Sheng Xian Ong
小弟! 没有人这样做! 这并不意味着你不能这样做
(Nobody does it this way, doesn’t mean we cannot do it this way)
As a designer, I believe that design is a tool that allows us to change the way we interact with our surroundings and environment. I am interested in exploring the way we experience our everyday spaces around us and constantly questions the preconception of how our cities should be. In the field of design, the term temporary or transient architecture speaks the way I am driven in my design in how we challenge the way we live, play, and work.
Hence, in my personal project, Transition; Connectivity in Little India, begins by questioning the possibilities of slowing down in our everyday spaces and I chose to explore this through transitional spaces. I have chosen to explore the subject in three parts and to focus on the different moments between the journey from one’s arrival to their destinations. The site chosen is Little India.
Part One seeks to investigate opportunities for design in the train station through the lens of the Indian design motif, Kolam. In Part Two, I looked into the streets of Campbell Lane in Little India to investigate how it could bring the different stores together in creating both inviting and intimate space. Lastly, Part three looks into how Indian architecture could influences the existing stores both architecturally and spatially.
Kolam
Arrivals; Rethinking Entrance Spaces
Kolam is an explorative installation design project which uses the design motif of Kolam as the starting point to begin my design . As the nature of the train station is a place where we spend about 3-5 minutes to get from the entrance of the next destination in the platform and takes about 10-15 seconds to notice our surrounding in fragments. The design concept seeks to investigate the opportunities in the train station with the understanding of the site context and how can I enhance the experiences in the train station. In addition capturing the hint of life of the places such that to allow both tourists and locals to know their whereabout through the design motif and displaying the different cultural values and identity of the place
Prologue of Transitional Spaces
A video capturing the elements of transition spaces such as Lights, Shadow, Patterns and the Colours. This idea of transition spaces is seen from the perspective of philosopher, Donald Winnicott and terminologies of transition in Indian Architecture
Courtyard Street
Journey; Staging of Street Experiences
Courtyard Street is an urban planning design project which uses the understanding of Indian Architecture and its emphasis of courtyard in its spatial planning. The project looks into the streetscape of Campbell Lane in Little India. Streets are often a place for people to walk through to their next destination. Hence, it has little to no emphasis on the design of the street. The design concept seek to rethink about the potential of our everyday streets through the used of courtyards to bring both people and its environment together. In the vast range of ideas of the courtyard, intimacy and connectivity are the key focus of this project.
Sunday Home
Destination; Reimagining Architecture of Dwelling
Sunday Home is an interior architecture design project which uses the understanding of design methodologies of Indian Architecture and its architects such as Studio Mumbai, Raj Rewal and Spasm Design Architects. This project is a continuation of part 2 as in the design process, I realised that the exterior is largely influences by its interior. The design concept is influenced by three elements that I have extracted from the studies of Indian Architecture; the relationship between the interior and exterior, the light and the air. The project also questions the framework of the studies of traditional science of dwelling. Lastly, the design questions on the possibilities of the existing programming to serve as a form “Home” for the foreign workers from India as a place for communal activities such as dining and resting in the place
