*General rule: Utopia becomes Dystopia….*

How will we live together? Part II : Are We Trying To Build A Utopia At Venice Biennale?

September 25, 2019 in Architecture Competitions, Just a thought

As an avid Y.A. fiction reader, I have read enough books to understand the general rule of thumb that utopia is a mask of dystopic nature. As architects (or in my case, architecture graduate), wanting to create a harmonious community can be disguised in the forms of renders – but because we lack the ability to communicate with every possible user to understand and predict how their physicality and mentality will evolve over time, the idea of utopia can only reach so far in time.

I want to believe that we are somewhat living together, we all breathe the same air, share the same sun, ocean, etc. in the poetic sense. However, when we have such a complex mind and emotions becomes involved – it is very hard to define an on point solution to understanding the future of sharing this space together.

How will we live together? Part I : On Overthinking the Venice Biennale

September 18, 2019 in Just a thought, Shared Conversations, Architecture Competitions

Last month, expression of interest for the Venice Architecture Biennale 2020 was released to the architecture community. Under the theme of ‘How will we live together?’, it was an extremely enticing and straightforward topic. Albeit, having entered a few competitions now – the level of depth and overthinking of the conversation is challenging but exciting.

We can look at this philosophically, pragmatically, utopically, optimistically otherwise realistic perspective. Following from this year’s announcement for Venice Architecture Biennale’s main brief “How will we live together?” has made me raise eyebrows at the sentence. In many ways – although not religious, I can’t help but think of the scene where Jesus feeds the five thousand. There is some irony to the thought of questioning how architecture or through architecture how do we demonstrate the possibility of everyone living together.

Architecture for Two with Lily Jiang (III) : The Lessons We Learn After Architecture School

August 13, 2019 in From Architecture School, Shared Conversations

One day, I bumped into my construction tutor at a social work event. We conversed about uni and work, laughed over the fun moments during class. One thing he shared about that was particularly insightful to me was that he finds joy to see his students continue to develop into outstanding architects. But beyond that, the most rewarding experience to being a tutor is to be able to see students grow away from the education bubble and becoming good mentors for other students as well.

I’m interested to hear their stories again in ten years time. And how will my journey continue?

Architecture for Two with Lily Jiang (II): The lessons we applied during architecture school

August 06, 2019 in Education, From Architecture School, Shared Conversations

I will never forget a classmate of mine commented on how I looked haggard and worn down after putting up with my optimistic personality in life drawing class in first year. Till this day I still don’t know how to feel about the comment. Perhaps it is the experience from first year of architecture and to be able to be in the studio of our choice, our decision makings are different, and should we land in something that matters to us, our optimism may still be there, but the first year experience has given us some layer of realities of what’s to come.

Continuing from our previous conversation, Lily and I have reflected on the lessons we have learned during our time at architecture school – ones that we learned and applied along the way.

Architecture for Two with Lily Jiang (I) : What they don't tell you about Architecture School

July 30, 2019 in Education, From Architecture School, Shared Conversations

In this series, I’ve teamed up with my friend Lily Jiang. The two of us have experienced very different paths and have reflected on different issues that we would’ve like to have known, things we have encountered during and after leaving architecture school. These are small memos to ourselves in the past and future and for anyone really.

Democratising in Design Part II : Attitudes of Implied Design Independence

July 16, 2019 in Democratisation in Design, Lessons from Hong Kong, Cultural, Technology

Customisation of design can arguably arise from our habit of searching for the aesthetic in visual as well as the attitudes of wanting to follow the trend yet with discretion and dignity. This is similar to the idea of purchasing counterfeit goods we often see in the markets – it is giving the people a sense of belonging and confidence now that they have owned a part of the trend.

Democratising in Design Part I : A Code’s Accessibility, Implications and Precautions

July 10, 2019 in Technology, Democratisation in Design

This morning, I came across Dezeen’s article on Wallgren Arkitekter and BOX Bygg’s upcoming Grasshopper plugin Finch - a “parametric tool that generates adaptive plans”. Finch essentially is a plugin that, by inputting information about the size of land coupled with building regulations, it will be able to generate a range of generic plans. This is quite exciting for many of us, considering that should we study hard on the standard building codes and restrictions, it will give us time to understand and practice the means to create a habitable design. This is also beneficial in terms of research, given that if we input codes from different generations, we are then able to make immediate comparisons on the evolution of housing designs in accordance to the types of regulations that they have been coded with.

Architecture for the Homesick 101: We need to talk about your grandparents.

June 24, 2019 in Cultural, Lessons from Hong Kong, Social

The aging population and how we cater for the aging population is something I question and challenge frequently, especially when knowing how to cater to their physicality as well as mentality. From understanding their level comfort of how far they could walk, how many stairs they could climb, and knowing what materials would be the safest for them to use or touch is challenging however, I feel is rarely talked about. For me personally, is how do you create an environment for individuals to feel that they could still have their sense of pride and acknowledgement of independence?