Singapore has a delectable mix of people from all countries, of all races and religion, of multiple personalities. We love foreign talents because they bring the best from their countries and we love other things they bring along with them e.g. their culture, art, design, food etc.

Imitation is the best form of flattery and Singaporeans are the epitome of this sentence. Regardless of where we go, we take back the best bit back to our wonderful little country and sometimes come up with something uniquely Singaporean after mixing everything together. Sometimes.

 

There may be some correlation between home décor in Singapore and travel patterns. Perhaps? Think the Banyan tree look in the 80s, the tropical modern look, Zen in the later 90s and now Modern Baroque is making a comeback. But I question the relation to traveling. There is a greater likelihood that Guy A goes over to Bali, sees something he likes, decorates his home after it, perhaps got his place showcased in a magazine and “WALA!” everyone copies the same Balinese style. Luxury travel in Bali with its world class resorts or rather, luxury travel in Indonesia with an increasingly sophisticated array of travel solutions in off-the-beaten trek locations, offer a great way of orienting the home decor neophyte with an exotic South-East Asian aesthetic. Nevertheless the popularity of certain interior design themes in Singapore is worthy of a mention.

Balinese

Courtesy of blogman from sxc.hu

Singaporeans love the beach and resort feel. So much that they have brought back the resorts right into their homes. The desire to create a hideaway, reminiscent of the charming villas found in the tropical Indonesian island of Bali, has led to the burgeoning trend of Balinese themed décor.

Singapore was a developing nation in the mentioned period. Travelling was mostly limited to the surrounding countries. As a result, Singapore home décor was very Asian (nothing to do with any intrinsic cultural trait) but rather due to the logics of consumption (what we can afford vs. what we really want).

Nevertheless, the Balinese style still lingers in some Singaporean homes today. The idyllic feel and care freeness of this particular style takes away one’s pressure from the hustle and bustle in the city. One can almost pretend they are relaxing on a deck chair enjoying the breeze with a cocktail in hand or perhaps partying on the sandy beach with the hottest babes and hunks or even meditating in the woods, listening to the trickling of a stream.

Some features of the Balinese styled homes would be the amount of space (or the illusion of space). Furniture and ornaments are often simple, reducing the amount of clutter in the room. As a result, sunlight streams in easily, creating an airy, well lit effect throughout the house. Water feature is almost a must. The constant trickling of water relaxes the aural senses and calms the soul. It also adds some life to the monotonous day we have had in our little office cubicle.

Whether it is the handcrafted carvings that double up as intricate showpieces, the beautiful and bold paintings that pepper the rooms or the woody furniture where weary homeowners can sink their tired bodies in and fall straight into an idyllic reverie, the rustic décor attracted a large group of followers. But of course, Singaporeans are fickle and they look for change and hence the development of the modern Balinese themed homes.

Michael White a.k.a. Made Wijaya of the 90s

Born Michael White, Made Wijaya is one of the world’s most celebrated tropical garden designers with about 600 gardens to his credit in locations as far away as Morocco, Hawaii, the continental United States, Spain, India, Malaysia and Singapore

Wijaya, a multi-talented artist with a comprehensive and meticulous knowledge of Balinese culture, architecture and tropical landscape design has propelled Balinese culture to a greater height by adopting the latest trends from overseas and creating a tropical modern look, one favoured by many Singaporeans as well.

Balinese home will never to go out of style. Strike a balance between the rustic Balinese charm and the sleek, modern lines and you will not be laughed at by the modern Baroque style of today.

Other than the Balinese style he is very fond of, Wijaya is outstanding at creating the tropical gardens that are sensitive to local nuances. His breakthrough, the Bali Hyatt hotel, showcased the exuberant growth of local coastal plants with English style attention to texture, colour and decorative accents.

On modern tropical home décor, Wijaya’s approach is about the celebration of living in the tropics, hedonism in life, all in the presence of nature. The whole idea is to break free of the alienation from the environment and welcoming all the pleasure of tactile and sensorial experiences of nature. Smell the light scent of a flower, listen to the singing of a frog or respond to the touch of the wind.

Screens replace walls, stones and woods became the main attraction of the modern tropical look. Kitchen and eating rooms can open to the garden. Plants like the palm tree can help create a home away from home look as well. The whole idea behind the modern tropical home is to embrace the nature while maintaining the stylishness of the modern home.

Zen

We love everything Japanese. Japanese conveyor sushi belts, Japanese trinkets, Japanese toys, Japanese electronics, Japanese cars, Japanese food (think tako pachi, Jap pancakes, ramen, dons etc), the language etc. It is natural that if we want to live like a Japanese, we want to recreate the same home décor in our homes as well.

Photo Courtesy of sradion from sxc.hu

The Japanese Zen missionary expansion continued in the early 20^th Century, influencing Singaporeans with its simple lines, little colours and minimalist approach to decoration. This interior design situation arose out of something of universal appeals—Zen paintings.

Simplicity is the sophistication of the 21^st century and Zen fits right into this mode. A Zen room provides a clam and quiet environment for the owner, something that is hard to find in our highly stressful lives.

The minimalist approach means that all clutter has to be stored out of sight. Storage bins, cabinets or pieces of furniture that allow for storage are necessary. Under the list of decorating scheme, some metal, chrome, whites, creams and very simple lines are used. Anything too ostentatious should be rid off to create the stark effect.

With the rapid modernisation of the late 90s to early 20s, the young, contemporary trendsetters are lured by the Zen style of interior decorating, making the Zen style a big hit.

Modern Baroque

The trend to minimalism throughout the 1990s is being replaced by opulence. Think the painted ceilings of San Benedetto in Catania, the domed roofs of Santa Susanna, the dynamic rhythm of columns and pilasters, central massing and the protrusion and condensed central decoration of Baroque’s Italian beginnings. After last year’s presentations of baroque homages by well-known protagonists like Capellini with the “New Antiques” chair or Sawaya & Moroni with the collection ”Barock ’n’ Roll ”, baroque elements are finding their way into the entire furniture industry.

The trend to resort to nostalgic elements is based upon fulfilling the consumers’ desire for well-established values and the security associated with them, and meanwhile this trend has become a significant economical factor. The tendency towards a new Baroque era is reflected in particular in specific ornamental designs and patterns but is also expressed in lush round forms and luxurious materials.

In the Singaporean context, the Baroque movement represents a flaunting of wealth as the economy continues with its high growth rates. The property market boom made many millionaires over night from the en bloc saga, consumerism is at an all time high, luxe developments are sprouting up in places we have never thought of. The fast moving economy and the tendency to want to best have brought back the Baroque movement in Singapore décor. Other contributing factors would be the IR and its range of high end deluxe hotels and the F1 race.

When it comes to luxe residences, the trend is to go baroque as it is a representation of the high life. However, the minimalism trend has yet to die out especially in the homes of young trendsetters as well as in chic boutique hotels.

The best places to find inspiration for interior design whilst traveling remain Morocco, India, Bali and Thailand but for a more interpretive aesthetic and more exotic throwbacks, it’s worthwhile to start looking towards Syria, Turkey, Mongolia(having inspired quite a slew of private gers in backyards), Myanmar and China.

It’s always interesting to see the keywords through which random people come to our website and/or blog. Aside from the usual suspects – keywords revolving around the themes of iconic modern furniture, aesthetics of design, names of local condominium developments, types of housing, bungalows for sale on ‘x’ road and a disturbing trend towards ‘enbloc possibility of ‘x’ development’,

the more interesting keyphrases I’ve found lately on the urbanespaces stats page are:

not here to answer cuntish questions

The quotation that immortalized Guy Debord in the minds of many, and (ab)used in our press release for the blindfolding service.

m phosis pronunciation

pronounciation of setai

tribeca pronounciation

On the pronunciation queries, I pronounce it morphosis due to the > sign(and it’s a more interesting play on words even if it’s not accurate). Setai, I pronounce ser-tie. Tribeca, I pronounce try-bear-car. If that’s of any help to the people making these queries on google…

blek le rock

It’s blek le rat, really, the progenitor of the politically inspired graffiti art of Banksy.

urbanites uber alles properties

?? urbanites uber alles is our sometime cheeky tagline- not our company’s name…..

the3 yorkshiremen

this- I never figured out.

what a woman s laughter can do to a man rumi

plenty. but probably springing from my phase of flirting with Rumi.

It’s also interesting how queries are made on google- I frequently come across ‘natural’ questions like: ‘how much is (x development) renting for’. Has natural language search engines come into its own yet?

This froma Skyscrapercity forum. Apparently it wasn’t made in irony. And why not- the Singapore real estate scene is Monopoly Street nowadays…

MONOPOLY properties?

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Just wondering if anyone interested in owning Monopoly Property?My apologies if this is off topic but I’m a monopoly fanatic and will be redecorating my apt with the stage backdrop (mural can be seen in first picture) and the individual floor pieces will be the wall art (saves me $ painting). I will also display collectible monopoly sets in antique Art Decor (or retro) cupboards throughout the apt… think anyone will rent/buy it if I do it like that??Any other fans or ppl who have old Monopoly set for me to frame up and display?Any one here interested to see the floorplan / layout of the apt so that all members here can “suggest” ideas on where to put what… hence the final outcome will be a collective effort by everyone here?Cheers!The browns (or Purple in this case. This board is the World’s 1 and only)

This is a little off-tangent but like Shawn, I am as seduced by “the fact that many political agendas are addressed through” the channel that is graffiti. A trip to Bangsar (haunt of Farish Noor’s ‘latte-drinking liberals‘ ) during the lead-up to the Malaysian political elections, yields a particular memory of political graffiti , predominantly caricatures of PM Mahathir and slogans like ‘Legalize Ganja’. It was the subject of a documentary, 18, screened at the Singapore Film Festival in 2005 but axed from the Seoul Film Festival.

What is 18? This mysterious number is but one of a prominent crop of graffiti that has popped up around the streets of Kuala Lumpur.

Sprayed at strategic urban spaces and applied with a seemingly socio-political agenda, the 18? graffiti and its like (eg “Legalize ganja”, “Ada apa dengan National Service?”, “Pertahankan Hak Asasi”, etc) brazenly takes its place alongside advertising banners and billboards in our urban sightlines.

What does it mean? What is it selling? Why? Who did it? 18? – the documentary – attempts to uncover the mystery behind the graffiti.”

Commentary on the controversy surrounding the film can be found here:

Have not been to Kuala Lumpur much recently but the polytikus blog gives an interesting rundown on the city’s graffiti art:

In Bangsar

In Subang

And the “politikus of Hartamas”
Where to find graffiti in Singapore:

Haji Lane- where the creatives have come to congregate. Other than the spontaneous graffiti you find on the walls of the narrow pedestrian streets, rather charming, fafi-esque graffiti also finds itself incorporated as part of the store’s brand identity. Ref: Soon Lee.

On the back of some unfortunate shophouses on Emerald Hill. The priciest shophouses on the island but graffiti on the back of these houses might suggest a few cases of students from neighbouring schools giving a new definition to ‘after-school hours’.

Hyacinthus’ blog gives an excellent rundown of some of the more interesting graffiti in residential areas(including the picture of a dog at the entrance of a condominium toilet).

Used to be a more common feature of the void decks of HDB blocks.

Is also the reason for the expulsion of an art school student.

No- I wasn’t referring to the agents although I’m feeling the force of public opinion favouring this direction;-)

Mass Trial Begins over Thai-French Prostitution Ring

AFP – Tuesday, September 4

NANTES, France (AFP) – - Twenty-seven people went on trial Monday in western France accused of running a prostitution ring whose profits were laundered via a luxury property development in Thailand.

French police arrested some 40 people in 2004 after discovering a double bookkeeping system in 11 hostess bars in the western cities of Rennes and Nantes, suspected of operating as brothels.

Part of the bars’ turnover was embezzled and used to finance an eight-villa property development in Thailand.

More of the details here:

A close friend is convinced that why Singapore’s real estate scene has taken off is because of the amount of money laundering going on. Regionally- who better than Thaksin to effect a money laundering effort on such grandiose levels(he didn’t buy in Singapore though;p)?:

Report: Ousted Thai PM Thaksin buys luxury townhouse in Hong Kong

More information on the development and related caveats:
Thaksin hits Peak
Hong Kong Standard
Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Thaksin Shinawatra, the ousted prime minister of Thailand, was the purchaser of the luxury townhouse on The Peak recently sold by Sun Hung Kai Properties (0016) – a property whose price tag of HK$41,000 per square foot set a record in Asia’s luxury property market, sources told The Standard.
A source close to the deal said it was billionaire Thaksin who paid an astounding HK$210 million for the 5,100 sq ft townhouse, referred to as House 1 at Severn 8, The Peak.

Two other sources also named Thaksin as the buyer, whose identity was previously unknown.

“It is obvious the seller is pushing the price to the limit,” said a source who has been in the property industry for more than 30 years.

“It would require someone who either loves the property very much or who does not care about money at all to make the call of buying it for more than HK$41,000 per square foot.”

The Severn 8 development is considered one of the biggest projects in Hong Kong in terms of size and luxury.

Thaksin’s townhouse – complete with swimming pool – does not stand on its own but is connected to other units and, therefore, was considered unlikely to fetch such a premium price.

Local media had previously reported only that the property was sold to an unnamed “businessman.”

“The price shows how good the quality of House 1 is in terms of its geographic location and how quiet the living environment is,” Midland Realty sales director Gary Yeung Wing-kin said after the deal.

Befo
re the sale, local media had speculated that the house was reserved for Martin Lee Ka-shing, co-vice chairman of Henderson Land (0012) and younger son of company chairman Lee Shau-kee, to move into after his recent HK$100 million wedding to model and actress Cathy Chui Chi-kay.

The price Thaksin paid for the property was a record for the luxury market – not just in Hong Kong, but for the whole of Asia.

The businessman-turned-politician has been spotted in Hong Kong shopping with his wife several times recently.

Thaksin has been in exile since a military coup took control of Thailand last September while he was out of the country on a diplomatic visit.

Since the coup, he has been living mostly in London.

SHKP bought the land for its 22-house project on Severn Road for HK$8,353 per square foot of developable gross floor area at a government land auction in February 2000.

Thaksin’s purchase price is the latest in a string of records for the 8 Severn Road development.

Houses 6 and 7 sold for HK$36,500 psf, or a total of HK$320 million, in November 2006 – then a record for the luxury market in Hong Kong.

That mark was surpassed by House 5 in the same development, which sold in March 2007 for HK$38,800 psf, or HK$200 million.

And the later questions of did-he-buy or did-he-not can be found here: