Next event:
ERINN SAVAGE – Performance
Tomorrow 15:00 GMT

UOB Plaza installation

We commonly perceive boundary as a form of physical segregation, rather than as a state of mind. Using the construct of efficiency as a focus on this study, the physical intervention is designed disrupt the psychological boundary. The idea of boundary as a state of mind stems from the observation of people's behaviors during the course of their commute. In a journey, different events may occur, efficiency results in people being fixated on their next destination, often forgoing interacting with their surroundings, like an intangible imaginary boundary around an individual.

UOB Plaza installation

Much of these observations lay testament to Pierre Bourdieu's theory of Habitus, which mentions ingrained habits, skills and dispositions, the way that individuals perceive the social world around them and react to it. An intervention in the end brings about a platform of interaction to an open fast paced region. However this opens up a new question, must boundaries be blurred? or can they be balanced.

243 Joo Chiat Road

This project explores the notion of balance, using a shophouse unit at Joo Chiat Road to carry out this investigation. Joo Chiat has an interesting mix of contrasting functions under one roof, typically segregated by levels. Using existing functions of a bar, habitation and KTV, this project tries to build a reciprocal relationship by blurring the physically boundaries through an interconnection of the functions.

243 Joo Chiat Road

This project uses the idea that lights give preeminence to the active functions at a given time and vice versa. Forms used create different levels of privacy for various functions, whilst light and materials determine the degree of privacy. The denotation of shadows, light exposure over times of the day and form allow for allocating of functions, functions categorized according to their levels of privacy

243 Joo Chiat Road

In the space, activities of each function are exposed to one another. The KTV here can be seen in contrast to the bar, artificial lights from the KTV indicate its dominance in activity at night, while daylight of day reveals the bar open as an eatery and the active function of the moment.

243 Joo Chiat Road

Apart from lights to denote boundaries, forms and materials are important. Consistent materials that pertain to particular functions subtly indicate the domain of public and private. Difference in forms denote the difference in domains. The denser and more rigid forms indicate the habitation area, while more open areas denote the public areas. All of which are connected to each other in different ways. The question of balance in boundaries among functions may not solve immediate problems, but rather opens up avenues on boundaries and their intangibility, and how they can experiment with in the vast domain of interior design.