Design 201 External Review

Ohh, I almost forget of not writing a post regarding yesterday’s external review for our Design 201 final project: Riverside Ensemble. Yes, it’s time for me to write this post on it….

External review means that there are people from other universities in architecture profession, coming to listen and review our project based on our presentation board, model and of course oral presentation. To be honest, I did not prepare anything and not ready at all for the presentation.

Our boards were sticked to the exhibition panels in the exhibition hall at plaza. Our models were displayed. Seats were prepared for the reviewers. Everything is prepared except us, the presenters. We do not know where to start with for our presentation. My turn…..I remembered that when I started to speak, I spoke nonsense English…luckily the reviewer understood. Nervous took my English proficiency away…

These are the other works (boards and models) seen in the hall done by my classmates: (of course, only some are seen here, as there are quite a lot of others)…

Presentation ended quite quickly, and we learnt nothing beneficially from it, and it’s time to move back all the stuff to classroom or better name, studio to be kept in boxes, locked, and to be archived for no purpose….why can’t we just take back our own works, and now, all our hard works became property of the university. Goodbye, my beloved works!

Movie review: The Legend is Born: Ip Man.

Another new movie relating to the famous Ip Man, this time is not part of the franchise of Ip Man films. This is a whole new different film, which tells the story of Ip Man too, but of different director. As everyone know, Ip Man is the master of famous Bruce Lee, who learnt Wing Chun from him.

      

This movie has a great cast, especially Ip Chun, the son of Ip Man whom acted as Leung Bik in the film, while Sammo Hung acted as Chan Wah Sun,the master of Ip Man. The one who acted as Ip Man, is Dennis To, a young handsome guy who had a quite a kid-like voice. The story at the beginning follows the exact history, but at the back when the plot develops, the story does not follow the real history, to make ways for evil force.

It is worth watching, but it is not as good as compared with films of Ip Man 1 and Ip Man 2. It is different with both, has its own character, but still lacking quality in storyline, acting skill, background, etc. It has quite a lot fighting skills which include a lot of Wing Chun, and it seems to be more authentic….

Finally, the end of semester! Happy Holiday to me and my friends!

Yeah…Yeah…

It’s the end of semester, Semester One of Year Two of my study on Architecture Science just ended….

No matter what is the result, I’m very glad that I have gone through all hard tiring days of the semester…

First of all, would like to thank all my friends, accompanying, helping, entertaining me by all ways that they can…thanks guys, Sam, Daniel, Chris, Jeffrey, Yin San, Jin Fong, etc.

Secondly, would like to thank all the lecturers, who have helped us all the way till now, especially Ummi, Imran, Shahrianne, Angelyn, Kamran, Nasir, Vignes, Sharonee, etc.

Thirdly, would like to thank my dad, for giving helping hands when needed, thanks for the money support too…studyin architecture really costs a lot…this fact has to be admitted….

It’s end of the month of June too, time flies so fast…half of year 2010 is gone….July 2010 will see the most anticipating final match of FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010, as well as my holiday month…

Now, it’s time for real rest…enjoying sweet time at home, relaxing, without any assignments on queue….huuuhaaa….time to catch back on TVB series also….since I do not watch any for a long time….Before that, time to go for 3 days 2 nights Penang trip with my gang of friends first…holiday! a month of semester break….sufficient?…haha…after that, semester 2 which will starts in August…so fast…whatever it is, life as architecture student has to go on like that….

Officially, concluding the end of my semester here….Yeah…Yeah!

Architecture Design 201: Portfolio

Portfolio is basically the compilation of all the works done throughout the whole semester for the most important module, Architecture Design 201 for this semester. Compilation does not mean we need to compile ALL we have did into the A3 portfolio, but to choose the best and suitable ones to be included into the masterpiece.

Portfolio is the only stuff, important for job interview in future, and even important when going for higher level of study…it should be neat, clean, and everything shown in there is self-explanatory. It should be well organized and planned too. It would be good to have a suitable same structure for every pages…

Here shown, is my portfolio…only for reference purpose, copyright reserved….this is definitely not the best, but it is the thing that I can came up with in one day time, for the last assignment of the semester:

There it is, the end of posting of my valuable works throughout the whole semester….

Architecture Design 201 (Project 2: Riverside Ensemble)

The title of this post above is the title of the final project for the first semester of year 2 of my study in Architecture Science. Basically, the task is to choose a suitable site at Kuching Waterfront, Sarawak, Malaysia and design a cafe on it. The building should have different spaces like observation deck, ramp/stair, washroom, kitchen, boat drop off and pick up point, etc.

First of all, we need to go to the site to understand more on the lengthy waterfront, inclusive of 1993’s built Phase 1 and 2009’s built Phase 2. Then, we need to choose our own site, by considering the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (can be summarized in SWOT), which is a good technique for site analysis. Next, it’s time to do the presentation board and booklet for site analysis as well as a large site model of scale 1:250.

Next, we need to create a series of postcard, which combines as a whole, depicting what you understand on the site, and translating it out abstractly on the postcard. My idea is on the water reflection, which the intensity of hardscape is blurred and the reflection on the Sarawak River unites both sides of the land.

Next, time for idea and design to come out. Slowly developing and progressing, many sketches were done, and it took me two pads of butter paper to do that. Messy, but sometimes it is interesting to look back at the developing sketches in it. The process is very important in design. Don’t take it lightly.

Finally, design is finalized. My design concept is basically tropical modern, to suit my cafe in hot and humid climate of Malaysia which is in face of modernism too. Hence, my cafe’s unique name would be ‘Tro+Dern’. I stressed on the whiteness of architecture (when white is the purest form of light in nature), usage of water (circulation throughout the whole cafe, cycle from the Sarawak River, aesthetic and for functional purposes), and levels (play of hierarchy and serial progression). It would be of different experience of sightseeing in my cafe which is of closer distance to water, lower level, as well as close-up detail view, which is very unusual compared to typical observatory.

Here, is my final presentation board, which is in 4 A1 (landscape format): (only for reference purpose, copyright reserved)

As well as some pictures of my final model completed in four days:

Thanks myself for going through all these hard days completing all these crazy stuff…design is forever challenging!

Movie review: Toy Story 3

What an epic movie that must be watched…I remembered that Toy Story is a very long franchise films (1 and 2), I watched it when I was like only around 10 years old, and now I’m about 19…hence, it must not be a miss-out to watch this latest sequel to it, Toy Story 3.

Many people had commented in Facebook,those who have watched it are very satisfied with it, not only satisfied, but praised the movie a lot….so it’s my turn to watch it after the portfolio submission this morning…before that, we in the same gang of friends went to Sunway Pyramid for karaoke session at Amp Square…ooh, the room is bad, the air-cond is bad, the service is bad, the microphone is bad, the time given is not enough, the drink is bad, etc….it will be the first and the last time there….

After that, shopping but never bought anything…just walk, walk…and walk…till my legs also felt very tired…then, time for dinner at a restaurant specially in selling ramen…quite delicious, especially my spicy chicken ramen…next, it’s movie time…first time watching movie in 3D…quite expensive, but let’s get the experience…it’s quite uncomfortable for two spectacles together…my own one and another 3D specs…

Basically, the whole movie of Toy Story 3 is good, very good indeed. It’s nice to see all familiar toys went back to action…the storyline is great….and the most interesting part is that when the whole gang of toys had their plan to escape from suffering day in Sunnyside Daycare Center under evil toys’ ruling. It is quite funny and humourous….

The ending part is the best and the most touching of all…can’t expect that Toy Story will also has such touching and emotional scene…The grown-up owner, Andy told Daisy that ‘They (the toys) meant a lot to me, please do take care of them’….then whispering ‘Thanks guy (to the toys)’…before leaving for college after leaving his lovely toys to a caring child, Daisy..before that, he took a time to play with the toys (for last time probably) and enjoy the fun with the toys…recalling good moments with them by mentioning about their characters….

Conclusion is, do not throw away our toys even after you have grown up…you might not be playing them anymore, since it is considered childish, but it is good to put them in store or display them somewhere, so that you can cherish the moment again, the childish yet meaningful childhood memories of playing the toys…these toys have accompanied you for at least a decade, these toys are the one that make you smile when you cry, so take good care of them….

Building Science 201 Project 2:Passive Design Integration…

Building Science 201 is a new module introduced this semester (Year 2, Sem 1). However, I feel that this is a continuation of previous module of Ecologically Sustainable Design module which is taught by the same lecturers too. This module is all about building systems, like passive design strategies, energy-efficient principles and thermal performance. The other aspects that would be studied in future under this module is lighting, acoustic, etc.

Project 1 is about recording temperature and humidity outdoor and indoor of a selected house, then research and analyse on the findings, tabulate the results in proper way, explain on the problems, calculate U-value and OTTV, and suggest passive design strategies to it…which concluded in a over 100 pages booklet for it….and it costs only 15 percent.

Project 2 is individual work, which we have to select one of our design project and suggest at least five passive design strategies with sketches, diagrams, and explanation. This work of 2 nos of A2 size boards cost 25 percent. The percentage seems a bit weird and imbalance, right? The worst thing is that the final examination costs 60 percent of the whole semester…that’s a lot and too much….but it is okay…we managed to answer it well….

I took the current design project ‘Riverside Ensemble’ for passive designs to be integrated. This is the two boards: (Only for reference purpose, copyright reserved)

It is very important for passive design strategies to be implemented into our designs, which would be real in future, as we step into the career of architect…it is our responsibility to design energy-efficient, environmental-friendly,effectively-green building for future….

Finally, no more assignment for the semester….

This semester 1 of my year 2 study, is finally coming to an end…after hard and tiring 18 weeks long of having assignments and projects…finally, everything settled down….it’s the end of June, which marked the end of the semester too…lecturers are busy finalizing our marks and putting the marks into computer…waiting for moderation by Curtin…

The final assignments which are the Project 2 of design entitled Riverside Ensemble and the final portfolio had been completed….yes, everything is submitted in a big box as usual to lecturers in studio..hope that the studio is locked safely and securely to prevent any missing case….now, waiting for portfolio to be submitted…then next Tuesday, would be presentation time for external review, which is a good opportunity again for us to be exposed to comments by outside people who are in the same field as us, ‘architecture’.

After that, many things were planned for the one-month semester break…a trip to Penang Island is planned, going to watch concert at Genting is planned, would be having my second home at my sister’s new house is planned…rest of course is planned!!! After this short break, the next semester which is predicted and expected to be much tougher is coming….will try to post a bit of my design project and portfolio soon after the submission….time to clean up my room and working table….

It’s been a year since MJ passed away

Today morning, a usual morning, went to campus to submit design project….as usual, in the car while driving, it’s nice to enjoy the music and talks from radio fm….wait a minute, how come there are so many Michael Jackson’s songs heard….ohh….as soon as DJ speaks on him, I remembered that today is the 1st anniversary of his death…

Time flies so fast…the event of his death seems so fresh and ‘near’ in my mind…but it had happened exactly one year ago…can’t believe that MJ, the King of Pop had leaved the world for a year…it’s still sad for the legend like him…your songs, music and lyrics still lies in minds of many people around the world…you have ‘heal the world’, ‘you are not alone’, you are ‘thriller’ to all of us…we will never forget you, MJ!

        

I’m not his fans, but I definitely remember and even like some of his songs…and his dance, of course…especially his famous ‘moonwalk’…and many others…I still remember when I was kid, his albums were played all around….so famous that even those old people know him….

Marina Bay Sands opened officially…

The latest integrated resort consisting of casino complex is opened today, the Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. Designed by Moshe Safdie and developed by Las Vegas Sands, it claims to be the world’s most expensive standalone casino property at S$8 billion (US$5.7 billion), including cost of the prime land.

 

The resort features a 2,560-room hotel, 120,000 sq-meter convention-exhibition center, The Shoppes mall, six restaurants, an Art & Science museum, two Sands Theatres, two floating pavilions, a casino with 500 tables and 1,600 slot machines. The complex is topped by a 340m-long SkyPark with a capacity of 3,900 people and a a 150m swimming pool, which set on top of the world’s largest public cantilevered platform, which overhangs the north tower by 67m.

Marina Bay Sands features three 55-storey hotel towers which were topped out in July 2009. The three towers are connected by a 1 hectare sky terrace on the roof, named Sands SkyPark.

In front of the three towers include a Theatre Block, a Convention and Exhibition Facilities Block, as well as the Casino Block, which have up to 1000 gaming tables and 1400 slot machines. The Art-Science Museum is constructed next to the three blocks and has the shape of a lotus. Its roof will be retractable, providing a waterfall through the roof of collected rainwater when closed in the day and with laser shows when opened at night. The Art-Science Museum opens in December 2010.

The SkyPark will be home to the world’s longest elevated swimming pool, with a 475-foot vanishing edge, perched 200 meters above the ground. The pools are made up of 400,000 pounds of stainless steel and can hold 380,000 gallons (1440 cubic metres) of water. The SkyPark will also have rooftop restaurants, nightclubs, gardens hundreds of trees and plants and a public observatory with 360-degree views of the Singapore skyline.

Nice to see something from model is turned into real….

The night of opening…the lighting is awesome….

Last amazing picture of the post…thanks to all photographers whom took these fantastic photos and shared it on internet…