Design My Place

A shout out to all passionate, fun-loving individuals who enjoy interacting with and inspiring youths through a series of creative design workshops which are planned for in May and June 2009. We are looking for 20 facilitators who have outgoing personalities as well as keen insights and a love for architectural explorations.

This series of workshops are built upon previous editions of Design My Place held in 2007 and 2008. Please visit http://designmyplace.blogspot.com/ to understand more about these workshops and see the fun everyone had! A recent article report on the event was published in the Singapore Architect magazine Issue 249.

In this latest edition of Design My Place, 2 workshops will be held in the months of May and June 2009. The first, DMP (Woodlands) will be held at Republic Polytechnic from the 29-31 May. The second, DMP(Bedok) will be held at Temasek Junior College from the 8-10 June.

If you are interested or know someone who might be, feel free to contact Project Coordinator, Joshua Teo at joshua@reallyarchitecture.org

CUBE or Challenge for the Urban and Built Environment was a competition that re:ACT organised for the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) under its Architecture and Urban Design Excellence programme (A.UDE) as part of its 35th anniversary celebrations. We based the event on our usual DMP workshop framework but threw in a healthy dose of competition to spice things up a bit and to spur the different schools to come up with innovative ideas for the Chinatown area. The result was, we had one of the most creative and stimulating workshops ever with students trying to outdo each other, what with their dramatic presentations and out-of-the-box ideas!

Mr Khoo Peng Beng, priciple architect of ARC Studio and also a great friend of re:ACT was brilliant as usual in his role as Chief Facilitator. Leading a panel of architects and urban planners, he pushed, prodded, shaped and expanded the minds of the young padawans from different schools to come up with 10 awesome strategies to improve the built environment around Chinatown.

In the end, there could only be one winner. Hwa Chong Institution impressed the jury panel the most and walked away with the 1st Prize of $2,000 cash. This was presented to them and the rest of the winners (Temasek Polytechnic - 1st Runner-Up and Serangoon Junior College - 2nd Runner-Up) at the 2008 URA Corporate Plan Seminar on 17 April 09. More photos after the link.

Media Coverage:
http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20090511-140723.html
http://wildsingaporenews.blogspot.com/2009/04/ura-to-spread-wings.html

A group of students from junior colleges and polytechnics, together with the assistance of aspiring architects and designers, were on a mission to ‘save’ Queenstown estate from its desolate present!”

Volunteering as facilitators for this edition of Design My Place, an urban design workshop organized by Really Architecture (re:ACT), we knew that it was going to be an unforgettable experience. Initially we felt scared and concerned, but at the end of the third day, we were extremely proud of the work that the student participants had produced. We were scared and concerned because they seemed quite lost at the beginning, but they managed to progress so much within a short period of time. Unpredictability is probably the best word to describe the workshop, as we were immersed in the company of wacky teenagers who called themselves either “12 funky bunnies in rugged jeans” or “we rock, pebble & roll!”.

Their ideas were shooting around like missiles in the air, but it was more hilarious than treacherous. They wanted to ‘zeng!’ (Their colloquial term for ‘inject life’) Queenstown in a number of radical ways. Below are two examples,

1. They proposed a cemetery in the estate since there were already so many old people who were approaching their afterlife. However, the cemetery was also meant to incorporate a restaurant or cafe as well. The older generation might like the idea of dining or hanging out with their deceased friends & family. The big plus was also that the living could be assured that after they had passed on, they would have visitors to their graves, assuming they had friends of course! Loneliness after life is cured.

2. They agreed that the older generation should still lead an active sex life, and even though the years were catching up with them, the old folks should not be deprived of a second chance in their love life. Thus, a dating agency for them was proposed, for the single or widowed amongst them of course! Having a mate keeps them happy & active.

The above is just the tip of the iceberg.

By the third day, the students had sacrificed probably a million brain cells, but they still persisted on despite the demanding requirements of the programme. They drew, they crafted, they argued & they acted to sell their ideas across; and were also able to withstand the harsh comments of the evil critique panel. It was indeed a commendable effort for these first-timers in urban design. We as facilitators felt that the objectives had been met, and we hoped that the student’s minds had been opened and their thinking challenged.

Finally, the best way to end off the workshop was watching a group of studious looking boys let their hair down, monkey around and practice their break dancing moves while we had our dinner. We (or rather, I) finally understood what it felt like when people say that old folks enjoy seeing children play.


Ong Sheng Hua