Sights, colours & tastes of Sinagpore’s Chinatown

Posted on May 9, 2014 by Toothpicker

A view of the city of Ann Siang Hill Park

When I visit urban cities, aside from the price, the location of the accommodation is a crucial factor for my decision-making. In Singapore, reasonably-priced accommodations are hard to find, even on Airbnb, options are limited and uninspiring. After some extensive search, I chose to stay in a simple boutique hotel in the colourful, bustling and historical Chinatown. Besides the thin walls, everything was fine and the location is convenient, with the MRT only minutes away and close to many sights and eateries.

Chinatown is also known as ‘Niu Che Shui’ in Chinese, which means ‘bullock cart water’, in reference to the bullock carts that used to supply fresh water to its residents. The area used to be a Chinese immigrant ghetto, and it is full of colourful pre-war 2/3-storey Chinese and Malay style shophouses. In 1989, the Urban Redevelopent Authority launched a project to restore these buildings and subsequently converted them into shops, restaurants, hotels and museums etc. Despite the commendable conservation effort and vision, from the aesthetic point of view, I think these buildings look too new and pristine, making the area look more like film sets rather than an authentic heritage site. However, having said that, I am still glad that the authority didn’t just demolish and replace them by the 1980s style glass highrises like Hong Kong did (oh, I just can’t help comparing the 2 cities).

Top right: The Jinrikisha Station; 4th row left: The Majestic: 5th row: The 50s; 6th row left: The screening room

Chinatown is large area divided into 5 districts: Kreta Ayer, Telok Ayer, Tanjong Pagar, Bukit Pasoh and Ann Siang Hill. Ann Siang Hill is the trendier and expat-friendly part with many Western bars, restaurants and boutique (meaning tiny rooms) hotels. I picked up a paper area guide before I exploring the area, and it turned out that most of the shops recommended had either closed down or moved out the premises! I am not sure if it is due to high rental prices or lack of human traffic, but the area did seem rather quiet when I visited during the day. A pleasant surprise is the small but very lush Ann Siang Hill park, the tallest geographical point in Chinatown, which leads to Amoy Street and Telok Ayer.

Chinatown is a very colourful place

Three national monuments are located on Telok Ayer Street including Thian Hock Keng Temple, Al-Abrar Mosque and Nagore Durgha Shrine. Completed in 1842, Thian Hock Keng is one of the oldest and most important Hokkien temple in Singapore. The temple was built in traditional southern Chinese architectural style, and the entire structure was assembled without nails. The temple’s last restoration completed in 2000, which won several architectural awards.

I was particularly attracted by a fascinating Islamic structure, which turned out to be the Nagore Durgha Shrine. Built in 1830 by brothers Mohammed and Haja Mohideen as a memorial to a Muslim holy man, Shahul Hamid (also Shahul Hameed) of Nagore in southern India. The shrine’s extensive restoration started in 2007 and ended in 2011, now the ground floor has been converted into a heritage centre and is open to the public. Actually there isn’t much to see, but it is worth visiting if you happen to pass it.

Top left & 2nd row left: Jamae Mosque; Top middle & 2nd row right: Sri Mariamman Temple; Top row right: Thian Hock Keng temple; 3rd row: Nagore Dargah Shrine: Bottom row right: Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

Kreta Ayer is the heart of Chinatown and the South Bridge Road is home to two national monuments: Jamae Mosque and Sri Mariamman Temple. Established in 1826, Jamae Mosque was the first of three mosques in Chinatown erected by the Chulias, who were Tamil Muslims from the Coromandel Coast of Southern India. The green structure’s pair of Neo-classical prayer halls is very eye-catching, just like the gopuram (entrance tower) of the Sri Mariamman Temple further down the road, founded a year later than the mosque.

At the end of the road is a new and rather imposing Chinese temple, Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and museum founded by the Venerable Shi Fazhao in 2002. The S$45 million (donated by worshippers) Tang dynasty style temple was built to house the supposed tooth relic of the Buddha, claimed to have been discovered by a Myanmar monk, the late Venerable Cakkapala in 1980 while restoring a collapsed stupa in Myanmar. Whether it is the real deal or not doesn’t matter because the tooth is only accessible to the public on special occasions, instead you will find a lot of gold inside…

On Pagoda Street, there is restored shophouse that has been transformed into Chinatown Heritage Centre, a recreation of 1950’s Singapore that is faithful down to the smallest of details and filled with videos and descriptions of Singapore’s heritage.

The Red Dot design museum

In recent years, the Tanjong Pagar district has been nicknamed ‘koreantown’ due to a surge of Korean eateries and Korean wedding boutiques along Tanjong Pagar Road. The landmark on this road is the historical Jinrikisha Station built from 1903 to 1904 as a rickshaw station. The building was restored in 1987 and is now used as a shopping and recreational centre.

It is almost impossible to miss the large red colonial building on Maxwell Road. The building is the Red Dot design museum, which used to be the traffic police HQ. Opened in 2005 by Germany’s Red Dot Institute, this contemporary design museum is their first outlet in Asia. The museum displays more than 1,000 exhibits/ Red Dot Design Award winners ranging from product designs to communication designs. The design shop also sells a range of international and local designed objects.

Singapore City Gallery at The Urban Redevelopment Authority

Opposite the Red Dot museum is The Urban Redevelopment Authority centre, and located on the first floor is the free-entry Singapore City Gallery. The gallery tells the story of Singapore’s physical transformation over the past 50 years through architectural models and various interactive and experiential exhibits. This gallery is quite fascinating as it shows the ‘grand vision’ of urban planning and development by the government since decades back, and how the city will evolve in the future. The history, present and future of Singapore’s cityscape can all be found within this gallery, but if you want to learn more about the country’s history, art, cultural and social aspects, a trip to the National Museum of Singapore (93 Stamford Rd) is a must.

Baba house

On the outskirt of Chinatown, there is a special heritage home that is worth visiting if you have the time. Built possibly in the 1860s, Baba House (157 Neil Rd) is a Peranakan (meaning mixed-race descendants from Chinese or Indian tradesmen and women of the local communities in Southeast Asia) terrace house formerly owned by 19th-century shipping tycoon Wee Bin who settled in Singapore, after arriving from the southern China. The house has been beautifully restored and is open for visits by appointments. Peranakan culture is unique to Southeast Asia, and you can find out more about it at The Peranakan Museum (39 Armenian Street).

Park Royal on Pickering designed by WOHA

Aside from heritage buildings, one new building particularly stands out in Chinatown and it is the multiple award-winning Park Royal on Pickering. The 367-room hotel opened last year and it is designed by local architectural firm, WOHA. Designed as a hotel-as-garden, it features large balconies and terraces covered in 15,000 square metres of tropical plants, and other green innovations include the use of solar energy, harvesting of rainwater and natural light, energy-efficient air conditioning and automatic sensors to regulate energy and water usage and carbon monoxide levels. I did not go inside of the hotel but I was very impressed by its exterior. Again, this design echoes the government’s ‘Green Plan’, which helps Singapore to pave its way to become one of the world’s greenest cities.

First left & 2nd row: Tai Chong Kok bakery; 3rd row middle, right & 4th row right: Rose Citron; 4th row left & bottom left: Egg3; Bottom middle & right: Littered with books

Shopping

The busiest and most touristy part of Chinatown is the street market which is filled with 200 market stalls lining Pagoda, Trengganu and Sago streets. Most of these stalls sell touristy souvenir, but there are some interesting heritage shops located along these streets too. One of the most eye-catching one is Tai Chong Kok bakery (34 Sago St), a moon cake bakery established in 1935. The bakery still sells moon cakes and other traditional Cantonese confections like Wife and husband cakes, egg tarts and almond cookies etc.

In the relaxing Duxton hill, there is a charming independent bookshop, Littered with books (20 Duxton Road), which was voted as the Best New Bookstore by Time Out 2011. There is a range of fiction and non-fiction literature, as well as travel, cookery, children’s books, and secondhand ones. It is a very chilled and pleasant place to browse or spend your time.

Rose Citron (23 Keong Saik Rd) is a colourful shop specialising in hand-sewn fashion bags, accessories and home soft furnishings. I love the exotic and bright floral prints here, but I find the prices to be quite steep, so if you are looking for something unique, be prepared to pay extra for it here.

Egg3 (33 Erskine Road) is a cool lifestyle shop established in 2004. This branch stocks a range of on-trend fashion clothing and accessories by local designers, and some quirky home accessories. The prices here are reasonable and the designs are quite unique, so it is a good alternative to the chained fashion brands in the shopping malls.

Top left: Hong Lim food centre; Top right: Tian Tian chicken rice; 2nd row: Maxwell Road hawker centre; 3rd row: the Famous Sungei Road Trishaw Laksa; 4th row left & middle: Ann Chin popiah; 4th row right: Chinatown Complex Market and Food centre; Bottom left: Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee; Bottom right: Indian thali

Dining

Like all Asian cities, food plays a vital part in this city. But unlike other Asian cities, Singapore is more well-known for its hawker centres than its restaurants. Forget your diet and hygiene, a visit to the hawker centres is a must as the food is much cheaper, fresher and more authentic than the restaurants.

After a S$5 million facelift, the 100-metre food street at Smith Street reopened in February with 24 street hawker shops, six shophouse restaurants and several street kiosks. I visited it one evening and found the street very touristy, also the food prices are higher and not as good as the other hawker centres nearby.

My favourite hawker centre in Chinatown is the less well-known Hong Lim food centre (531A Upper Cross Street) where you will find mostly locals and many long established stalls. I tried the famous Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee (#02-17), very tasty and dirt cheap at S$3, but probably not the healthiest options… A few days later, I went back to visit the Famous Sungei Road Trishaw Laksa (#02-66) late in theafternoon. The centre looked rather quiet as stalls were closing (stalls close earlier here than other centres, so it is best to come earlier in the day), but I managed to get a bowl of laksa without the crayfish as I was told by the friendly owner that it was sold-out after lunch and told me to visit earlier next time. Nonetheless, he was enthusiastic to see a non-local visiting his stall and was eager for me to taste his ‘special’ broth made from dried scallops. The soup here is not made with coconut milk, it is lighter than the norm yet still quite flavoursome and tangy, but I suspect that it would have been better if I had come earlier.

Not far from the food street is Chinatown Complex Market and Food centre (336 Smith Street), one of the largest hawker centre in the city. About 200 stalls are ‘hidden’ on the first floor of a large building and it is easy to miss from the street if you are not looking specifically for it. Once inside, you are spoilt for choice because there are so many stalls and some with extra long queues! I headed for the well-known Terry Katong Laksa (#02-94) except to be told that the broth was not ready yet (this time I was too early, I don’t seem to have much luck with laksa somehow)! I then went for Ann Chin Popiah (#02-112), founded by Mr Lim Kam Chwee, a Hokkien who brought his recipe from Fujian in the 1940s. The roll is light and filled with lettuce, sweet sauce, chopped peanuts, beansprouts and shredded turnip and carrot. Unlike all the other hawker stall favourites, this is a healthier and lighter option.

One of the most popular centre in Chinatown is the Maxwell Road hawker centre, which attracts both locals and tourists. Even before Anthony Bourdain‘s visit, Tian Tian chicken rice (#01-10/11) has been a long local favourite. I found it to be quite over-hyped, as the chicken itself doesn’t seem to have much flavour to it, although the rice itself is very fragrant. I have definitely had better chicken rice before, so I really don’t see what the fuss is about.

Top left: P.S. cafe at Ann Siang Hill; 2th row right: Good morning Nanyang cafe on Pickering; Bottom left: Seafood and pesto laksa pasta at P.S. cafe; Bottom right: breakfast set at Good morning Nanyang cafe

Traditional breakfasts used to be consisted of kaya (a jam made from eggs, sugar, coconut milk and pandan) toast, soft-boiled eggs and kopi (coffee). And one of the best place for this can be found at the Good Morning Nanyang Cafe where you will find different set combos. I visited two branches in Chinatown and tasted their two well-known ciabatta versions. Even though I don’t usually have a sweet tooth, I did enjoy the kaya toasts. However, I wasn’t sure how to eat the soft-boiled egg until I watched a local cracking it into a bowl and adding soy source to it! The branch at Telok Ayer Hong Lim Green Community Centre (opposite the Park Royal hotel) is very pleasant as has outdoor seating and overlooks the park.

The only restaurant meal that I had in Chinatown was at the P.S. cafe on Ann Siang Hill. I love the location, ambience, dark wood interior and the cocktail! Prices here are not cheap… the laksa pasta with king prawns here is quite unusual, but I think you pay more for the ambience here than the food itself.

Interesting streetscape in Chinatown

Contrary to its name, I think Chinatown is a melting pot not only catered for the Chinese community. Aside from conserving heritage from the past, there are many new elements and seems to be evolving constantly. Personally I prefer this characteristic area over the commercial Orchard Road which is just full of glossy shopping malls. Next time if you visit this area, try to explore beyond the touristy Kreta Ayer district as there is a lot of gems waiting to be discovered.

The community that makes Chinatown a vibrant and intersting place

Singapores’s Tiong Bahru neighbourhood

Posted on May 6, 2014 by Toothpicker

Tiong Bahru estate

Tiong Bahru is home to Singapore’s first housing estate, built in the 1930s west of Chinatown. Yet the term ‘Tiong Bahru’ means new cemetery because it was a swampy land used as a burial site since the late 19th century. Eventually the area was redeveloped and the first set of housing blocks were completed in 1936, with more were to follow after WWII.

The population of Tiong Bahru estate declined steadily for the past few decades as more people moved into newly built condominiums. Yet in recent years, young professionals and expats have moved back in while new independent cafes, restaurants and shops have sprung up, injecting a younger and livelier vibe to this old residential neighbourhood. In many ways, it feels similar to Hong Kong’s Tai Hang neighbourhood, where young, old, locals and expats coexist side-by-side.

Since it is not close to the metro station, the area still has a rather sleepy feel to it esp. along Seng Poh Rd, where Tiong Bahru Market and hawker centre is located.

Top right: Tiong Bahru Market and hawker centre; Others: Block 78 on Guan Chuan Street

Built in the shape of a horse shoe, Block 78 on Guan Chuan Street is not only the largest block in the estate, but it also contains a 1500 square feet air raid shelter built in 1939. And last year the National Heritage Board launched a Tiong Bahru Heritage Trail which includes visits to the air shelter. Unfortunately, I did not find out about this until later, but if you are interested in finding more about this trail and the history of this area, you can go to National Heritage Board for more details.

Stranglets

On Yong Siak Street, there are several cool shops and cafes including (no.7) Stranglets, an independent design/ lifestyle shop that sells design objects, stationery, games, homeware, fashion accessories by local and international designers.

Books actually

Next to it is probably my favourite shop in Singapore (also loved by the locals): Books actually, an independent bookshop specialises in fiction and literature established in 2005. I love the fact that a lot of the books here are published locally and cannot be easily found elsewhere. At the back of the shop, there are two small rooms filled with wonderful vintage Bric-à-brac, a bit like an Aladdin’s cave. But the star of the shop must be its book-loving cat, which sits happily on top of the books watching book-lovers walking in and out…

Plain Vanilla cafe

A few doors down, Plain Vanilla (1D) is a relaxing and unpretentious cup cake cafe is a popular hang out. I am not a cup cake fan but I did enjoy their not-too-sweet dark chocolate cup cake.

The landscape of the area is changing rapidly because landlords are take advantage of the area’s increasing popularity and rents have soared in the past 2 years. As always, whenever a neighbourhood is being gentrified, old local businesses will be replaced by new ones, and there will be dissatisfaction among the locals. There will be 2 sides of the story, and finding a balance is crucial in order to create a harmonious environment and community where the old and the new can co-exist happily.

Top left: Woods in the books; 2nd row right: Flock cafe; Bottom left: durian stall; Bottom right: stall selling live seafood

Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay

Posted on May 3, 2014 by Toothpicker

A futuristic-looking garden by Marina Bay

When I first saw the photos of Gardens by the Bay a few years ago, I was very impressed by the futuristic architecture and concept. Built on reclaimed land spanning 101 hectares, the tropical gardens are designed by British architects Wilkinson Eyre and landscape architects Grant Associates. The ambitious £350 million project is part of the Singapore government’s aim to transform Singapore from a ‘Garden City’ to the ‘City in a Garden’, thus improving the quality of life by a greener environment for the citizens.

The overall concept was inspired by orchid as it represents the tropics and Singapore’s national flower, the Vanda ‘Miss Joaquim’. The tropical gardens are divided into sub-gardens with different themes and two large conservatories. But the most eye-catching of all must be the 18 ‘Supertree’ vertical gardens with plant species growing up their steel and concrete trunks and measuring up to 50 metres in height. Each of them contains rainwater collection tanks and pumps that cool themselves as well as the two conservatories beside them. The project has since won 16 international architectural/landscape design awards including World Building of the Year Award at the World Architecture Festival Awards 2012.

Does this project reveal a glimpse of how our future can be? Can we use this as an example to create a sustainable and livable environment in our ever-growing urban cities? I was eager to find out.

Top left: Inside the Flower dome; Top right, bottom middle and right: Inside the Cloud Forest

Since the garden is located at Marina Bay, right outside of The Sands Expo and Convention Center where Maison et objet Asia took place, I decided to take the opportunity to explore the garden after the talks one afternoon in spite of the heat (35 degrees) outside. I was hoping to hang out inside the conservatories to avoid the afternoon heat, but the 20-minute walk (without shade) from the centre to the conservatories was so unbearable that I realised it was probably not the wisest idea to attempt visiting in the afternoon.

Even though the outdoor gardens are free to all, there are entrance fees to the two conservatories. I was told to first visit the Flower Dome, a cool-dry conservatory that replicates the cool-dry climate of Mediterranean regions like South Africa, California and parts of Spain and Italy. Although I saw many beautiful flowers, plants and cacti well laid-out everywhere, I couldn’t help feeling disappointed. Having visited many wonderful outdoor botanical gardens previously (including the amazing Desert Botanical garden in Phoenix), I found the indoor conservatory artificial and uninspiring despite the good intention, effort and range of species. There is also a high-end restaurant inside, Pollen, owned by the British chef Jason Atherton (who seems to be conquering the world right now). I only had a drink there, which was accompanied by ‘tourist’ price and rather (consciously) inefficient service. Somewhat disappointed with experience, I left the gardens and decided to return later in the early evening to visit the other conservatory and the light and sound show.

I returned later in the day when the temperature was more bearable to wander, and I visited the other conservatory, Cloud Forest. I went in with almost no expectations ( esp. after my disappointing experience earlier) and I was stunned when I walked in. I came face to face with a 35-metre tall mountain covered in lush vegetation and the world’s tallest indoor waterfall, and it completely lifted my mood. I felt exuberant as I never seen anything like this before (even knowing that it is artificial).

Visitors can ascend to the indoor mountaintop by lifts and descend via two walkways in the clouds for an aerial view of the canopy below and outside. As I descended, there are information explaining the biodiversity and geology of cloud forests and the environmental threats they face. And at the bottom levels, there are Earth check and +5 degrees where interactive animations and infographics of facts, figures and statistics of the state of the earth today and the problems we are likely to face due to climate change and habitat loss. The film shown at +5 degrees reveals the danger and destructive consequences that are likely to happen around the world with every an increase of 1 celsius/ centigrade.

I liked the layout of the levels and thought the infographics are very well executed, I especially applaud their effort in the educational aspect, which I believe will be very beneficial for younger children. Earlier in the afternoon, I was beginning to wonder the point of project and yet this conservatory completely changed my perspective. I was glad that I revisited the gardens again.

The interactive graphics and information display inside the Cloud Forest dome

There are two light and sound shows every evening, and an extra $5 can get you up in the 128-metre long skyway that connects two of the supertrees where you can enjoy the city view and the show at 22-metres above ground. The experience was a cool and a bit scary at the same time, it is not recommended if you are prone to vertigo!

The experience at night was completely different from the day as it was breezier and watching the sunset from above was a fantastic experience. Overall, I think The Gardens of the Bay is a very brave and commendable project, it also demonstrates the grand vision of the Singapore Government. It may be a small country and essentially a one-party state but its ambitions and visions are not small. Now I am very curious to see how Singapore will evolve in the future because despite its size, its potential and influence is not to be underestimated.

Singapore design week 2014

Posted on April 23, 2014 by Toothpicker

National design centre, the hub of Singapore design week 2014

The official hub of the Singapore design week took place at The National design Centre. This was where several design exhibitions took place like the President’s Design Award 2013 Exhibition, Furniture Design Award (FDA) 2014, Singapore Good Design Mark (SG Mark) Exhibition and Design Incubation Centre: Design Futures etc.

I think it is fair to say that Singapore is not especially known for its design and creative industry. Both Singapore and Hong Kong may be the financial giants and the wealthiest in Asia (often seen as competitors), their design and creative industries have been largely overlooked by both locals and outsiders until recent years. Finally, the governments/ local design organisations of both places are taking design more seriously and are investing more into the industries and design education, which is encouraging and more than welcome.

Top left: Franceca Lanzavecchia’s Bilik; top right: Agnieszka Klimowicz’s Stool; 2nd row left: Clement Zheng’s Torus Lamp; 2nd row right: Hans Tan’s Spring Tray; Bottom left: Clement Zheng, Jessica Toh and Gloria Ngiam‘s 3D printed Dress Code; Bottom right: Clement Zheng’s 3D printed Fusilli bracelet

Back at the design centre, work by the Furniture design award winners from from around the world were displayed and I was very intrigued by Francesca Lanzavecchia‘s ‘Bilik’. The designer employed the traditional South East Asian rattan weaving technique to create a beautiful but functional room divider with various sized pockets. Meanwhile, Singaporean designer Clement Zheng demonstrated the endless possibilities of digital technology in his ‘Torus lamp’, a pendant lamp digitally fabricated from sheet materials. Clement also worked on two other 3-D printing projects in the Design Futures exhibition: ‘Dress code’ and ‘Fusilli’, a wrist accessory generated from a simple algorithm during an exploration of mathematical oscillations and their three-dimensional paths.

Outside of the awards section, Industry+ launched it s debut collection featuring a new wave of contemporary designers working in Singapore today. The curated collection feature experimental production techniques with artisanal craftsmanship. I particularly like Hans Tan’s ‘Spring Tray’, a fruit ‘bowl’ composed of 3D printed springs, varied in thickness according to the profile of a bowl.

Kapok’s pop up shop at the National design centre

It was a bit of a surprise to see Hong Kong’s cool independent lifestyle/design/fashion shop, Kapok‘s pop-up shop at the centre during the design week. Since its launch in 2006, Kapok has been expanding gradually and now the this pop up shop has gained a permanent space at the design centre selling established and up-and-coming designer brands from around the world.

Pick a bench, pick a place exhibition at the Urban Redevelopment Authority – Top middle: Aesop Unbreakable by Donovan Soon; Top right: Lumber by Hans Tan; Bottom right: The Coil by LOOK Architects

At the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) Centre, an exhibition provided a chance for the public to see the 24 benches designed by the local designers for the Pick a bench, pick a place project. The benches are located in 24 locations and when the voting is over, 15 public spaces with the most votes will have up to four unique benches installed. The project aims to involve the community to celebrate and enliven public spaces through good design. Singapore is best known for its urban planning, and this project shows their vision and commitment in creating a better environment for their citizens. I wonder when will the Hong Kong government understand this concept?

30 LifeStories: Remembering parks and Design larger than life exhibitions at Dhoby Ghaut Green – Top left: Log by Rodney Loh, NextofKin Creatives; Top right and main: Spectrum by Claudio Colucci; 3rd row left: Never knew his name by Anthony Chin; 3rd row right: Log horn bench by Woon Tai Woon; 4th row left: Hive by Chua Aik Boon; 4th row right: Flock by Asylum; Bottom row left: Doodle by Woo Mun Seng; Bottom row right: Intimate Dreamscapes by Commune

Out of all the exhibitions I attended, my favourite at the design week was 30 LifeStories: Remembering parks curated by SingaPlural at Dhoby Ghaut Green. 30 Singaporean designers and artists have been invited to specially design furniture made from tree logs which were removed from the parks due to damage by inclement weather. The project enabled them to recapture memories of times spent in parks and gardens, and the results were playful, meaningful and captivating! On site there was also another SingaPlural-curated exhibition, Design Larger than life and one of its main installation was the colourful Spectrum by Claudio Colucci, which certainly attracted a lot of attention.

I especially like the fact that these installations were placed in the middle of a busy shopping district near the shopping malls. Many passenbys were curious about the installations, and it was very interesting to read about the stories that inspired the creations. Designs are made for people and should be accessible to everyone, so I hope we will be seeing more designs catered to the public in the future.

International furniture fair Singapore 2014

Posted on April 20, 2014 by Toothpicker

I was not aware of the International furniture fair Singapore (part of the Singapore design week) until I arrived in Singapore, and so I did not register beforehand. I visited the show on its opening day and a few hours before my flight with my suitcase (since the exhibition centre is situated next to the airport), and it turned out that many others had the same idea! The queue for the storage and registration took more than 1/2 an hour, but thankfully, things went more smoothly once inside.

The fair was about 4 times bigger than Maison et Objet and with more Asian companies participating, but I spent the most time wandering the hall curated by Singaplural which featured many up-and-coming designers and young design brands from Asia.

Top left: the long queue for registration; Top right: The Green Pavilion: Main & bottom row: Designer’s field

One booth that caught my eye was Designer’s Field, a Thai/Danish company that designs, sources and produces home interior and furniture products based in Bangkok. Inspired by the delicate Asian style and Scandinavian simplicity, their products are minimalist, modern, functional, and well-made too.

Another brand inspired by the Japanese/ Scandinavian simplicity is Hinika (see above), a new Singaporean brand of outdoor and indoor furniture launched last year by Austrian/ Singaporean industrial designer, Jarrod Lim. The wooden furniture collection is well-crafted, understated and highly functional.

Top left & 2nd row: Super&Co/Supermama from Singapore; 3nd row left & bottom row: SWBK from Korea

I always enjoy talking to designers about their work and here I met Priscilla Potts, an associate designer at Super&Co/ Supermama, a Sinagporean brand founded by industrial designer, Edwin Low. Although their products are designed locally, they have collaborated with several traditional Japanese crafts and textiles manufacturers to produce various lines. Singapore Icons porcelain collection is a collaborative project that won them the President Design Award 2013. Designed by 5 design studios in Singapore, the collection was crafted by Japanese porcelain company KIHARA INC.

Like Desinere (see my earlier entry), the brand also collaborated with Japanese metal casting company, Nousaku to produce Familiar objects, a set of pencil paper weight made from solid brass, bronze or copper. Their new line is a range of textiles printed and produced by a traditional fabric company, MARUJU LTD. based in Nagoya, Japan.

S W B K is design firm in Korea, co-founded by Sukwoo Lee and Bongkyu Song in 2008. The firm’s products are often inspired by nature and made from natural or recycled materials using traditional craftsmanship. This philosophy can be seen in their new stationery line, Matter and Matter.

‘Design as it is’ curated by Eisuke Tachikawa from Nosigner

Nosigner is one of my favourite Japanese design firms; a few years ago, I attended a talk given by their chief desigber Eisuke Tachikawa and was very impressed by his design philosophy and attitude. Hence I was very happy to see him curating ‘Design as it is’ for Ambassadors of Design Japan, which showcased beautiful objects designed by him and other Japanese designers.

‘Design as it is’ was about design that do not create forms/shapes, and it examined the relationship between design and its environment. This is probably what good design is about: design that is in harmony with its surroundings without looking like it has been ‘designed’. Yet in this day and age, although we are surrounded by designed objects around us everywhere, how many can claim to be in harmony with its environment? Sadly, not a lot.

Maison et objet Asia 2014

Posted on April 18, 2014 by Toothpicker

I did not expect to take so long to write about Shanghai (I envy bloggers who publish daily entries), hence this blog entry on Maison et Objet Asia is much delayed…

Less than a week after my trip to Shanghai, I was off to Singapore to attend the first Maison et Objet show in Asia and Singapore design week. For those who have been to the biannual shows in Paris would know how tiring it is to wander through halls after halls of designer products and furniture. By scale, this Asian edition was much smaller, hence, it didn’t take too long to wander around the 14,000 sq ft of space. 265 brands from 24 countries were featured here and about 30% of them were from Asia.

Top left: Alur Lamp by Ong Cen Kuang; 2nd row: Schema by Kalikasan Crafts; 2nd row left, middle & bottom left: Kenneth Cobonpue & his Trame chair; Bottom right: Vases at Serax

One surprise from the show was to see a Filipino section festuring several well-established and young designer brands from The Philippines. Filipino design is probably not as well-known outside of Asia, but its strong craft heritage is one of its strengths that is helping it to become more recognised internationally. And one of the best representative is Kenneth Cobonpue, who was awarded Designer of Year at the show. Cobonpue is known for using nature as his inspiration, he focuses on natural material and uses local craftsmanship to create furniture and products that suit contemporary living. Judging from the long queue of fans wanting to be photographed with the designer, it’s hard not to consider him as a design celebrity!

Schema by Kalikasan Crafts is another Filipino brand that is expanding internationally. The company hired young Thai designer, Anon Pairo to design their new lighting collection inspired by industrial loft. Many of their designs are made from metal wires that have been mold into various patterns through traditional weaving techniques, and they are all handmade by local artisans.

Another interesting lighting and home accessories brand is Ong Cen Kuang from Bali established in 2008. Their handmade lighting collections focus on the combination of tactile materials, infusion of self develop technique and traditional origami.

Thai showcase – Top left: Pana objects; top rigt: Pim Sudhikam; 2nd row right: The pavilon; Bottom left: Ceramic ware from Chiang Mai; 2nd row left: Tom Dixon; 2nd row middle: Ango lighting from Thailand; Bottom right: apaiser bathtub

I have always been a fan of Thai designs, yet I have often had issues negotiating with Thai companies… Big companies only want to deal with bulk orders, while small design studios struggle with pricing, and so we are only carrying two brands (Zequenz and Goodjob) from Thailand at the moment. At the Thai showcase pavilion, I spotted a young company that I have previously contacted before… Pana objects, which makes wonderful wooden stationery and objects. Another designer that caught my eye was Pim Sudhikam‘s simple yet distinctive (often with blue underglaze) ceramics. Outside of the pavilion, Ango is an award-winning lighting brand that merges nature with technology, and most of the materials used are natural and sustainable.

Rising Asian talents: Top right & 2nd row left: Mike Mak from Hong Kong; 2nd row middle: Denny R. Priyatna from Thailand; 3rd row: Yu Fen Lo from Taiwan; Bottom: Melvin Ong from Singapore; 2nd row right: Wewood from Portugal

One of the most exciting part of these design or trade shows is the discovery of new talents or products. And at this show, six promising designers from the region were awarded as ‘Rising Asian Talents’ and were given the opportunity to showcase their designs. I spoke to Mike Mak from Hong Kong (whom I have contacted before regarding his rather fun Eyeclock) and he explained to me about his display which featured flibre-glass designs inspired by ancient/traditional Chinese characters or Chinese poems: a fruit holder inspired by the word ‘field’, a ladder inspired by the word ‘moon’ but my favourite is the vases that depict the life cycle of flowers through the presence/ absence of the flowers.

Then I met the young designer from Singapore, Melvin Ong, who used to study and live in London. Melvin is the designer behind Desinere, and I love his Japanese/origami-inspired designs. I then found out that he has collaborated with the well-respected Japanese metal casting craft manufacturer, Nousaku to create a beautiful set of bronze and brass Fouetté facetted paperweight spintops. It is always encouraging to see more young designers collaborating with traditional craftsmen to create new and fresh designs.

Pinyen creative from Taiwan is another company that I have previous spoken to when they exhibited at Tent London 2 years ago. Yu-Fen Lo is the designer behind the brand and their designs are often inspired by nature with functionality and sustainability in mind.

The other three designers were: Denny R. Priyatna from Indonesia, Lilianna Manaham from the Philippines and Sittivhai Ngamhongtong from Thailand.

Top left: Tom Dixon’s talk; top right: Vincent Gregoire from Nelly Rodi giving a talk on trend forecasting; Bottom: Y’A PAS LE FEU AU LAC

Last but not least, seminars given by designers, architects and industry insiders are often highlights of the trade events. The key speaker at this show was Tom Dixon (originally it was advertised as Oki Sato from Nendo) and it attracted so many people that it was not even possible to get into the seating area ( as I mentioned earlier, the celebrity culture in the design world is more evident than ever). Yet I was more interested in talks on Asia’s new e-commerce and trend forecasting given by Vincent Gregoire from Nelly Rodi.

There was a lot of information on past and future, and here is a brief summary of some of the key points from his talk:

The decade from 2010 focuses more on the ‘slow’ and back to basics lifestyle, so we have seen slow cooking, fashion and an emphasis on moral values. Developed countries are also moving from consumption to collaboration in businesses and other aspects.

From 2020, it is predicted that ‘fast’ period will return, emphasising on flexibility, multipasses and multimedium.

The four major design trends of 2015 are categorised into 4 categories:

1. Promised land by pioneers ( nomadic, rustic, self-prduction, nomadic pop-up, functional asethetics, down to earth colours)

2. Sacred fire by Conquistadors (passionate, stimulating, energy, truth, whistle blower, feel good, New bling, playful, fire reference colours like gold and ash)

3. Deep dive by Atlanteans ( aquatic, experimental, Baroque, mermaids, organic, jelly, surrealistic, seaweed tones)

4. Air cosmos by Nextplorers (futuristic, experimental, new frontiers, Dyson-think tank, Gravity, Daft punk, Star Wars, astrology, whites, black and yellow)

If you can make sense of the above, then congratulations!

Although I was slightly disappointed with the scale and the numbers of Asian brands that took part, I was glad that the event coincided with the Singapore design week and International furniture fair ( see my next entries) where I managed to spot many new Asian talents. I hope that there will be more Asian participants at the show next year as I believe that Asian designs have yet to reach its full potential in the global market.

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Category Archives: Singapore

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Singapore design week 2014

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