Wednesday, July 04, 2007

My Singapore home


View of the Main Reception Area and Atrium - 1st level.

This is my old house where I grew up; Dad built it in 1968. I think his architect Chew Eng of Kumpulan Ariteks was heavily influenced by the American designer - Frank Lloyd Wright - and other architects from the modern era style. It really is a brilliant modern design with high "cathedral" style ceilings, a lot off indirect/hidden fluorescent lighting, a huge atrium and massive air well. Its a beautiful home.

My mum decided to renovate it in the year 2000- and included an extra 3,000 sq feet of floor space + the swimming pool. I won't comment on the redesign except to say a third level should have been added, and deference should have been given to the architect who was more familiar with the new architecture trends and styles. And he would have incorporated a kitchen that would have matched the rest of the house.

There's a story in the Bible- about how God forbade King David to handle the construction of the Temple because he was a man of war. God told him: "Pass it on your son - Solomon - its his job not yours." Solomon was a poet, scholar, administrator, and diplomat.

I never fully understood that story until now: there's a generation that gathers, there's a generation that sows, another to reap, and that's how it goes.

We should know our places in time: in the scheme of things and play our respective roles. If not- there will be disorder. I hope that when it comes my time to step aside, I will do so gracefully having known that I've done my best to prepare my children or my heirs to take my place.

The photos were taken in 2004.

We took a few photos of the place when Euen arrived to "inspect" the place in 2007. Heehee. See the album "My Old Place".

Sadly, M sold the house in 2007 - it wasn't my call nor was I consulted. I personally found the whole process deeply saddening.

But life goes on (and on). Time to move on.

18 comments:

Erwin Loh said...

Wow, what a beautiful house! :)

Yauming YMC said...

Thanks! Its got a great modern design that gives you that sense of openness and freedom that is very rare in Singapore homes- where every single bit of space is used. Its a real beautiful place. We have it rented out now at the moment- but I hope that one day I can go back "home" and stay.

Erwin Loh said...

It must be worth a lot of money considering it's Singapore.

Kathleen Ang said...

it looks nice, spacious and simple.
it definately has traces of Le Corbusier in there,
though I don't really see Frank Lloyd Wright iun there.FLW works places importance on the hearth and organic layouts, meaning, low lying, close to the ground and all. maybe the renovation has changed the spirit of it. but it still looks great!

Yauming YMC said...

Thanks Kat. Will check out Le Corbusier. As for the renovations, most of those sections were not included in the photos... except for that new "metal" staircase, the pool, and the new back facade.

Yauming YMC said...

Maybe I may be mistaken on that. I thought I saw the influences in Wrights' works in the 1920s and 1930s. Big Atrium, Overhanging Cantilever ...

D G said...

Your place is very beautiful, reminds me a little of my old place but where I used to live was way older and never renovated, design was intelligent for colling purposes and it was just stunning.
You place really does remind me a lot of myhome, sigh, if you ever want to look at other nice houses, go to Emerald Hill in Singapore and take a look at the simple interior of the semi-d/terraces there!

Yauming YMC said...

Thanks. I like the old homes at Emerald Hill - they had high ceilings for great ventilation and air cooling. Simple, elegant designs. Yeah, I like them!

Donald Yuen said...

I don't know why..Im not too fond of the layout... seems too dark...

Yauming YMC said...

haha... just bad lighting.

Donald Yuen said...

Sorry I didn't realise the age it was... That does make a difference then...

Yauming YMC said...

Its just the timing of the photo shoot. Probably if it was taken during the mid morning say 9am... when the sun is shining into that section of the house... the photo would have been better illuminated.

Kathleen Ang said...

looking at it again, will stil say I see Le Cord, will be even more Le Corb if you take away the roof and replace it with a sun terrace, check out Villa Savoy. I would love walking around that house even though many people are saying that the house looks crap nowadays with the stucco turning brown or black and falling off. I imagine that his spaces have moments of light and shadow, depending on the purpose. Your house tells that story.

Anyway, don't mind me waxing lyrical about your house and Le Corb, haven't explored architecture recently and badly need some discourse. Don't know why I don't talk much about Wright, just turns out that your house evokes Le Corb for me.

Yauming YMC said...

Thanks. http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Villa_Savoye.html - I see what you mean.
Have you watched the movie - GATTACA - they feature some iconic buildings there too.

Kathleen Ang said...

Yeah, love how they used the FLW building (which is old) as a setting for the future.
I forget the name of the building, but basically it is the office building where they worked in.

Perhaps I think of Le Corb more because your house seems to have heaps of glass, an element of modernism. ON the topic of glass, you must know Mies Van Der Rohe, check out his Farnsworth House.It predates the Phillip Johnson House even though annoyingly it seems that the PJ Glass House is more famous. But even PJ admitted that he copied MVDR!!! (actually by saying he improved it or something to that extent)

Yauming YMC said...

That was the Guggenheim Museum built in the 1950s. They also used the Marin County Civic Centre. As for Jerome's living quarters... I'm not sure.. but it could be a Brutism building in Brazil.

adelyn kwan said...

looks like a nice plce to lounge about..

Yauming YMC said...

When I was growing up, the place was just scary to me - it was just so huge. The ceiling was over 30m high - and occasionally the florescent lamps would shimmer after you turned them off - which scared the hell out of me.