daniel svahn pallarna

"Daniel Svahn brought the concept of Chinese Whispers to the designing of his Pallarna (Swedish for stools). He took an image of Jacobsen’s ‘Seven’ chair and wrote a description of it without explicitly saying it was a chair. Another designer then sketched a design based on his text. A third designer wrote a text based on that image which was passed to a fourth to draw it. ‘Each step created variations and produced a final design that I might not have come up with myself,’ says Svahn. ‘The shape took off based on different interpretations so it was an intensely shared process.’ "
wallpaper graduate directory 2010

It would be interesting if he had also made the chair that was sketched by the second designer and placed them along side the Jacobsen 7 series chair which was the starting point. The design process plays on the idea of multiple (mis)interpretation and using the limitations of text into an exploratory tool, which in itself is intriguing, but in this case, the execution might have been more provocative if the concept was pushed a little further by repeating the steps a few more times, resulting in a more drastic departure from the original, perhaps letting it transform into another type of furniture or even into something outside the realm of a functional object.

daniel svahn
wallpaper graduate directory

menya shinchan

Menya Shinchan is a small ramen house located at a discreet spot in a little yard off the main pedestrian street at Robertson Quay, a spot I always think of as the armpit of Robertson Quay or if I were to be asked for directions to the place, I would say it is "somewhere near the toilet" and people fairly familiar with the sanitary geography area would almost immediately understand. Personal hygiene aside, I have not noticed the shop until a friend pointed it out to me one evening on our way for some drinks (while waiting for another friend who was using the toilet! haha!).

The shop sits beside a Thai restaurant (which is pretty excellent by the way) facing the yard, its full glass shop windows plastered with homemade signs and menu board, modestly proud, like a small family business. The interior is a little sparse but warm, almost charming. The space is wide and shallow with the kitchen at the back, sceened with more homemade signs and short fabric curtains. Counter seating line the exterior side of the kitchen with stacks of bowls, utennsils and condiments placed in front of diners. Tables for 4 fill up the rest of the dining area, save for the cashier counter near the door. The mood is reminiscent of the cramped ramen shops in Tokyo but the scale is palatial in comparison, and perhaps, lacking little buzz of after-work chatter or the excitement of the cook flinging hot ramen into bowls of hot soup right in front of you.

I ordered the shoyu pork bone sinjiro ramen expecting a typical bowl of ramen, perhaps a slightly tweaked version with a signature twist or some secret stock. But it turned out to be a a bowl piled high with a heap of blanched cabbage and bean sprouts drizzled with a bit of soya sauce. The egg and chashu were lined at the side, leaning against the mountain of cabbage. My first thought was" where are the noodles?!", which prompted my next course of action which was to start excavating the mountain. Like a hidden pot of gold, the noodles were buried at the bottom, I almost had to overturn the pile of greens to find it. The noodles were not the typical ramen noodles but thicker and more chewy, similar to something one might find in prawn soup noodles or fishball noodles in Singapore. The shoyu pork bone stock was robust in flavour with a film of oil floating on top giving the stock a little aromatic boost. The cha-shu at the side was unimaginably tender, literally dissolving with the press of the tongue in your mouth. The egg, though, was somewhat disappointing with the yolk fully cooked. A well cooked liquid centre egg, to me, is essential to the ramen experience. The ramen was also served with chopped garlic which I had forgotten to add, as I dove straight into the noodles (or rather, trying to find the noodles).

This particular style of the ramen was not something I am familiar with. A little research revealed that this style is in fact a version of the well known Ramen Jiro of Tokyo. While quite a handful of franchise Ramen Jiro shops can be found in Tokyo, all of their lineage can be traced to the Mita Honten (三田本店) in Mita, catering to the hoards of hungry students from Keio University with their hearty portions. Sinjiro 新二郎 in fact means new jiro, its provenence of the style undoubtable.

The serving portion at Menya Shinchan (as at Ramen Jiro) is, at the risk of sounding sexist, very manly, but if you happen not to have the appetite for a full porion of the sinjiro ramen, Menya Shinchan serves a smaller version called the madame sinjiro ramen, for people with more petite stomachs.

menya shinchan
30, robertson quay
riverside view #01-05

holl in herning

Lying on the flat landscape of Herning, is the recently completed Herning Center of the Arts designed by Steven Holl. Resembling a pile of white shirt sleeves, it forms a counterpoint to the old Angli shirt factory sitting across the street., which is shaped like a dark grey shirt collar. The "sleeves" are interwined and forms the roof of the building, draping over the spaces within, forming a convex underbelly that is reminiscent of Jørn Utzon's Bagsværd Church and the Kuwait National Assembly.

However, the most in triguing part of the building, for me, is the wrinkled concrete surface found on the exterior of the building. Created by inserting fabric tarps into the formwork in which the fresh concrete is poured - allowing the concrete to take the shape of the creases and folds created by the tarp, the wall yields a kind of softness that is hard to create using conventional casting techniques.The quality is fabric like and visually soft, uncharacteristic for concrete; the tactile nature of the wall begs the visitor to touch it, to verify its materiality. There is an element of chance involved in its creation; neither the builders nor the architects have total control of exactly what the surface would eventually look like till the formwork of the concrete has been removed. They can only set the condition in which the surface is formed, almost like playing a surrealist game.

More about the building here and here.

some lang

reminding myself how awesome pre-Theory Helmut Lang was (and still is), some detail pictures from his shows in 03 that I came across on while forum surfing. it is startling how little the design of the pieces have aged, if at all.

aesop store singapore

"In our Singapore store, thirty kilometres of coconut husk string, a regional product, was used to construct a dynamic whole-ceiling light fixture. When combined en mass, the seemingly insignificant threads mesmerise and remind one of airline magazine flight maps."

“Geography, climate and light all inform which path we take with our design decisions. For Singapore, we referenced the humble ball of twine with which we wrap and detail our gift boxes. The entire store is framed with meticulously detailed grids that suspend twine from the ceiling. The idea is to work with a sombre material palette in an unexpected way. We’ve used coir matting as carpet and marine plywood to detail our storage units which conceal a palette of Corbusier-inspired coloured wall panels.”

Designed by Melbourne office March Studio, in collaboration with Aesop director, Dennis Paphitis, the new Aesop store in Singapore at Millenia Walk is a great departure from the typical cool and clinical Aesop store interiors. Applied across the whole ceiling, the dangling strings diffuses the light emitting from the naked bulbs nestled within, casting a warm glow onto the simple interior space. The deep fuzziness of the ceiling fixture visually lowers the height of the space, bringing it to a level that is more appropriate for the floor area, forming a flatter spatial proportion that is more pleasant and intimate. Maintenance issues aside, the result is decidedly modern and powerful for such a small space, creating a kind of visual tactility (or physical if you are tall enough) and restrained sensuality that you do not often find in many of the flamboyantly patterned architectural surfaces that are all the rage right now.

underscore : the _ issue

Local design collective, HJGHER, launches Underscore, an independent semi-regular publication with each issue based around a single thematic focus. With contributions from writers around the world (including our friend shan), the theme of the first issue circles around the idea of Honesty, Integrity, Quality and Authenticity. What underlies the whole project is the love of print and typography with great care taken in the layout, typeface (the one used for the titles was specially designed for the publication) and paper stock, as can be seen in the magazine launch exhibition at Asylum which displayed mock-ups, draft pages, thumbnails and other scraps describing the process of putting the first issue into print.

The vibe is vaguely monocle-esque with same attention to presentation and luscious tactile feel; the content is equally off-beat but lacking the unreal optimism of the Monocle spirit.

s$15 www.theissuemagazine.com

osvaldo

Housed in the corner of a refurbished 1940s Customs House, now known as Maxwell Chambers, Osvaldo is family style Italian restaurant owned and run by Chef Osvaldo Forlino, formerly of the Forlino Restaurant at the Fullerton, which still uses his name. Having left Forlino, he wanted to put behind formal high end cuisine and do something simpler and closer to his heart. The food at Osvaldo is best described as rustic and down-to-earth. There is no overwrought plating or presentation, just honest food with excellent ingredients.

Entering the restaurant through the door which was once the main entry to the building facing the junction of Maxwell Road and Shenton Way, the whole restaurant comes into view. Seperated onto 2 split levels (probably pre-exisiting and not by design), the space is large with high ceiling but at the same time intimate and welcoming. Littled with Chef Osvaldo's collection anitque furniture, the decor is simple and rustic, if a little nonchalant and haphazard (in an endearing and homely way).

In between tending the kitchen, Chef Forlino can be seen going from table to table casually chatting with patrons, explaining the food and checking if everything is alright. As this was our first proper meal at the restaurant (I have been to the restaurant previously but only for a quick but excellent pasta during lunch time),we spoke to Chef Forlino who offered to arrange for an assortment of items for the table to share.



Having no idea which items we were going to be served, the meal began with a food train of antipasti. We were served a total of 7 antipasti which includes bell pappers stuff with tuna mayo, russian salad, bresaola, cold cuts platter, fresh anchovies, bruschetta and buffalo mozarrella.

The anti pasti were mostly excellent, perhaps with the exception of the russian salad which was a little like what you might get as part of lunch in some cafeteria. The bruschetta was particularly outstanding, the sweetness of the diced tomato highlighted with olive oil and basil. The waiter, when he served the Bruschetta, quipped, "can make at home!". The simplest food allows the natural falvour of the ingredients to be expressed but also requires the use of good ingredients as the lack of flavour cannot be masked by seasoning.

After the antipasti, we were served 3 pastas to be shared. Firstly, it was the Piemonte agnolotti with veal shank sauce. Stuffed with bacon, the pillows of agnolotti were bursting with the smoky goodness of bacon, which was complemented by the lightness of the veal sauce. The second one was the home made tajarin with squid ink sauce. I usually do not order squid ink pasta but I rather enjoyed this one. The last and my favorite one was the tagliatelle with wild boar ragout. This dish is simply tagliatelle tossed with minced pork in broth, basically an Italian bak chor mee. I am partial to flat pastas but the winner in this dish for me is the pork ragout which was so full of flavour. All the pastas were perfectly cooked, firm with a bit of bite.

Being rather gluttonous that day, we ordered the lamb shank which was recommended by the waiter who had served us earlier. The meat on the lamb shank, together with the gelatinous tissue around the joint, slid off the bone with a slight pull of the fork, tender and juicy (melt-in-your-mouth, to use the food blogger cliche), with the sprig of rosemary scenting every bite.



We rounded off the meal with a trio of desserts, which perhaps were rather disappointing. The more interesting one was the ice cream spaghetti which was strings of vanilla ice cream served with strawberry syrup. Someone commented it tasted like Wall's ice cream in a good way, but I found the sweetness rather flat. My favorite was unexpectedly the meringue sandwich with just a dollop of cream in the centre, creating a nice contrast in texture and sweetness.

Using locally sourced fresh ingredients and from the Forlino family farm in Italy, Osvaldo serves up uncomplicated food that tingles the tastebuds without try too hard. There is an inherent honesty that permeates beyond the food into every element of the restaurant, from the casual atmosphere, the charming but not overthought decor and the professional service. The outstanding front of house staff played a particularly important part in crafting the experience at Osvaldo. Ample knowledge of the food served and sincere recommendations, coupled friendly banter, are not something that is easy to find in Singapore restaurants; it's like being hosted in a friend's home. The idea of a cosy neighbourhood Italian restuarant serving home style Italian food is perhaps still a rather foreign concept in Singapore, but Osvaldo has scored very high marks in my books.

Osvaldo
Unit 03, 01/F
Maxwell Chambers
32 Maxwell Road

the burj

A view from the highest built point in the world, the tip of the spire of the Burj Dubai. The surrounding land, the new "downtown Dubai", acquires a Google Earth like quality. The city is seen from a god-like perspective, detached yet with startling but false sense of clarity. The city can be observed in its entirety but with poor definition. The scene is static, like a photograph frozen in time, any sense of life is projected, imagined. The flatness of the land emphasized, devoid of natural terrain; the surrounding buildings dwarfed and distant, viewed like a Sketchup model plonked onto google earth, seen with an unnatral and unlikely angle. The immensity of the building has pushed it far beyond the threshold of being a tightly interwoven part of the city. To manyit will be the new icon of Dubai, one of pure bigness. Like a rupture in the urban fabric, the burj is a city in its own and on its own, one can only look out from it or look at it.

braided sweater 1983

This braided knit sweater would not look out of place if it appeared on the runway today for the current fall/winter collection or even the next fall/winter collection. Looking like a cross between SNS Herning and Fabric Interseasons, it is actually from the comme des garcons fall/winter 1983 collection, looking as relevant (perhaps irreverent) today as it was more than 25 years ago. There is a sense of timelessness, but not of the kind one would normally associate with classic lines and simplicity, and being able to fall within the narrow and constantly shifting bounds of social and aesthetic conventions over time. Timelessness, in this case, is achieved by operating at the margins of or beyond these conventions, outside the realm of trends (but I must caution that there is a fine line between this and being purely wilful and irrelevant). The clutch of simplicty is shrugged off and the garment, rich in expression but decidedly undateable, bears the ability, and indeed demands, to be revisited time and again.

bape singapore

Had a little WTF moment when I saw this while walking down Orchard Road last night. This impending arrival of A Bathing Ape in Singapore has taken me a little by surprise, having heard no news about its opening before chancing upon it (I pride myself on being updated with the local retail scene), and the choice of the location in a shopping arcade along a major shopping street. The popularity of Bape has waned considerably since its height during the early 2000s, especially in Japan where it no longer has the same cred nor mystique as it once had; and it is making moves into markets where there is still a somewhat behind-the-curve following.

While I have no interest in the products nor do I associate with the culture surrounding the brand, I do enjoy, in a detached way, the interiors of the various A Bathing Ape stores designed by Wonderwall which I assume will be doing the Singapore store too.

Further down the road, a uniqlo megastore will open at 313somerset in a couple of weeks, which I am also hoping to be designed by Wonderwall who has done the New York flagship and the london Oxford Street stores.

chloe early: clouded apollo

a riveting mashup of images and textures, Chloe Early's latest gallery juxtaposes urban housing blocks, tanks, and bodies sprawled out. her work on perspex is particularly compelling, introducing an element of translucency to each piece, a texture she exploits along with her palette of rough paint scrapings and drips. the aluminium pieces were slightly less convincing, losing the tight mesh of narrative.


i especially liked the printed urban landscape cutting into the painted space - the stark, looming blocks sticking through. there were prints for sale as well, also with the same urban motifs, but they felt different...



image on the right is a work-in-progress of the piece above it.

'Clouded Apollo' at the StolenSpace gallery,
Nov 5 - 29