finished about 60% of my model. A plethora of quetions popped up in my mind.

since i changed my design in the very last minute, i did not have any crit for this particular design of mine.

1.) Does a shelter necessary mean i must have a roof??? Shelter can be a refuge of a place of rest also. right?

2.) what i created does not seem so architecture architecture. Should i still go for it? hmm..wondering...





but i have some thoughts, if i dont play with volume and design and my imagination, crazinesss...can i possibly do something that crazy again? Valuable aspects to be thought of. Englighten me..

a lot happened in this short day. frustration, dissapointment. at the end, i just realized something, i have allowed all these negativity to suck away all my happiness and joy of model making.

Architecture to me should potray personality. It should be loud. There should be joy.



i want to be happy and you know what? i think im gonna start to play with fire this time.


Fire. Fire. Fire...hahaha



It burns.



I am crazy.

finally back at Ipoh for the CNy break. Its good to be at home and somehow the atmosphere kinda inspires me. Its comfortable, breezy, its easy..like bossa nova...listening too much music these days.

i'm somehow thinking of a secluded area. a tranquility and serenity , innocence i wanna insert in my following studio assignment. May Nature inspire me again.



CNY is not going to be just any other holiday. Its gonna open my eyes.

so, Work babe work. Looking forward to see my fellow comrade's work.


happy CNY...for a better year, a more fruitful process , and a breezy flow.

0203

Theres so much i wanna share in this post. i wanna thank Him for all the blessings i received. Blessed are those who are humble for the gates of heaven are all theirs. This is my final presentation.

and i titled my board " Heavenly Chic"


Tun Rusli wanted our boards to be in monochrome.I was fine with that. And when he set the background as Black. i was like : 'oh no'. I prefered white as its always easier to paint on white instead of on black. And when he set all the limitations of the board. I was terrified. Since the last semester, i learnt to be wild, to be set free. Now, knowing that this bird is gonna be locked in its cage just gave me a sad look.


However, i knew i had to play with the boundaries set by others. Limitations could be either a WOW or a LOW. i had to be confident mine would be a WOW. Its gonna be heavenly chic babe..

throughout this entire assignment , a type of flow inspired me. Its like water, this creative juice flowing across me and most of my products are unintentional. Its a flow. and i like it.

I saw the leaves on the ground, so i thought of a nest. i saw fabric, so i cut it into pieces. i saw birds, so i wanna do feathers. i saw some wire and so i manipulated its shape and i got a cage-like structure. i though i could only see monochrome in my eyes, but i added some Red to give a dash of boldness.


I really like my end-product. i really do.

















Throughout my presentation, i did mention i saw a lot of CK products-alike. but like Lee, i wanna be different, eccentric and follow my heart. thats all.


i am a student, and i want to seek for more.



He is Good. He gave me a Gift. He can take it Away Anytime.
So, i value it. Thank you


ps:// dreaming for my next assignment

0202

And there is it, my final model. completed it rather early, on Wed . really happy with the end product. though its not my 1st design, but it grew and developed. Now i understand that sometimes, good design need not be too rigid, like ecoule, it flows. Sometimes, we can even play with the material, manipulate the shape, do something opposite what you intend to do.

and here, i came out with my baby product. Its almost swan-like, dove-like.Its just so peaceful and so serene. Its beautiful by its own, but i wanted to create different images with different moods to accentuate the ambience and enhance my design.

There you go ecoule.

0201

my sketches as it later evolved and developed. Initialy, i was thinking like a blossoming flower

then , using wire, i make my skeleton glueing it with hot glue gun

i bought this beautiful fabric chiffon and intended to drape it around grecian goddess like..but i had another plan in mind

Like pleats, i experimented with the fabric and slowly this technique developed.

i wanted to make something else to compliment with my chair...i was thinking.

playing with shapes



and there, a new life is born to compliment with my chair

In search for a Master

In search for a master, a sifu who can advice and guide me as I mark a step closer to achieve my dreams and vision. With God's blessings, i stumbled upon 2 masters unintentionally. I saw one in action, one whom i shared a precious discussion with. Fuan Wong , Khoo Khay Tat.

Let the pictures speak for itself.



beautiful colour composition, a master's work

the calendars look exquisite with enchanting photos which show the colourful side of Msia

Fuan Wong at his table. such a beautiful place, such a gentle soul.

glass pieces to admire. His work has been even displayed in the famous Cheong Fatt Tze.

Someone, i stumbled upon unexpectedly-the great watercolour master.



Initially, i wanted to do a crystal/glass kind of model and He led me to Fuan Wong. Though there are slight changes in my design, but this new idea is really making me excited. I'm sure He will lead and i will follow, obediently.

I wish to improve myself more. elevate myself as much as possible. There is yet so much to be done.

The birth of the Triceratops

Like what i spilled in the previous post, my art gala piece of my body mould/sculpture was broken into pieces. Of course i was devastated. But God's grace to me was overwhelming and calmness just overtook me. I knew i had to make it work and i had to mend the broken pieces together.

'Artist do not stem from their childhood but from their conflicts with the achievements of their predecessors, not from their own formless world, but from struggle with the forms that others have impose on life.'
André Malraux

Apparently, my 'sculpture' was beautiful in my eyes but had no foundation. Its like building a house with no base/foundation. Alas, it will break down in vain. That's a lesson i learnt.
Thus, all i had to do is to be calm and trust that everything would be fine. Great victory comes with pain and suffering 1st. I guess i had to learn it the hard way.

The broken pieces resemble ancient Dinosaurs fossil fuels. So, I'm imagining myself as an archaeologist.
'
Aranging the triceratops just like my daily job as an archaeologist.

Glueing the 'fossils' using epoxy+hardener. Its hard to dry but when its dried, its hard as steel..

Like all professionals do, i had to brush away the sand ....sweep...waiting for it to dry

looking ar nature while resting my mind after a long day.

bicycles fancy me.

i was so inspied that i decided to use fragments of the 'broken fossils' as art pieces and painted them. Do u spot something swimming on the triceratops?

Its done. Finally..



in the end of the day, though my 1st BIG mould was destroyed into pieces. Now, its an art deco Triceratops. This is what i call the Grace of God.



Things would never always turn out the way we intend. We just have to improvise and to breathe new life into some broken pieces.






tomorrow is going to be a better tomorrow.

thats what i believe in.

Mould of Paree(part 1)

Like i blogged in the previous post, i am super excited about our 2nd assignment which is to design our own designer chair. And the most interesting part is that this time, all of us of studio 103 are divided into 4 groups under the wings of 4 mentors. All mentors are studiomasters coming from such diverse backgrounds,having such different fields of expertise. And the worst thing of all, we had to choose one of them to be our mentors. Such a tough choice for us to make. It is as if we had to choose one between our parents to live with. Tough..haha


but in the end, En Rusli became my mentor. I just went with my flow of heart and something told me to choose him. Its a flow, its intuitive and i believe its God's hint to me..


we were told to design our own designer chair. En Rusli wanted us to be original, to try to stick with our ideas, and he said that our 1st ideas are usually the most original, the most that represents ourself. So, i am sticking with my idea(to be revealed another time).

Guess what, the interesting part is that we even had to create a mould of our spine and back to understand the body countours. So, these pics represent the 1st part of my entire 'journey' of completing my mould. Its going to be a long post.




materials-Plaster of Paris, water
tools: spade, buckets, measuring container(own invention), camera

sat on the sand to replicate the contour of my underpart...

then, covering the sand with garbage bags and using small rocks to act as an 'anchor'


pouring and mixing the plaster of Paris..2 parts of plaster.1part of water.


waiting for it to dry. so i went photo snapping around the site


HBP, USM




Beautiful Nature. small but significant in every way.





then i went back to the site. Took my mould(still drying) and placed it aside. And when i came back later in the afternoon after my rest...to my surprise...









To be continued.........

écoulé

01: Ideas

we had to produce 2 sketches with graphic scale BIG Dome by inserting human elements in. using

1. shadows
2. perspective
3. scale

All we had to do is describe the current environment of the BIG Dome with student ideas to work on the dome soon for the 1st sketch, while the 2nd required us to show details of the existing structure and specifications.


My initial idea was to create a space for students to escape from the hectic assignments, a sanctuary for them to rest their minds in peace. I wanted to bring nature closer to us and thus create this interaction between human beings and nature.


At first i started by conceptualizing based on the idea of a green dome where plants would virtually grow all around it. Its going to be something like a vertical garden/ green wall. where beautiful exotic plants crawl and spine all over the dome, making it able to camouflage with the environment.

however, the idea just stuck there.


So, i thought of new concept. Inspired by the use of timber and bamboo, i thought of using a simple shape and placing the timber slats and bamboo vertically in a geometrical manner to create simple, classic textures.

then, i thought of the dome as being a crystal ball being placed perfectly in a glass casket within another bigger Box. This is how the design of the structure came about

.

• dome=crystal ball
• inner glass wall=glass casket
• exterior=outer box

sounds complex.but its actually a simple design. I also thought of a movable roof made of slats of timber which not only shades the building from heat and glare. It provides privacy and a changing appearance as it moves over the top. For the occupants , the slat roof offer a pattern of shade that changes with the position of the sun , giving an indication of time and date.

I even named my newly-designed sanctuary- écoulé.

Derived from the French word ,' écoulé ’ stands for the meaning of escape, to move, to drain, to flow. Acting as a sanctuary, a place for rest. écoulé. aims to be the perfect getaway for students or any occupants . It is the ultimate sweet escape plan for those who intend to runaway from stress and seek inspiration, restoration.

Located near the school Housing Building and Planning USM, écoulé functions as the perfect relaxation hub and source of inspiration for lecturers and students. Books from a wide range will be provided. A small café would cater to the occupants needs. Accustomed with nature inspired furniture, occupants of ecoule would find no difficulty as they relax and be transported into their own universe.




my concept seems long and i have never put so much though process in any of my design works-tried to seek inspiration from exotic birds, human anatomy, dinosaurs, feng shui. And in the end, i came up with écoulé-the sweet escape.

deeply satisfied but vows for room to improve.

Studio at Studio 100

I am Feeling Good.


Just ended my 1st studio experience earlier and had already submitted our very 1st assignment which is to make a transformation to the BIG DOME. We had no Crit session for this 1st assignment due to the abrupt declaration of a public holiday to commemorate a triumphant feat of the M'sian football team.


Today's studio was just crazy. submitted my 1st assignment-écoulé( will be explained later). i was damn nervous, like a cat on hot bricks . I did not know what other's(studiomasters) reaction would be on my work. The gaze i saw from my seat when they looked at my work just made me trembled. Maybe its due to the fact that i have never shared my work openly or my work has not been criticized publicly before.

Just like a cat on hot bricks, i trembled! phewit..


However in the end, i was glad, or in most accurate words-relieved that my efforts were appreciated.used around 5 days of sketching and thought process and accomplising the rest in 2 endless days. Hooray, i am of course satisfied, however i see myself having so much more room to improve on my watercolour skills(esp on buildings), design and handwriting.


écoulé is my 1st birth of the semester and i feel it gave me a great start.



wanB , Tn Rusli and Ar Najib gave some constructive advice which is extremely appliable:

-i see 2 types of students. Not talking about technical or drawing skills, those who enjoy their work , and those who do not. Enjoy your work.

-based on my experience in RISD(Rhodes Island School of Design), we were told that the human body is the most perfecr creation. So , you ought to understand and learn to sketch the human body

-Sharpen your strengths, improve on your weakness.



And one of my favourite things wanB mentioned was about using creativity to develop our presentation skills, to present our thoughts ,ideas. we may not have the technical skills like others, but we can explore other means to showcase our thought process.

"the great Antoni Gaudi most famous for Sagrada Familia used creative ,distinct methods in creating his work."





works and preparation on our 2nd assignment has commenced. Super excited..