Archemist Blog
This is a space for my own architectural related musings. Sometimes it is about a movie, a book, a show, or even something that I’ve come across online. Happy reading!
Sean Godsell’s MPavilion - Re-Imagining Future Potentials
One thing that made MPavilion rather successful is the relocatability of the pavilion. Where the pavilion is now is a lovely pavilion by the Hellenic Museum. However, while the structure sits poetically at the current venue – Sean Godsell has recently announced that it may no longer be a home to the location. Given the nature of the structure and purpose itself, I can think of several locations that the pavilion may sit.
Time for makeup is not for you to decide.
My relationship with makeup hasn’t been a consistent one. Let alone, my attitude towards makeup was a hostile one (and under the impression that a lot of peers in high school were keen to wear makeup to look grown up or impress boys…). Yet over the years, through participating in school performances and appreciating the artistry of makeup, I found myself gravitating towards the empowering feeling of wearing makeup. A swatch of a good red lipstick, a colourful eyeshadow look that garners validating comments or even an alluring teal lipstick to turn shocked heads – I loved the soft armour I could give to myself. I laughed at how I was so sceptical about makeup when I was young (probably associating it with being girly and that was considered cringe and uncool) and later transitioning to the thought of “I paid good money for this, let me enjoy the items that I bought!” I was able to feel the happiness of spending the morning in putting myself together.
2025: When your career becomes the walls of your vision
As I am a step closer to turning thirty, I’ve found myself surrounded by the common notion where the year goes by faster than the previous. Part of me wonder if being thrown into the chaos of a new project at the office has made the notion almost a spell for myself and others, another part of me wonder if it is because I have become so preoccupied with career progression that I’ve hardly paid much attention to time.
Eternity: Understanding the weight of the word - a film review
There is a lot to like in the film (for myself at least). The pacing, script writing and editing of the film has lovely changes between scenes. The biggest impact the film had on me was the noticeable colour change between earth and the junction. Eternity opens with Larry and Joan as a bickering elderly couple driving to their children’s gender reveal party. The first impression sets a mundane muted scene, and it is only when Larry dies that we notice a distinct colour shift of deep and moody warm tones(I’m willing to bet that the remainder of the film was shot on Kodak film).
Materialists – Tipping between the scales of the head and heart
Celine Song’s Materialists is inspired by Song’s brief experience as a matchmaker, a past life that she thoroughly enjoyed too much that she had to step away to concentrate on her professional pursuit in the film industry. Having consumed many interviews on the making of the film (Modern Love being one of my favourites), I eventually find myself sitting in an intimate cinema around three Fridays ago, anticipating how the story would unfold..
Hidden Meadow - A picturesque dreaming
Four years after its opening, I’ve found myself on a bus towards West Kowloon, which unfortunately is a site that is still surrounded by a sea of construction, scaffolding and hoarding. Despite this, the travel to the museum was a straightforward one – an open atmosphere paved with grey tiles. It’s only when I walked slowly towards the walls that I immediately understood the narrative and the cultural reference tided towards the building façade.
M+ Museum: A Review 4 Years After Its Coveted Opening
Four years after its opening, I’ve found myself on a bus towards West Kowloon, which unfortunately is a site that is still surrounded by a sea of construction, scaffolding and hoarding. Despite this, the travel to the museum was a straightforward one – an open atmosphere paved with grey tiles. It’s only when I walked slowly towards the walls that I immediately understood the narrative and the cultural reference tided towards the building façade.
NGV 2024-5: Kusama 草間 – a revision of her artistry
NGV’s latest exhibition celebrates the life and career of well-known and arguably one of the most Instagrammable artists within the contemporary art world - Yayoi Kusama. Showcasing over 100 pieces of work that captures the early origins of her artwork to what we know as the sea of infinite dots – this exhibition presents a welcoming surprise to those who only know Kusama in the later years, while for some, may feel as a level of repetition of her other exhibition back in Brisbane’s Art Gallery during 2018.
2024: The moment I stopped chasing for closure.
Every year, I always look forward to getting a year older. Not because I feel that it would provide me a step to ‘maturity’ (my insecurity), but rather, I look forward to the annual lessons that would summariser my trajectory for the year.
And this year was the same…
Looking Back: Job Hunting Was And Is Still Really Hard
Whenever I participate in networking events, I’m often asked how to get a job (in an architecture office).
Having spent almost two years finding work while trying to bury the envy I have of my peers – I know as well as anyone else, it came down to a combination of hard work, effort, the willingness to grow and a bit of luck.
But if you were to ask for a sincere answer, I would say, it was a matter of desperation.
Desperation.