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!

The Digital Narrator Of Architecture

The video game industry has and still continues to provide entertainment for many years. Covering many genres like sports, action, strategy and simulation to suit every person. For instance, the classic life-simulation game – The Sims™, has been made popular by its open-ended, no-objective gameplay and free will. The game grants the gamer full control; from fulfilling the whims of their sim (avatar) to the very shape of their nose. This kind of flexibility has attracted many types of players. There are gamers who dream of leading a different life and live vicariously through their sims, there are those who enjoy pushing moral boundaries and those who enthuse and appreciate the design aspect of the game. In this virtual realm, there are no rules, no legal restrictions, no complaining neighbours, and best of all, no budgets! 

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Democratising in Design Part II : Attitudes of Implied Design Independence

Customisation of design can arguably arise from our habit of searching for the aesthetic in visual as well as the attitudes of wanting to follow the trend yet with discretion and dignity. This is similar to the idea of purchasing counterfeit goods we often see in the markets – it is giving the people a sense of belonging and confidence now that they have owned a part of the trend.

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Technology, Democratisation in Design Kimberley K. Hui Technology, Democratisation in Design Kimberley K. Hui

Democratising in Design Part I : A Code’s Accessibility, Implications and Precautions

This morning, I came across Dezeen’s article on Wallgren Arkitekter and BOX Bygg’s upcoming Grasshopper plugin Finch - a “parametric tool that generates adaptive plans”. Finch essentially is a plugin that, by inputting information about the size of land coupled with building regulations, it will be able to generate a range of generic plans. This is quite exciting for many of us, considering that should we study hard on the standard building codes and restrictions,  it will give us time to understand and practice the means to create a habitable design. This is also beneficial in terms of research, given that if we input codes from different generations, we are then able to make immediate comparisons on the evolution of housing designs in accordance to the types of regulations that they have been coded with. 

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