It’s finally here!

Hi peeps!

I will be hosting the blog and portfolio on themamak.com, sharing the server with a couple of friends. We’re still not-so-done with setting it up yet, but do go ahead to click around if you wish… I’m planning on upgrading LBA’s layout and my design portfolio, so please be patient as I work my wonders!

So there! LBA’s finally migrated. It will no longer be accessible via the WordPress URL in a couple of days.

So if you guys are still accessing LBA via the WordPress address, please update your links now: http://blog.liveebyarchitecture.com.

Thanks thanks! Have a great week!

You know you’re on Oxford Street…

…when even the street furniture’s gone kinky! Wooot~

Street furniture is an integral part of the urban landscape — they could be designed to merge with urban public spaces to achieve a harmonious environment by considering their sense of unity and identity. They should interact with its people, users… representing the different needs, different predilections…

Sydney’s Oxford Street has acquired a reputation as the city’s main gay district, and is closed to traffic annually for the famous Mardi Gras celebration. Oh well, there is definitely no doubt that the street furniture along this street embodies the uniqueness of the locality and its regular users.

North Sydney bus stops

It looks like the North Sydney’s CBD has forgotten to upgrade their bus stops…

How sustainable is that…?

For almost seven weeks now, the West Metro Studio has been researching and discussing TODs (Transit Oriented Developments). As self-proclaiming ‘intellectuals’ (yes, that will include architects/designers/planners), we pride ourselves in the consciousness, responsibilities and ethical considerations behind every decision we make in creating new buildings, places, cities…

I came across this in a forwarded e-mail recently:

Air conditioned bus stops in Dubai!
(Image from thecontaminated.com)

After so many crazy experiments and intense development Dubai has been through, I can already imagine some nature-loving environmentalists going “sheikh bashing” again. Yes it sure doesn’t look very environmental friendly at first glance, but what about the energy the cold-climate countries use to heat their bus stops? What about your car’s air conditioning system…? From this point of view, I’d say they could be equally as bad.

I guess if you look at this from a different angle, these are not as bad an idea as they may seem. Essentially, the whole concept of creating a TOD is to be more environmentally sustainable by switching from cars to public transportation, by converting drivers into commuters… Well, in an unfavorable weather condition, it is perhaps necessary to provide an artificial environment which will enable commuters to get to their destinations comfortably.

And of course there’s more to this equation — Is it worth it?

That, I do not know. I am not taking any sides just yet, and besides, at the moment I cannot say I’m a very “green” person heheh. But there are always two sides to every story. Well in this case I believe we have to consider the greater good.

Oh well! I just personally feel they could have done a better job designing that bus stop!

Sydney train stations

Hey peeps! Of course I am aware I haven’t updated for awhile now. Just a little pre-occupied with uni, as usual. Well after an incredible series of misfortunes in the past weeks, I’ve finally got myself (pretty much) back on track and I’m now passionately working on the West Metro Design Studio with the MUDD students in uni.

So I am sure some of you will not be too surprised to know that THIS is one of my recent interests:

TRAINS! Woooot~

Well I’ve got more work waiting so I’ve really gotta run soon. But for now, here are some photos of a few of the train stations (a little off the Sydney CBD) I’ve visited recently… The photos were taken collectively in the past month, so yeah, they’re quite up-to-date.

Parramatta Station

The Parramatta Station by Hassell, linked to the retail giant Westfield. My group’s currently working on revitalising the Parramatta CBD with a rail proposal for the city for the West Metro Design Studio. A lot of fun

St Leonards Station

I guess this project’s not as new as the rest, but here’s a photo anyway. The Forum Development by PTW creates a pleasant place for the community which lives/works there. Notice the Dubai-esque theme (with the palm trees and water feature) going on in the courtyard there..

Chatswood Station

New exciting interchange project, at the Chatswood Station by Cox, still under construction.

Can’t wait to see the development of these future retail areas (on the left). It will be interesting to see how shopping activities can feed in to the station’s livelihood when it’s all done, or vice versa. Btw more of the Dubai-esque trees here…

Milsons Point Station

Good ol’ Milsons Point Station, simply blessed by fantastic views of Sydney Harbour Just a stone’s throw from the ferry services.

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Alright that’s all for now guys, will try to update more often! Ciao.

Dateline urbanism

Like all other hosts, Beijing became a gigantic stage on Friday — a spectacle for one of the most celebrated triumphs of humanity, the Olympic Games. There has been a high-profile race, a rush, in the urban development of Beijing: “the auspicious 08/08/08″ became the dateline for the completion of new spectacular architectural icons, the subway system, and even for the urban experiment to clear up the hazy Beijing skies.

And it was indeed exciting, with all these developments as the backdrop for the fireworks on the opening night. How could it not be?! These are the projects that flanked the spreads of archimags over and over and over again in the past year. This dateline saw every inch of Herzog de Meuron’s Birds’ Nest finally complete and fully manipulated for show effects; the Water Cube grandly, but unfortunately not-so-tastefully, lit during the Opening Ceremony; OMA’s CCTV glass facade finally complete…

The GoogleMaps have been updated, go play with it!

View Larger Map

What’s next? Sure the event has changed the face of Beijing forever. The buildings look great on TV, and perhaps even on GoogleEarth. But what will happen after the Games? How can these developments contribute to the city and the country after the Olympic traffic is gone?

Preparations for the Olympic Games in Sydney eight years ago created a whole new suburb, major sports village with sports/expo facilities, and upgraded the city centre as well as many tourist sites. The main Olympic site — Homebush Bay — which once attracted hundreds of thousands of people during the Games, now falls short in its integration with the daily urban life of Sydneysiders.

It will definitely be interesting to see the post-Olympic effects of the Beijing sites in five to ten years time.

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P/s: Oh, the new Google Street View is worth trying out too!

Olympic fever

Oh yeah!!!

The dateline for the Beijing mega-projects is finally up. It is pretty hard to find time to update LBA when I am already struggling to catch up with the Games and assignments at the same time

Oh well, here’s a cute Coca-cola advert of the Bird’s Nest. These little creatures might just put Herzog de Meuron out of business, hehehe, enjoy!

Midweek walk

One of the things I really miss, every time I go back to KL, is walking.

Back home, nobody really walks. The longest walk most Malaysians take (on a daily basis) is possibly from their front door to the car, then from the car to the lift lobby, and then to their office desks. Vice versa. Anything that requires more walking, like shopping, is considered additional exercise.

I don’t know, perhaps this could be changing now with the fuel prices jacked up… But even so, KL doesn’t offer a very pleasant walking experience — the city was never really designed for pedestrians. Oh well!

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So I was taking a walk around Circular Quay and came across Caritas’ presentation for Blueprint for a Better World: The Millennium Development Goals and You in Customs House, possibly in conjunction with the World Youth Day.

Oh btw while many of my Malaysian and Singaporean friends came to Sydney for the WYD, I - being extremely sick of crowds (the crowd was crazy, or so I heard) - cleverly avoided every bit of it when I was back in KL. Muahahahaha!

People left little notes, joining the effort by making personal pledges towards a better world…

Some of these are actually mind-provoking and quite interesting to read, especially those by kids

Kids, nowadays… are becoming pretty much like mini-adults, just ALOT MORE creative.

Back to uni

Apologies.

Have been back in Sydney for almost a week now… simply couldn’t find the time to update.

The two weeks spent back home in KL was mostly spent in traffic jams, in shopping malls (It is the Malaysian Mega Sales till Sept 1st btw), and of course, EATING.

It was really good, finally spending some time with my family. (Please check later for photo updates) Missing all of them already

Thanks for the great time, and for being there for me all the time. You guys know who you are!

***

There was hardly enough time for me to catch up on the sleep I’ve been missing the past session. But here it is again: Time to get back to uni. It’s always weird, that never-ending loop — the architorturous yet enjoyable loop.

Oh well, a little too busy to blog right now. More entries after confirming on the courses I’ve enrolled in this session.  So till then, ciao!

P/s:
Oh btw, my blog is now accessible from http://blog.liveebyarchitecture.com/ Weeeeeeeeee~! My online portfolio is, errrr, still under construction. Will work on it, will work on it…

Updates

Sorry about my inactivity in LBA.

I’m home in Malaysia, the land of good food and interiorized urbanism:P

Updates later.