wang shu - architecture on zhongshan st

if you are searching for contemporary architecture in china i will suggest works by wang shu. he practices in hangzhou and is the prizker prize 2012 laureate. while i was in china i had the opportunity to see some of his works, namely the chinese academy of art and zhongshan st.

in particular, this photo dump / post is of a project situated in the historical area of hangzhou. the area contains markets, boutiques and restaurants, and many examples of traditional architecture. zhongshan st is located around this area, and was formerly a road that has recently gone through a renovation (urban regeneration to use a architect-y term) through converting a traffic passageway to a pedestrian only way. the project was carried out in between 2007 to 2009. It is unsure/unclear who did what part of the buildings or the design of the road, and i would say that it is unlikely that this is a solo project by wang shu. i also was told that there was little documentation on the project in books and also on the internet (i might be wrong on this though). the photos after the break are of zhongshan st and various buildings along the street especially the ones believed to have been designed by wang shu('s firm). the buildings i think were designed by him has the typical interesting use of materials, layering of tiles and wood that is typical of his work. in particular, a small house jutting out on top of some buildings, a bamboo structure named the exhibition hall of the imperial street of the southern song dynasty, and a weird gate made out of tiles and concrete, which i am very unsure as to what the structure really is for. the last three photos are before and after photos inside the exhibition hall, which i have included as it is very interesting to show how much the street has changed. the hall istelf also contains documentation, maps, and architectural model of the project.

shanghai travelogue - urban scenes

shanghai travelogue - the top of the currently tallest tower which is not going to be tallest for long

shanghai travelogue part 2

This post will have at least some explanations of the pictures. I chucked all the photos in at once on the last post forgetting that blogger has crappy formatting of photos with captions, well in the compose window anyway

Arrived at pudong international airport at 2 am. Taxi driver decides to take us through a scenic route of first day in shanghai, slowing down at lupu bridge where the expo site formally was then driving around the bund area. hit the hotel at 3am and sleep on rock hard beds.

This area is a quiet area. the church and surrounds are notable, only because in 1 hour of walking around in this place you will see at least 5 couples taking wedding photos.

in the shanghai planning exhibition (every major city in china has one of those planning exhibition buildings if i'm not wrong) there is a massive model of the shanghai metro. i should have noted what scale the model is, because i don't know, however the majority of architectural display models in china are at funny scales (1:150, 1:300 etc) these models of these types are not aimed at architects/planners but at the general public

expo site area. the model lights up and crap like that.

the reason why i'm in the planning exhibition hall and generally in china was because of a university unit studying modern chinese architecture

shanghai photo travelogue part 1

 taken in 2008

taken in 2013

going to China in a few weeks

guess what air asia i don't need in flight entertainment i came prepared

a dream

I was visiting my old high school friends and they did not pay attention to me, almost ignoring me. Then I was pushed into an exercise class which was already one hour running, and I was late. I was made to wear a fancy costume, which was a selection of animal onesies at the back of the room. I chose the raccoon. After I managed to get the onesie on the class had ended and I had to chuck the costume out as soon as I wore it out. As I was walking out of the class I saw my high school friends again, sitting, chatting away and eating lunch. I asked how they were but they didn't respond. Then I told them I was going home and they said, 'Ok'. I walked home through the passage I used to take to get from my primary school to my house. The park near my house had changed, it was overgrown with hills and also had beside it one high rise apartment that had been built there years ago. And there was little water in the pond, for it had not rained in months. When I went home, I walked inside to find that it was the study room cubicle in a library I was in days ago. Next to the study room cubicle was a stationery shop which sold A3 paper named 'bachelor paper' which was dark grey and 'masters paper' which was white, and I had been in that store a day ago just browsing for A3 paper. Next to the shop was a small cafe which I had also want to on that day, and the shop was about to close for the end of the day. I wanted to order a certain drink, but the cafe did not have any of it left. I ended up ordering a coffee and black forest cake. The cake was half-eaten as the staff moved the customers out to close the shop. So I moved back to the study room hoping to finished the cake off but I realised the cake was not with me, and when I looked back to the cafe the doors were shut. I had to study. Study for what though? I knew something was due. I was growing anxious as I didn't know what assignment was due soon. I was to shut myself entirely for a week away from everyone. Outside the window of the study room the sun was setting down a blue sea.

I woke up from the dream feeling tired, depressed and lonely.

I'M BACK

with

what I gained during a summer studio in Milan:

-a new found appreciation for Beyonce
-a new found appreciation for baby animal anything
-time playing in the snow for longer than I really wanted
-many unwanted (mostly) nuzzles from Kamila
-weight from all that pasta (inevitable)
-a zillion clothes from Zara


what I didn't gain during a summer studio in Milan:

-knowledge of how to design a building in a foreign context
-knowledge of designing a huge complex building in short amount of time

packing is hard

folio playlist 2013

starting with something very relevant



to absolutely downright cheesy



to powerhouse ballads to push through the night



resorting to trashy hits loud enough to wake you up



to too downright emotional for a folio week



to the point where you want to rip your ears and eyes off because your folio looks like crap.

how foreigners parcel things from italy

this is what you do if you don't want to pay an arm or a leg and go through DHL or fedex to post things:

1. try to find the post office that will actually send off bulky parcels. eg. in Milan the one on via cordusio 4. there are a lot of post offices around Italy. most of them only exist so you can pay bills and send envelopes. most of them don't know what you are talking about when you tell them in broken English "PARCEL? PARCEL? BOX? ITALY TO AUSTRALIA?!?"

2. find a box that fits all your crap in. this is actually way harder than it sounds. you ask the guy at the post office for boxes (scatole). they go "si! box?" and then when you tell them you want a huge box to fit all your clothes and shoes they give you a funny look or they say "no finito" and direct you to the next post office down the road to ask for boxes. next minute you have gone through 5 different post offices and they've given you all the same answer.

3. if you already have a box you can skip this step. but this step is all about how to get boxes. which is hard or easy depending on luck. go to a back of a restaurant or shopping center where they pack stuff. look for people who are chucking out cardboard boxes. ask them for a cardboard box. either they think you are crazy and tell you to go away or they will give you cardboard boxes.

4. you found the cardboard box and hopefully also tape to tape up the boxes. go to the post office and box your stuff. write the address of the place you want to send your box on the box.  then give it to the guy who weighs it for you.

5. he will give you a form to fill. you place the return address at the top of the form. you place the address you want to send your box to at the bottom. then there is a list on the right of the form. this is where you put what crap you have in the box.

5. give the form to the guy, he puts it on the computer, you sign the form, you pay the money and then you go. just as a reference it costed me 33 euro to send around 7kg of a box.

moral of the story; don't post from Italy if you're a tourist. really.

the metro personalities aka more things about milano

<p dir=ltr>the Milan metro is known for: </p>
<p dir=ltr>1. the middle aged Indian merchants who spread their wares on a towel on the ground and stand there selling umbrellas and fake bags and baby bibs and funny lava lamps<br>
2. the homeless beggar on a walking stick on the yellow line<br>
3. the violinist and accordionist duet playing music inside the green line trains. while the train is moving (how!?!)<br>
4. the really drunk Australians playing thumb wars on the train and yelling "AUSTRALIA" on Australia day <br>
5. the bag snatchers who shove you while you get on the train and try to steal your wallet<br>
6. the men who try to buy your ticket for you if you don't look Italian, therefore grabbing all your spare change for themselves<br>
</p>

venezia and firenze

so i took a break from the real reason I'm in Italy, which is studying the summer course in uni. to something I've been looking forward to a long time, visiting Venice and Florence.

i only had around 7 hours in Venice. i was told that once you see a canal you've seen them all. it's true actually. i didn't end up taking much photos in Venice and rushed though the whole thing (as there isn't any transport of any sort other than boats) my friends were worried that once we walked up to one side of Venice we could potentially get lost and spend hours getting back to the train station and miss our train to Florence. it was good that didn't happen though. we managed to get to the main square (san marco?) and back up north.

Venice is a strange thing, if you don't stick to the main passageways frequented by tourists, which is what we did try to do for a change, the city is made of tiny little passageways that only two people could just fit in side by side. and it is easy to get lost, if only for the signs pointing to san maria square or San marco square. and there seems to be an interesting journey to get from one point of Venice to the other. one point there is a little alleyway giving in to other alleyways and then soon after, a little bridge over a canal. that is the most interesting thing i found in Venice.  you can't find anything like that anywhere else in the world.

i didn't do the gondola ride. my friend who went to Venice a few years ago found them too expensive (she thought it was 200 euros but i did a little research and found out it was only 80 euros, but usually the gondola rowers will charge higher prices). i didn't feel as if i was missing out on anything though. the gondolas are decorated a lot however. you're essentially sitting on this throne with cushions and furry blankets while a rower pushes you through the canals. gondola rides would be good for a honeymoon or something.

Florence was next on the ititernary. at first when i helped booked all the tickets for the train and hotel i first put in staying overnight in Venice, but luckily we got a tip to stay in Florence instead as it would be cheaper (obviously). when i found the train tickets were also cheaper doing this way we ended up staying in Florence instead. just as well, as we had the best dinner in Italy so far at Florence.

i had some pici pasta with duck sauce thing. it was really nice. we also had free small glass of wine mixed with some spirit. after that we decided to have dessert. i decided tirimisu, since i realized i never had this famous Italian dessert ever since i was in Italy. so it came in this huge lump and it was so delicious and awesome. the waiter also decided to spoil us even more with free things. like one free piece of biscotti, free amoretto shots and a free calender. we have a theory that whenever we go to restaurants out for dinner and tell the waiters that we are from Australia we always get free stuff. it's worked twice.

afterwards after a late night we go off to see the usual landmarks of Florence, the duomo, the main piazza (repubblica?), the pontevecchio, the gallery uffitzi and another cathedral. yes i probably spelt all those names wrong, sorry. walked a lot. also saw the markets, a long line of souvenir and leather everything shops. i brought most of my gifts to take home there. if you can haggle for good prices you can get good quality bags, wallets, bracelets, key rings, jackets... all in leather. apparently Florence is famous for leather goods.

also Florence is good for gelato and has the best gelati in Italy. Italy is probably the only place where i would eat ice cream in winter.

i would say Florence is the best city I've been to in Italy so far. by a margin from Venice though. I'm sure if i had more time to appreciate Venice then i think i could like it more, but i don't think it could ever beat Florence. honestly.

Basel

while i have free Wi-Fi for the time being in Basel, have some flurries. fresh from the Swiss.

things about Basel

1. cars actually stop at zebra crossings.

2. food is expensive. but portions are huge, too huge for me in fact.

3. i have had the best 70% Swiss chocolate in my whole life. there is still a packet of assorted flavors lying around. they won't be around for long though...

4. Basel has an impressive amount of world renowned architecture for such a small city.

5. the public art is also impressive

6. shops aren't open on sundays. like Perth, once upon a time.

7. the people staying at the ymca, where i am staying, consists of japanese, US backpackers, Germans and architecture students.

About Milano and things

1. People walk their dogs around everywhere, you can see them even walking their dogs in shopping centres. At one point I was walking around a shopping centre that was like David Jones, only much more massive in size and with 10 floors of designer shops like Gucci and Prada. There were at least 3 dogs on leashes and other smaller dogs in people's bags. At one stage I saw 4 puppies in a pram at a shoe shop. Conversely, I have not seen any cats, besides one orange one outside a restaurant.

2. There are horizontally laid brick buildings. They look like they are made of wood, as the bricks are long and thin

3. It is possible to get tram/train passes (equivalent to a smart rider back in Perth), SIM cards and internet dongles without knowing much Italian, which goes without saying, but still, I'm quite impressed with my friends efforts.

4. Groceries are so cheap here. Couldn't believe my eyes when I saw them for the first time. Just as an idea, 3 euros can get you a good bottle of wine, 2.5 euros per kg for capsicums, 75 cents will give you a 6 pack of mineral water.

Once I get proper internet on my laptop there will be more photos coming up.

the happy new years random post

This is Bus 401 or some bus route up north of the river coming from Stirling Station. I was trying to get to IKEA, realised the only bus going in the general direction to IKEA was the 98, and had to walk in 40 degree C heat through a few streets due to my ignorance. But I guess the effort wasn't wasted, I got to see the interior of the silliest Christmas themed bus in WA. It had 'merry chrismas' stickers and signs up everywhere, also had plushies of reindeer and Santa Claus hanging off the poles and handles.

Also made a paper Christmas tree, couldn't be stuffed hanging up the real one.

For good measure I have added a picture of my brother's new ping pong racket. If you look closely it says 'Power level 9001'.

Congratulations to me, I am breaking my famine of blog posts. Not any reason in particular anyway. I am now going to tell you:

1. I am going to Europe next month, for uni related things. Super excited! The itinerary basically is something like Milan for a month, day trips to Florence, Verona, Venice and Rome and then Berlin, Prague and Paris. More on this later. Perhaps you will get photos of really good architecture.

2. I also don't have a social life anymore, which might be why I'm posting in my blog out of boredom. It's because of Assassin's Creed 3. Also because most of my friends are back in Malaysia and Singapore.

Do I recall that making good louvers was easier in archicad, but way harder in revit? I swear I spent a good 8 hours figuring out how to make curtain panel louvers. And it still doesn't work.

ATR RESULTS

• milked off around 10+ H leads and 3 B leads
• 4 hours of sleep
• 6 sheets, 2 ripped ones, 2 water-damaged ones
• didn't touch any CAD programs. I myself am impressed

However, never doing this. Ever. Again. Oh wait folio crap.

Reward: you get a picture of me in a giraffe onesie