is expected to draw 20
million visitors from all over the world, bringing together

different cultures and languages to Italy and Milan, billed

as the top travel destination for 2015.
The 1.1 million sqm site will feature an exposition
garden with more than 12,000 trees, water features
and a long canal that surrounds the area. The selfbuilt pavilions of the participating countries, with large
public areas dedicated to events and catering, follow the
criteria of energy efficiency and sustainability in their
construction, and can be removed and re-used after the
expo ends.
Countries that do not build their own pavilions
will be organised into nine clusters inside the Universal
Exposition, spread over a total area of 36,650m2,
according to the food sub-themes: Bio-Mediterraneum,
Cereals and Tubers, Islands, Arid Zones, Fruits and
Legumes, Spices, Coffee, Cocoa and Rice. Within each
cluster, the story of food is told with videos, installations
and photo exhibitions. There will be space for cooking
demonstrations and tastings, as well as a large market
where the visitor can discover the most unusual foods,
as presented directly by the people who cultivate and
produce them.

The site will host four thematic areas in which the

main theme of the event will be developed. They range
from the Pavilion Zero, which tells the story of man on
Earth through his relationship with food, to the Future
Food District, which explains how technology will change
the storage, distribution, purchase and consumption
of food. There will also be a Children Park and the
Biodiversity Park, a large garden in which a variety of
ecosystems are reproduced.
Expo Milano 2015 ushers in a new model for the
Universal Exhibition: it is not only a showcase of the best
technologies for a sustainable future, but a global and
interactive event with thousands of cultural offerings and
entertainment both inside and outside the exhibition site.
Shows, concerts, conferences, cooking demonstrations,
workshops and exhibitions will transform Expo Milano
2015 into a grand party full of fun! (www.expo2015.org)

The Italian Pavilion is a 13,000m2 urban forest by Nemesi & Partners.

Enveloped inside an intricate branch-like skin, the six-storey lattice
structure is made from 900 panels of i.active BIODYNAMIC cement that
will capture air pollutants and convert them into inert salts. While purifying
the surrounding atmosphere, the pavilion will also be generating energy
with the instalment of photovoltaic glass. This, along with an exterior play
of solid and void, will illuminate an interior open square in which will serve
as the main point of entry for visitors. From here, visitors can access four
connecting blocks that will host exhibition, auditorium, office and conference
areas. In addition to this, Nemesi will also design a series of temporary
Cardo buildings whose installations will provide for additional exhibition
space, restaurants and events. The Italian Pavilion will be one of the few
permanent structures constructed for the Expo.

Inspired by the lotus, the Vietnamese pavilion by Vo Trong Nghia features a number
of bamboo clad, umbrella-like structures supporting trees above a pool of water, in a
composition reminiscent of their Kontum Indochine Cafe. Say the architects: The Lotus
is Vietnams national flower, a symbol of purity, commitment and optimism for the future...
Growing from the muddy ponds it rises above the surface to bloom with remarkable
beauty. The flower is proof that patience can turn difficulties into advantages.
In addition to the symbolism behind the lotus, Vo Trong Nghia also uses the flower as
a metaphor for resourcefulness: Apart from its beauty, the lotus has a strong connection
with Vietnamese cuisine; none of the plant is left for waste, with all parts of the plant
considered a delicacy...As a temporary event, the architects role in designing the pavilion
is to reduce its impact.
To do so, the design uses bamboo extensively, a fast-growing and low-carbon
material. The pavilion is also designed to be disassembled so that its parts can be reused.
For its visitors, the pavilion will provide shade under the bamboo structures and trees,
while the Lotus Pond that permeates the buildings floor will provide a cool microclimate
inside the pavilion. A folding screen will provide protection from the elements on cooler
days; however, on warm days the screen can be removed, and the pavilion will be cooled
by the breeze. With the pavilion, Vo Trong Nghia hopes to demonstrate the Vietnamese
love of nature which will be shared with the whole world.

The Office of Bangkok Architects (OBA) design

incorporates the Expos theme of Feeding the
Planet, Energy for Life with the agrarian and
religious qualities that define the Kingdom of
Thailand. Located centrally on the Expos main
avenue, the pavilion will be adjacent to a canal that
will be used as a part of the exhibition, relating back
to Bangkoks informal title as the Venice of Asia.
The pavilion emphasizes the crucial aspect that
water plays in Thai agriculture in a number of ways.
A depiction of Naga, the legendary water snake
from Thai mythology, greets visitors at the beginning
of the pavilions walkway. This walkway will take
visitors across a rice field that has been planted
in various stages of cultivation, displaying the
foundation of agriculture in Thailand. The entrance
to the pavilion itself is a large wood-frame replica
of a ngob, the traditional hat worn by farmers and
vendors in Thailand. The most prominent element
of the pavilion, the ngob becomes a symbol of the
countrys agricultural identity. The pavilion building
proper will be framed by a brick wall modelled after
the traditional walls of Thai temples. Sloped at three
different angles and clad in a reflective surface,
the wall will reflect the rice fields of the pavilion,
the visitors to the Expo, and the sky. In this way, the
wall represents the agriculture, nature, and people
of Thailand.

12

Rejecting the typical notion of a pavilion as an object in a plaza, the China Pavilion by Tsinghua University and York-based
Studio Link-Arc is instead conceived as a field of spaces. Designed as a cloud hovering over a field of hope, the pavilion is
experienced as a sheltered public plaza beneath a floating roof that incorporates the buildings cultural and exhibition programs.
The roofs distinctive profile creates an iconic image for the project and will foster a unique presence within the Expo grounds.
The undulating roof form, which is derived by merging the profile of a city skyline on the buildings north side with the profile of a
landscape on the southern side, expresses the idea that hope can be realized when nature and the city exist in harmony.
The Pavilions floating roof is designed as a timber structure that references the raised-beam system found in traditional
Chinese architecture, but is adapted to accommodate modern construction technology. The roof is clad in shingled panels
that reference traditional Chinese terra-cotta roof construction, but are reinterpreted as large bamboo panels that reduce
structural weight, create a shaded public space below, and further enhance the Pavilions unique silhouette. Beneath this roof,
the buildings ground plane is defined by a landscape of wheat (the field of hope) that references Chinas agrarian past and
transitions seamlessly into a multimedia installation in the centre. This installation, formed from a matrix of LED stalks that mimic
the form of the wheat, forms the centrepiece of the buildings exhibition program.
The Pavilions full exhibition and cultural offerings are experienced as a
sequence of spaces, beginning with an exterior waiting area in the landscape,
leading to a themed exhibition space with interactive installations and cultural
offerings from 40 Chinese provinces. After this, visitors are guided up a
gently sloped public stair to a panoramic viewing platform above the LED
matrix installation, after which they are guided into a multimedia space,
which will feature a short film focused on returning home for the Spring
Festival. This sequence concludes with visitors stepping outside onto a
platform above the bamboo roof that enjoys expansive
views of the Expo grounds.

For the French pavilion, Paris-based X-TU has envisioned a cohesive, sustainable market where food is not
only grown and harvested, but sold and consumed on the spot. The design scheme celebrates the countrys
rich genetic heritage and future in innovative food production with a timber fertile market that supports the
growth of the produce it sells. Inside the vaulted halls of the market, herbs, vegetable and hops take over
the wooden lattice structure. On the ground floor, visitors walk through a living exhibition of Frances food
production, before heading upstairs to a terraced restaurant that serves the pavilions fresh produce.

The Russian pavilion, designed by Moscow-based practice SPEECH, is an expansive 4,000m2 timber
structure with a pronounced roof-line that features a mirrored canopy extending 30 meters over the
pavilions main entrance. The principal challenge in the development of the design was to create a
remarkable building that resonates with contemporary architectural trends, says Sergei Tchoban,
the pavilions chief architect. Our basic starting point was to combine a simple yet memorable
architectural structure with a faade formed from sustainable, ecologically sound materials. But an
equally important task in our architectural development was to inject the essence of Russia into the
design. Russia is a country of vast expanses, of endless vistas, of huge tracts of forest. Therefore, as
we have embodied Russian-ness in our design by framing it an apparent infinite rhythm of wooden
elements, there are obvious references to the typology of Russian landscape, with its rich forest
cover and its gently sloping elevations, and to the traditions of wooden architecture of Russia, all
coming together to create a modest, yet daring architectural statement.

spin
14

Steven Holls New Wing For

The Mumbai City Museum

Steven Holl ArcHitectS has been selected to design

a new wing for the Mumbai City Museum, also known

as Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum. Besting competition from
Zaha Hadid, OMA and Amanda Levete, and five other
finalist teams, Steven Holl Architects will now work in
collaboration with Opolis Architects, Guy Nordenson &
Associates and Transsolar on the design. The museum
will be expanding to the north with a 11,613m2 addition,
situated in Mumbais oldest museum garden in Byculla.
Working with the site boundary, Steven Holl Architects
has designed a sculptural addition in white concrete
which diffuses the light, ensuring that each of the gallery
spaces receives 25 lumens of natural light. Besides
the 6,039m2 of orthogonal galleries, the scheme will
encompass a central channel with a shaded monsoon
water basin. Water will be deposited from this basin
into a central pool, beneath which will be an expanse
of photovoltaic cells in order to generate 60% of the
museums electricity. Alongside the white concrete, the
design incorporates local rough-cut Indian Agra stone.
Construction begins in 2015. (www.stevenholl.com)

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wide\angle
16

Photo by Stphane Slo

g r i d-l e s s r e l a t i v e s p a c e
Story and planS/diagramS/modelS courteSy Coop Himmelb(l)au

The newly completed Muse des Confluences, a science centre and anthropology museum
located in the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon, France, had finally opened in Dec 2014, after four
years of construction that costs nearly 180m. Although Coop Himmelb(l)au won the international
design competition in 2001, the building of the 22,111m2 museum began only much later in 2010.
It sits ideally on the tip of a peninsula at the confluence of the majestic Rhne and Sane rivers.
Unlike musty predecessors, the new natural history museum opens itself up psychologically
and architecturally to a broader audience, trading the traditional paradigm of the museum as a
treasure house in favour of a more extroverted institution, housed in a porous structure. As much
as it is a sculptural landmark, the scheme that Coop Himmelb(l)au proposed was also an urban
plan for the peninsula. Financed mostly by the regional government, the museum is a catalyst
for a district of new offices, housing and government buildings. (NYTimes)

18

use des Confluences is a

public gateway to the knowledge
of our time. It stimulates a
direct, active use, not only as a
place of contemplation, but also
as a meeting place in the city. (Coop Himmelb(l)au)
The striking interface situation of the construction site
at the eponymous confluence of the Rhne and the
Sane inspired the superposition in urban space of two
complexly linked architectural units: crystal and cloud.
The Crystal, rising towards the city side, functions as
a transparent urban forum; it faces the city and receives
visitors. Its clear, readable forms stand for the world in
which we move each day.
By contrast, the Cloud structure, floating on pillars,
contains a spatial sequence of black boxes admitting

no daylight, so as to achieve maximum flexibility for

exhibition design. It holds the knowledge of the future.
What is known and what is to be explored are understood
in the Muse des Confluences as a spatial experiment
design to stimulate public curiosity.
The two units are connected through the espace liant
that leads in a loop, as a corridor or over bridges and
catwalks, from the Crystal to the other end of the Cloud.
It functions as an additional means of access between
the exhibition spaces that are directly connected to
one another a mellow space of hidden currents and
countless transitions.
In a continuation of the park from the southern
tip of the island, an expansion of the urban space is
formulated: a landscape of ramps and levels that dissolve
the boundary between inside and outside into a dynamic

Photos by Duccio Malagamba

sequence of spatial events. This movement continues

on the inside in the alternating spatial structure of the
exhibition spaces.

hard space, soft space

The Crystal performs like an urban square, receiving
visitors and preparing them for the museum experience.
It is oriented toward the world in which we daily evolve;
its contours are precise; its form is crystalline and
measurable. This crystalline nature results from its
glass-and-steel construction. Large panes of glass are
mounted in steel frames: assemblages that, by virtue
of being resistant to flexion, make the various folded
surfaces seem reflective. The Gravity Well, a central
element, provides a refrain both to the structural efforts
and to the luminous sculpture.
The Cloud, by contrast, resembles an immense
spaceship, stowed temporarily in present time and
place, its deep entrails harbouring the exhibition spaces.
There are 10 exhibition spaces on three levels, as well
as an upper level of administrative offices. Three of the
galleries are intended for permanent exhibitions, and the
seven others for temporary exhibitions. An interstitial

cristAl / crysTal

20

NuAge / cloud

socle / PlinTh

Abords / surroundings

The elemenTs

skin of The roof

skin of The side

surfaces

skin of The belly

skin of The cloud

open space, named Connecting Space, traverses all

these spaces and weaves a network of traffic between
them to serve museography. (Coop Himmelb(l)au)
Public promenades are looped over the podium
and along the riverfront into a park beyond, which Coop
Himmelb(l)au also designed. The museum and park are
intended to deliver visitors to the citys new riverfront.
Building, museum, park and peninsula work as an
ensemble, drawing pedestrians and bicycles to the great
magnet of the site, the point of the confluence. People
can walk freely under the building, maybe stopping for a
coffee at the restaurant or buying a book at the bookshop.
Adjacent to a highway, the new building is meant
to be a gateway linking the new district to a science
district on the far side of the Rhne. Visitors climb a wide,
ceremonial flight of stairs up into the voluminous entry
hall within the angular Crystal. They can choose to walk
straight through, to the outdoor spaces under the belly of
the museum. A wide flight of stairs or a spiral ramp that
turns in thin air around a funnel of steel and glass that
plunges down from the roof into the atrium, take visitors
to the exhibits on the two floors above. Resembling the
upper half of a wormhole, the distorted structure is really a
column supporting the roof, but the elegant complexity of
the shape foreshadows the Big Bang and galactic exhibits
in galleries beyond. (NYTimes)

muSee DeS CoNFlueNCeS, Quai peRRaCHe, lYoN, FRaNCe

total area 46,476 m2
completion 2014
architect coop HimmelB(l)au Wolf d.prix
& partner Zt gmbH
design principal Wolf d prix
project partner markus prossnigg
project architects mona Bayr, angus Schoenberger
design architect tom Wiscombe
project coordination thomas margaretha, peter grell

roof sTrucTure

consultants (France)
planning
execution
project management
construction survey
costs

patriarche & co
tabula rasa/grgory perrin
chabanne & partenaires
debray ingnierie
mazet & associs, cuBic

structural engineering
design B+g ingenieure, Bollinger und grohmann
gmbH, Frankfurt, germany
executive coyne et Bellier, lyon, France
VS-a, lille, France
HVaC
security fire consultation
acoustics
media
lighting
landscape

itee-Fluides
cabinet casso & cie
cabinet lamoureux
cabinet labeyrie
Hars Hollands (eindhoven, netherlands)
design egiS amnagement

cloud: Primary sTrucTure of The cloud

Photo by matthieudu06

Photo by Franck Roudet

22

facade sud

facade esT

facade ouesT

On the next level, a wide pedestrian avenue leads

past huge galleries containing temporary shows and
permanent collections, including mammoth and dinosaur
skeletons. A staircase at the end leads up to another
broad corridor, with other flanking galleries. Both decks
of the two-storey avenue offer panoramic views out to
the confluence of the rivers in one direction and back to
the sprawling city in the other.
When finished, the park will be an outdoor space
designed to encourage activity, where performers and
musicians can entertain audiences, for example, on
the south-facing stairs cascading from the podium.
An informal amphitheatre is being built beyond; boats
already land beside the riverside promenade.
As in the surrounding pedestrian areas, the notion of
walking permeates the design of the museums interior.
Walking opens the mind, said the architect (speaking to
NYTimes), a walkable museum provokes your perception,
giving you a series of strong impressions, alluding to the
staircases, spiral, interior streets and panoramic views of
the confluence and the city.
Photo by Qwill

wide\angle
24

a n e c o - f r i e n d ly l i b r a r y
Story and imageS courteSy Lemay (Canada) | PhotograPhy by yien Chao

The Bibliothque du Bois in St Laurent, Montreal, Canada, aims to become a place fostering a feeling
of belonging, promoting exploration and discovery. Designed in consortium by Cardinal Hardy, Labont
Marcil and Eric Pelletier architectes, it is located between the busy Boulevard Thimens and MarcelLaurin Park, an area of protected woodland in the Montreal borough of Ville St-Laurent. The woodland
became an important generator in the design of the library, the idea being to create new connections and
experiences that would reinforce its value to the community, and contribute to the creation of a new and
attractive centre for cultural activities. It was a winner of the 2014 Canadian Green Building Awards for
being one of the most exemplary, sustainably designed buildings in Canada: The crafting of this project
was compelling from the site planning, through the programming, right down to the execution of the
details. The building has a variety of beautifully lit and welcoming spaces, in keeping with the new role
that libraries play as community living rooms. This is also a very high-performance building - an impressive
achievement altogether. (Jury)

he building connects the city with the

surrounding landscape, and serves as a
point of connection that allows users to
explore its site inside and outside, from
Boulevard Thimens as well as from the
park. Visitors discover the building when approaching
it from a variety of spaces both intimate and dramatic,
spaces that, by offering a variety of access pathways, set
the stage for the site as well as for its users.
In this project, architecture is landscape and
landscape is architecture. The architecture changes
shape, unfolds, spreads out and rises up, reducing the
boundaries between the built space and the site. There
are several means of access to the building all of which
encourage interaction and discovery. Therefore, the
library is not an architectural gesture, but rather an act of
communication and exchange.
Without being monumental, the library is integrated
into a natural and urban context; it adds richness to the
site, helps to define the space and offers a simple and
universal reading. A true reflection of the human condition,
of the fate of a changing landscape, of its architecture,
the Bibliothque du Bois created a significant identity
hub as well as a rich, dynamic and open space where
boundaries are redefined to foster discovery, learning,
and a sense of belonging for the entire community.

BiBLioThQUe dU BoiS in ST LaURenT, monTReaL, Canada

26

architect cardinal hardy/Labont marcil/

ric Pelletier architectes
in consortium (Lemay)
client Ville de montral,
arrondissement de St-Laurent
landscape architect cardinal hardy
et associs, s.e.n.c.
structural engineer SdK et associs inc
m&e engineer Leroux beaudoin hurens et associs inc
acoustic consultant davidson & associs inc
Leed consultant eXP
General Contractor Pomerleau inc

The program is arranged on two levels around a

central skylit entrance atrium, and includes book stacks,
multimedia collections, computer work stations, meeting
and training rooms, teen and youth areas, a cafe, an
exhibition gallery and archival storage. Nestled against
the trees and accessed via a sloping walkway that
traverses the park from Boulevard Thimens.
The 5,000m2 building is linear in plan, a glass prism
enveloped in a wooden hull that undulates gently in
both plan and section. Slatted wood surfaces also define
the interior spaces, rising and falling in harmony with
the changes in scale from grand to intimate. The public

spaces are designed to engage the landscape, with the

cafe serving as a gateway to the woodland beyond.
The two-storey format minimized the building
footprint and provided the opportunity for the planting
of 105 trees and 5,000 shrubs, as well as the creation
of detention ponds for stormwater management. The
buildings green roof slows the runoff of rainwater which
is directed to storage tanks before being returned to the
landscape under gravity.
The building is characterized by abundant daylight
admitted to 75% of the floor area by way of the central
skylight and large areas of high-performance glazed

SITE PLAn

curtain wall. Operable windows are provided for natural

ventilation. Transparent partitions and open-plan areas
mean that 90% of the occupied floor area has views
to the exterior. Daylight and occupancy sensors further
reduce lighting loads.
Energy for heating and cooling the building is
supplied through a combination of an onsite geothermal
system and through the purchase of green power
certificates for electricity supplied from offsite renewable
sources. This two-year commitment helps to encourage
growth in the renewable energy sector. The hot air that
accumulates in the skylight is recovered and returned to
the ventilation system.
Strategies contributing positively to indoor
environmental quality and the health of building
occupants include the use of certified wood and lowemitting materials such as adhesives, sealants, paints
and coatings, carpet, composite wood and laminates.
Carbon dioxide monitors are also installed. Reclaimed

28

ELEVATIonS

ELEVATIonS

and regional materials percentages were 22.5% and

30% respectively both qualifying for a LEED
Innovation credit.
The design team took a long-term view, specifying
durable materials with minimum maintenance
requirements. In addition, consideration was given to
ways in which the building would be able to accommodate
future growth in the community. Some back-of-house
spaces, for example, are designed to be converted to
public use if required, and some spaces, such as the
teen area, are delineated by mobile shelving that can be
reconfigured easily for specific events or activities.
By setting ambitious goals, particularly in regard to
energy use, from the outset, this project has served as
a professional development tool for all members of the
design team. By combining high-performance standards,
design quality and responsiveness to community needs,
it has also proven inspirational to other municipalities
embarking on similar public projects.

habitat
30

SiTe PLan

boxes in
the landscape
by Kenneth Cheong | PhotograPhy by Albert lim

The undulating box forms of Casaman peek above a

fringe of foliage from a hillock, one of the highest points
in Desa ParkCity, Kuala Lumpur, a planned residential
master plan conceived as a collection of residential
enclaves within a garden township. Designed by
Unit One Design Sdn Bhd, Casaman attempts to
accommodate 108 units of three-storey terrace houses
and 39 units of two-storey terrace houses into an
irregular wing-shaped 8.5 hectare site.

he terraces are arranged as angled rows

to break the linear vistas from the street
and hug the irregular boundary of the
wing-shaped site. The rows of terrace
houses gently conform to the terrain
of the plateau by gently shifting between 150-300mm
drops, minimizing excavation of the rocky site.
An incision is boldly cut into the grain of the
irregular patterns of the rows of terraces in the master
plan to insert a linear open public space aligned towards
the Kuala Lumpur city skyline.
The linear park begins at the entry point to the
development at the guardhouse, terminating at a
cantilevering infinity pool on the western boundary of the
site. An open lawn and clubhouse is inserted into the cut
as ancillary common facilities.
A hovering concrete roof, lightly touching the
guardhouse cubicle signals the main entry into Casaman.
The clubhouse housing facilities such as function rooms,
a gym are sheathed in a rubble stone wall under the
shelter of the concrete roof.

32

CASAmAn, DeSA PArKCitY, KUAlA lUmPUr

design Unit one Design Sdn bhd
(John Ding, Ken Wong)
C&S Pakatan Cegas
m&e NDy
landscape consultant Walrus
quantity surveyor baL
contractor Prestige builders

Cast in concrete with the soffit of the angled

to terminate in a fine line, the weight of the sliver of
concrete contrasts with the structural acrobatics in
dramatic tension. A cantilevering infinity pool framed
in an armature of gunmetal composite-metal cladding
terminates this linear incision, and takes advantage of
the site potential as a vantage point to view the Kuala
Lumpur city skyline as an intense focal point at the end
of the linear public space.

dissolving into the landscape

Initially, the robust clubhouse appears incongruent to
the pure forms of the terrace houses. The earth tones

of the ancillary facilities complex with robust texture and

off-form concrete roof contrasts with the pristine white
terrace houses.
The ancillary facilities complex is reminiscent of the
long, low, sweeping lines of Wrights Taliesin West with
the extensive use of rubble stone on the faade and floor
replicating the honey hued light of the Arizona sun.
And just like Taliesin West, the ground-hugging
ancillary facilities complex dissolves into the landscape
of the linear public space.
The landscaping of Casaman equally replicate this
idea of contrasts between the natural and man-made.
Where the context is lush secondary forests, the internal

34

FLOOr PLan (POOL anD CLUB hOUSe) | 1:500

LOngiTUDinaL SeCTiOn

CLUB hOUSe | 1:150

FirST FLOOr PLan

grOUnD FLOOr PLan

FLOOr PLan (CLUB hOUSe) | 1:150

landscaping is controlled with low-lying planting, hugging

the ground, giving the illusion of openness to the linear
public park in a densely packed site.
The deep overhang of the hovering concrete roof
stretches out into the open lawn as an invitation to play
under the sheltered outdoor space.

interplay of concealment and exposure

A consistent thread in both the ancillary facilities
complex and the terraces is the interplay of concealment
and exposure. Varying scales of stark vertical planes are
punctured with sudden and unexpected cut-outs.
In the ancillary facilities complex, the rubble stone
wall stretches the length of the concrete roof above,
revealing the facilities behind in an opening from a ramp
as if to entice with anticipation of what lies beyond.

36

The terraces designed with dual frontage, conceals

bathrooms and a drying yard with aluminium screens in
gunmetal fronting the street, and plaster and paint on the
rear facade. Slits in these facades articulate the stark
planes and allows a peek at the outside.
Where the lines of clubhouse are horizontal to
hug the ground plane and dissolve into the landscape,
the terrace houses are expressions in the vertical.
The repetitive attenuation of each terrace house is
accentuated with steel box frames to add lightness to the
pristine box forms of the terraces.
The steel frame traces each unit to hold up the
metal roofing which is peeled from the plaster-and-paint
box forms, and sails beyond the faade to give lightness
to the hard wall of the row of houses.
All of the terraces are designed to be naturally cross
ventilated and to maximise the use of natural light. The
lifted metal roof allows for clerestory windows to fill the
rooms on upper floors with natural light.

The terraces come with the option of internal

courtyards or double-volume dining spaces as internal
spatial focal points.
Casaman offers the option of living in a landed
property and capitalising on the stunning view of the
Kuala Lumpur city skyline an opportunity only afforded
to high-rise living.
Unit One Design Sdn Bhd in association with Ken Wong Architect
was the recipient of a gold award in the Malaysian Institute of
Architects (PAM) Awards 2014 in the Multiple Residential Low-Rise
category for Casaman. Casaman is the also the winner of FIABCIMalaysia Property Award 2014 for Residential (Low Rise) Category.

habitat
38

inside out
by Luo Jingmei | PhotograPhy by Derek SwaLweLL

The steely white box that encases HYLA Architects

Courtyard House belies the tropical respite within.

ocated along a row of semi-detached houses

in the West of Singapore, the Courtyard House
stands as an anomaly against its more decorated
neighbours. Its faade is a straight-laced, blank
white wall with only a sliver of openings on the
side giving clue to the occupants happenings within.
Designed by HYLA Architects, the Courtyard House
contains three stories with an attic above and a semi-sunken
basement containing the car park and storage spaces. The
basement, though below the road is not completely sunken,
thus rendering the first storey as a raised level high above
the entrance. One can either choose to enter the house via an
internal staircase through the car park or an open-air staircase.
Upon entering the living room on the first storey, it is
apparent why HYLA Architects founder and the houses
architect Han Loke Kwang has christened this project the
Courtyard House. In the middle of the rectilinear space, he has
carved out a prominent courtyard. Lining it with a thick band
of timber not only emphasises its importance within the home,
but has the effect of framing an artwork, which in this case is a
solitary frangipani tree floating above a pond of bronze mosaic
a poetic mise-en-scene of nature.

f r o n T e L e vAT i o n

r e A r e L e vAT i o n

s i d e e L e vAT i o n

s e C T i o n A C r o s s s TA i r C A s e

40

1sT sToreY

bAsemenT

2nd sToreY

THird sToreY

AT T i C

Courtyards are a common feature in many

Singaporean homes for the simple and effective way in
which they inject natural light and ventilation indoors but
they are usually applied in a straightforward manner, as a
double- or triple-storey volume of space bounded by four
vertical surfaces. Hans courtyard here is different, but in
a good way. First of all, with the pond raised to seating
height on the first storey, it is part-feature, part-furniture.
Secondly, Han has extended the courtyard diagonally to the
second storey such that one entire face of the house is
open, in effect doubling not only the porosity of the house
but also the lushness of green for the occupants to enjoy.
That Han is able to allocate a generous floor area to the
courtyard helps in this feeling of openness. In Singapore,
a lot of people have courtyards in their homes but theyre
very small and so feel compromised, especially in semidetached houses. But this particular semi-detached house
has a generous size, though it is also necessary to [act as a
green relief] to the expressway nearby, he explains.
The expressway in question is in the direction of the

CourTYarD HouSe, SingaPore

project

houses front faade. This, together with a substation across

the road, led to Hans decision to position the courtyard in
the middle of the house. The more private spaces the
master bedroom, childs bedroom and husbands study
retreat are positioned behind while the more common
spaces such as the living room, wifes open study, family
room, guestroom and open roof terrace sit in front as a
buffer of sorts.
The largely blank white wall on the front faade also
echoes the defensive nature of the front of the house.
Although its a large house, the [faceless] faade also
enables it to have a respectful scale, Han lets on.
With the main staircase aligned alongside the
courtyard and the faade of the rooms around given ample
glazing, ambling about the house has the joyful effect of
being in a tree house, albeit a more sophisticated version.
The lattice of dark-stained Chengai screens lacing the
internal courtyard adds to this effect, while the access to
nature is delightfully palpable from almost every aspect of
the interior.

site area
gFa
architect
principal architect
assistant architects
main contractor
structural engineer

three-storey semi-detached house

with attic & basement
376m2
520m2
hyLa architects
han Loke Kwang
yuzhe, Nicholas gomes
Praxis Contractors Pte Ltd
gCE Consulting Engineers

42

Aside from framing the internal garden, the

aforementioned screens also act as a sun-shading device.
Along the periphery of the living room, they feature a
more intricate notching pattern as they become horizontal
sunscreens. These dark brown screens, together with
the dark grey floor tiles and aluminium door and window
frames, provide the house with a contemplative mood.
The client, Han shares, requested for this dark-toned
palette. It effectively acts as a backdrop, which helps to
put focus on the spatial qualities of the house.
The Courtyard House is one of the many delicately
designed houses in HYLA Architects portfolio. Unlike some
architects who resort to a standard, recognisable formula,
each of Hans houses are unique in aesthetic; each is an
opportunity for a different architectural exploration.

We dont have a single style, so the houses are quite

different, says Han. But we have a consistent approach:
to apply the values I believe in that architecture should
be very honest, simple, direct, unpretentious and focus
on the creation of space. I keep the forms very simple;
I dont try to make them fancy. It is what it is; the
design is the result of the space planning so the house
has integrity. By doing that the design wont go out of
fashion, he adds.
While the spatial design of Hans houses is kept
simple, it is another story when it comes to exploring
details. An example is in the way his bathrooms are
designed no two are the same. We enjoy designing
bathrooms, actually, we enjoy designing all kinds of
details, says Han. And so in the Courtyard House, the
powder room has an interlocking screen-counter that
echoes the motif of timber screens throughout the house,
while the childs bathroom is treated with a playful splash
of aqua mosaic tiles; the guest bathroom experiments

with hardy solid surface on the walls; and the master

bathroom has been given a tropical touch with a planter
lit from above with a skylight.
The staircase is another architectural element that
Han clearly enjoys detailing. Here, the threads of the
main staircase that cantilevers from the wall continues
the language of the timber screens, while a curving wall
cocoons a discreet spiral staircase leading form the third
storey to the husbands study on the attic, lit from above
by a circular skylight.
Good ideas beget great designs. But design is
nothing without detail and finesse. Its the little things
that matter, reads the manifesto on HYLA Architects
website. Indeed, as the Courtyard House shows, this
has led to a home that is equally genuine in spirit as
it is refined in quality and delightful with surprising
encounters that enliven the daily lives of its users.
www.hyla.com.sg

habitat
44

roles reversed
by ElainE lEE | Images courtesy FormwErkz | PhotograPhy by JErEmy San and albErt lim

A paradigm shift in the programing of this house on Saraca

Road, located in a quiet low-density residential area, reverses
the private and living quarters to max out the site opportunities.
(The project, by Formwerkz Architects, called Tree House,
is featured in the recently launched book Sustainable Luxury
by Tuttle Publishing; review on p60)

his outwardly modest house is

customised for a family with two grown
sons already in their 20s. By the time
the house was completed, one of the
sons has started a family, and continues
to live in it with the extended family. It resembles a
modest pitched roof house that sits on an elevated plinth.
Consideration for this arrangement gives rise to a tapered
massing that makes the building appear smaller from
the street. The larger area on the ground also generates
space to accommodate the pool and garden space for the
living space on the upper floors.
Contrary to the usual layout where living and
entertainment quarters are housed on the ground floor

and private quarters on the upper floors, this house

has reversed the order to address its fundamental
requirement first. The private programs are conveniently
accommodated within the plinth on the ground floor.
From the angled entrance, left of the car porch,
a central family room leads to three self-contained
bedrooms, complete with en-suites and walk-in
wardrobes. The bedrooms for the sons even include their
own sitting rooms with access to a shared patio tucked
to the back of the house.
An L-shaped flight of stairs on the right lead up
to living quarters on the second floor and attic. On the
second floor, the living and dining areas offer views
overlooking the estate and the infinity pool. Large panels

46

of sliding doors collapse into oblivion, so the entire length

of the living quarters can be opened to the elements. The
spaces for entertainment, including a play room and an
enclosed theatre, are located in the attic.
This unique placement of programs is made possible
with the sensitive handling of the site conditions by the
design team from Formwerkz Architects. Leveraging on
the downward slope of the land at the back, the bedrooms
on the lower floors enjoy the shade and privacy from the
garden, while the communal spaces above capitalise on
the liberating view of the estate.
On the ground floor family room, a central atrium
that offers a fabulous triple volume is introduced.
A planter on the ground floor holds two towering Sterculia
foetida that connect the communal spaces through all
three floors. Directly above, on the second floor, a glass
skywalk consisting of a reinforced 4-by-6 grid structure
ensures the visual connection, while enclosing the
ground floor atrium.
Within the grid, a mesh with expressed punctuations
allow the crown of the Sterculia foetida to peek through
and emerge on the second floor. A corresponding void
in the attic with roof lights above enhances the natural
lighting that floods this central atrium. The plants serve
to clean the air and the atrium acts as a light shaft that
provides indirect daylight to the rest of the house.

tHE trEE HoUSE, SaraCa roaD

completion
site area
GFa
architect
design team
C&S engineer
main contractor
landscape

FiRSt StoRey

Second StoRey

Attic

RooF

2013
766.20m2
568.40m2
Formwerkz architects
alan tay, Foo yue yee
Portwood & associates
emma contracts Pte Ltd
Kosin contractor

48

A subtle and neutral colour palette is used

throughout the house. Deliberately kept humble and
down to earth, the material palette creates a building
that exudes old world charm, reminiscent of the notso-distant Modern era. The stucco finished walls are
entirely white-washed with selected surfaces accented
with light wood.
Throughout the ground plinth, the openings are
large, oversized and expressed with thickened architraves
and lined fenestrations. In contrast, the sparing openings
within the bedrooms are measured controls for views out
and promote increased privacy.
The pitch roof of the structure sitting on the plinth

is expressed with a matt metallic finish, such that the

sunlight that reflects off the roof exudes a warm glow.
The street-facing elevation of the second storey is
entirely clad in horizontal louvres. The porous quality of
the louvres dematerialises the chunky pitched massing
perched on top of the plinth. The same porosity is
reflected on the vertical fins of the boundary fencing.
Together with the horizontal louvres, the entire front
elevation is lightened such that, despite its generous
built-in area, the two-and-a-half storied building does
not look daunting at all.
The stroke of genius in this project lies in its
commitment to the lifestyle of the clients. Staying true

to the user needs prompts a paradigm shift in the

programing. Instead of focusing on the house as a
showpiece for guests, the design team has created a
highly usable space that gives back to comfort living. In
reversing the private and living quarters, they have also
maxed out the site opportunities, maximizing views for
living spaces and privacy for private spaces.

50

habitat

subtle shifts
by Luo Jingmei | PhotograPhy by edward Hendricks

In the 7 Degree House designed by

wynk;collaborative, a series of simple yet
appropriate architectural manoeuvres
results in a well-connected home for an
expanding family.

ynk;collaborative is a young
design consultancy set up
in 2011 by three friends, Si
Jian Xin, Dennis Huang and
Hon Kit Leong, who met while
studying at the National University of Singapores School
of Architecture. Their portfolio comprises residential and
commercial projects that reflect the trios interest in
experimenting with textures, colours, and forms.
One of the first few projects they were commissioned
to take on is the 7 Degree House, which was recently
completed. The design of the intermediate terrace
house appears simple but on closer observation, reveals
careful thought in the way it has created a new home for
the occupants.
The occupants, a couple with three daughters, had
been living in same plot for 30 years. There was the need
for more space and a consideration for the allocation of
private and common designations of space after one of
the daughters got married and decided to stay with the
parents. At the same time, they desired a home with more

52

natural illumination after experiencing a lack of sufficient

lighting a perennial issue with the inter-terrace house
typology in the previously two-storey house.
Rather than filling each floor plate with as many
rooms as possible, wynk;collaborative cut a void through
the middle of the house from the first storey to the
attic, capped by a skylight. The typical terrace house
typology often translates to a long and deep plan with
inward-looking spaces, enveloping itself in. Intentionally
inverting this relationship, the 7 Degree House is
conceived from the inside out with a cavernous light well
punctured through its centre, Huang emphasises. While
this meant the house had to go higher in order to fit in
the desired number of rooms, it also resulted in a lightfilled house and, as designer Huang highlights, a more
engaged way of living for the occupants.
Huang highlights: For a narrow plot the builtup actually feels bigger than it is [with this void]. We
could have maximised the floor area of each level but
the compromise would have been a claustrophobic
feel, which we didnt want. While it was an instinctive
response to puncture some light though the middle, we

actually found it also works for the social aspect that

benefits the family as it grows. Theres still this sense
of visual connection and you can always open a window
and call downstairs. He adds, this light well is essential
to give purpose to the entire house and the people who
are living in it because it helps to bring them closer.
Additionally, with windows facing the air well from the
rooms above, the occupants are always aware of the
presence of other family members. Placing the dining
room on the first storey right below the skylight also adds
to this communal vibe. While the light well is not a new
typology, here, it is applied to good effect.
Meanwhile, the staircase runs unobtrusively down
the side of the house, while service spaces are tucked
to the sides. This means that the spaces surrounding
the triple-storey void can be freed up for usable spaces,
which, on the second and third storey, translates to semiprivate family areas for the different family members to
retreat to.
Interestingly, Huang has defined the division of the
programmes to the front and back of the house with
split-levels, accessed by several steps. Instead of four

SectIon AA

7 degree House, singaPore

site area
gFa
design firm
submission architect
project team

223m2
467m2
wynk;collaborative
DDa resources architects
Dennis huang, Si Jianxin,
Leong hon Kit, yang Lichuan
builder builders 265 Pte Ltd
c&s engineer J S tan & associates

54

storeys (three storeys and an attic level), we essentially

have eight different mini-stories. Each storey marks a
threshold and this makes the separation of the different
spaces more apparent. Also through this staggering, as
each area of the house is subtly differentiated, they are
accorded a sense of privacy, Huang explains.
This sense of privacy is more mental than physical,
but according to the homeowner, it actually works
somewhat, allowing for the subtle effect of letting the
occupants feel they are in a different part of the home.
Yet, it also aids in connecting the family in different parts
of the house. For example, the view from the second
storey family area to the living room on the first storey
across the air well is much more generous with the front
floor plate lifted slightly higher than the back.
The palette of the house is kept simple, with white
paint for the exterior and interior walls. Rather than using
multiple finishes, Huang decided to keep the surfaces
bare and engage instead with a leitmotif of tilts to create
interest. The exterior front faade, for instance, sees a
series of gentle folds to prevent it from becoming too

flat and the back faade is sloped, creating bay windows

in the depth of the walls. At the roof top terrace, edge
walls taper strategically towards a view of the sea in the
distance while in the light well, the vertical surfaces are
given origami-like facets that, together with shadows
cast upon them, enlivens the light well.
The name of the house comes from the angle of
the faceting in the light well. Says Huang, We wanted
day-light to funnel through the light-well, onto the ground
floor and also bounce daylight into the bedrooms within
the front and rear blocks. Through some experimentation
we realized that seven degrees of inclination best
optimised internal lighting without too much glare to
the occupants.
In terms of climate control, Huang has considered
for the house to be as naturally ventilated as possible.
Vents at the top of the air well allow for a stack effect,
drawing up and dispelling hot air such that the interior
never gets too warm. While he had also considered the
possibility of a courtyard with landscaping or even a
green wall at the void that would have incorporated some
green, Huang decided in the end to keep things simple
and low maintenance for the occupants.
The 7 Degree House is not ground breaking in any
way, but it doesnt need to be. With a few sensitive and
subtle strokes, it has achieved its aims of creating a
suitable space for an expanding family and more.
www.wynkcollaborative.com

56

habitat

linear nostalgia
by ElainE lEE | PhotograPhy by Edward HEndricks

Studio XMSLs makeover of a loft unit in an old

Joo Chiat walk-up focused on providing a sense
of airiness and light for the entire space.

his compact project located along Joo

Chiat Road, is discreetly tucked on the
top floor of an old walk-up apartment.
Walk-ups are a typology commonly
found in the area and have recently
become a popular alternative to the distinctive Joo Chiat
shophouse. Most of these apartments also retain a linear
and narrow footprint, similar to shophouses. Hence, one
of the most challenging conditions of the unit, is its long
and deep layout, with windows only fronting the street,
as well as towards its rear yard area. The design team
recognised the shortage of natural light sources and
decided to turn it around by providing a sense of airiness
and light throughout the entire apartment.

Removal of the existing false ceiling reveals a highvolume interior space. The additional volume offers the
opportunity to include a loft, in order to fit more programs
into the compact space. The uniquely long and narrow
living space is accentuated by the high ceiling, which
helps to improve air and light circulation. The length of
the apartment is emphasised in one bold stroke that
split the apartment into two linear sections along its
longitudinal side. The living quarters are kept to one
side, in a space that is visually unimpeded with a soaring
double volume height. The private quarters are tucked to
the other side, which is even longer.
Guests enter the apartment via a modest vestibule.
A right turn leads to the living quarters, which integrates

58

the open concept kitchen, dining and living areas. The

kitchen is sophisticated in design and kitted out in stateof-the-art built-in appliances. The dining area is a glass
cladded table extended from the kitchen island. The
integration is most apparent in a continuous piece of
carpentry that serves a multitude of purposes and runs
the full length of the space.
Without physical boundaries between the programs,
the changes in function within this piece of furniture
demarcates the shift from kitchen to dining to living
space. Starting as an integrated and built-in fridge and
freezer, the carpentry work goes on to integrate a kitchen
counter top, hob, hood, kitchen storage, oven as well
as microwave. It moves on further to include cabinets
for general storage, book shelves, TV console, TV,
entertainment related accessories and electronics.

As ventilation and light are quintessential to the

designers approach to this particular project, the living
quarter is flanked on either end with floor to ceiling
openings. These windows flood the living quarters
with natural light and adjustable louvers are added for
shading and privacy. To provide cross-ventilation to the
entire living quarter, a continuous corridor is introduced.
It stretches from the rear yard to the vestibule and
through to the living quarter.
The ceiling of the living quarters fronting Joo Chiat
Road is made as high as possible to further accentuate
the linearity of the entire apartment. This long narrow but
high ceiling living space becomes a dramatic focal point
for the entire apartment.
The private quarters are tucked neatly to one side of
the apartment. To the left of the vestibule, the continuous

lOFT aParTMEnT in JOO cHiaT

design
designer
contractor
floor area
built area
completion

pLan

ConCept DiagraM

Studio XMSL Pte Ltd

Mathew Lai
ghim yeh Interiors
1,280ft2
1,500ft2
2014

corridor leads to bathrooms, guestrooms, bedrooms,

washing area and storage areas. Clearly distributed
and segmented, these areas are accessible from the
continuous corridor. The master room is accessible
from the dining and living area. To the left, is a sizable
walk-in wardrobe. A dog-leg flight leads to a mezzanine,
complete with bed and even a study.
The overall aesthetic of the apartment draws
inspiration from and revolves around existing site
elements of interest. The designers have successfully
infused an acquired Peranakan nostalgia (familiar in the
Joo Chiat context) with a clean line Modern aesthetic. A
modern palette of tones and colours is used throughout
the project. The walls are chipped off to expose the
original brickwork, and whitewashed to bring out its
texture. Wood is introduced to give a warm touch to the
apartment. The furnishing are predominantly black and
neutral tones.

Playful touches of old school hand painted floor

tiles work alongside Italian made concrete tiles. A
similar accent can be found in the streamline and
clean cut modern design of the kitchen. The designers
have cladded the island with a blue and white ceramic
reminiscent of the Peranakan tiles of yesteryear.
The uniquely planned apartment draws clues from
its greater environment. It can be read as a microcosm
of the Joo Chiat Street itself: a long continuous stretch
of unique and exciting situations always with something
to discover as one traverses its narrow sidewalks and
alleyways. The outcome is a design that is refreshingly
unique but yet not unfamiliar.

browse
60

SUSTAINABLE
LUXURY
by Dr Paul McGillick
Photography by Masano Kawana
2014 Tuttle Publishing
Review by Neo DisheNg | images fRom the book couRtesy TuTTle PublishiNg

ustainable Luxury, the seemingly selfcontradictory title provokes controversy

and debate.
Sustainability, as interpreted by
Spanish architect Jaume Valor, refers to
an awareness of limitation limited natural resources
and limited capacity of the environment in processing
waste and pollution where actions today have profound
future implications.1
Paul McGillick, the author, recognises that
application of the word sustainable has become
increasingly elastic of late. McGillick sees this trend as
a more holistic approach towards sustainability, without
which sustainable architecture is often reduced to a
greenwashing exercise.
McGillick proposes an expanded framework of
sustainability that addresses not only environmental
concerns but economic and social factors as well.
Sustainable Luxury curates a selection of recent
residential architecture in Singapore that fit within this
framework. The projects can be broadly categorised
into conservation houses, strata residences, and single
landed dwellings. Without going into specifics, these

Dr Paul McGillick is a Sydney-based writer

on architecture, art and design. He is also
Editorial Director of Indesign Mediaand
Editor of the regional, cross-cultural
architecture and design magazine, Habitus.
He has written a number of books on
South-East Asian architecture as well as
several monographs on Australian and Asian
architects. His most recent bestseller was
The Sustainable Asian House published in
2013 by Tuttle Publishing.

Award-winning photographer Masano

Kawana is one of the most talked-about
food, interior and landscape photographers
in Asia today. Born in Japan and based in
Singapore, Kawana has travelled, lived and
surfed throughout the region, photographing
a wide variety of subjects for books and
lifestyle magazines. One of his recent works,
Shunju: New Japanese Cuisine has won the
2004 James Beard Foundation Award for
Best Photography.

THE CORAL HOUSE, Guz Architects (p86)

are exceptional architectural work from the offices of

architectural doyens such as Richard Ho, Yip Yuen Hong
and Mok Wei Wei, as well as the newer generation of
architects such as Randy Chan and Chang Yong Ter.
For the purposes of the publication, the eclectic
selection of projects does help one to appreciate
McGillicks perspective. However, this reviewer feels that
the individual architectural merit of each project may
perhaps be better appreciated beyond the generalised
framework of sustainable luxury.
Building responsibly and sensibly is not a noble
ideal that the architects strive for; it is a basic duty that
the profession is obliged to discharge in shaping the
built environment. Creating a functional and comfortable
home may be achieved by ticking off items on a design
checklist. However, the composition of space, organisation
of circulation, and play of materials as a whole to craft a
delightful experience is a more complex process.

on luxury
It is known that in land-scarce Singapore, landed
residences are a physical symbol of economic success;
the ability to engage the services of an architect to
design a well-crafted home is a form of luxury. Luxury, as
opposed to opulence, is a human desire for refinement

OLIV APARTMENTS, W Architects (p48)

and experience. In fact, the pursuit of luxury is one of the

drivers of architecture.
From Guz Architects resort-like bungalows to the
Jonathan Pohs remake of a humble HDB apartment,
Sustainable Luxury shows that luxury can manifest
in various scales. In his monologue Romancing the
Tropics, Ernesto Bedmar described the black-and-white
bungalow that he lives in and the poetics of the internal
spaces as the perfect example of tropical architecture.2
In it, the union between the climatic functionality of
the house, the poetics of its spaces, and its harmonious
relationship between inside and outside, creates an
experience that perhaps captures the essence of
sustainable luxury.

62

BARNSTORM HOUSE, Kevin Low, Small Projects (p150)

BELMONT ROAD HOUSE, CSYA (p104)

TANGLIN HILL HOUSE, Eco-id Architects (p18)

create an almost entropic aesthetic that some may find

radical. The design does not compromise on functionality
and even implements sustainable design strategies with
great dexterity.

on sustainable luxury

MANDAI COURTYARD HOUSE, Atelier M+A

on clients and houses

A key narrative that runs across the selected projects is
the role of the Client and the working relationship with
the Architect.
There are many kinds of clients and the uniqueness
of each helps to shape a project. As Bedmar points out,
different people allow a project to unfold.3 There are
clients who would go on a seven-year long journey with
the architect to design a house that would become a
timeless classic. There are also clients who have little
more than the need for four walls and a roof, completed
quickly, for as cheaply as possible.
As McGillick observed, clients are seeking more
participation in the design process. It is therefore

increasingly imperative for architects to define and

establish a clear relationship between the client and
his professional obligation to deliver an architecturally
responsible building. Small residential projects provide a
conducive scale and situation for architects to experiment
and test ideas.
This architectural experimentation evident in most
of the featured projects but is particularly distinct in
projects like Zarch Collaboratives Jalan Mat Jambol
House, where the architect and the client are one
and the same. The architect notes that the house is
an exploration on tropical living and is still a work-inprogress, which is very much apparent in the design. The
blurred spatial boundaries and eclectic use of material

The turbulent nation building era of the 60s was a time

when, according to Phillip Goad, modern architecture was
synonymous with progress and change. The subsequent
period was defined by the search of vernacular identity
and the spread of tropical regionalism.
This is perhaps a time without epoch. As Anoma
Pieris points out, the lack of an architectural
consciousness or healthy debate on public architecture
is symptomatic of a profession where many architects
are desperate to build while clients and contractors have
scant interest in their intellectual position.4
The ideas behind McGillicks Sustainable Luxury
can perhaps be further developed to provide a platform
on which debate and discussion can resume on the
discourse of tropical and Singapore architecture.

3
4

Valor, Jaume. Graft of Hyperminimums. Arquitectura (re)

activa = (Re)active Architecture. Barcelona, Spain: Collegi
DArquitectes De Catalunya, 1998. N. pag. Print.
Viray, Erwin. Romancing the Tropics, Is It? A Conversation with
Ernesto Bedmar. Bedmar & Shi: Romancing the Tropics. San
Rafael, CA: ORO Editions, 2007. 118-19. Print.
Ibid. 123.
Pieris, Anoma. The Search for Tropical Identities: A Critical
History. New Directions in Tropical Asian Architecture. Ed.
Patrick Bingham-Hall. Singapore: Periplus, 2005. 32. Print.

community
64

nan might like it

Story and imageS courteSy Naud & Poux | PhotograPhy by JulieN laNoo

The Arpage Antoine de Saint-Exupry home for dependent

elderly people in Villejuif, France, has welcomed its first
residents since Dec 2014. The 160-bed private facility
on a total area of 9,200m2 located near the Paul Brousse
Hospital, designed by Naud & Poux who were determined
not to have something outdated and pastiche, questions
stereotypes in silver architecture.

espite the homes stark and minimal

appearance, the 19.9m project
does not compromise its obligation to
elderly residents. The facilitys layout,
two parallel rows of buildings, each
with a slightly different size, orientation, and colour, is
straightforward and easy to navigate. Individual bedrooms
are grouped in clusters of no more than eight per floor, in
order to foster a sense of community among residents.
Shared living and dining areas are placed between the
dormitory buildings, ensuring that communal space is
never far away.
Initiated in 2006, the objective of this institution
is to provide for seniors who require long-term hospital
stay, a nursing home facility with dormitory-style
accommodations, offering support according to the
individual need of the dependent elderly. Each of the
units, about 23m for a single dwelling, allows the
resident to bring his personal effects and are basically

66

RSideNCe aRPaGe aNToiNe de SaiNT-exuPRY, VilleJuiF, FRaNCe

total area 9,200m2
architect lizabeth naud & Luc Poux,
architectes associs
project leaders Franck grilo, Julien mnard
structural engineering research Scyna 4
economist tohier & associs
fluids engineering research etb antonelli

furnished; he will even have a key to the door which can

be personalized with name and pictogram. The private
ensuite bathroom can be adapted to allow the resident
his own degree of autonomy, with or without help (walkin shower, raised toilet, grab bars). All units are also
equipped with TV and telephone outlets, and fixed and
mobile emergency call systems.
Housing these units in the complex is the group of
distinct, connected four-storey townhouse-like buildings,
each a simple volume with a modern gable. Motorised
concertina shutters are clad in matching composite
panel; when they are closed, the faades become
completely flat and monochromic.
(Naud & Poux) A major road shaped all thinking
for the buildings design, that is, offering residents
an augmented human presence thanks to greater
nursing-staff availability in accompanying them through
a humanized environment. The service spaces are

TyPicAl Floor PlAN

SiTE PlAN

Serviced Areas
rooms Area

GrouND Floor PlAN

68

DETAil oF uNiTS

I love it, but would my Grandma? (John McGrath,

Interior Architecture student at Northumbria University, UK)

distributed along the main circulation areas to ensure

that the establishment runs efficiently and that the
nursing staff enjoy an effective working tool.
The living quarters are coupled two by two around
a vertical core containing a stairway and elevators, and
provide views onto the mall and inner gardens. The
project also undertook to offer a living framework that
harmonized with the scale of Villejuifs existing plot. The
volumes are intentionally simple in order to reflect those
of the surrounding suburban fabric.
A network of streets and access roads, extending
the existing network, has been implemented so as
to open up the venue. Directing residents and visitors
from outside and inside the establishment was an
important consideration for bringing the operation to a
successful completion.

70

dfusion

from paper mill

to gin distillery
Story and imageS courteSy HeatHerwick Studio | PhotograPhy by iwan Baan

Ten years after winning a design prize from gin-maker

Bombay Sapphire for a glass bridge idea, Heatherwick Studio
was commissioned to lead the master plan and design of
the companys new distillery in the south of England. Having
previously operated from shared production facilities, this
was to be Bombay Sapphires first dedicated distillery and
headquarters, and was an opportunity for the company to
consolidate its manufacturing ability and improve efficiency.

he site in the village of Laverstoke

straddles the River Test, one of
Englands finest chalk streams.
Originally operating as a corn mill, the
land was acquired in 1718 by Henry
Portal and developed for the manufacture of paper to
produce the worlds bank notes. Over the following two
centuries it grew into a sprawling industrial complex,
including a series of Grade II listed buildings such as
the mill owners house, the workers cottages and the
main mill building. The result was an uncoordinated
accumulation of over 40 buildings which made the site
chaotic and confusing to find your way around. Equally
challenging, the River Test which runs through making it
almost impossible to perceive.
To bring clarity to the disparate site it became
obvious to the designers that it would not be enough to
simply restore the existing historic buildings. We needed
to reveal the River Test, which had been narrowed and
hidden within a steep-sided concrete channel, and use it
as a device around which to organise everything. We also
felt that the sites new master plan would only work with
the creation of a central courtyard as a gathering area
and a point of focus.
Heatherwick worked with government agencies
English Heritage and English Nature to meticulously
restore 23 of the existing historic buildings, to conserve

BoMBaY SaPPHire diStiLLerY, LaVerStoke, uk

72

client
site area
architect
project team

At the same time we became very conscious

of not wanting to lose a sense of the evolution
of the site. So, wherever a modern dilapidated
building leant against an older historic structure, we
removed the modern addition but left its mark on the
remaining building fabric as a trace of where it had
been. This selective process of de-cluttering the site
was as necessary on the inside as on the outside.

the local wildlife and also to negotiate the removal of nine

of the most recent industrial structures and a poor quality
bridge. The other significant move was to substantially
widen the river and reshape its banks to form sloping
planted foreshores in order to make the water visible and
valuable once more. Each careful decision to take away a
building structure in turn gave space for the surrounding
rich English countryside to be glimpsed again from the
heart of the site.
At the same time we became very conscious of not
wanting to lose a sense of the evolution of the site. So,
wherever a modern dilapidated building leant against an
older historic structure, we removed the modern addition
but left its mark on the remaining building fabric as a
trace of where it had been. This selective process of decluttering the site was as necessary on the inside as on
the outside.
The initial master plan brief had also included the
creation of a visitor centre. However, on seeing the

vapour distillation process and the sculptural forms of

the large copper gin stills, one of which is more than
200 years old, we became convinced that witnessing
the authentic distillation process would be far more
interesting and memorable for a visitor than any
simulated visitor experience. This production technique,
that is different from those used by other gin distillers,
is still carried out in accordance with a recipe devised in
1761 and involves infusing the gin with the vapours of
10 tropical and mediterranean herbs and spices.
This led us to think about growing these botanical
herbs and spices on the site, which in turn pointed us
towards a rich British heritage of botanical glasshouse
structures. The Victorian curiosity and passion for the
new science of horticulture had driven the creation of
everything from the extraordinary palm house at Kew
Gardens to the craze for Wardian cases, ornate indoor
glasshouses for growing and displaying collections of
exotic ferns and orchids. We wondered whether this

bombay Spirits company Ltd

20,235m2
heatherwick Studio
thomas heatherwick
Katerina dionysopoulou
eliot Postma, alma Wang, Ville Saarikoski

SiTE Plan

could be the worlds first botanical distillery and whether

we could let visitors see the real distillation process
rather than having a separate visitor centre.
The studio developed the idea of building two
intertwining botanical glasshouses as a highlight
of the central courtyard, one tropical and the other
mediterranean, to house and cultivate the ten plant
species that give Bombay Sapphire gin its particularity.
Excitingly, as the industrial vapour distillation process
produces excess heat that otherwise has to be taken
away, and as the creation of tropical and mediterranean
climatic environments in the British context require
additional heat, there was a potential virtuous circle if
we could tie these two things together.
The resulting glasshouse structures spring from
one of the historic mill buildings, now re-appropriated as
a gin distillation hall, recycling the spare heat from the
machinery to make the perfect growing conditions for
tropical and mediterranean plants. The two glasshouses
then embed themselves into the flowing waters of the
newly-widened riverbed. Working with a team from
the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew as horticultural
collaborators, the ten exotic botanical plant types grow

in the two structures alongside over a hundred additional

plant and herb species that provide the accompanying
ecosystem required to maintain them.
The resulting complex geometries of the new
asymmetrical glasshouses took many months to
calculate, engineer and refine. The finished built
structures are made from 893 individually shaped, twodimensionally curved glass pieces held within more than
one and a quarter kilometres of bronze-finished stainless
steel frames. In their entirety, the glasshouses are made
from more than 10,000 bespoke components.
On arrival, visitors walk to the newly opened-up
river, before crossing a bridge and making their way
along the waterside to the main production facility located
in the centre of the site facing the courtyard and new
glasshouses. Through careful restoration of the historical
buildings, widening and revealing the River Test and
the construction of a new gin factory system including
new glasshouses, this project juxtaposes Laverstokes
historical past with an interesting new future.

dfusion
74

upbeat transparency
Story and imageS courteSy Molteni&C/MaCsk

The Glass Cube, a pavilion-like showroom for Molteni&C designed by Ron Gilad,
who was specially commissioned to convey the distinctive Molteni identity, is
located on the grounds of the 81-year-old companys headquarters in Giussano,
an area 25km north of Milan in the province of Monza and Brianza, Italy.
Transformed from a previously existing space built in 2013 known as the Glass
House, the all-new Glass Cube is a 400m2 exhibition space made up of voids,
glass, and surprise installations full of humour and creative wit!

he Glass Cube, a pavilion-like showroom

for Molteni&C designed by Ron Gilad, who
was specially commissioned to convey the
distinctive Molteni identity, is located on
the grounds of the 81-year-old companys
headquarters in Giussano, an area 25km north of Milan in
the province of Monza and Brianza, Italy. Transformed from
a previously existing space built in 2013 known as the Glass
House, the all-new Glass Cube is a 400m2 exhibition space
made up of voids, glass, and surprise installations full of
humour and creative wit!
In the white, minimal space of the Glass Cube, the
huge doors and infinite teak walls are monumental, allowing
visitors to admire the veins of the living material. It is a white
box devoid of partitions, allowing the objects contained
within to create the space, influencing its nature and quality.
Here, Gilad reinterprets the distinguishing themes of
Moltenis corporate identity, in terms of materials, quality,
experience, technology, industry and craftsmanship, as
embodied in their products and collections. He experiments
with new possibilities, observing like an entomologist at
his microscope and deconstructing both timeless classics
and contemporary objects into fragments, to expose their
details and inner layers, with his signature ironic and
provocative vision.

Wunderkammer

The concept for Glass Cube was to create an

anti-showroom, to deconstruct (the Molteni&C showroom
environment) back into the fragments, to help people look
at things through the individual elements with a microscope,
and appreciate the quality of the individual concept, the
physical quality of the material, production and engineering,
all these parts that are the DNA of the company.
Ron Gilad

The displays are geared to surprise and intrigue. A

sofa? Yes, but plunging into the space from the ceiling, for
an alternative view of reality. A Gio Ponti chest of drawers?
Yes, but sliced in half, like Damien Hirsts dissected cow,
to discover how it is made and reveal its technological
core. Piroscafo, designed by Luca Meda and Aldo Rossi,
becomes a ship with a warm red centre, like Carteggios
colourful drawer, which is mirrored in its double and, free in
space, becomes a totem-like sculpture. The storage units
and shelves designed by Gilad are composed geometrically,
Donald Judd-style.
At the heart of the project is the Wunderkammer
(cabinet of curiosity), a room where a variety of scenes in
3D-mapped projections animate the entire space, enlivened
by a site specific soundtrack composed by Fabrizio
Campanelli and performed by the Budapest Symphony.
An open stretch of water at the centre of the showroom,
into which Gilads Grado 60 series of consoles is rolled out
from the glass atrium like a sculptural intervention, acts as
a mirrored surface reflecting the sky into the space, adding
to its dimensionality.
Said Gilad: It is a great honour for me to work with
Molteni&C, who gave me free rein to experiment, to explore
their realm in an unorthodox way, to keep the culture of
design evolving.

dfusion
78

many fragments
in a formula
by TLH | Images courtesy MoLTeni&C/MaCsk and FLos/Moooi/spaCe FurniTure

RON GILAD: ...I want to be very careful not

to be overwhelmed [by success], not to be
pushed by the fame...this is not what is driving
me, or my work. I am not industry, I dont want
to be industry, I am the artist that cater to the
industry on certain levels. If people will ask,
so what are you doing this year?, I say, this
year I am doing nothing!

RON GILAD has emerged as arguably the next best-known designer that
hails from Tel Aviv, Israel, and makes it into the glitzy stratosphere of bigname contemporary Italian furnishings in Milan after the illustrious Ron
Arad (born 1951, Tel Aviv) who made the huge international leap some
two decades earlier. Like Arad, Gilad (born 1972) was similarly schooled
at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in his early years, with equal
ambition and yearning to do design. As his education developed, the
younger talent, unlike his older compatriot (who is currently based in UK),
was less inclined to architecture, and even less to the machinery of an
industry-driven career, preferring instead for a measured pace exploring the
sophisticated possibilities of industrial design in academia, as well as at his
own test lab for ideas, Designfenzider, which he co-founded in New York
in 2001. After several years in New York, he now lives and works in Tel Aviv
and Milan. His philosophical ruminations on the conceptual, abstract and
functional had resulted in some fine, witty conundrums in 3D actualized
forms that caught the eyes of producers such as Molteni&C and Flos,
clinched awards, and placed in permanent collections at the Metropolitan
Museum in New York and the Tel-Aviv Museum of Modern Art. Ron Gilad
was in Singapore for the official opening of Macsk on Jan 29, where several
of his pieces for Molteni&C, such as the enigmatic Grado collection, the
Segreto shelf/writing desk and Sweetdreams bed, are presented, along
with collections by other well-starred names. We catch a lively chat with the
outwardly easy-mannered designer, who speaks of his passion with insightful
moments of candour and seriousness.

Are most of your creations, or collections,

for Molteni&C?

As in one house?
As in the most number of pieces that youve
designed (for a company)

No, I am the house that has the most amount of

furniture, not Molteni&C.
Which are your most successful pieces, or
collections, to date, in terms of how it is
received or recognised, or sold?

I dont consider success by numbers, I dont know

exactly what is being sold or for how much...its hard for
me to speak about success in these terms. For me, many
pieces that are horrible sellers are much more iconic,
stronger, and have a different statement than the ones
that are commercially appealing, lets put it this way.
Back to your question, there is no aim at the beginning
of a process to create a good seller, no one can predict
the future of a project once its out there, because there
are many, many, unknown fragments in a formula which
I think if someone knows what this is, hes probably
sitting in a yacht in Monti Carlo and counting money! I
dont think any of the people in the design world, in the
Italian design world, is doing that. They are sitting in their
factories and working very hard to continue the legacy of,
usually, their parents or their grandparents.

35 TAVOLINI coffee tables

(GRADO collection)

45 TAVOLINO/coffee table
(GRADO by MOLTENI&C)

45 TAVOLO/table (GRADO
collection)

SEGRETO desk/shelf (Molteni&C)

SWEETDREAMS bed (Molteni&C,

Macsk showroom)

80

Do you have a favourite material that you

prefer to work with (glass, wood, etc)?

The brain! This is the most important material. Its how

this one is working, then finding the right physical material
that will answer a certain function, a certain structure...

people in the company. Sitting in front of Carlo Molteni,

we respect each other, but I also know that we need to
pay 800 salaries every month. Not that I am taking it
under full consideration when I am drawing a line, no,
but somewhere in the back of my mind, I know that it is
a business.

Have you designed anything in your career

that is a fail?

Your design studio is based in Tel Aviv?

Again, [to define fail, as one would, the term success],

I think many of them are stronger conceptual statement
than successful product. When you are working with the
industry it can be harder to take risks and I am the
biggest risk taker! there are rules and restrictions. You
know, when you are talking about Molteni, there are 800

In my head! I travel quite a lot, my physical desk is in Tel

Aviv currently, but I live between Tel Aviv and Italy. Its a
little room in a little house with one assistant, with two
lap tops, thats it. Nothing fancy. I want to keep it this
way, I want to maintain control, not to grow to the extent
that I lose full control of what Im creating, basically, so

its very important for me to stay as focused as I can, and

to do as little as possible, actually.
And not to overthink about things...

Overthink, yes, for sure! The question is, the amount of

questions that you are able to contain and to process at
the same time. Im trying to limit it to the minimum, so that
Im able to focus on each one and give the best answer.
Youre also an artist, obviously. As a designer,
youve created quite a lot of conceptual work
too. Do you consciously think of function when
you design for your clients?

No, a lot of my functional pieces actually come from

10

11

12

13

abstract thoughts, there is no one formula. Geometric

plays, conceptual questions, researches about our
perceptions. These are all departure points for different
routes, routes of the function world and the non-function
world. But I dont limit myself when I am thinking about
something; once I am reaching a certain point, I will
decide whether I will channel it to one way or another...
[During his high school years when he was studying
architecture, he was exposed to the early smaller,
curated collections of Memphis, Alessi Officina, before
they became the monster that they are now.] They were
an inspiration that completely opened your mind, the
perception of what is a bed, then you see a Memphis
bed and understand that is something you couldnt ever
imagine yourself, yet it is what it is, even if it is just a
statement, even if it isnt going to be mass produced,
or mass consumed. The fact that this group of Italian
architects were brave enough to play with the idea, was
very inspiring to me. Later on, when I went on college,
there was the early beginnings of Droog Design whose
language I appreciated very much.

CONTRORA armchair
and sofa (Molteni&C)

10 MENSOLE/shelves
(GRADO collection)

PANNACOTTA
TAVOLINO/coffee table
(GRADO collection)

56 Cabinet (Adele-C)

10 56 Day Bed (Adele-C)

11 14/28 Cupboard
(Adele-C)
12 Tavolo TT (Adele-C)
13 GRADO bookshelf
(Molteni&C)

Do you have a favourite current designer

82

whose work you find inspiring?

14

I find many, many, individual works, or individuals

inspiring. I cannot put my finger on the legacy of one
person and say, this is brilliant, or that is inspiring. I am
also inspired by the mistakes of others, by things that
are definitely out of my [vocabulary], it could even be
opposite of what I do...The system has been very kind to
me, many doors have been open to me over the years,
many people believed in what I was doing and giving me
stages, and I cannot say that I dont want to step on the
stage and not do. I mean, this is my passion, this is my
life. On the other hand I want to be very careful not to be
overwhelmed [by the success], not to be pushed by the
fame...this is not what is driving me, or my work. I am
not industry, I dont want to be industry, I am the artist
that cater to the industry on certain levels. If people will
ask, so what are you doing this year?, I say, this year I
am doing nothing!
So you are not pressured to do something
new every year?

Not from inside but from outside; people have

expectations. I dont want to be like the fashion designer
who is forced to do four collections per year. To make

a sofa, a piece of furniture, is not the same as to make a

dress. The amount of effort and labour, cost and energy,
to make a sofa or to invent a hinge that opens the door,
is different from making a shirt...its not the same speed.
For me, I prefer not to be working according to the speed
or rhythm of the industry.
There is humour in some of your work. For
instance, in your pieces for Adele-C (founded
by Adele Cassina). Is there this same sense
of humour in your work with Molteni&C?

Do a certain degree, yes. They are two different types of

companies that are not competing with each other; in my
opinion, they complement each other. They are different
in scale, in goals. Adele-C tries to make more statements
about design, to help the evolution run a little bit faster;
Molteni is a little bit more restrained, and more elegant.
I try not to work with competitor companies, not to just
spread my ideas to so many families. I try only to reach to
one specific client, as long as I am able to [make a living],
to maintain myself financially. Ive been educated by Piero
Gandini (CEO of FLOS), who said from the beginning,
Ron, you know that if you work for FLOS, you cannot
design for anyone else. And it sounded to me completely
logical. Then I started to enter Italy, and people ask me,

14 MINI TECA table lamp

(FLOS)
15 GOLDMAN table lamp
(FLOS)
16 Dear Ingo suspension
lamp (Moooi)

15

17 Ron Gilad at the

workshop for Space
Nurtures winners 2013,
Shufei and Adeline
Yeo, in Domaine de
Boisbuchet, France

16

why did you sign an exclusive contract like this! And I

said, Its not a signature, its a handshake. But it doesnt
work in the furniture world. In the furniture world, you see
the same sofa with a tiny little adjustment in 10 different
companies that are competing with each other, and the
designers are feeling very comfortable doing that. I am
not. But I understand it also, its not just a matter of
mentality. When you are growing, when your office grows
to the extent that you need to pay 10 to 100 salaries a
month, as a designer, as an architect, you must keep the
engine running. You dont have a choice; you just adjust
ideas and send them around, and get the cheques at the
end of the month. I dont want to reach to this point of
commitment to so many other people, that would force
me to repeat myself, to be redundant [as a designer].

something, from medical solutions to, how take a taxi

with your phone, etc, the goal is just to be bought by
a huge company, to make that 200 million dollars, to
move on. And then what? I dont want that. You see all
these young guys in Tel Aviv especially, that were bought
by Google, by whatever, and they got their 300 milliondollar-cheque, after not sleeping for five years. Ok then,
what do you do with this money at the age of 25?
Buy a ticket and travel to space, maybe?...

Ok and then what? I think we must appreciate the

process, the path we are travelling on, its not necessarily
about the result. The results are just little sequels [in an
on-going journey].

Do you feel that there is still this big idea

that one day youre going to come out with?

No. There is no one big idea, I dont think so.

Because again, that would mean putting
pressure on yourself...?

Im pressuring myself no matter what, but not to the

extent of [having to] finding the ultimate idea. Come on,
youre talking about tables, not rocket science! We must
take things under proportion [within context]; [designing
furniture] isnt just the main thing in life. There are so
many other things, other disciplines, that I am curious
about, and I am exploring, learning and reading about...
It scares me to think that there could be this one big
idea, like in the high-tech industries, the start-ups;
they are running towards something, they are inventing

17

dfusion
84

he 800m2 space is arranged over two

floors, showcasing complete interior
settings from kitchens to dining rooms,
living rooms to bedrooms, and even the
home office. The numerous ideas include
the latest Molteni&C recent collections, such as Ron Gilads
Segreto writing desk and Grado collection. Dining and
occasional tables, bookcases and glass cabinets, all of
which feature innovative designs that combine technology
and materials to offer a broad and highly appealing choice
to the design-conscious homeowner.
In the selectively choreographed ensembles are also
remakes from a classic Gio Ponti living room collection.
Dada, the kitchen division of Molteni&C, presents the Vela
kitchen, a timeless classic updated by Dante Bonucelli.
Doors are a mere 13mm thick, slim to the point of
imperceptibility. Technology is cutting edge and layers
different materials, balancing the tensions and designing
new proportions and distinctive technical details, such as
the new opening mechanism, which allows doors to swing.
Covering materials include Eucalyptus, skilfully crafted with
a horizontal vein, and a new selection of tough and tactile
nanotechnology laminates.

a montage of
high-style living
Story and imageS courteSy Macsk

Macsk, Singapores all-new luxury furnishings store, has opened its showroom
on Jan 29, prominently fronting Mohamed Sultan Road within the upmarket
Robertson Quay neighbourhood of trendy cafes and restaurants, shops, hotels and
condominiums. The contemporary lifestyle destination offers A Life of Distinction
in an enticing range of exquisite home solutions by its flagship brands Molteni&C
and Dada, along with a host of other top international names such as Kettal,
Louis Poulsen and Alessi.

Also making its debut in Southeast Asia at Macsk is

the Slide kitchen, designed by Giorgio Armani for Dada.
The kitchen features an island with a thick marble counter
top that glides open to reveal beneath, a stainless steel
worktop. Complementing it is the Checkers kitchen system
of fine natural woods, exclusive lacquers and textured backpainted, micro-striped glass, and a natural stone top.
A visually spectacular star feature in the showroom
is the kinetic light sculpture Alice by Petra Krausova for
Lasvit, the Czech design and manufacturing firm of bespoke
lighting sculptures and art installations made from handblown glass. Alice behaves as a kinetic bloom, a dance
of reflecting and refracting luminescence reminiscent of
flowers, equally fragile, original and unique.

Lighting gets the spotlight at Macsk, with established

brands such as Louis Poulsen, renowned for its iconic
pieces the Artichoke, AJ and PH; bespoke art lighting
company Brand van Egmond (the appointed global
suppliers for luxury houses Louis Vuitton and Chopard);
and Oluce, the oldest contemporary Italian lighting firm still
active today.
Highly collectible accessories from Murano glass
artisan Carlo Moretti and the inimitable Alessi add depth to
the Macsk stable of brands, while expressive glass furniture
from Fiam, as well as fine rugs from GT Design and Level by
Mohebban Muris, complete the showrooms core collection.
Macsk is also partnering with celebrated kitchen
brands such as Gaggenau and Miele, both of which are
bringing in celebrity chefs to demonstrate the full range
of their latest systems. The showrooms lush ambience is
enhanced with cutting-edge Metz TVs and the high-fidelity
Onkyo and Paradigm audio systems. Plohs sumptuous
bedding sets and Ode to Arts specially curated artworks
complete this stylish scene.

dfusion
86

a cage for
belongings
Story and imageS courteSy imm cologne/neri & Hu

The 2015 installation of Das Haus at IMM Cologne (interior

design show, Jan 18 to 24), designed by Neri & Hu, invited
visitors to explore the rituals of living and to invent them
anew. Das Haus is an annual commission that allows a
designer to imagine what their ideal future home would be like.
The first three editions were interpretations by designers from
London, Italy and Scandinavia. For the fourth edition in 2015,
imm cologne had sought a view from outside Europe. Last
year, Louise Campbells picture-perfect Haus was more of an
idea of a house than a real one; there were no staircases and
also missing were basic functions...where one genuinely feels
at home, where restlessness disappears and comfort takes its
place. This year, Neri & Hus installation affects the beholder
more like a challenge to be overcome.

ur goal is to challenge convention on

several levels, explained Rossana
Hu. For a start: does a living room
always have to look the same: a
sofa, two comfortable upholstered
armchairs and a coffee table in the middle? Or can one
comprehend it in an entirely different way? How do we get
to something unique, something that challenges us, and
is different from what weve grown used to over the last
10 years?
Our Haus is intended to unsettle people, said Lyndon
Neri, because we wanted to challenge them so that when
they leave Das Haus, not only will they visit a fair with the
most beautiful furniture and the best materials, they will
also really start to ask themselves where we stand today
especially in China. Do we use furniture in the right way?
How much furniture do we need? And what does the term
the home actually mean?

From the outside, the dark grey painted walls did not
look very inviting. Only the irregular window openings in the
Cages for Living containers for the objects we use for
living communicated the idea even from the outside that
this structure contained more than just cool aesthetics. Here
is a unique, sensual synthesis of the arts of architecture,
design, interior design, art and philosophy.
The architectural composition of Das Haus 2015 is
compact and urbane: five tall rooms, closed on all sides,
creates an exciting ensemble around a large interior
courtyard, conceived as a semi-public living space. Winding
through this compressed architecture is a bridge, its path
zig-zagging through and over Das Haus, intersecting the
rooms at different points, breaking through walls, swerving
over dining tables, and granting the visitor precisely
calculated insights into the installations of living space.
The inside of the house revealed itself to be far
more homely than the outside. Neri & Hu had specified a
colour palette of muted shades inspired by the traditional
Shanghai lanes (nongtangs), by houses overgrown with ivy,
red painted doors and crumbling plaster walls.

88

Each of the five rooms represented not just a statement

about the history of our living culture but also a suggestion for
other potential uses. Reminiscent of the traditional bedroom
was the Room for Sleeping, painted blue and containing not
much more than the simple bed. The pattern of dedications,
colour schemes and quotations were repeated in the other
four rooms: in the green Room for Eating, devoted to the
skilled kitchen chef; in the glowing dark red Room for
Bathing, dedicated to lovers; in the exhilarating yellow study
designed for the poet, entitled Room for Reading and in
the light grey Room for Living, in which Walter Benjamins
thesis on the possible disengagement of art from ritual due
to the formers reproducibility is quoted.
The structure of the closed-in rooms presented our
traditional concept of living as cage-like enclosures, the
result of which is that our homes are not only represented
as a place of refuge, but also as a cage for our belongings
and our rituals of living...

dfusion
90

all out on the table

Story and imageS courteSy imm cologne press

Featured at the recent imm cologne 2015 (Jan 19 to 25) were Interior
Innovation Awards that honoured 15 products as Best of Best. In the
Pure Talents Contest, The Cooking Table (a prototype still in development)
by Moritz Putzier, an independent product designer based in Bremen,
Germany, took the first prize of 3,000. He had created the product as his
graduation project in 2014 to much fanfare in design hype.

an it get any more basic than this?

The Cooking Table can be a great
alternative to the open kitchen in a small,
young household, for some fun-filled
interactivity in a distilled setting without
fancy tools and equipment.
The table brings the kitchen the place where we
meet in our daily life to rest, to communicate, to work or to
play back into the heart of the home, and forms the social
centre of a household. Specifically as a table for cooking in,
it parts at the centre to provide two flexible surfaces for food
preparation, cooking and to dine at.
The top is made of solid oak, while the white trestle
legs are powder-coated metal. It comes with a stool-bench,
a combination of a slightly elevated stool and a slim-shaped
bench. Its unusual geometry allows you to either sit or safely
lean on it.

Designed with the table is a matching ensemble

of three different sized ceramic containers, to hold food
prepared for cooking, to store cooked food, or be used
as servers for eating. The lid of each bowl is also a
cutting board.
The fire, from movable gas burners made of turned
brass, complete the product family of the Cooking Table. By
pulling the table top apart, the gas burners can be clicked
inside little modules with canisters attached underneath
that slide in a hidden track along the centre. These modules
can be moved easily by hand from one side of the table
to the other, resulting in an adaptable stove for individual
use in terms of cooking position and you can have more
than more one integrated hobs A circular ceramic bowl
surrounding the gas burner while cooking serves as pad
and heat isolation.
www.moritzputzier.com

pulse
92

still reflection
by Yvonne Xu | Images courtesy national GallerY of victoria in Melbourne, australia.

Commissioned for the National Gallery of Victoria, Reflection Model

(Itsukushima) is contemporary Japanese artist Takahiro Iwasakis latest creation
in his Reflection Model series of work. In this series, the artist religiously creates
detailed models of historical Japanese buildings coupled with the reflections
the actual buildings would cast in the water surrounding them. This one of
Itsukushima Shinto Shrine is Iwasakis grandest and most intricate yet, and it
is now on show at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia.

n his Reflection Model series, Takahiro Iwasaki

creates models of sacred Japanese buildings
and the reflections they cast in the water
surrounding them, combining building and its
reflected image into one form. In his third and
latest of the series, he takes the UNESCO world heritage
site, the sixth-century Itsukushima Shinto Shrine, as his
reference and subject.
At eight metres wide, the model is Iwasakis largest
yet. Suspended from stainless steel wires in the NGV
gallery, the wooden structure does not look like it is hung
as much as it is floating, in spite of the size and weight.
There is something about the model that inspires
a reverent quiet in the room. The whole structure is
made mainly of traditional cypress and in 14 parts
13 that slot into each other in the main shrine

Photography by Brooke Holm

complex, and a separate entrance gate that is

positioned 4600mm in front of it. Without any bolt or
fastening clip, the thirteen parts of the main structure
nestle into each other; at places roofs slot several
centimetres into adjoining sections, and at others,
small wooden parts interlock. It is an age-old idea: that
which flexes does not break this is the very principle
that has long guided Japan in creating its earthquakeresistant buildings.
Iwasakis model has a stillness about it, not quite
that of a lifeless statue it is perhaps more like a
pond surface: at rest now, but could easily be broken
at the slightest disturbance. Visitors who come to see
it approach with care. They first assess the model at
a distance, then examine its intricacies at close range,
going around it; and as Iwasaki has religiously detailed
the model throughout, even on the upside-down roof,
some people sit down on the floor to admire the underside
too. In the calm of the gallery, the viewers sometimes
look as if they are patiently waiting for a kind of sign.
The structure may be quiet but it is certainly
not silent. What does it tell? What are the signs? The
craftsmanship and the engineering are impressive, but

what does a model of a building teach us?

To begin understanding the work, it may be useful
to listen to Wayne Crothers, NGV Asian Art Curator, who
shares the cultural and historical significance of the
reference building: During the Japanese middle ages the
religions of Shinto and Buddhism offered the promise of a
world existing in a dimension beyond normal experience.
This idealistic realm is known in the Buddhist faith as
Nirvana, or paradise. Those entering this world would
be released from desire, delusion, torment and all ties
to the present. People interpreted Nirvana as a floating
world released from the confines of gravity. With this
idea in mind, architects worked on an ingenious concept
whereby actual buildings and their reflected image fused
together to create a huge three-dimensional object. Like
a spaceship, the temple or shrine appeared to be from
another world; an object that defied gravity and floated
in silence under the blue sky or in the darkness of night,
softly illuminated by the moon. Iwasakis Reflection
Model series uses this principle both to pay homage
to these historical architectural masterpieces and to
create a new three-dimensional dreamlike experience of
weightlessness and paradise.

94

Reflection Model (Itsukushima) 201314, installation view at Aomori Contemporary Art Centre (ACAC), National Gallery
of Victoria, Melbourne; Felton Bequest, 2014. Takahiro Iwasaki, courtesy of the artist and ARATANIURANO

Artists drawings for Reflection Model (Itsukushima) 201314 Takahiro Iwasaki,

courtesy of the artist and ARATANIURANO

Photo courtesy National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (www.ngv.vic.gov.au)

Itsukushima Shrines structures in particular are

built on the tidal flats of Japans Inland Sea. The complex
has presents its perfect form when water reaches just
below the complexs pier platforms, during the high tide
of the autumn full moon.
To achieve the sense of weightlessness, Iwasaki
suspends the model so that the perfect water level
aligns with the eye level of a person of average height.
The work, which was first constructed in Aomori
Contemporary Art Centre and flown to Melbourne,
was installed with tools such as laser levellers and
turnbuckles to ensure precise alignment.

Takahiro Iwasakis studio showing the making of the working model for
Reflection model (Itsukushima) Takahiro Iwasaki

Iwasaki is recognized as one of Japans new

generation of emerging young artists, and is known
particularly for his intricate models that reinterpret
contemporary cityscapes and iconic historic buildings.
In his earlier Out of Disorder series, he reproduced
architectural structures in unusual materials such as
hair, towels, and toothbrushes, including a rendition of
Hong Kongs Victoria Peak carved on a roll of duct tape.
In Reflection Model (Itsukushima), the work is just as
delicate, but much, much bigger.
That the model has a fragility about it is interesting
too. As Crothers also points out, Iwasaki displays great
attention to the detail and craftsmanship for which
Itsukushima is renowned. He shares, Due to the shrines
unprotected location and vulnerability to severe weather
conditions, it is regularly battered by typhoons and has
been destroyed on many occasions. After each such
occasion local fishermen collect the pieces that have
drifted away and carpenters that specialise in shrine
construction restore its many components back into
their original form. This process of destruction and
reconstruction has been a regular occurrence throughout
Itsukushimas long history and has resulted in highly
developed skills of shrine construction being handed
down from generation to generation. Iwasaki can be
seen as a present-day practitioner and custodian of
these ancient skills, as well as an artist that takes us on
a journey beyond our everyday experiences.
The exhibition ends 6 April 2015

pulse
96

a common
sentiment
by Luo Jingmei | Images courtesy Chan hampe gaLLeries

In A Thing of Beauty, artist Dawn Ng elevates

the familiar, the local and the prosaic into
surreal works of art.
Dawn Ng: I am telling a story about the things
people keep, the feelings and the memories
they store inside or project upon something
as ordinary as an eraser or a paper cut.
I am constantly amused that even the most
insignificant object can be pregnant with
meaning and therefore precious.

white canvas shoe, a transparent

kopitiam glass mug half-filled with
milk, a ball of cream-coloured raffia,
a slim box of white tic-tac candy, a
white shuttlecock these are objects
associated more with the ubiquity of everyday life in
the Singapore heartlands, emblems of rituals that most
Singaporeans at different stages of their lives would
encounter, rather than the polished confines of an art
gallery. And yet, there they were, on the walls of Chan
Hampe Galleries from Jan 16 to 25 before travelling to
the Art Paris Art Fair in March, put together in a twodimensional mise-en-scene as part of local artist Dawn
Ngs latest art collection.
Titled A Thing of Beauty, the collection features
11 colour-themed photographed installations of
paraphernalia, with the trappings of symbolism and
surrealism, arranged in a considered manner on stone
surfaces. These objects were collected by Ng from 138
mom-and-pop shops throughout Singapores residential
heartlands, including bakeries and convenience stores,
to render each piece of artwork an anthropological
documentary of things we collectively own in this day
and age, the artist explains.

A Thing of Beauty at Chan Hampe Galleries, Raffles Hotel Arcade

The familiar, the everyday, and the nondescript

these are perennial themes that pop up in Ngs artwork.
It alludes to her obsessions with time, memory and
space, as mentioned in another interview, brewed from
having spent ten years abroad and then coming back
to Singapore to find much of the familiar displaced.
However alongside that, she also discovered a newfound
appreciation for the uniqueness of Singapores local
landscape and its icons.
Its not an uncommon preoccupation by artists born
in the 80s yearning to find their roots and the meaning
of home in a globalised era, particularly those who like in
Ngs situation had spent time abroad. I think its a human
condition, this need for people to find their way back
home be it a place, a time, a person or just a version
of who you were. I find myself always looking back as a
way to look forward, Ng reflects. Her antidote then, is to
seek out the things that are unique to Singapore, which
are often found in the symbols of everyday.
In Ngs art, these symbols are portrayed in
quirky, playful, and oftimes charming, ways across an
assortment of mediums. It celebrates, highlights and puts
new meaning to these common symbols in a manner that

YELLOW (2015) photographed installation, matt archival digital inkjet print.

Framed, 116 x 153 cm edition of 3, 1 AP. Framed, 96 x 126 cm edition of 3, 1 AP.

combines storytelling and documentary, influenced by

her education in journalism and art and her past dabbles
in advertising. I think there is an infinite beauty in the
most common things. We instinctively understand that
when we are young but it gets harder to hold on to that
purity and innocence as you get older the things that
we become conditioned to see as beautiful become more
elaborate, ornate, or pegged to its value, she reflects.

RED (2015) photographed installation, matt archival digital inkjet print.

Framed, 116 x 153 cm edition of 3, 1 AP. Framed, 96 X 126 cm edition of 3, 1 AP.

Walter (2013), for instance, is the nowrecognisable large inflatable rabbit that visits various
heartland locations across Singapore in photographs to
give a fresh perspective to these normally boring places;
in Everything You Ever Wanted is Right Here (2012), a
series of phases cut out of large-scale photographs of
scenes in Singapore combines journalism and art, acting
as socio-commentaries on the tensions, idiosyncrasies

98

SIENNA (2015) photographed installation, matt archival digital inkjet print.

Framed, 166 x 101 cm edition of 3, 1 AP. Framed, 130 X 81 cm edition of 3, 1 AP

and hopes unique to Singapore; Wonderland (2010)

saw a fleet of bubbly pink paper boats sailing down the
monsoon drains of Bukit Timah, giving the quiet waterways
a fresh perspective of enchantment and magic.
A Thing of Beauty has precedence in recent works
like Windowshop (2014) that features framed curios
of everyday objects collected from around Singapore,
as well as Pink is a Crazy Little Thing Called Love for
Club21 (2014) a photographic installation of a small
landscape of pink-coloured icons of love.
The objects for this latest collection were chosen
for the simple elegance and curiosity in their form, shape
and colour, Ng shares. I am telling a story about the
things people keep, the feelings and the memories they
store inside or project upon something as ordinary as
an eraser or a paper cut. I am constantly amused that
even the most insignificant object can be pregnant with
meaning and therefore precious.
It is not just the objects themselves that attracts
attention but also the way Ng has arranged them in a
variety of compositions that animate them, and with each
installation themed according to colour (there are nine
monochromatic hues in all, including a triptych of blue).
PINK (2015) photographed installation, enhanced matt archival digital inkjet print.
116 x 116 cm edition of 3, 1 AP. 96 X 96 cm edition of 3, 1 AP.

Ng explains the choice of colour themes as wanting

each photograph to be an image that kept unfurling
in colour, the same way the objects would also keep
revealing themselves to the viewer. I think there are
worlds beyond worlds within any given hue. Apparently
human beings can see up to 2.8 million shades even if
we dont have the vocabulary to describe each of them.
In the making of the art, she confronted the everyday
in what can be proposed as cathartic. It was eventful,
akin to puppet theatres, which came with its frustrations
and challenges. I enjoy the sourcing process of spending
days on end in this citys heartlands wandering through
local nooks and crannies. You meet all sorts of characters.
I think the store owners were the ones who found me
peculiar, getting excited and obsessed over the most
mundane objects like a door stopper or nail clipper, and
buying hoards of things in specific colours, she muses.
This childlike reaction is not at odds with the
artwork. Wonder, surprise, amusement, humour these
make Dawns exploration of nostalgia and tribute to the
past accessible and poignant in a way that is optimistic
and poetic.
BEIGE (2015) photographed installation, matt archival digital inkjet print. Framed,
158 x 116 cm edition of 3, 1 AP. Framed, 136 X 100 cm edition of 3, 1 AP.

BLUE (2015) photographed installation, matt archival digital inkjet print,

triptych. 126 x 86 cm edition of 3, 1 AP. 106 X 73 cm edition of 3, 1 AP.

pulse
100

BLUEPRINT
Storefront for Art and Architecture
97 Kenmare Street, New York
Jan 24 to Mar 21
Curated by Sebastiaan Bremer, and
Florian Idenburg and Jing Liu of SOIL
www.storefrontnews.org

he origin, the place of departure, is

a place only identifiable in a journey
of return. As a fiction or a fact, the
beginning of things, the source,
that place of origination, has been a
recurring concept in the development and construction of
cultures throughout time. BLUEPRINT is an exhibition that
asks individuals from the world of art and architecture to
embark on a trip of self-reflection to identify a place of
origination for their work in the literal and metaphorical
form of a blueprint.
Presented as an attempt to understand a series of
artistic practices from the subjective to the collective,
the exhibition can not only be seen as a collection of
blueprints but also as a collection of anecdotes.

(photos by Iwan Baan)

SO-IL exhibition design
by Florian Idenburg and
Max Hart Nibbrig

As a curatorial metonym, the medium in BLUEPRINT

works as frame, format and content. The 50 pieces,
dating from 1961 to 2013, are presented as traces
willing to bring clarity to a work, a practice and a context.
Far from literal readings, there is a flickering nature to the
works constantly drawing vectors outside of the gallery
walls. Each blueprint is charged and punctuated with a
double or triple temporality. Not complete in themselves,
each of the pieces is relative to the point in time that the
work was created, in relation to the trajectory of each one
of the artists, and to the point in time the artist selected
it as a blueprint of their past or contemporary work. The
exhibition is filled with contradictions and paradoxes.
The works are at once self-referential and
representational, present and past. From early traces of

sustainable thought in Jaime Lerners Maring stadium

to the cloud-cotton-rower of Vik Muniz to the Bikini
Brawl by Dana Hoey exploring the concept of female
to the angelical MOS diagram (presented at Storefront
previously two years ago), all works participate in
a diachronic fashion in the construction of multiple
narratives, rarely overlapping in content or scope.
While usually it is the role of the critic to identify
the relevance of a work of art in relation to a trajectory
or a historical moment, in this exhibition the curators,
Sebastiaan Bremer, Florian Idenburg and Jing Liu as
provocateurs or journalists, have asked the artists and
architects to create a space of intimacy, to identify and
create a space of legibility to let the viewer see behind
the mind of the artists from where to start reading an
entire body of work. Similarly to a televised intimate
interview series, the exhibition is simultaneously serious
and frivolous.
With an installation by SO-IL, BLUEPRINT leaves
the gallery totally open, yet perpetually closed and
fixed. Wrapped in time and in space, the Acconci-Holl
faade opens its doors permanently to the works that,
while present in the show by reference, are outside the
gallery walls. The space looses its literal operational
transparency to become a white, translucent icon of its
curatorial aspirations. Rendering everything on either side
as a world of shadows, the installation denies the spatial
properties and the implications of the processional exit of
the platonic cave towards a world of truth.
In BLUEPRINT, the quest for truth takes you into two
equally shadowed sides.
text by Eva Franch i Gilabert

catalogue

catalogue
102

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104

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catalogue

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catalogue
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catalogue

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E&O PROPERTY GALLERY, SINGAPORE
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