missing architecture

I watched this youtube video on an architect's house in Edinburgh and it evoked a feeling I haven't felt for a very long time that is missing designing architecture. I rewatched it repeatedly and every time I have this feeling like I want to design an architectural space. It brought back nostalgia and the desire to create. The feeling came because his house is very playful, very personal, full of personality with a lot of interesting details. I always imagine if I were an architect I would want to create something strange, something whimsical, something asymmetrical, something playful.

I think this particular video speaks to me because most of architectural projects I see these days in Indonesia are just so boring, especially the houses. Most of them are those boring minimalist types with no interesting details. Almost all of them with very boring neutral colours. Especially in interior I think there is this notion that came from western influence how neutral and soft colours are seen as "quiet luxury" while bold colours are often on the opposite side of the spectrum. Either that or people worship Japanese minimalist design while not understanding the spirit, not having the sensitivity to details, not having the suitable materials, while also not having capable hands to achieve the proper workmanship.

I don't know. Maybe one day if the universe allows and fate decides to finally be nice to me I could have the opportunity to design and build my own space instead of just critisizing.

milano, lombardia (iii)

about six months after my departure, i found myself back in milan. a big part of it i won't mention here as it was and still is perplexing to me, the why and what and how. but anyway, back when i was about to leave the city almost a year ago, i knew i wanted to be back very soon. i even told a friend that i would come back on winter, which was like three months after my departure. but there i was six months after, having what i thought was enough reasons to pack my bag and go back to the place i once called home.

the whole process of getting myself there was a real hustle and looking back i must admit that i was such an ass for creating unnecessary troubles mostly for myself because of my own thoughts and also for someone else who had to deal with my behaviors back then.

anyhow i was there on the dates coincided on purpose with the salone. it was my third salone, and although i missed most of it because of some immigration problem, i have to say this was the least favorite salone i've been to in terms of what were being exhibited, the installations and furnitures, etc. but still i took with me some notes and inspirations. and also because of this event i got to meet my friends who was also there and getting to know friends of friends. and because i know more people now than my previous salone, i'd bumped into friends here and there and sometimes got lucky to be able to cut some long ques.

one thing that i noted when i was there was the difference of how the city of milan (in particular, and being abroad in general) and the city of jakarta affecting me. roaming the streets of milan i felt like there are more chances, more possibilities and varieties of how life can be, places you can be. while in jakarta it's like you're stuck, doing the one thing you can do, and that's it. and then you have to follow what the society tells you to do because everyone is basically doing just that one thing. being abroad you're one free soul, free to do whatever you want. the city with all its content send you the ability for your thoughts to run wild. while in jakarta everything you see is uninspiring and you need to hustle day by day with all the problems it gives you, you barely have time and ability to think about other good things. your day just go by one after another, hopefully someday something will take you somewhere. but then again of course it's not as simple, i could write pages long about this matter. and it's not that i hate this city i live in nor that i have particular emotion towards milan either. it's just a thought i had when i was there and a lifelong question i have about the city i live in. and hopefully one day i would find myself some other clues leading to the answers i've been needing.

globe maker

i've always been obsessed with maps, any kind of maps. so reading this is kind of fascinating. not finding the suitable model of globe to gift his father, mr. bellerby decided to make his own. the journey of his research and globe-making down to such detail and perfection is very much impressive. now his globes are made in a small studio, all handcrafted. seeing all the behind the scene, it really looks like dream job to me, working with hands with all its attributes; maps, watercolors, seeking for perfection, in such cozy small studio environment.

salone e fuori salone, milano.

some images from the salone 2015 back then in april. unlike two years ago where i was in milan only for three days, now i got the whole week to choose which events i wanted to go. and after series of visits to the fuorisalone, surprisingly i enjoyed more the salone itself. it's like i got overwhelmed with the amount of independent designers things and when i got to the salone, i got to see a more mature finished design and it made me feel good. and also it kinda made me miss my job somehow.

milano expo 2015

despite the pro and con about the universal or world expo today specially in italy, i'm not blaming myself for being excited about it not just because it is one of the biggest event architecturally and culturally held every five years, but also it has been held historically dated back since 1851. even the eiffel tower is the product of an expo back then, like it or not.

regardless of whatever kind of agenda and all of the controversies, for me personally it is an opportunity to represent your country and make it known to others. for example, my favorite pavilion so far would be chile. the way they present their country with their art installation is beyond amazing and successfully made me want to visit their country.

however, i have to say there is one very basic but fatal mistake in this expo on how they put all the poles that hold the canopies of the main avenue right in front of the pavilions, making it impossible to take photo or even to see the whole architectural piece clearly. and there are lots of other things that are disappointing but overall it was a nice experience to get to know countries and their culture in an artistic way, specially when you're visiting with your friends who are also coming from different part of the world.


from top to bottom:
united kingdom, netherlands, ecuador, germany, spain, chile, pavilion zero, pavilion zero, cocoa cluster

soft urban art

i've always been interested in urban space and how people interact with the city. and now that i'm studying urban space, in europe in particular, it has been a very inspiring study and eye opening of many spaces around the world and also so many aspects around the realm, not just the physical space, but also the historical aspect, social aspect, technological aspect, etc.

i've seen many types of cool urban art, which has recently getting more and more developed with advance technology. this one completely surprised me because it's made of "soft" material. sometimes photos could be deceitful so at first i couldn't believe that they are actually urban art hanging there in the middle of the city. but watching the video of the artist talk, janet echelman, it's just fascinating how she developed something that was "accidental" into something beyond imagination. i wish she would keep leaving traces of her art to many more cities around the world.

ps. now i definitely have to visit porto!

the beauty of math

milano, lombardia.

Was in Milan for Salone Internazionale del Mobile, which is like one of the biggest interior design / furniture exhibition, and also for fuorisalone, the extended events spread all over the city outside the Salone. What's so great about being in Milan is that I get to see the works of some of the big names in the industry, Daniel Libeskind, Jean Nouvel, Arik Levy, Patricia Urquiola, Zaha Hadid, Steven Holl, Massimiliano Fuksas, though I missed the ones by Karim Rashid, Tom Dixon, and my favorite Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec.

I used to put myself more on a conventional and traditional side having a self prevention to not fall into the stream of technology and gadgetry, but I guess in the past two years I've seen changes as I began to put a lot of admiration on motion graphic and electronic music. Having said so, of all that's happening on the events, what fascinated me most is the use of light, not in a conventional way but combining with advance technology and materials it created ambience which I think couldn't be transferred on pictures but only by being there feeling the nuance. But here's some of my attempts capturing.


Milan as a city didn't fascinate me the way Perugia does naturally, but as an escape to a more design-conscious environment, it served me well.

poetic flowers

Japanese architecture graduate designer Norihiko Terayama's treatment of flowers is simply wonderful.
 

They are actually rulers. Very classy.

objectified: design dissolving in behavior

Objectified is a must watched documentary about industrial design, about human's relationship with manufactured objects and the people who design them. Big names like Dieter Rams, Jonathan Ive, Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, Karim Rashid, and Paolo Antonelli are enough to made me want to watch it first time I heard about it, not to mention many others big inspiring names.

The movie opens with a narration about the goal of industrial design which has always been mass production. One of the earliest examples was the emperor of China at the time of war. One of his problem was that each of his own archers made their own arrows. So if one archer died, others couldn't grab the arrows from his quiver because it didn't fit his bow. So the emperor came up with the solution of mass producing the arrows so that each arrow would fit any bow.

There are too many important points from the movie that it would be pages long if I write all of them. Like when Jonathan Ive explains about the process of manufacturing a macbook, how they spent most of the time thinking about how to make the fixtures to make the design into realization. Or how people mostly don't realize that each object, even a very simple one like toothpick, was design with thoughts behind it. We often take everything around us for granted.

Would definitely have watch this again. Oh, and it was actually the second movie by Gary Hustwit, who also made Helvetica, the documentary about typography (obviously), graphic design and visual world. And also Urbanized, a documentary about the design of cities and the issues behind urban design and architecture. I so have to watch these two.

furniture factory

Lucas Maassen has employed his 3 sons, Thijme (9), Julian (7) and Maris (7). His Sons are responsible for the paint job of the furniture which is build in the factory. They get paid 1 Euro for every piece of furniture they paint. As agreed by the contract they signed.

Due to Dutch child labour laws it is only possible for Thijme, Julian and Maris to work for 3 hours a week. As a result of this the production speed has became a crucial factor in the process. Time limitations are set, they contribute to the typical LM&S aesthetics.

Now seriously. HOW awesome is this? The idea. The execution. The video. The stills. Totally the most brilliant thing you can come up with having three boys in the house.

true urbanpark

Been quite a while since I posted things related to my day job. So here's one. This is TRUE Urbanpark which I happened to visit on Bangkok with my office mates. I think out of all style I mostly click with a bit retro-ish style, specially on furniture, which is why this setting on the first image here appealed to my eyes. (That's not light fixtures there but sound tubes).

We were greeted by this 3x10 metes board which is actually an analog flipping dots of two colors, black and red (not a digital display). It changes every other minute while we're there. And it can display various messages. See the flipping one here. Definitely one of the coolest stuff. It's analog!! And this was definitely what dragged us to take a peek inside the store.

Well it's not just a store actually. True is one of the biggest Thai network provider of mobile and fixed telephone lines and some other digital stuff. So this place is more like a place to hang for the digital community these days. There are lounge chairs with the tubes (above photo), coffee shop, mobile shop, internet stations, bookshop which also sells cool records, and also there's a flower shop serves at the front side.

I love the dark cozy ambiance which totally creates the mood. But really, talking about this kind of thing whether it's architecture or interior design, photos really can't do any justice. You really have to experience the space and the awesome feeling of being there.

I couldn't point out my bulky dslr here, so photos posted are courtesy of the designer, a Thai architectural firm, Duangrit Bunnag Architect Limited (DBALP), taken from their flickr account.

less, but better

Dieter Rams, a German industrial designer, born 1932, studied architecture as well as learning carpentry, well known as the chief of design of the consumer products, Braun.

His ten principles of good design:

1. Good design is innovative

2. Good design makes a product useful

3. Good design is aesthetic

4. Good design makes a product understandable

5. Good design is unobtrusive

6. Good design is honest

7. Good design is long lasting

8. Good design is thorough, down to the last detail

9. Good design is environmentally friendly

10. Good design is as little as design as possible

His works and principles have been the influence in the works of Jonathan Ive, the Senior VP of Industrial Design at Apple, Inc. In fact, Rams himself stated that Apple is the only company designing products according to his ten principles. Everyone has been worshipping Steve Jobs for the success for Apple products, but often forgot, like Rams said, that good design normally can only emerge if there is strong relationship between an entrepreneur and the head of design. Even Jobs himself said, my favorite quote of his btw, that technology alone is not enough. Credit goes to Ive, who, unlike the charismatic Jobs, are often describes by the people who has worked with him as the quite and shy, humble and sweet, soft-spoken man, but hard-working, brilliant and confident. Paola Antonelli, senior curator of architecture and design for MoMA, said she knows "hardly anybody that is so universally loved and admired" as Ive. And he's famous for his privacy, he rarely gives interviews. Even Apple doesn't have the precise date of his birthday. Now that is someone worth idolizing. Haha.

ps. More of Dieter Rams on my favorite blog

ps2. Comparison between Rams' and Ive's

ps3. Images from das programm

ps4. Title is the famous phrase Rams described his design approach

hola

So, blog's up again, new skin again, hehe. This time I'm keeping it even more simple, cutting out every unnecessary elements. Some will be on their own separate page which can be browsed from sidebar. Search box is actually there provided by blogger on navbar which will be visible if you hover through the very top of page above the header. Keeping the sidebar fixed cause sometimes I think scrolling down the page feels so dull and out of proportion without the sidebar.

And I finally parted with my previous ugly blog title. Heheh. This one's part of a line on the movie, Million Dollar Baby. It would be more romantic if I say it's taken from my favorite movie, or song, or anything. Well the movie's great but it's not really a favorite, I just happened to like the line which suggests a somewhat nihilism, something that ain't exact yet saddening. Well I can change it anytime since it's not the url, so no big deal.

The initial plan was to use my handwriting as the header and sidebar navigators instead of using fonts, but tablet's not working and I'm too lazy to do any retracing, so this will do for now.

ps. label cloud's on sidebar currently not working, will go back to it later.

rethorical

"How many architect have interest in graphic design?"

so I was asked.

cottons floating on the sky

Finally changed my header. The latest one is a photo taken during this weekend vacation.

Never I explain about this blog title, it sounds corny to me right now, but whatever, too lazy to think of others.

pixel art + the 8bit magic

You know, I've been adooooring pixel art since I knew about it. And, just in case you haven't know about this band, YMCK, who combined pixel art with an 8bit sound of music. You know, like the kinda music you heard on the oldies video games like Game Boy. You really should give it a try. Here's one.

letterpress namecard

I've been adoring letterpress as a gorgeous printing technique. And here's one of the namecard that I like most by dolcepress.

iso50 ?

Been enjoying share some candy, where you could find a lot of artsy inspiration. Like this one. The post linked to the original site, iso50, which has coolll vintage posters and stuffs. Noted that it is by an Artist (slash) Musician, which is very cool! Aren't this an awesome combination, a vintage device, millimeter block, typo, and of course the tones! Seen lotta vintage devices at my office, gotta photograph em better tho.