Term 4, which is very much our last lap of year 1, also has the toughest project bestowed to us.

The first step was to create a moodbox based on our chosen designer.

Mine was Karim Rashid, a designer who studied industrial design and designed many products.

He also went into interior design. One example is the Semiramis Hotel.

I decided to use various bright colours of different shapes to fill up the back wall to represent one of his work 'Koolas'.

The curvy strips on the other walls represents the wavy and sensuous character in his products.

I was advised to use the idea of the curvaceuos lines to extrude in order to show volume in the space. This mini moodbox turned out like that because what I had in mind was to use weaving cords to make the space.
The idea of using weaving cord to create the space was from this image in Rashid's book, Evolution. However, the weaving cord alone did not have a fixed structure and therefore the little moodbox above turned out this way.


Thus, I was advised to use plasticine to create the volume as it is the easiest to mould.

Spaces are starting to evolve over here but the comment was that because the extrusion was only in the linear, vertical manner, the space will not be as interesting.

So the next moodbox was very much of the same character just that horizontal and all other directions of extrusions was attempted. The thickness of each plasticine varied as well. The biggest problem about this was that because the plasticines had to be in large pieces, it starts to fall apart.


The next step was to translate the mood into the shophouse.
I attempted aluminium sheet because it was the easiest to get the spaces out.

This model was rejected because it does not really show the spaces and that it seemed more like a sculpture instead of spaces.

It was suggested that I use clay in order to get the sensuous and curved spaces out.
Clay, is very difficult to handle, because the end product will be very bad. The edges are very rough. However, because the spaces can only be made using clay, I went ahead with it. I used grid lines from the outlines of his works in order to make the scheme seem more intentional.

I attempted aluminium sheet again, because it is easy to handle and the edges will definitely be smoother as compared to using clay.

The aluminium sheet, although is easier to handle, has no thickness. That's the biggest problem I had at that time. Therefore, I went back to clay, again. This time, I used the weaving cords to define the lines but as I was playing with the materials I had, I realised that the weaving cords were hollow and I could slot the metal wires which was previously used in Sem1's assignment. Therefore, the entire shophouse seems more structured.

However, the problem I had was also because joining spaces from both walls were very tough as I had to follow the grid lines.
It was suggested that I try again, using aluminium sheet.
But it turned out like that because I didn't know how to actually do it. Very much confused at that time. Resulted in something of a different language.

So with the little time left, I extracted the shape of Karim's work directly and made use of it.

This is the final mock-up, with the very little time left, using paper, which, I think is the best material I've worked with in this entire prject.

To create the curves, it was a long process.

Finally done. Butthe workmanship was lousy. Mainly due to thestrength of the paper. You see, the paper had to be folded, curved, bend, therefore, creases are inevitable.

Now let me take you through the space.
This is what you'll see the moment the door is opened

This is the view facing the entrance.

This is, very much the gallery space, which leads to the dining space on the left.

Over here is the top view overseeing the dining space.

This is when you're looking towards the gallery.

So from the dining space, you'll be able to walk up towards the bedroom space.

This is what you'll see upon reaching the bedroom space. The right side with the curve portrays a space within space, creating a bathroom space.

This is very much the walk up the stairs to the work space.

Upon reaching the work space...

Overview of the whole work space.

The final model looks like that. I chose to make a white model because i wanted pink on one wall and silver on the other. And if I were to make another model using the same colours, I am not confident that the workmanship will be flawless.

It looks like that on VIZ. The whole model is white on VIZ as well, just that because of the shadows, some parts are black. This view is from the dining space looking towards the gallery space.

This image portrays the walk up to the bedroom space.

Another image of the stairs, but this time, from the bedroom space to the work space.

This picture shows the exterior wall of the work space.

This is what you'll see from the entrance

In conclusion, I have learnt alot from this project. As I update the process on this blog, I start to realise what actually went wrong. And that is, the translation from the moodbox to the shophouse was not translated as intended, which is also the reason behind the end product. I don't know whether you think the same way, but that is what I feel. The mood was translated wrongly in the beginning. The sensuality is lost in the final product. And I think that it might have been better if I had analyzed the moodbox a little longer before starting on the shophouse. So if I were given a change to re-design this whole shophouse again, I believe it will be a better one. Maybe I'll make one more during the holidays...