Thursday, February 4, 2010

sabah sunday market

sabah sunday market - a space where most chinese congregates on a sunday morning.
just got back from sabah which was a refreshing trip for me. One of the days in Sabah, chunkeat and i dropped by at a shaded cafe which faces a very interesting corner of the market. love how the vegetation crawled around the trusses of the shadings, the trees in between the buildings, the seatings, the potted plants as well as the red umbrellas.

didnt get to finish my sketch because was called into the bus.

table top

one thing that fascinates me always is how messy-ness could actually turn into art. Messy-ness vs tidy-ness. Messy is a better word to describe me. Messy is carefree. As for architecture , i believe tidyness would be a better word for us to practice with. Tidy plans are way better than messy plans. Tidy sketches vs messy sketches, i'm a bit of this and that.

sketched this way back in beijing where my table top is stuffed with many things : books, guide books, toilet rolls, vitamines, hair conditioner, bags, food and boxes.

beijing-winter visit

temple of heaven is one of my favorite building in beijing, as it looks as if it is in the heaven with it dominating the skyline without any landscapes or other building around it. I described this to one of my sister in church but she didnt quite get it, probably this could only best explained by visiting it yourself!
i visited the birdnest. Though this iconic building has been both praised and criticised by many, i cant deny that it does fascinates me at some point, although sometimes i wonder why they need foreign architects to design instead of the local architects!
the forbidden city is really huge and magnificent. I am truly awed by it and vowed to study more about chinese architecture and how it developed. The building itself is a great history and i was very impressed how the architects as well as the government gone so far to restore and conserved the building. There are 2 schools of thoughts : to spent money on new architecture or to spent money on conserving old architecture. There are great debates on this. For one, cultural and heritage architects strongly feels that heritage architecture should be well preserved for younger generation and are of great value. UNESCO, for instance has spent great sum of money to preserve historical buildings as well as site.

On the other hand, there are also some young and new architects that feel that old buildings should give way to odd and modern architecture which explore more on form rather than the site context itself. This is, however, covered by their explanation on how the building could sustain itself. There are different ways of tackling this issue, depending on how we think. Birdnest may be very a little contradicting to the land of China which is previously well symbolised by its regional architecture, Nowadays, China is represented by the Birdnest. Many years later, people might go as far as they could to preserve the birdnest.


School of thoughts change as time changed. History continues to develope. What happens today becomes a history in the future. So does the trend of architecture, that's why there are many periods of architecture. The timeline continues, so does the style of architecture continues to develope. We need to move forward gracefully, in terms of transforming the style gracefully in regards of context and environment, not just of pride and vain. In my point of view, practical can be humble and lovely. Comfortable and clean design is favoured. Overdesign is pride and self-centred.


beijing-winter

i enjoy sightseeing in the bus in beijing, although most of the time i see withered trees. It is a poetic sight indeed especially during late afternoons, the withered trees are kissed by the gentle ray of sunlight.
the sight outside the bus window pane inspired me to sketch to record it. Sketched using charcoal pencil.
somesights i saw in beijing are just amazing, which i greatly missed. The hutongs, the people, the food, the coldest winter, the language and the culture. To date, it might be the best place i have visited so far.

日本の子供

i'm always fascinated by humans. every gesture seems to be interesting. while cameras could very well capture moments, i think that sketching brings more personal feeling to the picture itself.


Sketch this when i was waiting my flight to Beijing, China last year, November at the LCCT, Kuala Lumpur. The japanese father has 6 kids who looks identical by their mushroom hairstyle. They are very playful and cute.

my first attempt of life sketching after so many years of hiatus after leaving limkokwing university.