Have not been able to shake off my sense of dramatics-
Guy Debord, leader of the Situationists International, warned of the 'Spectre of the Spectacle'- where one work of art inspires its own set of reproductions and is copied over and over again, further distancing us from the real experience.
Showflats, a space where 'apartment living' or quite often, 'aspirational living' is re-created, have de-generated into copies of one another. It's the same, frozen look with fake books lining the shelves, plush furry upholstery decidedly unsuitable for our tropical climates, lots of leather, plenty of mirrors working around the dictum of mirrors=illusion of more space, ambient lighting and a set temperature conducive to the showflat-shopping process.
At the other extreme, I've seen showflats that try to break away from the mould by having dangerously curvy staircases- helmed by rough ropes- to the second floor, unwieldy pieces of art in the centre of what is an ultimately small space and a minimum of plush toys(cushions/tiny roll blankets/roll pillows).
My objections with showflats, beyond that unrealistic re-creation of what 'living' is supposed to be like, is their increasing like-ness to each other. It's become a polished, professional way of engendering more sales, along with bland brochures, silly tv ads of happy families engaged in some activity convenient to the development.
If we're going to pariticipate in a system where experiences are mediated by images, could they at least not be tiresome copies of one another?
The Specter of the Spectacle-Re-creating Simulacra
Lofts as a state of mind
I know that in my early days in real estate, I advertised an 'apartment with the feel of a converted warehouse loft'- and all it meant was a brand new penthouse within an edgy, fashionable development that generously inculcated the use of perforated steel on its staircases leading to the roof terrace as well as the flooring of the roof terrace(that means that from the staircase you'd be able to see 30 floors down!)
Remember one really cool potential tenant responding and I had to explain to him that, as far as I knew, we didnt have loft coversions(yet), although I wouldnt be surprised that we would sometime 'in the near future'.
I hardly advertise in the mainstream media nowadays but have always wondered on how the term 'lofts' have that great effect of adding that much needed boost of 'cool' to an otherwise stodgy apartment. An ad in the real estate section that reads- '1 bedroom shophouse with loft and roof terrace' seems to have a lot more potential than
'2bedroom shophouse. well renovated'. At least it does to me. While sometimes the 'loft' doesnt quite live up to expectations- the apartment actually turning out to be a rather stodgy get-up, the 'loft' space remains a rather intriguing feature in the real estate market.
While 'lofts', strictly speaking, used to be the chic bohemian habitat of the proverbial starving artist, the ensuing gentrification of these neighbourhoods successfully edged out its very founders. While we see, within the local scene, black and white houses being re-created, the genre of loft apartments are increasingly taken to mean designer-outfitted, brand new developments with a rare, precious appeal to the young, moneyed set.(I know of at least one development in Dubai that sought to recreate the heavy, industrial metal doors, the exposed brick walls and stainless steel fittings within a brand new development).
Going around trying to see the 'potential' of various pieces of property in a day sometimes encourages one to identify distinctive features in certain developments that make it amenable to conversion for a certain type of property.
There is one development in Orchard- large unbits at 3500 or 4200sqft that I've always thought had the utmost potential for a 'loft-like' space(not loft-like as in high ceilings but the fluidity of space within an apartment). With exposed brick walls, large, inherently modern swivel doors, beautiful pine wood flooring- it'd be great to knock down all walls and patitions and create beautiful, seamless spaces- an open concept kitchen, toilets of full glass walls, bedrooms that are similarly distinhgihed only by glass walls peppered the occasional conspicuous lifestyle statement(a harp? a grand piano of lucite? a workout corner?) and in my mind- it's always sort of fantastic.
Philippe Starck finishings
When a real estate ad in a mainstream paper declares:'Philippe Starck finishing' ,
'modern loft' and 'zen minimalist apartment' become keywords /phrases that become part of real estate marketing jargon, possibly it's time to move on.
Judging by some of the apartments I've seen that were advertised as 'zen minimalist', there are some peculiar interpretations of the minimalist aesthetic out there.
We all know of the commercial sell-out of the enterprising Philippe Starck. Zen minimalism is somewhat 'done' but most of us still adhere to variations of it.
So in an industry where there is considerable jostling to be considered as an arbiter of taste- who gets to define what is 'cool' and what is not?
I once wrote an essay on the Foucauldian concept of the power/knowledge dichotomy and how it plays out in an industry unabashedly subjective(where the correlation between power and knowledge becomes considerably tighter and self-fulfilling).
Adherence to google's motto of 'don't be evil'- can be relatively difficult- sure, it's in my/our interests to be considered the arbiter of taste and to consequently sideline the rest as 'mainstream'. The design-conscious real estate scene is an industry that I would prefer to think of as a non-mainstream, marginalized segment of the real estate industry and according to Foucauldian logic, marginalized= not evil, although I sometimes wonder if today, niche, designer conscious markets(in real estate or otherwise) are exercising a tyranny all of their own through the perpetual documentation of what's fashionable and cool and what's a pathetic interpretation.
It's the tyranny of the (supposedly marginalized) powerful few over the mainstream public, which puts part of the Foucauldian logic on its head, doesn't it.
For all the above rantings, I'd probably be including a post where I (not-so-subtly)sniff at supposed mediocre interpretations of modern design and architecture.
The death knell of the en bloc purchase
Was that a little too dramatic? I was honestly surprised by the success of the en bloc process of Habitat 1- the development quite recently received a major facelift and now has an enivably sleek, modern pool area, a soignee entrance, huge swivel doors of glass with oak handles connecting the reception area to the pool and an incredibly happy guard sitting behind the lit onyx reception area(he has a streamlined, flat screen computer monitor via which he monitors the goings- on in the building). To me- the renovations were done a lot more tastefully and speaks more of haute condo living than most brand new developments that somehow evince a crass, copied interpretation of the fashionably contemporary 'modern' aesthetic.
And when I conducted my architectural tour as part of the Singapore Design Festival last year, we definitely made a stop for Habitat 1, where I remembered telling those who attended that, sadly, Habitat 2 has gone en bloc. Didn't think that it was quite logical for a condo with newly renovated grounds to go en bloc.
So another building with 'architectural pedigree', albeit a diluted one, is going to make way for a new development on downtown Orchard Rd and the architect for the building, Moshe Safdie, has been roped in as one of the architects for the IR project. Am not sure what I'll be having on the architectural tour next year- conservation housing is so 'done' and well-chronicled. Black and white houses?-we have coffee table books dedicated towards them. Possibly, in the midst of cashing in on the en bloc craze, Singapore's forgetting its modern architectural gems?
Should you be interested in taking the self-guided tour(a version of what we did for the Design Fest last year)- refer to this self tour guide.
The most interesting pieces of residential real estate
I've always had a mental list of THE coolest pieces of residential real estate on the Singapore market at any given time. This year, the list stands as such:
1. Moroccan shophouse
http://www.urbanespaces.com/a%20few%20inspirational%20homes.html
I can't imagine kids in that space- with its moody, exotic atmosphere, it somehow doesn't strike me as very kid-friendly. And possibly that adds to its 'cool' factor, in the way that Shiro, for its no-kids, no-walkins policy, is cool.
It's amazing how the Moroccan riad typology has been translated into the typology of the vernacular shophouse- how something so geographically removed can in fact be so similar.
2. A Moroccan riad-bungalow that I'm currently working on. Located on a hilltop location, with the central courtyard, three stories surrounding that courtyard, tipped by a loggia, with a roof terrace. An ongoing project:
15,100sqft of land, 8,500sqft of builtup. Asking price of $10.5m.
3. A Dutch colonial bungalow.
4. Sea Viewshttp://www.urbanespaces.com/large%20duplex%20with%20sea%20views.html
Get a bare canvas and renovate- I love those curvy walls and the seaviews it affords.
And 5500sqft in an apartment is some kind of luxury unto itself.
5. Apartments on Nassim- not for sale but are available for rental.
With a lift shaft that's decorated with chinois detailing and toile de jouy wallpaper (the chinois detailing is a recurrent theme on the main doors of the unit) and a ceiling of oakwood that recall a midcentury modern architectural style, a great balcony and excellent views of the houses around Nassim. It's a shame that it's not for sale- would be a fantasy to gut the place out and outfit it like a midcentury modern apartment.
Will keep updating this thread as we go along- could be a jaded palate but I can't seem to add more to the list.
What is it with a Black and White?
I've previously made a post on black and white houses in Singapore. Similarly, I've dedicated a page to the whole genre on the previous version of my website:
http://www.urbanespaces.com/black%20and%20white%20bungalows%20in%20singapore.htm
I think it cost me the rights to use a trip-hoppy(??) Moroccan song for my website- apparently the recording company was under the impression that my website somehow glamourises or endorses the colonial era and refused to have any association with me/us through allowing their song to be used on the main page of the site. Not even a 1,500word(!!) email explaining what I meant could rectify the damage.
Anyway... what is it with a black and white. Most times- the demand(especially for centrally located, well renovated units) exceed the supply and the waiting list is conceivably very long.
While it's not unknown for families to simply give up on black and whites after living in them for a while and trade in the old black and white for a modern house or apartment living, there is still a considerable fanbase for black and whites in Singapore; even amongst the newcomers here.
Some reasons I think black and whites remain popular:
1. Huge amount of land. WHO gets 100,000odd square feet of land in Singapore?
2. Huge amount of land= luxurious long driveways
Huge amount of land= Great parties
Huge amount of land= Huge playground for kids and dogs
3. The monochromatic colour scheme and architectural lines make it a favourite of designers and architects.
For those looking for well renovated black and white houses, register your interest with us- drop us a note from our contact page on www.urbanespaces.com
Recently there has been an increasing number of private home owners who try to recreate the black and white house on their plots of land. Some other private home owners, meanwhile, go on to subdivide the plots of land that the black and white sits on, restores the black and whites and then put it up on the market for sale. The black and whites are typically the first ones to sell in the batch.
UrbaneSpaces is currently marketing a few privately owned black and white houses(or variations of it) for sale. These include- tudor cottage homes, a Dutch colonial hilltop bungalow(interiors to be done by one of Singapore's foremost architects),
an Australian plantation home, discretely located in a hilltop location and true black and white houses in the vicinity of the Botanical Gardens.
How Conservation Got its Groove Back
Tacky- sounding title that but conservation efforts have been given an entirely new facade with new developments that have incorporated conservation buildings within the development.
Technically a necessity(since it's a conserved building you can't raze it down and that conserved building happens to sit squarely on your coveted plot of land..), developers have been quick to turn the conserved building into a distinctive marketing advantage.
It probably first started with Spring Grove- the old American ambassador's house was converted into a clubhouse. The trend is becoming more evident now, with developments like Draycott 8(the colonial clubhouse is a major pulling factor and adds a decided atmospheric air to the development) and Nathan Place. The old house of Tan Sri Tan Chin Tuan(you would have noticed that glorious old colonial structure sitting in the middle of the Cairnhill Crest development) has similarly been incorporated by the developers- possibly as another clubhouse?
The trend is somewhat preceded by slightly older developments in Geylang and the East Coast, where old colonial houses have been compartmentalized into several houses, wirth apartments being built around it, or where a colonial house, retaining its old structure and garden, has simply been divided up into individual apartments.
The incorporation of the Peranakan conservation home within a development has been somewhat easier- with its convenient, terrace-like build, the incorporation of Peranakan shophouses had always been, to my opinion, an attempt at capitalizing on the novelty factor of Peranakan shophouses, particularly amongst locals who desire both the novelty of shophouse living and condominium facilities and foreigners who wish to purchase a Peranakan shophouse without the hassle of applying for approval to purchase.
The precedent:
http://www.urbanespaces.com/gorgeouscons.html
Trendy developments:
http://www.urbanespaces.com/eastcoastshophsefac.html
Beirut
Image Courtesy of Travelblog.org
I've always been a fan of Beirut- its charming architecture, the skiing resorts, nighttime walks along Raouche, tea at Paul's, the hip restaurants dotting Achrafieh, strolls through the main downtown square with its mosques and churches side by side that for some time, at least provided a facade of religious harmony, the cedar trees and the sight of happy schoolchildren in the Bekaa Valley; cheeks rosy conceivably from the mountain air-getting off their buses and heading home.
It's sad to hear of what's happening in Beirut. I would post some photos of Beirut here if I had them. Sadly, I've never been one to take photos and the ones that I do- have mostly been misplaced, lost or turned out blurred. I did not switch on the flash for photos of Yabani, the photo I had of a graffiti wall in khiam prison have been lost. Or possibly, I always thought that I could go back to Lebanon whenever I wanted(and photographs are just for places you never think you'd visit again).
As per Robert Fisk, 'pity the nation'- Lebanon's a low cost alternative to an actual war between the bigger players to the conflict(otherwise known as a proxy war). And as per the Lebanese president Fouad Siniora, (quoted from Roger Cohen, International Herald Tribune):'Lebanon is a wound kept open to bleed a little when it is in the interest of one of the parties'.
Courtesy of bloggingbeirut.com, below are the particulars for those looking to help with the humanitarian efforts in Beirut:
Due to the International War on Terror, donating to the wrong organization can land you in Guantanamo. To avoid a free trip to Cuba, here's a list of organizations that are safe to donate to from all countries (including the USA).
The Lebanese Red Cross
(updated)(confirmed)
Bank Details:
Account # 841500
Audi Bank
Bab Idriss
SWIFT: AUDBLBBX
Phone: +961 1 977588
FAX: +961 1 999410
(info as per bloggingbeirut.com)
- Did a check on the Lebanese Red Cross webpage- bank details are correct:
http://www.dm.net.lb/redcross/want_to_help.htm
Also check: www.donatelebanon.com