Architecture Scene in Malaysia

Although I live in Australia, I am still interested in my own country's affair especially the architectural social circle. I am still in contact with most of my friends, picking out the gist of what is good and what is controversial.

I always read up on Prof Tajuddin's writing on TheStar.com. and always buy the paper which has his article whenever I am at home. He himself is no stranger in the business. He has a few books to his name and I do admit that his arguments are solely for the benefit of nation building, in this case, Malaysia.

Link: Architecture Inside Out

I wonder what he would say to the following articles or opinion posted by The Star readers on LAM Architect Registration.

Read up these two articles and I think the president didn't really address the issue. Issue that needed to be addressed are:

Article 1: Big stumbling blocks for architects

Article 2: No answers to exam queries

1. Transparency - so only 9% passed the exam. Why? Specific cases please? Can you please disclose unwanted answers that actually has been answered for the exam? Considering that the exam is only once a year and thinking of all the studying done is for nothing. I think the examination council has to publish a 'post-mortem booklet' to all unsuccessful applicants so that they know what has gone wrong and with this they'll remember what NOT to do next.

2. Up-to-date information on the internet - with the current wide world of web, website of an architectural organization should be beneficial to its members and also to the community who wish to seek answers regarding the profession. LAM/PAM doesn't do this - at least not extensively. Basic information has been posted just enough so that people grasp the idea, but if you have any questions, please contact the office. I dont mean to juxtapose unfairly to my own country but if you have a look at other architecture associations throughout the world, their websites has some substantial information.

Recently, I have contacted the office of LAM, asking about Part 1 & Part 2 recognition. The answer I got was that as long as the degrees are recognized by AACA (Architects Accreditation Council of Australia) we should be able to register for Part 3 straightaway.

So this means that I have to register as a graduate architect for at least a year, fill up my log book and -voila!- ready for Part 3 exam.

It doesn't seem that easy nowadays...

May the Greatest Oscar live forever!

Maybe he is cheating death or simply because God let him live to spread his brilliant designs on earth? I stay content with the second.

Read this news clipping:

Oscar Niemeyer Back to Work Following Surgeries

By Steve Delahoyde on Nov 23, 2009 07:02 AM

Back in early October, we were getting a little worried about Oscar Niemeyer, the world's oldest starchitect (I.M. Pei ranks second), who at 101 had undergone two major surgeries, one planned, one not. But like we said back then, "if there's one thing we can say about Niemeyer, he's a fighter." And how right we were. A Brazilian newspaper is reporting that his recovery has gone well and, surprise surprise, he's back to work:

The daily newspaper O Globo reports that Niemeyer is working on a collection of buildings in the city of Niteroi, outside of Rio de Janeiro.

Here's to fifty more years of productivity, Mr. Niemeyer.

(news article taken from mediabistro.com )

Some of his greatest works lie in the heart of Brasilia, Brazil. Brasilia was designed by the grand master - Le Corbusier and honour was given to Oscar to design a few buildings in the precinct, namely: the National Congress, the Cathedral, the National Library and National Gallery.

For more reading, click the links below:

Oscar Niemeyer - Wikipedia

Brasilia Brazil Info

3 Rs - Reduce, Re-use, Recycle

I was taught of these three principles in Year 4 of my first degree. We were exposed to a plethora of sustainable projects and construction materials. At that time, I thought - Wow, if we use these principles carefully we can really make an impact. So years went by and the principles became one of my criteria of observing the environment.
I went to further study for the professional degree (some called it B.Arch, some called it Post-Grad degree, some called it Masters now) and my observation became a thesis in implementing sustainable ideas. Although I never use any sort of sustainable principles directly into my student projects, my peers' arguments sometimes made me wonder.

So to implement sustainability, there are 3 Rs - Reduce, Re-use, Recycle. So at uni, what do we learn?
Reduce - not reduce the workload! I think in a way reduce the independence of the subjects that are offered. I found that the subjects are too different with each other that it is so riddiculous to inter-relate. For example, at my uni, my thesis subject has no connection whatsoever with the major design subject. Well, although the old syllabus supported this, not the one I took. So I did miss out on the integrated part of the study. Oh well, so much for $20k a year.
Re-use - plagiarism. While its good to develop one topic over and over, this facility might be taken for granted by students who just wants to copy other people's work. But how much originality can one produce? Its a hard and tough world and not many has the ideals to bringforth into the real working world.
Recycle - I loved the recycle bin at uni! When I did my first degree, for the first 2 years I didn't buy much model materials because we picked up things from the recycle bin. Like they said, 'Someone else's trash is someone else's treasure'. I agree with that because we might find a diamond in the rough. Different textures and colours give the model a little spice.

So the proper way to Sustainable futures? Implement 3 Rs deep inside your hear first.

New Flickr account

Come now, come all to my new collection:

Flickr - Kathy DIO

For my love of photography, I'd probably upload most of my work up there - this includes my attempts at HDR photos not too long ago.

The latest upload is my New Zealand collection. Mind you, selecting the best from 1700 ++ photos is not easy!

Enjoy...

Of OLd and NEw LiFe -Part 2

After Death we have RE-BIRTH.

Re-birth is like rejuvenating ourselves, renew ourselves to a better solution. Its like giving an old skin a good scrub, its like cleansing old memories of its wound. Perhaps to forgive and forget is the best remedy accompanying Re-Birth.

Re-birth is like restarting on a clean sheet. I like the concept because it lets people see past you and expect surprises, but with people its hard to predict as there is a thing called History and Memory. Sometimes we are content being who we are that we hurt the ones we close to the most. Sometimes we a bit arrogant to deny our faults at the expense of a relationship. History and Memory dont help much as they are good at reminiscing the parts where we hate the most, making us the most vigilant person we can be. Self-preseverence perhaps? Yes...I believe everyone has the right to.

I wish that life hasn't flew past me this fast, that I am not be able to change anything at the right time I wanted it to. So for the celebration of me ending my studies, I will have my own Re-Birth, with the Death of the past. It certainly feels good to etch this in my blog.

Till then, I will be back with more things. Stay tuned!

Of OLd and NEw LiFe -Part 1

Lately I have been exposed with a few movies that made me think in many many ways, not only spiritually but also hedonistically. By spiritual, I am referring to all beliefs and by hedonist, just pure materialism.

The movie called The Fountain (2006), main actors were Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz. Although this movie was reviewed mostly by Buddhists, I also think as a person who believe in religion that the message it portrayed was appropriate in a lot of ways in life.
Take DEATH for example. It is inevitable, but many people are in fact unprepared for it. Why?
Why are we unprepared a thing that is so certain? I asked not because I have the answers but I also wonder the magical power DEATH has to effect us mentally and physically. Mentally that made us scared and shivered thinking about it, Physically moving that it made us change our way of life.
In this movie, Death was an irony for a person who can biologically change the nature of human for Hugh was a biologist/scientist/doctor-researcher, but cant save his dying wife (Rachel) from the fatal brain cancer (or something like that).
In relation to religion, Death is perceived in many perspectives. Some say we have an after-life, another says we will be revived and others says the world is just a transition. So what if we accumulate a lot of wealth or name for ourselves? Does it matter? Do we bring that glory to the after-life?
The Fountain as a movie explores about what happens in between as well. Made you think that there is no co-incidence to events in life. Sometimes made you think that if we are going to die one day anyway, why we bother to be on earth?

So hedonistic point of view, I think our existence on earth is to make a mark. We were sent with a mission, not for ourselves but for the sake of humanity, to prove our existence worthy. As much as I loved this phrase: "He who dies with most toys wins" I do believe in the happiness of nothingness. Some may say lets optimize our existence by getting rich now and not worrying about it when we die. Some may say, why bother to get rich when everyone who is less rich is just equally happy?

What is the measure here?

I am back

I have a few good news:

1. I am back from my holidays in NZ, and will be posting some of them in here, esp. memorable notes and travel tips.
2. I have finally ended my studies, means I am more independent to do whatever more than just a student. Yay!

Lastly, I will be active in this blog soon, as soon as I get organized with the trip stuffs and around me too. Have to take care of myself as I have met with an accident while holidaying but all in all, it was a good trip to New Zealand!

T.O.O. B.U.S.Y.

I am certainly too busy now. The end of the semester is approaching soon and I am so excited that it's going to be holidays after that. Trip to New Zealand has been planned and now just need to be executed. It is going to be awesome.
However, my philosophical and academic thoughts had to be stopped for now. Bye all!

Intellectual Property II

Adding Value to Members Intellectual Property

By RAIA CEO Michael Peck AM LFRAIA March 2001 Members will recall that the Institute has for a number of years been lobbying the Federal Government in respect to bringing Australian Copyright Law in line with the provisions of the Berne Convention. An important aspect of the amended legislation recently en-acted is the establishment of Moral Rights for creators. For architects this provides two significant rights of which members should be aware. In respect to the moral Right of Integrity it is now illegal for a building owner to demolish the creative work of an architect without;

firstly, if possible identifying and notifying the architect and secondly affording the architect an opportunity to record the work before it is demolished or altered.

To those accustomed to the moral rights enjoyed in some Napoleonic Law countries this may not appear to be insufficient reform. However it is for Australian architects an important acknowledgement of their creative contribution. In practical terms it also provides the original architect with the possibility of conveying to the current building owner, or architect, a better understanding of the original design intent and the possibilities inherent in the design for future modification and improvement, if that is the owners intent. The new law also establishes the Moral Right of Attribution. It has long been a fascination and irritation to architects to note that virtually without fail magazines, newspapers and journals acknowledge the artists responsible for the paintings and sculptures that are published, yet most often the architects of featured buildings are not mentioned. Now, however, under the new legislation it is illegal for the published work of an architect not to be attributed to that architect. The Institute has also played a part in two other significant wins for the profession on copyright which I have reported on elsewhere; The recommendation from the Intellectual Property and Competition Review Committee to the Federal Government that the Crown no longer enjoy preferential treatment under the Copyright Act and The amendment to the Australian Standard AS4122 which now requires any Proprietor who wishes to have the copyright in an architects work to pay for it separately and in addition to the fee for architectural services. So next time the question arises on what does the Institute achieve for its members - raising the value of architectural intellectual property is not a bad subject to start with. Michael Peck AM LFRAIA

So what we have is an industry example, already enforced to protect the beautiful works of architects.

Link:
1. Article from - architecture.com.au

Food that benefits us

I'm gonna take a break from architecture and write something that is easy to implement everyday. So we eat a lot of food right? Then we have to really know what is best for us by now. Hmm, not really apparently. Humans are at the top of the food chain and we just eat everything, just as the Chinese proverb "We eat everything that has legs, except tables..."
So for this post, I have a piece of advice I'd like to share with you, compiled from 3 websites I stumbled upon.

MY TOP PICKS


1. Flaxseed - apparently has one of the highest Omega-3 source other than fish. Recommended as alternative to fishes. The oil that comes from flaxseed will also help to mosturise our skin from the inside. How to eat it? Daily take 2.0-2.5grams (1/2 - 1 teaspoon) and feel the difference in approximately 6 weeks.

2. Green tea - one keyword you need to know: ECCG (epigallocatechin-3-gallate) or catechin. Almost all tea has this ingredient, green tea has the most. Catechin degrades with when the temperature is cooling so its good to have your tea while its hot! Green tea has lower caffeine level too. Other properties that makes this tea a must in our pantry are: anti-aging, prevents skin cancer, lion-tamer effect on tumor cells and stress relieve. Dosage per day? 2-6 cups a day will get the catechin moving.

3. Almond - a traditional favourite this one, it is not a nut, it is seed! Its loaded up with Vitamin E, a sunblocker property that will make give your skin a good shield against the sun. How much to eat it? It was proven that 20 almonds a day (about 14 miligrams) make you get less sunburned than a person who doesn't take any almonds.

You've got my top 3 picks, now you go and do more research. The links are below and happy surfing!

Links:

1. The perfect skin diet: 10 foods for your face.
2. Feed your face: 10 foods for better skin.
3. 18 foods that make your skin glow. <-----My favourite!!!

Intellectual Property

Architecture is probably the only field that doesn't required design patent to be enforced into the making of building's aesthetics. If aesthetics purely come from intuition, we dont have to dispute about design copyright right? WRONG!

I might be wrong but more architects need to be in touch with their business nature and be resilient about design matters. Maybe Intellectual Property can be the answer to making every city distinct in their own unique way.

What is Intellectual Property?

Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce.
Intellectual property is divided into two categories: Industrial property, which includes inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs, and geographic indications of source; and Copyright, which includes literary and artistic works such as novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, artistic works such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, and architectural designs. Rights related to copyright include those of performing artists in their performances, producers of phonograms in their recordings, and those of broadcasters in their radio and television programs.

Why should we get an IP?

In these days of overnight celebrity, we might want to have a bit of our own to hold on to. Be it a work of art, a piece of poem, a brand name coined yesterday or even a colour. Of course this IP thing came to me when someone told me that apparently he/she should've been a millionaire because of this ideas or because of that design. Things like that happens, and to prevent that, IP is the answer.

Is Architecture included in Copyright?

YES! Architecture is included - "works of applied art; illustrations, maps, plans, sketches and three-dimensional works relative to geography, topography, architecture or science." So this means architects can claim their special details and beautiful drawings from being copied. I've known a few cases where an employer caught a 'design plagiarism' when a former employee designed a house using principles the previous employer used. The employee got promoted and the former employer just get upset by the copycatting.

So what is our take?

Architects has to work towards producing more of their own than 'copy and paste' method or reduce the usage of 'refer to manuf. details' in their drawings. I have worked with an architect who stressed that architects should establish their own details for a building project. Well, my rationale is that if the building project is small and managable, it will be crazy not to handcraft the project, but if the building project needs more man energy and help to finish it, might as well do the most practical we can think of.

So for more info, please read the links. Intellectual Property might be availabe in your country too. Cheers readers!

Links

1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property - General Idea about IP
2. http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/ - IP in Australia by the Government
3. http://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/ - World IP Organization

Vote for Sipadan Island in Sabah!

This can't be real. The only wonder nominated from Malaysia is Sipadan Island. Why not any more? Any 2 or 3 or even 10 or 100s more? But yeah, its the majority perception and I am pretty sure that the panels of New7Wonders.com did their best to choose the wonders worth giving awards for.
So Sipadan Island is in the Borneo part of Malaysia, specifically in Sabah. It is famous amongst holiday-makers and divers. In the website of New7Wonder, Sipadan Island is the only oceanic island of Malaysia. Oceanic as in region or oceanic as in being a part of an ocean?
But anyway, I will spread the news and beg everyone to make a vote so that Malaysia would have a mark in the New 7 Wonders of the Nature. Also that some of the nominees are sponsored. Sipadan Island is sponsored by Sabah Tourism Board.
Make your way to the New 7 Wonders website to cast your votes and making sure they deserve the publicity needed to boost tourism to the respective places.
Cheers!

Vote for Sipadan Island!

I Missed the April Fool!

In Australia, you are supposed to set the trap in the morning, before midday then tell the jokes after in the late afternoon. Well, if this is wrong, I'll pass the blame to my friend who told me. Anyway, since I haven't been tricked for years, I am grateful for this and the years to come.

Because I am doing my wish list.


1. Blackberry Bold - ooooooh sexyness of men will be easily obliterated once I've got my hands on this piece. So beautiful, bountiful of goodies with it and it is NOT Nokia.



2. Europe - i don' mean I want to buy Europe but I really want to go to all the good places and spend time there, say 2 months of sightseeing and 3 months of architect apprenticeship. Ooooh, how I wish someone would sponsor me to work in Europe. 3 months would do. Just 3 months. Oh, I have also a long list things to do and places to visit in Europe so whether I like it or not, I have to save up from now.

3. Car - I need one. Period. Refer my previous posts.

4. More books from Amazon.com - I wish I could post all of my Wish List in here but someday will come when I have enough money to buy the books and then buy the shelves for the books and then buy a house to house the shelves to put the books in.



5. Scuba Diving - I am soooooo motivated into underwater photography so I might want to invest in a scuba diving course. I am going for the Open Water Course and perhaps move on to one of the special courses that they offer. PADI certificates are certified around the world so that is handy! Who would not like to touch the clown fish? NEMO!!!! (pic courtesy of www.dsexls.com)

Top 5 at the moment. Will need more posts too. ahhhhh
See u all!

The Hannover Principles

One of the roots of sustainability certainly came from this article by William McDonough. The Hannover Principles were announced at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 1992. The way it is described might be a bit different than what we encounter today with 'energy-saving' or 'sustainable architecture' stuff but the list is something for all architects to use in their design method.

1. Insist on rights of humanity and nature to co-exist in a healthy, supportive, diverse, and sustainable condition.
2. Recognizable interdependence. The elements of human design interact with and depend upon the natural world, with broad and diverse implications at every scale. Expand design considerations to recognizing even distant effects.
3. Respect relationships between spirit and matter. Consider all aspects of human settlement including community, dwelling, industry, and trade in terms of existing and evolving connections between spiritual and material consciousness.
4. Accept responsibility for the consequences of design decisions upon human well-being, the viability of natural systems, and their right to co-exist.
5. Create safe objects of long-term value. Do not burden future generations with requirements for maintenance or vigilant administration of potential danger due to the careless creation of products, processes, or standards.
6. Eliminate the concept of waste. Evaluate and optimize the full life-cycle of products and processes, to approach the state of natural systems, in which there is no waste.
7. Rely on natural energy flows. Human designs should, like the living world, derive their creative forces from perpetual solar income. Incorporate this energy efficiently and safely for responsible use.
8. Understand the limitation of design. No human creation lasts forever and design does not solve all problems. Those who create and plan should practice humility in the face of nature. Treat nature as a model and mentor; not an inconvenience to be evaded or controlled.
9. Seek constant improvement by the sharing of knowledge. Encourage direct and open communication between colleagues, patrons, manufacturers, and users to link long term sustainable considerations with ethical responsibility, and re-establish the integral relationship between natural processes and human activity.

The Hannover principle should be adopted by all designers in order to maintain the earth. Or otherwise, our children's children might not be able to see Doubtful Sound fjord in New Zealand, the picture on the top of this article.

I am so inspired by New Zealand right now. Perhaps I am just anticipating the anxiety for a trip far east to Christchurch this winter!

References + further readings:

1. The Hannover Principles: Design for Sustainability (New York, William McDonough Architects, 1992)

Picture credit:
1. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DoubtfulSound-Fjord.jpg

The official closure of my old blog

Writing is not a passion- especially to me. Writing is supposed to be a part of us to be able to express ourselves in words, but I have yet to master this skill. Blogs to me came in handy as it is a non-formal way to publish an honest, spontaneous thought. So I used to have an old blog which has more Malaysian-related issues. As I grow up I see more prospect in making a blog worldly known and worldly sensitive.
Globalization has make the world a small place and to make everything matters, everything has to be known to the world population.

So you readers from my old blog, a big welcome accompanies you. And for those who are my usual visitors, keep reading, as there will be more articles coming!

Bye

Responsibilities of an Architect

It is Sunday today and yet it is not a good lazy one. I am struggling to understand the order of the world, in architectural views. I was reading an article from Dianne Y. Ghirardo, titled From the Margins to the Maintsream, and a few questions arises from the 42-page Introduction.
To sum up the things I am going to say, I'd concentrate on the Responsibilities of an Architect, related to the progression of time and style in architecture. Many styles have developed since the first house of Catal Huyuk and the monumental Pyramid of Giza, but yet architects seemed to detach themselves from the ideal reality of the world we live in. Architects market their style through 'taste culture', what is generally accepted is right, and anything other than that is rather...strange. Not wrong but strange.
Modernism jumpstart the world into production and new civilization, from the war times and demands for buildings has made architects went for 'practical' and 'functional' buildings. This movement made me contemplate; Does architecture has to simplify the complexity of the life of its inhabitants OR Does architecture has to adhere to the complexity of life? The statement above was mostly obvious in the west, due to the fact that culture or traditions doesn't interfere with technology. But in the East, Traditions had been preferred over Western Modernism, resulting in a lot of fusion-style buildings and technology during the high time. New technology has always been the reason to kill the traditional ways of making building, thus claiming it to be more 'efficient' and 'modern' just because it has been produced by the machine.
Another point that pulled my interest in this essay is the actual responsibility of the architect. While big time corporations has CSR - Corporate Social Responsibility, I reckon architects should go for Historical Social/Public Responsibility, in short, HSR. The importance of knowing and studying the background of a project is so vital that the failure to do so might result in low 'human energy', something similar to 'chi' in Chinese in order to make a building 'alive'. Remember when we are doing Masterplanning of a city of even figuring out our building programme for a urban site, we will always look for 'human flow'. History makes it easy. History ranges from anthropology to even psychology for current mindset of a certain population. People's needs changes from time to time, from a dynasty to another. HSR is important so that every architect would not lose its ground and forget their existence. Having lived in an era where money has the veto to everything, we -as a profession- have succumbed to what they called the entrepreneurial capitalism. Yes to money, Yes to power, Yes to opportunity to oppress. But we forgot the real objective why architects are here; or there is no objective for us at all in the first place.
People like Sam Mockbee made little contributions to society that sometimes big-time architects found hilarious to even have time 'helping others'. I am not targeting anyone, I am just concerned with the way our society is turning into. In some places in the world where bribery and corruption is rampant, 'charity' has lost its glory. Charity is always seen as a cheap way to gain sympathy thus making a real cause not real anymore.
My most deepest condolescences go to the people in the profession who forgot that helping people is also our obligation, making things better is not just a marketing term and architect is not a job to selfishly fill up our bank account. Good things are for everyone to share and with this I will spread the good essay, please read this:

Ghirardo, Dianne Yvonne, 'Introduction:From the Margins to the Mainstream', Architecture after Modernism, Thames and Hudson, New York, 1996, pp. 7-42.

Politics for me?

Being in Malaysia -or being a Malaysian- politic is a normal topic of conversation. It is not as technical as we would like it to be, hence it is a topic that everyone would love to get involved. As for me, I would love to avoid it at my best way of dodging the harsh reality. I am an optimist so I have a rather positive way of seeing things that sometimes made me blind to the fact of the situation.
One of the book I read last year entitled In Praise of Shadows by Junichiro Tanizaki opened my eyes of the excepting the current condition of life. Although I can't quote the exact page or paragraph from the book, Tanizaki compared the way of the Japanese with the Westernized culture. It is intriguing to know that the Japanese or rather most of the Eastern culture will make the best of the current situation and be content with the surroundings. Whereas the Western cultures train us to improve things by adding more things or in this case, change where you can.

The moral of my thinking here is that although sometimes we wished that things could be better, there are some things that better to be left just as it is. I am scared that my hopes and efforts will evaporate into thin air, just like when someone crushes your dream. I'd rather leave the political sides of Malaysia to those who had it as their forte so I just stick to do what I was supposed to do.
However, I can't stop my wishful thinking because I know that one day when humans wake up from their sleep they will realize that it is already too late to change.

February Break

This break is the longest break in 2 years since I have been in Australia. So far, I have done these things:

1. Meet friends and families - I have been going out with a few close friends and will be going out with them again before I fly into Australia again next month. I have met my sisters and brother and hang out with my parents. Drove around my dad's car because I have a really really pampered car.
2. Shopping - KL is a shopping haven. With the current currency exchange and the variety of choice it offers, I stocked up on my fashion-victim-collection from all over the place. I spent so much that I am starting to feel guilty but what the heck, its my turn to enjoy!
3. Eat, Eat, Eat - Oh, I am such not a big fan of Malaysian food due to its high dependency on rice-based meals but this time around, I have made a promise to myself to eat a lot of Malaysian food. Nasi Lemak, Laksa Utara, Nasi Dagang, Ulam Kacang Botol, and so on. Also that I have 'snatched' some of my mom's recipe books to bring back with me.
4. Cooking - I have shown my talent in cooking and guess what - my dad was impressed! Wow, imagine that. Being praised by your dad for such a simplistic cooking. I cooked Lamb Shank Casserole and he loved it. He said it was tasteful. It has enough beefy flavour, beans and veges to dig around in the stew, the lamb was tender and the sensation of eating was sublime...
5. Driving my car - I have the best car in the world.. oh, at least that is what I thought. So spending time with my car was excellent.
6. Going to art galleries and exhibitions - I spent my lunch going to galleries. So far, only Galeri Petronas but in the future will be National Art Gallery at Jalan Tun Razak and Islamic Gallery at the National Mosque. I have made a point to appreciate the existing insfrastructure of KL and I realized that if you do not try to see it with a foreign eyes, you will always take things for granted.
7. Painting - I have been painting even more and I have to go to the art shop to buy more good papers. Most of the paper I have seemed to be a bit thinner but I am suspecting about the ability of the paper to handle more water. So tomorrow I am going shopping for painting stuff.

So far, these are the things I have done. Not bad for 2 weeks of holidays. I have yet to organize a trip out of town but if I do, I will update about it in this blog. So till then, bye bye. I'll be back!

Mazda RX-8

Some people knew that I have this craze for super fast cars. Yes, it doesn't do justice due to my physical appearances but my craze is above everything that is logical. That's right. If I liked them, I will crave/craze them. Just like all cars I have loved before. When I went into high school, I collected small TAMIYA models. I bought them in pieces and had to glue them together using the special liquid cement. Can't remember what was the proper name, but it was some
kind of adhesive that stuck the tiny tiny pieces together.
So after the Jag, I was infatuated with Ferraris. The one that really made me speechless was F50. As for classic Ferraris, I have always loved Testarossa. Then F50 came along and robbed every single ideas I have had for Ferrari. I think that was when I fell in love with design too. I liked sleek designs, just sexy enuff, masculine enuff, and the engine must be powerful.

This topic came up because I think I am falling for another car. I have had a test drive with Mazda RX-8 last week and it growled like the king of the savannah. It meant business in terms of torque and speed. It wanted to eat the other drivers, boasting of the power its carries, and showing off the sexing body language it possessed. Ah, these love of new technology will never leave us satisfied but at least now I have fixated my ideals on this little car of mine. Ah, did I tell you of its good side? It has a seat adjustor so tiny people like me can sit comfortably and drive like a normal person. Sweet baby, a sweet car!


Yes, I drove the Renesis version and was a proud test driver of last week because I drove a new car. LOL. It is freaking expensive in Malaysia, about RM 238k and about AUD 45k in Australia. I think I might have to find one in Australia instead of Malaysia.

So yeah, this post is about my dream car, Mazda RX-8. I do have a Satria GTi at the moment and the fact that my GTi is the love of my life right now, I cant say that I will ever love RX-8 the same way I did. Till then, I'll come again. Bye!

Further readings:

1. Modelling Madness - Jaguar XJ220
2. New Mazda RX-8 from Japan

My hometown, Kuala Lumpur

When I was small, most of the primary school teachers always ask us of our hometown. So some of my friends were telling the class of their own experience and change of cultures happening around them. Even we could tell them apart by their accents. So when it comes to me, I'd say "My hometown is KL." They told me that it was an illegitimate answer. Hometown has to be outside of KL.
My question back then was WHY? Why a hometown must be from outside of KL. Reason they gave me was because KL is a town and everyone just got to have a hometown other than KL. KL is always the place you live in but not the place you belong to. It comes to the question of why the place you live in cannot be the place you belong to? Experience differs from individuals, hence in this case applied to me.
So it didn't happen once. The second time it happened, I devised a plan. Knowing enough of my parents' background I sort of say that both of my parents came from outside of KL and when they met they have decided on KL as their new home. So here I am as an outsider. This time the question was "So which one is your hometown?"
Goddamnit. So now I have to enforce favouritism on my parents. How clever. Well, such a naive me. I chose my dad's hometown to exploit to the class. The advantage was the fact that I did spent more time at my dad's hometown and possessed a really subtle southern accent. I passed as an outsider.
Reality hit me at that moment. Why my dad's instead of my mum's place? Why should I chose one over another? I never liked discrimination but yet I was doing it. I never want to have to choose but I have done it.
A few years later, I became aware of the public holiday on the 1st February as to celebrate the formation of other 3 Federal Territories in Malaysia - KL, Labuan & Putrajaya. I said to myself, if the government acknowledged KL as a state/territory, why can't I claim it to be my hometown?
KL is my hometown! I was born and brought up with its lifestyle. I bore my dad's asthma problem that worsen each day with KL's super polluted air. I am truly a city kid, so what? Paranoia is normal in order to survive each day in KL. Shortcuts, friends, and discounts are the recipe to a sweet life. I learn how to mingle, how to become invisible by becoming 'normal'. I was always the weird one but guess what, I did survive! When rain hits town, books had become my best friend in order to pass the time. When friends turned their backs on me, I had consolation from the internet where I could always replace them with new ones from all over the world. When I can't find the thing I was looking for in the local shop, I had the whole of KL to shop from. When I felt inadequate to dress properly, KL lets you to be who you are. I was oblivious to the world because when I am in my own fantasy. A kinda of fantasy that KL gave you access to the things you wanted. The kinda freedom only you can feel it. So what if everyone elses had their own outside-KL hometown.
Because I am proud to say that my hometown is KL.

To all, I love KL. It is the best place on earth, and no where else like it!

Painting Tutorials

I have since started painting religiously and I have to say that I needed more 'technical' help than expression help. There is a vast resources available to us and with advance technology, we could access documents or having a tutor in the comfort of our house. Although the sound of tele-conference and video conversation sounds aluring, we having to make use of what is available, fast, easy and most important of all, FREE.

For painting, I have to admit to the magic of YouTube. YouTube provides access to a plethora of contributors from all over the world, and the best of this service is it is in video only! So we could have 'hands-on' tutor from our desktop, showing all necessary things to the painting process.

The first contributer I'd love to highlight is adilrasheedonline. I didn't mind the fact that he doesn't have a commentary, but the observation of his techniques showed that he is genuinely talented. His method might not be the same from the basic watercolour books that we have but it doesn't mean that his method was wrong. The following is one of his brilliant videos:

Watercolor Painting of a Landscape

When we are learning, we are supposed to compare and seek knowledge from various resources so that when disputes or complications arise, we have alternatives and various resolution to address the problems. This brings to another recommended contributor from YouTube.

It is ShowMeHow Series DVD, so I assumed that this is a major project by the contributor to get things organized. The videos are very easy to follow and the explanations are awesome! Even a 10 year-old child could fathom every step.

Show Me How DVD on YouTube

The magic of resources is working perfectly with YouTube. As soon as I am finished with one contributor, I could always switch to others by looking at 'Related Videos' tab. It is such a good opportunity to increase our lifeskills without spending a dime on a teacher or tutor.

Another awesome watercolour tutorial website I've come acrossed is:
Watercolor Painting Free Lessons and Tutorials
I have to say that is incredibly easy to take up painting but we have to build the momentum and motivation to stay on it. This same principle applies to every hobby we take up and as soon as the affection for it wears away, we just leave it cold.

Till then, I will come again...Goodbye!

Note: When I was publishing this post, the video upload onto the blogspot was unsuccessful so I have to just provide the link so that you all can have direct access to it. Enjoy...

Blog Re-structuring for 2009

The thing is, I want to make my blog as an avenue to vent my innermost feelings or opinions to the mass audience online, but I do not know who and the number of people reading the blog. However, I have been affirmative to myself on several levels of management. One of them has to do with this blog. Herewith, I give you a schedule of the upcomings of this blog.

Once a week, preferable Wednesday, I would post my philosophical thoughts. Not necessarily related to architecture and arts, but something deeply thought about and needed to be written.
Then, I would have book reviews, mostly the books I've read.
Perhaps I would enlighten everyone on the availability of such text to be discussed together.

Once a week, preferably weekends, I would post an architectural house/work/discussion. I still need to vent out my idealistic views about architecture. I have to say that there is a vast difference between academician and those who directly work after obtaining their professional degree.

Once a month, I have to make sure I have produce a substantial artwork of my own. I used to paint A LOT. Now I have to start again, like any other beginner.

Ok, those are my updates. I shall return. Please, if there is any suggestion, please voice out your ideas.

I am not depressed anymore!

Hello everyone...
Like the title suggested, I am not depressed anymore. I feel better and I think I am hungry for more adventures. The ending of 2008 wasnt very good for me. Despite knowing that I am basically a cliffhanger forawhile, something happened in December that made me go for the plunge into a deep blue abyss. I lurked in this abyss for a long period of time. Days seemed so long and meaningless, and nights are nightmarish and unsettled. I've developed a certain kind of insomniac nights as well. I just don't know what to do with my life anymore. Everything ended right there. I have made my way into a dead end. No one could lift me up with anything at any moment in the depression period. I guessed my circumstances has been getting along with the current not-so-good condition of global market. Both advantages and disadvantages of my predicaments have been thought about and in the end, I thought, "Hey, whatever happened wasn't so bad! What have I been doing all this time?"

See, what made me cameback from the darkhole is the fact that I have been enjoying my time around friends and families. Listening to their stories and tales. Trying to adjust and reason other people's experiences and circumstances with mine. In difficult times, we always think that we are the worst, our accident is the worst a person could handle. Then I read more books of mine, trying to scrutinize the gist of each stories I devoured. Every book I picked up has a moral value to it. If it doesnt have one, I'll try to relate one with the book. I have been strategising my life in the future as well. I think if I haven't had this break, I wouldn't have thought that far into my future. I thought very very hard about what I wanted in life. I meant, what I REALLY REALLY wanted in life. Yes, so far I am satisfied with it but there are a few aspects that I have to improve. Improvement is good, meaning that I am willing to change to get to the goal I desired.

BUT, what made me really really feel good was the fact that I picked up a brush for the first time after 8 years! The biggest procrastinator has done the very thing she wishes she had kept for so long. I will show you what my drawing looked like. No, its not good yet but with practice, I am pretty sure I can be as good as I used to be. I used to paint since 12 years of age but by 18 I have stopped doing so because of Architecture (read: Architecture screwed up my life). The media I chose to paint was watercolour. Why Watercolour? Watercolour is deemed the hardest media to draw with due to its translucent and soluble material. Too much water is too wet, or too little water tend to drag on the paper. I like this kind of complexities because of its technical aspects. See, to achieve perfection, you have to practice. To be able to practice correctly, you have to refer to great exercise or 'accomplised' exercise. Exercises that worked. Not just doodling blindly on the paper, but do something with affirmative objectives. So when I started, I thought, I need to practice on the handling of the washes so I used up first 3 pages of Not (Cold Pressed Paper) just doing 'skies', 'hills' and 'body of water'. The washes were important in my development to familiarise myself with the brushes and washes technique. Then I did little 'objects' on the same paper. Just with a medium brush, drawing the details testing my stroke, testing myself of how well I can manage with the size of the brush. Not too well on that but the first big thing I did was the traditional composition of a Malay House. The picture I had was taken way back in 2005, the house was in Terengganu when we had an architectural excursion. So I did a little bit of pencil outline, used Art Masking Fluid to protect white areas and -voila!- there you go. This is the proudest of my work at the moment.


The Malay House is my first and there will be more to come. I wish that one day painting will also be my forte, alongside being an architect/designer. I appreciate art and nature and I just love beautiful inventions. I will post more drawings and paintings.
Have a nice day!

6 New Year's Resolutions

During the sensation of getting into the new number of 2009, I've been thinking a lot about what my objectives would be this year. Well, here we go:

1. Be a better muslimah - I'll pray more, I'll savour more of religious moments, as I believed that there is always room for improvement. I have to say that 2008 was better than the year before but 2009 I'll try very very very hard to do even more. The feeling of triumph and satisfaction will be felt more with our action doing so. I've put the whole quran in my iPod, listening to it every now and then. I've been to the mosque a tad more than the year before. Well, however, I think I just have to do even more... ^_^

2. To finish my Master's degree - in any way I should or could, I must obtain a degree by this year. Either its hard or not, its a different story but it is indeed possible. I am tired of being in the dualistic position between being-my-own-person-and-responsible-for-my-own-living and help-I-still-need-daddy's-assistance. First position was acheived halfway last year when I started having a part-time job but this year I think I will be on the second position for a little while.

3. Try getting a real job to last - I just wish that I would not fall into the 'unemployed' group just yet. I have to say that I have 'loyalty' attached to my last name but sometimes people liked 'advantages' than the traditional 'trust'. So my days in limbo now consists of learning new things from the internet and read more books. I just have to finish one thing at a time to move on. A website would be good, or even the traditional portfolio.

4. Read more memorable books and keep a quote notebook - I executed the initiation of this one today. I bought myself a notebook so that I can jot down my favourite quotes from the books I've read. Maybe soon enough I can put up a website for it eh? Hopefully. =) Memorable books...well, not really but just books. I need to read the books in my cupboard back home so that I can shift them to the universal shelves to be shared by everyone.

5. To be more tidy and hands-on - This one refers to my homemaking skills. I have to say that I am a super-grub. I never fold my clothes straightaway after the washing has dried on the lines, it is hard for me to clean up a table after I used it. Well, sometimes I do whenever I felt like it, but the felt-like-it-moments would come about 10 times in a year. Homemaking skills needed practice and I am re-educating myself on this. I've planted some herbs in the garden, I've got myself a flower, and a few cactus. I've got bleach markings on my shirt(a sign of my hardwork), LOL.

6. ORGANISATION!!! - from number 5, we can conclude that organisation is vital to make things work. While I can be a goddess for making parties work, I am not sure about homemaking. Its the same to all of us. While we can make some work, we cant be all Miss Perfect and expected to handle all dirty stuffs with clean hands. I need to re-organise, and more organising. I need to make sure everything falls into its place, and if anything would go wrong, perhaps I should prepare some cushions for it too.

Well, I think 6 resolutions are hard enough to achieve, let alone 10. So all of us have to be grateful that we have achieved even one, or two of the list. One thing I know about making resolution is: make it possible to achieve!!! Dont go around thinking - I can be perfect because nobody can! We think we are already but our parents or friends may think otherwise.
Thats it. I'm going to do these 6 now! Till we meet again. Toodles...

Part Two of In the wake of New Year 2009: How Architecture Screws Up My Life

PART TWO
So if my New Year a little moderate, not for my much thought-about architectural ambitions. Although the title was 'How Architecture Screws Up My Life', it is about how my full potential was achieved by learning architecture.

Architecture to me is a dogma. To learn architecture, one must acquire architectural language, thus making one eligible to mingle around architectural personals who speak the same lingo and jargon. Having said that, that notion was a basic towards all type of gained knowledge. I am not going into philosophy yet, as I could but my rambling today was ignited by Adam Sharr's book entitled Heidegger for Architects.

The first chapter of the book tells us about the journey Heidegger went through during his mountain walks. It had the same feeling when I was in the first year, 2nd semester of my architectural education. My lecturer, Mr. Mior Shahriman said, the trip to Gua Tempurung was to make us learn about appreciation of space. Space has to be experienced! Space has to be made to accomodate the needs of human, or rather, the human has to accomodate the space for his needs.

My thoughts of this went from Heidegger, Norburg-Schulz and Kevin Lynch. Kevin Lynch wrote about 5 things that make an image of a city; Path, Edges, Districts, Nodes, Landmarks. Almost all the factors have to be experienced before being identified as sentimental to the users of a city. These things are vital in making architecture of the city.

Again, space has to be formulated to fit the locality. Heidegger said space is prove for existentialism of beings (or Beings). However, if we dont experience, are we less of an architect? Some people refuse to let themselves open to new avenues. I've known these people, I've across them in life and I felt sorry for them for they are denying the nature of human inquisitive curiosity.

This is how much Architecture Screws Me Up:
1. I felt that if I wont be an architect I'll let everyone down.
2. As much as I want to design all of my life, I FEAR rejection and non-believers in my great ideas.
3. EVERY SINGLE THING has to connnect to architecture or arts.
4. I am dying of hunger of knowledge from renowned architects... whom I wish their ideas and works could be easily obtained.
5. I laughed at excessive calculation of Mathematics. I just love doodling on my notepad!

My way of ushering New Year this year brings more opportunity for me in Architecture. Despite the world economic crisis, I believed that I can do this and perform in anyway I want. Till then, I'll be back with more Heidegger's existentialism and Husserl's phenomenology.
Toodles my architectural comrades. May the drawings be with you!!!

Part One of In the wake of New Year 2009: How Architecture Screws Up My Life

Well, it was supposed to be two articles but I think it will be worthy to be put together as a complement for each other. See, I welcomed 2009 with open arms, putting every bad thing behind me.
Define bad things: depression, sadness, regret, anger, etc... in short, all the things that doesnt contribute to my Positive Mental Attitude.

PART ONE
First thing first, let see what I did on New Years Eve. We celebrated a friend's birthday on the last day of the year and about 8-ish at night I made my way up to Eureka Tower in Melbourne. It was designed by Fender Katsalidis architect, and it is the tallest residential building in the world. Further readings can be found at the end of this post.

On the 88th floor of the tower we had our small party. The view from up there was breathtaking! The whole floor provided 360deg view of Melbourne. The only downside that night is I didnt bring my other 75-300mm VR lense with me, so I have to be content with the basic lense I had, which works great anyway.

My favourite shot of the night have to be this one:















Fireworks that followed:














The picture of the sunset was the first shot of the evening, whilst setting up the camera and scrutinizing the building's weird positioning for beautiful views.
The horizontal picture shows the fireworks along the Yarra River. Fed Sq is a little hidden behind the first firework on the left and a bit of Hamer Hall can be seen on the bottom right of the frame. The vertical picture is another firework which was bigger and more spectacular than the Yarra River display, which was set up near the Royal Botanical Gardens. Correct me if I'm wrong but we had a little dispute of the name of the particular garden. Look up on Google Map and you'll know why.

So the ushering of New Year was much welcomed as I wish to cleanse the much regretted version of myself. I have been picking up a lot of books on philosophy and architecture. Just like the blog's name, it offers me more sublime thoughts, taking me back to the basic of ethics and morality to conduct and dictate my life.

Resolutions? Yes, I do have definite ones. Let see...

1. Finish uni! I have been in uni longer than I can remember. Gosh...cant wait to get it over with.
2. Getting some strong philosophy background, in regards with architecture
3. Mastering technical language of the web. Yes, I want to make my own website and things related to that.
4. Opps, I also needed to learn more 3D programs for my architecture development.

So yeah, that is what we have for 2009.


Links:

On Eureka Tower by Karl Fender:
http://www.abc.net.au/dimensions/dimensions_future/Transcripts/s661686.htm