Architecture Style

Knafo Klimor is one of the Winners of the 2nd International Architecture Competition for Sustainable Housing. to find out more...

"Israeli culture is a collage of traditions, assembled over a short period of time. Its source of inspirations and influences comes from both Mediterranean and European cultures, attempting, with simple alchemy, to define an identity. Within this debate Knafo Klimor Architects operates over three decades.
Our firm views Israel’s search for identity as an opportunity to explore new aspects of regional architecture in an era of massive globalization and a rapid cultural transformations.
Knafo Klimor Architects was established in 1980 and has evolved steadily since.
Over the years we have carried out a large number of in the areas of:
- Public, education and sports buildings.
- Industrial and hi-tech plants.
- Commercial centers and office buildings.
- Neighborhoods and residential housing.
- Town planning and urban design projects of various scales.

Among our clients are government agencies, local authorities, private developers and construction companies. Our work was published in professional magazines in Israel and worldwide, and displayed in national and international exhibitions.
We are dedicated to the pursuit of invention of new contemporary architectural expressions and we are committed to the achievement of excellence in design." to find out more...

Passage from http://www.knafoklimor.co.il/about.html
Image from http://www.knafoklimor.co.il/living-steel/index.html

"On January 15, 2008, Mecanoo will present to the Prime Minister of Malaysia the design for the Iskandar Development Region in Johor ..." to find out more...
The IDR covers a land size of
221,634.1 hectar
=547667.6acre
=2,216,341,000sqm
=23,856,500,000sqft ~!
to find out more...

Ramblings from bigdotdot...

Image from http://www.irda.com.my/idr-5zones-a.html

"A few years ago, architects were almost obsessed with the question of how cyberspace and virtual reality are changing basic ideas about architectural space. But events like the Neuroaesthetics conference here in London , along with the increasing impact of neuroscience on contemporary architectural theory, marks a clear change of interests -- if not a paradigm shift. Significantly, the then almost ubiquitous word "virtual" is now being replaced by "neuro." What is happening?" to find out more...
Passage from http://www.intelligentagent.com/archive/Vol5_No2_massumi_markussen+birch.htm

"Following up on the hugely successful free V-Ray class that was offered in October, in which over 2000 people registered, VisMasters is once again offering free training! In partnership with CGarchitect.com, VisMasters is pleased to offer three new free training classes in the month of January. Regular visitors to CGarchitect.com will be familiar with the Visualization Insider articles written by Brian Smith. As the wrap up of that series, the final topics will be presented as a live online session through VisMasters.
Space is extremely limited, so be sure to register today! " to find out more...

Passage & Image from http://commerce.vismasters.com/static/training/FreeClassJan2008

"Lithonia Lighting provides IESNA formatted photometric data to help lighting professionals select products and options that are most appropriate for their requirements. The files are used in applications like Visual, Photometric Viewer, Economic Viewer and other commercially available software."[1] to find out more...
And to download the free viewer here...
What is IES files? Ies files are files that contain information of how light source energy are shooting out. Very useful for 3dsmax real time rendering information. The photorealistic rendering effect comes from the light sources.
"IESNA stands for Illuminating Engineering Society of North America [1] (IESNA) is a non-profit, learned society founded in New York City on January 10, 1906. The Society's stated mission is to improve the lighted environment by bringing together those with lighting knowledge and by translating that knowledge into actions that benefit the public."[2]to find out more...
Passage [1] from http://www.lithonia.com/Library/IESFiles/default.asp?Path=/Lithonia_Lighting
Passage [2] from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illuminating_Engineering_Society_of_North_America

I like this! The building form reflects the relationship of privacy and publicity. A rectangular glass box rapped round with solid concrete structure. The solid concrete seems to be pushing you away from the inner layer where functional areas are situated. Contrast of material between transparent glass panels and opaque, clean, solid concrete structure; long ramp entry from side way to the second level shows contrast towards the entry point to the office working area at ground level with simple, straight forward colour scheme and light treatment just makes it adorable to me. The work by curiousity.jp. to find out more...
Image from http://www.curiosity.jp/eng/works/details.cgi?cp=2;s=3;t=26;cq=1

Just found out my blog is in the top 15 in Daily Blue Print today...
There are so much interesting architectural blogs now, still I think the international listing had did some great work for the blog brief and catagorizing them.
"Discover The Hottest Blogs On Architecture.
Want to know the hottest blogs on Architecture? You have come to the right place!
At dailyblueprint.com we are constantly monitoring the top blogs and blog posts on Architecture." to find out more...
Passage from http://www.dailyblueprint.com/community

Katsalidis tower is one of my design directors' favourite. Some more interesting work from Katsalidis. to find out more...

Image from http://www.fk-au.com/

Fasinating stuff from Caroline Casey & Robert Brown.
"A studio devoted to creating contemporary architecture through an organic understanding of building in direct response to climate, topography and lifestyle. Sensibility of place derives from years of working on historical buildings, learning the crafts, understanding the tectonics of biulding and how our time relates to history. This perspective creates a preference for lasting architecture ofunpretentious functionalism, using materials and expressed structure.This non prescriptive approach takes each client, site and brief as something one off and special. "
to find out more...
Passage & Image from http://www.caseybrown.com.au/

"This is located in a highly fashionable district in the middle of Tokyo. The five-story building is occupied by a jewelry store on the first four floors and a salon for public relations and customer services on the top floor. Each floor in plan consists of just a single space and a stairway. The tiny site is 6.3 meters wide, 4.6 meters deep, and less than 30 square meters in area. My two basic design ideas were to adopt a structural system without columns in order to make effective use of the limited area and to make the overall structure as lightweight as possible in order to simplify the foundation. A reinforced-concrete wall structure is used on the lower three floors. Panels fabricated from steel sheets in a factory were assembled on the site for the fourth and fifth floors. As a result, construction work was much like assembling a model of the building." More interesting work from Waro Kishi + K associates. to find out more...

Passage & Image from http://k-associates.com/k.associates/en/03

_works/architecture/architecture.php?id=63

It was during my school time that a professor came to our school and demonstrated architectural design through computer science. And each of his book's front page has different design. We are getting nearer to a technology science dependant world. Hopefully I can cope up with the development later in life.
"Evolutionary algorithms are computational techniques widely used to solve difficult optimization problems. Evolutionary algorithms search for the best solutions by starting with a random population of solutions and iteratively subjecting that population to selection pressures that cause it to evolve. Solutions that fit better with the selection pressures live and breed, while solutions that fit poorly are eliminated from the population. After a number of evolution cycles, the population converges, revealing the best, most fit solutions. " to find out more...
Passage from http://www.affinnova.com/technology/index.shtml

"(A) Pattern Theory. I'm going to talk first of all about patterns and pattern languages, what I did about that, a few little points about problems we encountered, why we did it, how we did it, and so forth. That is a historical survey referring back to the late 60s and early 70s.
(B) The Nature of Order. Then, I'm going to summarize the theoretical framework which has evolved out of the pattern work: a framework which is about to be published in a series of four books collectively called The Nature Of Order, four books that will be put out by Oxford University Press in the year 2000. That framework is a fairly radical departure from what the pattern language in the earlier theories contained, although it is consistent with them. That'll be the second thing. And, I'll just try and sketch that out in the hope that there might be some carryover or you might possibly find it interesting -- even though of course I will have no way to apply this to your field directly when I tell you about it. However, there are undoubtedly abundant connections between the two fields that can be drawn.
(C ). What the future holds in store: The Generativity Problem and the Generation of a Living World. At the time I wrote the introduction for Richard Gabriel's book, that was really as far as I had gotten in trying to trace the connection between my work and your work in the field of computer science: I tell you what I'm doing, and maybe some of you folks might find it interesting or be able to extrapolate. But I couldn't really find that sufficient to be satisfying. I felt that there is some more significant connection between your field and mine. Or at least that there perhaps is. And that finally brought me to the third point.
The third thing I'll talk about is how I now perceive that connection. I suppose that some of you know what I do for a living. You know I'm an architect. All of my life I've spent trying to learn how to produce living structure in the world. That means towns, streets, buildings, rooms, gardens, places which are themselves living or alive. My assumption here – a sad one -- is that for the most part what we have been doing for ourselves, at least during the last fifty years or so, perhaps starting somewhere around World War II, has virtually no ability to produce that kind of living structure in the world. This living structure which is needed to sustain us and nurture us and which did exist to some degree in the traditional societies and in rural communities and in early urban settlements has disappeared. It is drastically gone. We don’t know how to create it or generate it any more.
Of course, especially for architects, that is a debatable matter. Some professional architects might say, What are you talking about? What we are doing is absolutely fine, the buildings we are building today are excellent, very good, no problem!! I suppose the architect of this particular huge and nauseating conference hall we are in, here in San Jose, where we can hardly understand each other, would say that, too. But, actually, it isn't fine. It's a hell of a problem. It's a serious problem. It affects every man, woman, and child on Earth. We are so ignorant about how to do this, to make living structure on Earth, it is lamentable. And it is very, very serious, becomes more serious every day, because the population of the Earth is growing, and the Earth is being damaged more and more – and with the damage to our towns and buildings, we too are being damaged. " to find out more...
passage from http://www.patternlanguage.com/archive/ieee/ieeetext.htm

After graduation from Tongji University 6 years ago, I got another examination today. LAM(Lembaga Architect Malaysia) will exam my school syllabus and work. However, only the last semester's work during school time is submitted. The others are just the one you can see in my my profile and other working experience I got from other firms and practices. After 5years of graduation, only now I am submitting my part I/II. Today, is a big day.
If you are malaysian who got unrecognized degree in Architecture, you need to sit for exams in order to register yourself as an graduated architect with LAM, after 2years of practices, you are qualified to sit for the part III exam. After passing the part III only your can address yourself as an architect. to find out more...

Take a look at Sketchup Vray. It is not a difficult software as long as you do some studies on the Vray settings.
Image from http://asgvis.com/
index.php?option=com_gallery2&Itemid=
58&g2_itemId=5536&g2_GALLERYSID
=2c6ae3445961ef7f1e79be1700c8aa91

My friends told me the eye of Malaysia is closing year end, just before it closes, I dropped by for a look at night and discovered something more interesting~! The theatre of the water. Despite the dancing water, the stunning visual effect of the laser beam on water screen is the most fasinating attraction there~! Take look if you are in Malaysia, 8pm/9pm 15mins water screen show.

"Rising mystically from the placid lake surface, the many engaging facets and wondrous delights of Malaysia materialize each evening in a kaleidoscope of amazing images and colourful lighting effects. The world’s largest and most powerful screens of water come to Malaysia to create Theatre of The Waters – a visually stunning, living tapestry around Lake Titiwangsa’s shoreline, presenting the people, places and achievements of Malaysia. Each of the four screens of water is a massive 40 metres wide and 15 metres high, artistically enhanced with colour laser beams and high-lux projectors. Theatre of The Waters premieres Saturday 3 February and screens each night through 2007." to find out more...
Passage & Image from http://www.eyeonmalaysia.com.my/

"According to Christopher Alexander, compartmentalization and the dissociation of internal elements are potential signs of anarchy and schizophrenia. Fuzzy logic thinking is another step of helping human thought to recognize our environment less as a world of crisp boundaries and disconnections and more as a field of swarming agents with blurred borders.
EMERGED is investigating the potential of fuzzy logic as a loose-fit organizational technique for developing intelligent, flexible and adaptive environments. Seeing the project as a testing ground for its computational tools and design techniques, the team expands its research territory from focusing and systemizing the dynamic hair tool as generative design machine to a larger scale, involving therefore levels of social, cultural and global organizations. The aim set by the team is to demonstrate a wide range of formal, spatial and programmatic organizations, exploring the ideas of form finding and self organization." to find out more...
Passage & Image from http://www.mrgd.co.uk/feidad.html

A link to autocad2008 tips & tricks you can't afford to miss.
It is improvement everyday~!


"Getting to BIM – an implementation outlineThis featured article by Scott Hammond, technical marketing manager for structural engineering solutions at Autodesk, looks at the process of implementing BIM into a firm. The article provides an implementation plan outline, including beginning with a pilot project and a core BIM team at the onset of implementation.

Tips and Techniques
Tip 1: BIM Do's and Dont's – essential steps for successful implementation and common pitfalls to avoidThis quick checklist is put together by Beau Turner and Joe Eichenseer, 2 BIM professionals from the Avatech Building Solutions Group and regular contributors to Cadalyst.
Tip 2: More effective rendering using better lighting effectsThis handy tip was provided by Justin Taylor, a South African contributor to the AUGI User Forums and Revitup site.
Tip 3: Lynn Allen’s AutoCAD 2008 Tips & TricksExperience more speed, ease and accuracy than ever before with these insider Tips & Tricks from AutoCAD® guru Lynn Allen. This informational screencast will show you how to propel day-to-day drafting forward with intelligent tools and features, and get on the fast track to productivity and success! "
Passage from KeepInTouch@autodesk.com Architecture, Engineering & Construction News

Find interesting work from Atelier Bow-Wow. The firm is established in the year 1992 by Yoshiharu Tsukamoto and Momoyo Kaijima in Tokyo. Interesting article from archidose.
Image from http://www.bow-wow.jp/profile_e/works.html/ Mado building

"This week, New York magazine and nymag.com take a look at some of the city’s greatest designers. From Martha Stewart to renowned magazine creative director (and cK One bottle designer) Fabien Baron to graphic design team Massimo and Lella Vignelli (of subway signs and map fame), the feature covers the men and women who have changed the face of design. Read more at http://nymag.com/homedesign/articles/fall2007/

Also, don’t miss New York’s list of 25 other key names to know in the design world, which can be found at http://nymag.com/homedesign/fall2007/39607/"

Passage from Jill Weiskopf New York magazine

Image from http://nymag.com/homedesign/articles/fall2007/

Visual communication is important in architectural design. One picture speaks a million words. It is sometimes more convincing then what you say. take a look at company 39 and you might be wondering another career path after gaining your degree in architecture. to find out more...
Image from http://www.company39.com/

"The planning and design of sustainable buildings demands the adoption of an extremely collaborative model work model. To get it right, the owner, architects, engineers, and consultants must gather around the table earlier and more often than they might ordinarily. Debate about decisions is typical. Maybe not everyone gets what they want every time. It’s a matter of trust and making the most of everyone’s talent."
"GreenSource wins FOLIO: magazine’s 2007 Ozzie Awards for “Best Design, New Magazine,” and “Best Overall Design” in the business-to-business category." to find out more...

"Ryohin Keikaku Co.,Ltd. (株式会社良品計画, Kabushiki-gaisha Ryōhin Keikaku?) (TYO: 7453), or MUJI (無印良品, Mujirushi Ryōhin?) is a Japanese retail company which sells a wide variety of household goods. MUJI is distinguished by its design minimalism, emphasis on recycling, avoidance of waste in production and packaging, and no-logo policy. Products range from pens, notebooks, and clothing for men and women to food items and major kitchen appliances. Its primary business includes Café MUJI, Meal MUJI, MUJI Campsite, florist and home furnishing; the company has recently taken steps into housing construction."[1] to find out more...
MUJI House is a modular dwelling concept established in Japan. The layout in a MUJI House is adaptable to the change and requirement of a family growth. Some information from alatown
treehugger , mocoloco and translation site from MUJI
Image from http://mocoloco.com/tokyo/archives/000730.php

"If Modernism was the twentieth-century architectural trend that developed a new way of thinking, then Urbanism appears to be the twenty-first century architectural mindset. This trend is breeding urban explorers (urbex), the greening of major metropolitan areas, and a focus on merging habitats and commercial structures with politics, culture, history and the arts. Public discourse and scholarly research have found meeting grounds in this global landscape, and the results are evolving. But, this evolution has affected how individuals and partnerships present their materials on Weblogs and Photoblogs.To that end, we’re treating you to the top 100 bloggers who focus on everything from architectural news to urbanism and from the junction of design and technology to the landscape. While you won’t find blogs here that illustrate how to design a home or a business, you’ll discover plenty of dialogue, images, and ideas no matter if you’re an architect or a person who admires architecture. These blogs were chosen for frequently and recently updated blog entries, a focus on architecture, and for their attitudes and/or perspectives - no matter if they’re amateurs or professionals. Please note that the blog numbering is not meant to be a ranking, as each architecture topic is listed in alphabetical order with the listed blogs also listed in alphabetical order within that topic." to find out more...

Passage from http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=15616503

Feeling flush? For only $50,000 (£24,000) you could spend a night in this toilet-shaped house in South Korea.

Sanitation activist Sim Jae Duck will unveil his $1.8m (£880,000) new home in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province next month as part of his campaign for cleaner loos worldwide.

Billed as “the world’s one and only toilet house”, the steel and concrete building features three deluxe bathrooms plus a showcase loo that produces a mist to protect users’ modesty." to find out more...

Passage & Images from http://www.building.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=3097839

"The IAAC is an international centre of education and research that focuses on architecture understood as a discipline that encompasses different scales, ranging from territorial analysis, urban development, architectural projects and digital fabrications to informational environments.
Located in Barcelona, one of the international capitals of Urbanism, the institution develops a multidisciplinary program that explores urban and international territorial phenomena, placing especial emphasis on the opportunities that emerges from developing countries and the cultural, economic and social values that architecture may contribute to society.
The IAAC offers a three-term Master programme in Architecture and Urbanism jointly organized with the Fundació Politécnica de Catalunya and directed by Vicente Guallart, Willy Müller and Marta Malé-Alemany. The programme proposes an innovative format that allows the students to create their own academic agenda in an open structure of studios and seminars, based on territorial, urbanistic, architectural and parametrical approaches to design research." to find out more...

Passage & Image from http://www.iaac.net/web/en/index.php

One of my very admired architect past away.
"TOKYO (AP) — Kisho Kurokawa, the Japanese architect who led the so-called "Metabolism Movement" and based his designs on themes including ecology and recycling, died Friday, a Tokyo hospital spokeswoman said. He was 73.
Kurokawa died of heart failure Friday morning, said Keiko Yamazaki, spokeswoman at the Tokyo Women's Medical University Hospital, where he was hospitalized Tuesday with an intestinal ailment.

Kurokawa, who made his world debut in 1960 at age 26, led a style known as the Metabolism Movement, advocating a shift from "machine principle" to "life principle" in his literally work and architectural designs based on themes including ecology, recycling and intermediate space.
His major works include the National Ethnological Museum in Tokyo, the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia that encompasses palm trees and rain forest, the National Art Center in Tokyo's posh Roppongi that looks like a wavy curtain, as well as the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam." to find more...
Passage from http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hywXBEyDHy5M5tiTryzo2B9x_FzwD8S7SJFG1
Image from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kisho_Kurokawa

Remember Maaik? He now had established a portal, a community for architects and people working in the building industry. to find out more...
Image from http://www.archmaaik.be/

After 40Bond with Herzog & de Meuron there is 40Mercer by Jean Nouvel. Is 40 a good number in the West or a marketing strategy after 40bond? I would prefer 38/48/68/88/108, as anything comes with 8 is good number. to find out more...
Image from http://www.40mercersoho.com/

"...Highly refined, with elegant shadow boxes and a dynamic play of solid and void between glass and thick whitened concrete floor plates, the Perry Street complex, in its aestheitc purity, suffers when the dwellings are actually occupied. ...."
"...The painful question is: are these social constructs in any way compatible with modern architecture's essentially utopian foundations, and are these starchitects — at least those truly capable of imaging new modes of living for all classes — creating and contributing to a lifestyle that they themselves admire? ..." to find out more...
Passage from http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/research/publications/hdm//current/26_Fein.html

" 'e² energy' narrated by Morgan Freeman features: Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of Grameen Bank; Amory Lovins, founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute; Dr. José Goldemberg, Brazil’s former secretary for the environment; Tim Pawlenty, governor of Minnesota; Brian Schweitzer, governor of Montana; Samuel Bodman, the U.S. secretary of energy; and Jeffery Sachs, economist and Columbia University professor.“e² design” narrated by Brad Pitt features: Thom Mayne, architect of the new San Francisco Federal Building; Enrique Peñalosa, the former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia; Jonathan Rose, a New York-based affordable housing developer; Adriaan Geuze, the lead architect of the Borneo Sporenburg development in Amsterdam; Ed Mazria, architect and founder of the Architecture 2030 organization; and His Holiness the Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa, the Buddhist spiritual leader who commissioned the architecture firm Arup to build a sustainable school in Ladakh, India." to find out more...
Passage & Image from e2 Series Outreach
related links www.krfilms.com www.youtube.com/kontentreal

I had created a desktop wall paper beside. Just right click to save, if you like it. Feng Shui is a knowledge of ancient Chinese's practice of environment studies and psychological approach towards architectural and interior design. It emphasises on balances. Some basic facts from feng shui~ staircase is actually an element that breaks the air flow coming from the entrance. Staircase should be hidden in feng shui's point of view. If you can see the staircase from the entrance, you will tends to have a busy live. Believe it or not? From my own analysis~ when the airflow are in a chaotic form, the environment affects your emotions. Never let your waste pipes and soil pipe cross undernearth your cooking area to avoid cancer. Never let sharp corners faces your house. Never buy houses situated at junctions facing directly at a coming road. Now, I understand why Honeycomb houses are in conflict with feng shui. It is because of its odd shape configuration. Chinese would always prefer a rectangular site then a site with sharp corners. It represents harmony, a whole, and no choatic form. Chinese emphases on sequence and order. If I am pursuing a master in architecture, feng shui would definitely be my field of interest.

"Malaysia covers an area of about 329,758 square kilometers, consisting of 11 states and a federal territory in Peninsular Malaysia and 2 states and a federal territory in the north-western area of the Borneo Island. The two regions are separated by about 540 km. by the South China Sea. Peninsular Malaysia, covering 131,598 sq. km. has its frontiers with Thailand and Singapore while the states in Borneo Island covering 198,160 sq. km., borders the territory of Indonesia's Kalimantan to the South and The Philippines to the North.
Malaysia lies close to the equator between latitudes of 1° and 7°N and longitudes of 100° and 119°E and consists of the following states: Perlis, Kedah, Pulau Pinang (Penang), Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka (Malacca), Johor (Johore), Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, and Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur (Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur) in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak in Borneo Island and the Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan (Federal Territory of Labuan), an island situated off the west coast of Sabah. " to find out more...
You can find useful information and links for authority submission purposes in Malaysia. It would be useful if you are searching for key plans, location plans and site plans, save the hassle going to DBKL.
Passage from http://www.jupem.gov.my/Main.aspx?page=CorporateInformation

"In ancient times as well as today, Feng shui, Literally means 'Air and Water' and is pronounced in English as [fʊŋ'ʃweɪ] ("fung shway"), was known as "Kan-Yu" which means 'The Law of Heaven and Earth.’ [1] Today's Feng Shui schools teach that it is the ancient Chinese practice of placement and arrangement of space to achieve harmony with the environment. Feng shui literally translates as "wind-water." This is a cultural shorthand taken from the following passage of the Zhangshu (Book of Burial) by Guo Pu of the Jin Dynasty:[2]
The qi that rides the wind stops at the boundary of water.[3]
Feng shui is a discipline with guidelines that are compatible with many techniques of architectural planning as well as internal furniture arrangements. Space, weather, astronomy, and geomagnetism are basic components of feng shui. Proponents claim that feng shui has an effect on health, wealth, and personal relationships " to find out more...
One of my relative had introduce feng shui to me. to find out more...

"Warren and Mahoney believes enduring quality requires cross-pollination between design disciplines. We integrate the disciplines of architecture, interior design and urban design to create enduring and sustainable New Zealand environments." to find out more...
Passage & Image from http://www.warrenandmahoney.com/

"New York City, October 2nd 2007 — With the opening of the new academic year, Steven Holl Architects has completed renovation of the interiors of an 1890 building at 3-5 Washington Place for the Department of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts & Science at New York University (NYU). Originally located in the Silver building, a mixed use facility for classrooms and academic departments, the Department of Philosophy is now consolidated new presence in both the city and on campus." to find out more...


Passage from Frank Lentini


Images by Any Ryan

"Most web designers look to the usual resources for inspiration: web design portfolios, social media sites and CSS galleries. But what happens when you do that? You get a site that looks just like everyone else’s.
Check out these resources that inspire you to build a website that separates itself from the pack."to find out more...

Passage & Image from http://www.designvitality.com/blog/2007/09/web-design-inspiration/

I was trying to locate some european architecture images when I bump into this contemporary architecture flickr slide show! I bet you can spend whole day just watching these. Over 7,140 images of contemporary architecture. This is a great share.to find out more...
We found 2,993 results for photos tagged with european and architecture. to find out more...
We found 11,504 results for photos tagged with asia and architecture. to find out more...
and more...

In places where space is limited, the cooking area might to have to merge with the living, the new concept evolves.
"The kitchen of the future is, more than ever, the nucleus of the home - a communal area for social activities, a place for friends and family to gather. The concept of the hearth being the heart of the home, is still valid today, and is enhanced by advanced technology that defines the kitchen in an essential and logical form." to find out more...
Passage & Image from http://www.norbert-wangen.com/catalogue.html pg 2

"Frank Tjepkema is a designer but actually always wanted to become an astronaut. Not surprisingly, at a very young age, while other children were making their first drawings of flowers and bees Frank would be conceiving his first rocket designs. At first these were naive interpretations of archetypical rockets, resembling the one used by Tin Tin, but soon adults were quite astonished by the level of engineering and sophistication this young child was demonstrating. Frank was designing fully equipped machines neglecting no details. He went as far as to resolve problems like: how one would go to the loo when floating in outer space. His solution for this problem obtained him his first international patent with the RTD (retroactive toilet device). This resulted in a second place at the International Little Genius Trophy in '74. Frank had just turned four. When reading his first 'real' book at the age of six, The Little Prince from Saint Exupery, it wasn't without utter astonishment and deep disappointment that Frank was confronted with the fact that one could travel to the stars without using a rocket, nor a telescope, nor anything material. It is only much later that Frank came to realize the impact this revelation would have on his design work.While Frank was developing rockets Janneke Hooymans wasn't exactly playing with dolls! The first signs of her interest in design manifested at the age of three as she started building constructions out of empty milk pack's her father would bring back from work as a milkman. At first she produced very simple Mies van de Rohe type architectural constructions that soon became quite sophisticated, adding colors, and detailed textures that she would cut out of the cardboard. The milk packs made place for wood from the tree's her father would chop down, indeed, he was a lumberjack in his spare time. She hoped the tree houses would prevent her father from chopping down more trees. By the age of eight she crafted beautiful tree houses she liked to call dream machines, neglecting no details. The houses were conceived in such a way one could easily stay their a week without coming out of the tree thanks to an ingenious water collecting system based on morning dew. One particular tree house was so good it gained second place at the official 1982 International Tree House awards. The tree houses were popular with the neighborhood kids. They became their prefered place to hang out. The adults became quite jealous and frustrated as they couldn't fit in the houses, only getting to see and not experience how wonderful they were. Frank and Janneke met at the Design Academy Eindhoven in the 90's. In 2001 they officially joined forces as Tjep. in a common adventure aimed at adding quality, energy and amazement to the world.See résumé and the rest of this site to discover what happened next." to find out more...
Image & Passage from http://www.tjep.com/studio.html

"The RM25bil Penang Global City Centre (PGCC) will feature architectural themes that synthesise local symbolism and historic forms with contemporary-style designs.
Asymptote Architecture principal Hani Rashid said he spent over a year researching Penang’s culture, history, social patterns and way of life before designing the project.
“We design the buildings to blend with the surrounding hills and greenery,” he told a media briefing yesterday.
Rashid and his team – comprising about 60 architects, engineers, and technicians from London, New York and Hong Kong – spent four years designing PGCC, which is being developed by Abad Naluri Sdn Bhd on the present 260-acre Penang Turf Club site."[1] to find out more...
"PGCC, envisioned to be one of the world’s first zero-carbon city, will be modelled along the lines of the Kuala Lumpur City Centre.
To be developed by Equine Capital (indirect shareholding), the PGCC will be one of five high-impact projects for Penang State under the NCER."[2] to find out more...

Passage [1] from http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/9/12/business/18854243&sec=business
Passage [2] from http://malaysiacity.wordpress.com/2007/08/01/penang-global-city-centre/

Image from http://malaysiacity.wordpress.com/2007/08/01/penang-global-city-centre/

"George Suyama, FAIA, founded our Seattle-based practice in 1971 and quickly became known for innovative designs that draw from the rich traditions of Japanese and Northwest Contemporary architecture. The hallmark of our internationally published work is its mastery of scale and proportion, sophisticated detailing and restrained material palette. Our pursuit of timeless and elegant design is recognized by numerous awards and established our reputation as one of the leading architecture firms in the Pacific Northwest.
Renamed Suyama Peterson Deguchi in 2003, the firm has a professional staff of 16 located in a Belltown studio that houses our offices as well as the SuyamaSpace gallery and our new retail venture, 3 X 10. Our firm offers a comprehensive range of services from architecture to interiors and furniture design. Our award winning projects range from prized private residences to experimental retail boutiques." to find out more...

Passage & Image from http://www.suyamapetersondeguchi.com/architecture/introduction.asp

Today is a great day~!
Got an email from my lecturer and email from Ghazali and design development on the service apartment.
Lots of solutions on design issues raised by the experience developer.
1. Glass internal wall replacing brickwalls that results tight corridor space.
2. Stacked air-conditioning units at upper duplex level, serving the living, the room below and the room above
3. Reducing unnecessary space at staircase at liftcore
4. Building facade enhancement with design thoughts collaborated with fins element for fire fighting requirements.
5. Most important of all~ thinking out of the box, resolve issues with design thoughts~!
Sometimes we need some brain twisting before answering simple questions.
Problems are solutions.

An interesting web design you cannot miss ~!!
"I strive for simplicity of values and functions in creativity and aesthetic success. I value and push for truthfulness, personality and substance in design. And above all, beside bringing food onto the table, I pursue design as a tool to contribute myself as part of the species for the better of the surrounding in which I live and share. Influenced by my culturally diverse home country and background, one of my main intereestes lies in flusing Eastern and Western visual cultures in design and art." to find out more...

Passage from http://www.jonathanyuen.com/main.html

"Earnings of Architects: Median annual earnings of wage and salary architects were $60,300 in 2004. Recent graduates working on internships will earn much less. Those starting out in private practices will go through a period of time when they are operating at a loss.*
Use the Salary Wizard at Salary.com to find out how much architects currently earn in your city." to find out more...
Passage from http://careerplanning.about.com/cs/occupations/p/architect.htm

"10 Statements of Mecanoo
1. Land as an expensive commodityThe difference between Los Angeles and Tokyo is obvious to everyone. Los Angeles, the city of the twentieth century, designed for the car which is literally given more room than people are: there are more square metres of car parks than of built-up areas. There is an abundance of land and it is almost valueless. This will be bound to change in the twenty-first century. Tokyo, the gigantic village of millions of people and public transport. Every square metre has been thought about and put to use, above ground and below it. Land is very expensive, even more expensive than the houses and buildings that stand on it. The Netherlands, a country with a high population density and a shortage of land. At the same time the country that wastes its land because the price of land is much too low. The result is a lack of intelligent solutions such as dual use of land, inventive combinations of infrastructure and building.
2. Love of natureThe Netherlands, the most malleable country in the world. The land of water, wind and clouds. The Dutch landscape is not static, but it is changeable with contrasting ingredients: order and chaos, polders and lakes, canals and wetlands, dykes and river forelands, wet and dry. With the help of engineers you can build everywhere. There are no limits, the land is so malleable that you can destroy it too.Nature has an irreplaceable value and beauty, many colours, materials and textures. I want to draw on the wealth of water, skies, trees and leaves, grass, stones and rocks. I use materials like wood, bamboo, zinc, copper, concrete, glass and steel in compositions full of contrasts.
3. Collective responsibility for sustainabilityThe Netherlands is a country with a very strong tradition in the field of collective responsibility for the management of the water. Unambiguous agreements regulate the land and the water – literally, because otherwise we would all drown. The collective responsibility for water management should be extended to a collective responsibility for the sustainability of how the country is ordered. After all, that too is a question of the survival of us all..
4. Wealth of urban planningIt is as if we have forgotten the wealth of urban planning possibilities for housing. The house with a garden and a car in front seems to be the greatest good on earth at the moment. Society consists of very diverse types of family and an ageing population, and it is multicultural. The steadily expanding potential of technology, communication and services will become part of new ideas about housing and care and homes for work and recreation too. The acquisition of mobility, the car, calls for integration in new urban planning typologies without dominating or disrupting the public space. We must design buildings and houses that, like the time-hallowed Dutch villas, can stand up to the big changes in use and beauty.
5. Cooperation as challengeInteresting developments in architecture are produced by those who manage to create the freedom to experiment and to work together within the fragmented practice of design and building. As a result of changes in the design assignments, architects increasingly carry out their profession in collaboration with other disciplines. In order to achieve the aesthetic of mobility, I want to work with road and hydraulic engineers and landscape architects. This means experimenting with combined programmes, constructions, water and materials, but emphatically without the loss of the architect’s own role and responsibility.
6. Director and script writerThe Van Nelle factory, the Rietveld Schröder house and Villa Mairea are traditional examples of innovative architecture resulting from an inspiring relation between client and architect. Times have changed and the placing of commissions has become more diffuse, consisting of forms of association between the government, property developers, investors and consumers. The architect no longer supplies the design alone. The architect performs the role of director and script writer in a more hybrid process. The architect tries to find out what the client really wants by means of ideas, images, atmospheres, scale models and drawings.
7. Handwriting and languageDiscussion about style is interesting, but not essential in the long run. The best example of this is the composition of two houses that we developed for Alvaro Siza in The Hague: one in the style of the Amsterdam School, the other in the style of Neue Sachlichkeit - two styles that competed with one another in the Twenties and each thought it was the true one. The beauty of the project lies in the combination of introverted and extroverted, heavy and light, tactile and abstract. Style is an outdated phenomenon. Architecture needs a handwriting that can write in different languages in order to be able to respond adequately to each location and assignment.
8. Composition of empty spaceThere are no rules for making a composition. The most I can do is to refer to a Japanese book describing the rules for arranging and serving a meal. Working with unambiguous geometry and symmetry is strictly prohibited because it is not exciting. Space, or rather empty space, is an essential part of composition, rhythm and elegance. The space between contrasting forms, round and square, long and short, big and small, brings out each form better, and this is true in architecture as well.
9. Analysis and intuitionYou can try to analyse everything, but a lot is just a question of intuition. The work of David Hockney has always appealed to me. I detect a non-dogmatic, optimistic attitude to life in his work, and the courage to experiment in art with new techniques. An attitude like that is a source of energy and resilience within the complex force field of architectural practice. And the combination of analysis with intuition is worth its weight in gold for architecture.
10. Arrangement of form and emotionCharles and Ray Eames were able to combine technical, human and playful aspects in a single solution. They experimented with new materials for their chairs and discovered their limitations as they went along. That led them to look for new solutions all over again. They were designers without dogmatism, and never lost sight of comfort. They are the uncrowned king and queen of arrangement. Their work has a permanent inspiring value. Their house was built in 1949 in the hills of Santa Monica near Los Angeles, in a beautiful situation behind the eucalyptus trees. It shows what happens when you combine the technical with the sensorial. Architecture must appeal to all the senses and is never a purely intellectual, conceptual or visual game alone. Architecture is about combining all of the individual elements in a single concept. What counts in the last resort is the arrangement of form and emotion.."to find out more...
Passage from http://www.mecanoo.com/

Another interesting cube house by Poland's front architects – Single Hauz, from BLDG.
Image from http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2007/08/single-hauz.html

"This website is not just designed for design management experts but especially for companies that need to learn about design management. On this website you will find everthing you ever wanted to know. You can use the DM tool to browse case studies and assess yourself, find network members and lookup various design management issues." to find out more...

An architect from Malaysia, Mazlin Ghazali did a survey on honeycomb housing with theories, research & practice. Impressive!

"Honeycomb Housing is a new Malaysian innovation from Arkitek M. Ghazali in collaboration with Universiti Putra Malaysia and offers an affordable and environmentally friendly alternative to terrace housing. It is gaining wide support from potential house buyers in exhibitions, amongst housing professionals at seminars and now the Sarawak Government for the Ninth Malaysia Plan. However, Developers are concerned that the departure from rectangular shaped building lots to triangular housing compounds, which link up to form hexagonal cul-de-sacs then honeycomb communities, is too radical and may conflict with Feng Sui beliefs. If true, this cultural objection may deter Chinese house buyers, a major section of the Housing market. To test this serious commercial risk a pioneering Developer (Renewed Group based in Johor Baru) commissioned the University to conduct a random household survey comparing as fairly as possible a RM220,000 Honeycomb house with an equivalent RM220,000 Terrace house in a predominantly Chinese township." to find out more...

Passage from http://tessellarsurveys.blogspot.com/

Image from http://honeycombkuantan.blogspot.com/2007/04/lamanpuri-kuantan.html

"From six conceptual floor plans and four elevation diagrams, Screampoint was asked to provide design interpretation, and develop 3D visualization tools to be presented to the Owner's management team.

From the limited documentation provided, Screampoint developed a 3D componenet model, produced renderings, and animations within three weeks and outlined a system by which the 3D component model would continue to provide value throughout the project's lifecycle" to find out more...

Passage & Image from http://www.screampoint.com/v2/prev_site/index.htm

"We are a Space Planning, Architectural and Interior Design Consultancy based in Kuala Lumpur. We offer a range of professional services to individuals, companies and organisations requiring new premises, alterations and additions to existing spaces and on going facilities management for projects designed and coordinated by us.
As a collective unit, we have substantial experience in the design of spaces for a variety of business and interior types. Our reputation is due to our ability to achieve high image interiors tailored to the individual needs of our clients, regardless of size, budget or country where the projects are located." to find out more...
My ex collegue is currently working at arhddesign, heard that he is doing well...
Passage from http://www.arhddesign.com/html/about.html

"“There were some 1,600 professional architects in Malaysia 10 years ago. It is surprising that the number remains the same now,” he told a press conference after the annual PAM architectural students works exhibition 2007 here yesterday.
Tan said that while the population of Australia was almost equivalent to that of Malaysia, Australia had around 12,000 architects." to find out more...

Do you intend to stay or leave the country for greener pastures? Who would not?

"Goettsch Partners, through a progression of leadership transitions, traces its roots to 1938 when Mies van der Rohe established his design practice in Chicago.
Mies’ work in America served as the inspiration for a new generation of modernists, loosely defined as the Second Chicago School.
The First Chicago School, led by such luminaries as Louis Sullivan, Dankmar Adler, Daniel Burnham and William LeBaron Jenney, explored new construction technologies like the steel frame, creating a unique spatial aesthetic that, in turn, paralleled—and even influenced—developments in early European Modernism.
Today GP strives to continue that tradition, looking to the science of materials and craft of construction to inform the great challenges of our age.
In our own work, we strive for a synthesis of art and craft through construction, for clarity of purpose and achieving designs that posses their own inspired simplicity." to find out more...

Passage from http://www.gpchicago.com/users/folder.asp?FolderID=102&SubCat=history

Image from http://www.gpchicago.com/users/folder.asp?FolderID=844&SubCat=mixed%2Duse

One competitive, young design firm here! Wishing more work to publications here. Congratulations for the great work from FOTA Design , Malaysia~! to find out more...
Image from http://www.fotadesign.net/works.html

Look at what I had done in 8hours' time!?
Inclusive planning, modeling, rendering & touchup.
Some improvement har~!

“If you were a son of mine, I wouldn’t want you to be an architect,” the septuagenarian told this reporter, “because it’s a tough way to be in the world. Look, my son who graduated from law school three years ago makes more than I do after 40 years of working.” mentioned by Peter Eisenman.

That goes for non-business minded architects. I would need to learn some business techniques for not ending up 35years later stating these...

Getty Images located from http://www.observer.com/2007/architect-peter-eisenman-sells-west-village-co-op-night-crawler-3-2-m

I was thrown a question today of how to deter smoking habits during office hour. I could not forget these few images which I find creativity, humour yet bringing awareness to health issues that would work:-
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/lifestyle/2007-05/17/content_874903.htm
http://www.netzkobold.com/index.php?/archives/179-smoking-kills.html
http://www.oralcancerfoundation.org/board_images/tobacco_package_image.jpg
http://adweek.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/cigarette_penis_1.jpg
http://www.quitsmokingnews.com/cards/tob-ads-en-04.jpg
http://www.adpunch.org/images/antism1.jpg

"HL Architecture was founded in 1994 in Malaysia by architects from UK. Their combined and diverse expertise was instrumental in building HL Architecture ( formerly known as Haeger Lindsey Wilkins Sdn Bhd ) as a multi-disciplinary design consultancy combining skills in Architecture,Strategy,Interior & Identity."to find out more...
Special thanks again to my director, Martin for the testimonial and certification of my work in the office.
Ought to introduce HLarchitecture, after working 4years here. Both directors are very smart person, with one specializing in design and another in marketing and design. The most amazing thing I found out here is we can built things with bare hands~! James Lindsey is the one with the capability to drawing everything out with a pen, inclusive working drawings. What I learned from him is the logical way of thoughts he imposed into the design, how to analyse a site, the existing design problems.
Martin, with his social ability and strong analytical mind, he can analyse, explain and express things concurrently~! The leadership he possesses and the caring character builts him the current hl design group.
Looking at the work I did few years ago, I noticed how stubborn and naive I was.
Luckily, the most genius thing in me is to be hardworking, but...I am learning smartworking now with my aging body.
My friend takashi's birthday today, wish him a happy birthday, a normal happy life.

Passage from http://www.hlarchitecture.net/about-page.htm

"The International Journal of Design is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal devoted to publishing research papers in all fields of design, including industrial design, visual communication design, interface design, animation and game design, architectural design, urban design, and other design related fields. It aims to provide an international forum for the exchange of ideas and findings from researchers across different cultures and encourages research on the impact of cultural factors on design theory and practice. It also seeks to promote the transfer of knowledge between professionals in academia and industry by emphasizing research in which results are of interest or applicable to design practices." to find out more...
Passage from http://www.ijdesign.org/ojs/index.php/IJDesign/

" ZONE architect have been established for the past 12 years, and since then have in combination undertaken projects worth more than RM2b with a range of clients both within Malaysia as well asoverseas."