shutting up shop

'shutting up shop' is the title of a book of photos i encountered today - by John Londei, a UK-based photographer, who created this collection of portraits of tradespeople and their stores, all local small-time establishments that belong to that stream of forgotten trades and places. his project stretched over 17 years, beginning from 1973.

something in this work clicked with Susan Sontag's quote from a letter to jane (Jean-Luc Godard): "this photograph...is physically mute. it talks through the mouth of the text written beneath it."

in this case, Londei's subjects speak through his interview transcripts, in complete, anecdotal and nearly-nostalgic sentences. as anthropological documentation of a dying way of life, it is too sentimental; as story-telling, it is too systematic. and yet it works: i found myself pouring through the 60 sets of photos and text, including the afterword where Londei reports on the shops as they are today. most no longer in existence, some winding down due to financial pressures, others due to their owners' passing.

Woods&Woods x Work

A series of work wear created and presented in collaboration between Theseus Chan from WORK and Woods & Woods. Panels of fleece,waterproof cotton and woven plaid are put together to create pieces ranging from colour block blazers, shirt-jackets to carpenter pants and drop crotch shorts.

presented at 72-13 Mohamed Sultan Road

woods & woods fw09

Woods & Woods fw09
"Stranger than Fiction"
8th july
presented at 72-13 Mohamed Sultan Road

gldani

Came across these pictures of the Gldani housing in Tbilisi on the Social Housing after the Soviets blog. It documented the old Soviet social housing estate 20 years on after the fall of the Soviet Bloc. In some pictures, room extensions constructed in a variety of contrasting materials can be seen protruding from the utilitarian style slab blocks, some having balconies, some having bay windows and one with an overgrown plant spilling out of what might be a lush indoor garden. In another picture, the flat facade of the block is composed of a patchwork of different materials, with much of the original fenestration modified, some partially bricked to reduce the window opening (and probably creating a warmer room). Despite the variety of the modifications, the unspoken horizontal and vertical bounds of each individual unit is strictly adhered to and the structural integrity of the existing building is never compromised. There is a fine balance between private benefits and the public good. The ground floor too is being territorialized, with parts of it being partitioned and closed up into pockets of storage and garage spaces.

This post-occupancy modification of architecture expresses ideas of free will and individual choice, and also represents the shifting power relations between architects, end users and the authorities. Architects often,whether consciously or not, imagine new buildings as a finished products, with all needs and requirements fulfilled and future growth projected and accounted for. But very much like Barthes' dead authors, architects rarely have control during the post occupancy phase. Reality is complex and future outcomes are more often than not quite different from what we imagine. As much as the personal and irregular customization of the building is an affront to the ideology that the brutal Soviet style architecture represented, it is also a big Nelson Muntz "ha-ha" to the totality of the architect's grand and slightly delusional vision.

As much as I am excited by the vitality and ideas suggested by post-occupancy modification, I also relish the grotesque (in a good way) patchwork aesthetics of the trophic growth of the new volumes and textures, borne not of vanity but out of efficiency, economy and need; like an expanding colony of algae spreading out along the path of water dripping off the eave of a roof, or a creeper piercing through layers of old paint on a wall firmly grasping to the masonry underneath.

On the topic of organic growth, Kisho Kurokawa's Metabolist icon, the 1972 Nakagin Capsule Tower is falling into disrepair and faces demolition, its designed potential for organic expansion never utilized.

Social Housing after the Soviets

savoury ice creams

I've been toying with the idea of getting an ice cream machine recently, hoping to make some flavours that even the most adventurous of ice cream shops in Singapore are afraid to put out. In particular, the idea of a savoury ice cream intrigues me. This is not purely a wilful inversion of expectations, the concept is being explored by many in the culinary world right now. I've had a few encounters with savoury ice creams myself and they were mind boggling. Good and bad does not even suffice to descirbe or appraise those concoctions.

A friend whom I've been throwing food ideas around with, alerted me to a new ice cream stand at Skinny Pizza in Suntec City serving a selection of home made savoury ice creams. Skinny pizza, if you are not aware, is an off shoot of House and serves pizzas on a thin papadum crust (they serve excellent pizzas in y opinion though pizza purists might disagree). So the savoury ice creams really piqued our interest and we decided to go try it out. They had 3 flavours available which were parmesan pecan, truffled mushrooms and Mexcican chilli. The parmesan pecan ice cream had delightful bits of shredded parmesan cheese but some how it reminded me of a cheese cake more than anything else. The truffled mushroom ice cream wasn't quite the frozen mushroom soup I was expecting but I enjoyed the earthy rawness of the mushroom flavour. My favorite among the 3 was Mexican chilli which had a strong jalepeno note in the slightly sweet milk base, ending with a punch of heat at the back of the palate. I think the master's stroke was really the pizza crust cone. The saltiness and slight smokiness of the cone brilliantly complements the savoriness of the ice creams and with that, lifted itself from being the gimmick that I initially thought it was to being a vital component. It is also worthy to note that the ice creams did really well when used as a cold dip for the truffle fries that the place serves. The only general criticism I have for all 3 flavours is that the very discernable sweetness in the milk base detracts from the idea of a saoury ice cream, as if the creators were afraid to go all out savoury.

It turned out that they had only put out the ice creams a few days ago, though at a cursory glance,they did not seem to be popular among the patrons. We were the only people who ordered the ice creams the whole time we were there. I'm not sure if savoury ice creams have a future in Singapore but I sure hope that it will have a future in my home. Need to start saving up for that ice cream machine.

the ideal burger

I love burgers. The NY Times did an article a few days ago about the rise of the gourmet burger in the last decade or so and featured a few of the successful attempts by restaurants to ceate one. While the term "gourmet" might imply the use of expensive and fancy ingredients, the "ideal burger" really does not require such things like foie gras or truffle or some rare beer fed calf from japan. It is about keeping things simple, using basic but good quality ingredients and just as importantly, using proper techniques to prepare these ingredients properly. Every component should be made to count towards the burger as a whole, down to the cold, crunchy leaf of lettuce or the sweet and tangy slice of tomato.

The idea of a gourmet burger in Singapore, however, is a more recent phenomenon and I've had my fair share of them. Many have come and gone over the last few years, with some ridiculous attempts at gourmetifying the burger using over the top ingredients complete with obscene pricing (yes, I'm pointing at you, Uberburger). So which is the best gourmet burger in Singapore? My choice is definitely the Wild Rocket Burger. Thick juicy patty, rocket leaves, sun-dried tomato relish, lightly toasted bun. The burger used to be the signature sunday brunch item at Wild Rocket and served with diced potatoes fried in duck fat, but has since the opening of Relish (Wild Rocket's burger restaurant), this burger has become a permanent item on the menu, though served with rough cut fries.


NYTimes: the perfect burger and all its parts
NYTimes: elements of an ideal burger
Relish

urban narrative: croatia and slovenia

the perpetual narrative of urban movement was particularly strong this trip through croatia: starting from Zagreb, Split and Zadar in Croatia, and ending in Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia. reconstruction, conservation, redevelopment, gentrification - all present in the intimate spaces of the smaller Croatian cities and towns, some of which grew out of their old fortress walls, moving back inside during periods of conflict and instability.

in particular, Split's Diocletian's Palace proved to be a unassuming but vastly organic structure. although the Dalmatian capital quickly grew outwards from the palace walls, ensuing conflicts forced the city's inhabitants to claim sections within the old walls as their own, building houses that often used the original wall as their rear walls. following the establishment of the Republic of Croatia and the advent of tourism as a key industry, a large part of the original residents have now moved out of the old town, leaving the uneven stone walls to holiday apartments, cafés and art galleries.

conversely, today in Zadar the old city is being regenerated - locals who previously preferred to live outside the centre are creeping back into the refurbished buildings.