Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Entrance Feature




cascading water features for an entrance statement

Small villa

small and cosy living space


bedroom, spa and open air restroom


room with a view

Enjoy, Have Fun

Yes, if you love the things you do, then do it well, enjoy and above all, have fun. Soon your own style will surface and define you.



a villa with traditional malay features in modern context


layout for tropical comfort & privacy


entrance foyer


internal courtyard

Basics First

The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. This sounds all too familiar doesn't it. In most of my learning experience, the hardest part is getting through the inital stages of basic introductory tutorials. Mainly because I just can't wait to jump straight into this 3D modeling experience, hence the fundamental lessons automatically seemed mercilessly slow and dreary. Why not just skip it? I must stress that understanding the basic principles on which a modeling tool operates is actually really crucial especially for 3D newbies like me. You can't read if you haven't learned your ABCs, could you? So I guess the same applies here too.





entrance structure amidst lush tropical setting

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Limiting Factor

Once too often have we hear complaints that designs modelled using SketchUp do not do enough justice to the actual design idea. Unlike it's other sophisticated counterparts, SketchUp is perceived by most to have very limited modeling capacity. While this may be true to a certain extend, but one must not forget that any modeling tool can only perform as far as the user's will and desire to stretch his skills and creativity. Sometimes we fail to notice the contributing limiting factor in ourselves.




quiet and intimate for a personal retreat



conventional, airy and roomy

DIY

Generally, default textures and model components do not have the range that fit specifically into your style or field of design. Well, you are expected to do it yourself. That's the whole idea, isn't it? Since designers each has their own distinct style, it is only sensible to model a customized range of components characteristic to their trade.


entrance reflective screen & water feature




urban internal courtyard

Get Modelling!

Practice makes perfect! So what are you waiting for? Get moving, get creative. Most importantly, get passionate. For me, that's the ultimate factor that gives a design and model the extra edge. Even a tiny little spark of aspiration, goes a long way.




a formal reflective pond




a lily pond within a minimalist setting

Digital Visualization

Having involved in designing garden ponds, water features and eventually hard landscapes, have slowly but surely changed and shaped my designing perspective over materials, colours, patterns, forms and spatial dimensions. Thankfully with today's digital visualization tools, a myriad of design ideas can be projected more clearly and precisely with illustrative depths to allow better appreciation of concepts. Soon after familiarizing myself with SketchUp, I started to explore adventurously further to produce better models, while still have fun with it.


a pond feature to enhance a corner





a pond to invigorate private outdoor niches


an organically shaped pond




a water feature to cool & add interest to outdoor terrace