Gaaaa..

The nutters have cut a hole in the building with a giant craft knife.

…

As seen at Boredstop.

First were the plans…

… then the contractor takes the plan too literally:

I’d have thought they were Singaporean contractors but then they wouldn’t have the skill to cut the marble that well.

Luke, I Am Your Father

Rem Koolhaas and OMA has done it again! Darth Vadar will be proud. And when those poor Dubai suckers watch Star Wars they won’t be. And Rem? He’ll be glad he conned another government. From CCTV in Beijing to the Scotts Road apartments, Rem has shown us that good marketing and a load of hogwash can sell anything and everything to governments who have no idea they’ve been insulted by the meanest man in architecture.

‘Low Cost’ 3D Printer

See here
Treehugger feature here

Until now, 3D printers have been large, expensive machines confined to the shops and design departments of major corporations and elite design firms. With the introduction of the Desktop Factory 3D printer, priced disruptively lower than the nearest competitive offering, Desktop Factory becomes the leader in high performance low-cost 3D printing technologies.

I want one! At a cost of 5000~7000USD, its not cheap, but hey, I bet its still cheaper than a Zcore. Material cost is 50¢/cu inch, so its actually cheaper than Zcore’s by a little bit. From the sample photos quality isn’t exactly first class but looks decent enough. Should be pretty good with some sanding.

Santa, Ive been a good boy. Can I have one for this Christmas?

[UPDATE] Here’s a 3D printer that prints using SUGAR as the medium. Yummy!!

This Is Gold!

[Got this from Alex’s Blog. Thanks dude! Hope you don’t mind the plug. If you want me to remove the link just let me know!]

Anyway, its about a prank that someone, fed up with one tele-marketeer too many, played on the next unsuspecting sucker. Remember to switch on your speakers. It a hoot!
How To Prank A Telemarketeer

OMG WTF?

[thanks to Boing Boing]
OMA builds a new tower in Scotts Road.

From World Architecture News:

OMA designs Residential Tower in Singapore
Far East Organization, Singapore’s largest private development company, has commissioned the Office for Metropolitan Architecture for OMA’s first architectural project in Singapore – a 36-storey residential high-rise. The 153 meter tall tower will be located at the intersection of Scotts Road and Cairnhill Road, in close proximity to Orchard Road, Singapore’s famous shopping and lifestyle street. With 20,000m² of built floor area, the building will provide 68 high-end apartment units with panoramic views. The design strategically maneuvers within the highly regulated building environment to maximize the full potential of the site: Four individual apartment towers are vertically offset from one another and suspended from a central core. The skyline of floating towers directly relates to the surrounding building volumes and explores the most attractive views towards the city center and an extensive green zone to the north. The lifted apartment towers reduce the building’s footprint to a minimum; the liberated ground level provides communal leisure activities embedded in the tropical landscape. “We are thrilled with the opportunity to create an outstanding project in partnership with OMA. The design reflects the new vibrancy and vitality of Orchard Road and Singapore. OMA with its extensive international experience will certainly bring a new perspective to luxury urban living and add to the cosmopolitan flavor of our development,” says Far East Organization Chief Operating Officer, Property Sales, Chia Boon Kuah. “The collaboration with the Far East Organization is an exciting opportunity to further engage Asia,” says Ole Scheeren, Partner of OMA. “The design vertically redistributes the floor area in four alternating towers to create a skyscraper in which architectural and urbanistic concerns merge with mechanisms that create added value. The architecture, in this sense, goes beyond form and generates symbiotic qualities”.

Stop Press
Clarification from OMA – The Singapore tower is a design by OMA Partner Ole Scheeren. Unlike most architecture firms we are a collaborative office which works as a Partnership, Singapore Scotts Towers is by Ole Scheeren.”

Pimp My Model

As usual it is close to submissions and Eng Kiat is blogging way more than he should. For those of you who have started on your models already, here’s some inspiration for you. Its a video done by the Harvard GSD people. Click on the picture to see the video.

Gee I’m in IMDb

Just realised that I’m credited on IDMb for a short I worked on when I was in junior college (it was submitted as an entry to the Silver Screen Awards and goodness knows what other film fests — producers did the submitting). Shows sometimes googling your own name can surprise you. Speaking of googling, I’ve realised lately a lot of people have been googling my name and chancing upon this blog. Hmm.

*Wince* X(

Today in the Straits Times Forum someone wrote:

Are Harley Davidson bikes put to noise test?
Every time a Harley Davidson motor cycle passes by, it generates a deafening noise much louder that the piling machine at a construction site.

If piling machines are subjected to strict noise regulations, why are the Harley Davidson bikes exempted?

The high decibels from a Harley Davidson bike may cause hearing impairment.

If cars in Singapore have to pass an emission test, shouldn’t the noise level of Harley Davidson motorcycles be tested too?”

And the government wants to make Singapore a “fun” city? After I read this, I really don’t know whether I should laugh or cry at this letter sent in to the ST forum. First, it is petty whinging at its best/worst.

Certain things in life cannot be quantified. Can you quantify the value of a photograph to an individual? So should all sentimental items be deemed worthless because they are, well, worthless monetarily? In the same vein should a Harley be silent? Or a Ferrari be slow? Or quiet like an electric car? What kind of sad existence has this person led?

Oh maybe he doesn’t understand such things because he is a stoogy old fogie who has led a miserable existance and decided that other people shouldn’t have fun because he didn’t.

1. What has an emission test have got to do with the sound a Harley makes? Does more CO2 make a noiser vehicle?

2. Hearing impairment is the result of high SPL (sound pressure levels) rather than the common misconception of decibel ratings. Yes, the 2 are related, but if he should be so anal about quantifying things, I have all right to be too.

3. Are you sure a Harley is louder than a construction piler? The damage to hearing a construction piler causes is due to repeated trauma/stress that the SPL generated by the piler. Unless you ride a Harley, or tailgate a Harley, I seriously doubt you’ll suffer any form of hearing damage. In fact, I’m sure only if you put your ear to the muffler for an extended period will you suffer any damage.

More importantly, I think the forum editor should have the common sense to send the article to the trashcan rather than publish it. SERIOUSLY.

くだらな!!

Something’s not right.

The housepainters are over at my place giving the interior a fresh coat of paint, and in my bid to stay out of their way I have holed up in my room surfing the net. I was checking out Apple’s new Mac campaigns (they’re pretty funny) and I as I was waiting for a video to load I went surfing the pages telling me why I’m better off with a mac. One of the pages informed me that I wouldn’t need to fork out any extra dimes because the Mac comes bundled with lots of goodies. And on the next page informing me that Windoze runs on the pretty Mac, the disclaimer on the bottom of the page seems pretty incongruent with the previous page about the stuff on a Mac being free.

Huh? You decide the implications yourself.