sifr & 'nd i : making custom furniture p.2

We're getting ready for Blueprint at the moment, it hasn't been this hectic in awhile. Hence the intermittent blogging... We need guest writers/bloggers! If you like writing please contact us! So many story ideas but no time to write. We are also looking for bloggers in Jakarta. If you have video and photo experience please contact us, we're looking to document all of Suraj's movements in Jakarta and share them with you all on youtube and on a blog(we are porting to a wordpress very very soon).

The photos below document the proto-typing phase for our a-frame. We're no George Nakashima but we did a pretty damn good job at constructing the a-frame used to hang the new line 'ND I.

If you're interested in contributing to DEAR time please email, info{A}sifrsite.com

We are porting our blog very very soon, hop on board the new movement!

Friendly Fire: Karya & K.I.N

Before we embark on our next window display installation this coming Friday, we'd like to recap the first one we did with Karya. The idea of the having our display transcend it's common role of visual merchandising display unit came about in our weekly company meeting. In a matter of weeks we had our first installation designed and setup by the wonderful architecture collective Karya out of Kuala Lumpur. For our next bit we are working with the multi platform creative agency kult. We hope to see you there this Friday for the launch of our second installment for our window display series.

Click the link below for the event information.

CLICK ME

Enjoy the post below courtesy of the folks from Karya!

As promised, updates on the dismantling process of our 5 months stint on the window of Know It Nothing are up! We're deeply grateful for K.I.N for the opportunity given to kickstart their initiative in promoting and showcasing regional talents. So without further ado, march through the updates people.

KARYA|KIN 2011 from architectsforpresidency on Vimeo.

K.I.N. Website v2.0

We've been working away at developing our new website to match the new developments at the store. No pictures here, have a look for yourself!

CLICK HERE

sifr & 'ndi : making custom furniture p.1

D-I-Y has been a growing part of D.E.A.R. time (sifr & kin) collective since we embarked on reworking the second floor of 51 Haji Lane. After working on the upstairs we took on building a custom fixture for our pop-up with Isetan, followed by designing our own fixtures at Tangs. After situating Tangs we only saw fit that we try our hands at constructing our very own 'A-Frame' rack. The photos below capture the journey we took to the lumber mill, Sin Wei Hong Timber, in Sungei Kaduk and the objects we found around their humble container office. Each trip we take to one of Singapore's oldest industrial areas is a journey in itself (We were there in early 2010 working with Clear Channel). The landscape that is within and around these industrial plots casts a beautiful reflection on an unchecked and organic side of Singapore. The imagery in these plots range from scrap metal collection to cement barrier casting to lumber. Each lot contains a very human and uncensored expression of a person or peoples business. A beautiful space to travel through. In our next post we'll be capturing the construction of the 'A-Frame'.

Sincerely,
sifr



















Do you guys have any photos of urban decay to share?

Window Display by KARYA.

What began as an idea pitch during our weekly meeting sessions has turned into reality in 2 months. The idea originated from a disagreement we had during the meeting over the full utilization of our window space. The idea of merchandising curation was getting old and the potential impact of the window was being greatly undeserved as not only a space within KIN but as a public space as well. Not only do we want our window display to attract shoppers' attention, we wanted to convey an authentic message - something that resonates with the store's ethos.

We can not express how pleased we are with the work produced by KARYA, an architecture based design collective based out of Malaysia.

This is an excerpt explaining their idea behind the installation:

"The work installed by the team depicts the dynamics of the brand's growth and immeasurable potential. The work is made up of networks, an analogy and imagery of the brand's numerous developed connections throughout the years in Singapore's fashion scene. In its formation, the work also signifies KIN's intended growth and expansion in influence and bridging ties regardless of distance and dimension. The usage of thread, buttons and color exploitation lends a light-hearted air to the installation, a direct juxtaposition to it's mature theme. Lines are kept clean, sharp and minimal, materials are experimented to match KIN's outlook and KARYA's attribute."

Just as their work reflects growth, the team at KIN has unanimously agreed that this project is the start of many to come from 2011 onwards where we get creative entities to do work on KIN's window display on a quarterly basis.

This project reflects our determination to engage the local creative community to do collaborative projects with KIN. A considerable and positive change from our initial usage of the window display as product placement to utilizing the space currently, as a 'blank canvas' for creative expression.

The Second Floor

In 15 days, we'll be very pleased to present to all of you the second floor at KIN.

Just a quick recap on what it was and what it intends to be in the future:

Upon opening it's doors back in 2007, the second floor was initially delayed due to furniture and design issues. We had decided to go ahead and present the first floor and slowly attempt to get the upstairs portion sorted out. 3 months after we opened up, the second floor was done. All furniture was put in and the store was eventually segregated into two sections with the first comprising of clothing and accessories while the second floor comprised purely of footwear and some artwork.

The second floor turned into somewhat of an enclave for many. With the mood set by a combination of subtle lighting and cozy mid-century furniture, the space welcomed customers both new and old. Sometimes even to purely just soak in the atmosphere of a quiet and cultured setting far away from the bustle of the more central areas. The space also functioned as a gallery and sometimes played host to many a gathering for friends or other like minds. We even had DJ "Brown Suga" at the second floor to drop some 90's R&B for an intimate gathering one Thursday evening. It was a one of a kind affair. If you know of anyone that was present at that event, make sure to ask for highlights of the evening.

As some of you may know, the second floor was recently turned into an office space for us. Shortly after, we grew out of it and moved on to another great spot in the city. We packed the ping-pong table, the water cooler, the inventory and moved out. Since then, the second floor has undergone a slight renovation to turn it back into a retail location. We miss having an engaging space.

Albeit fun, the second floor renovation was an interesting challenge. With the entire team throwing out ideas for furniture/design/direction, it was more relaxing than it was 4 years ago when I single-handedly took charge of the project. It made me thankful for the support of a solid team. I also realized that this business has come a long way since May 2007.

Our brief was simple. Keywords tossed around included; Modular, Visually Engaging, Clean, etc. We wanted a slightly different realm than the first floor which is why we chose some of the furniture that you'll eventually see up there. A lot of us at the office were highly influenced by the would be home of a wealthy upper-east side divorcee. You'll see brass in shiny yellow, you'll see carpets we've accumulated over the years, you'll see a more loose collection of knick knacks that we've gathered over time. In the meantime, here are some teasers.

This brings us back to when we first conceptualized the space. There was a certain pressure to overly plan in order to come out with a very solid concept. The research part was important, but the overall execution was even more crucial. We felt the need to include as much artwork and other visuals that would define the KIN brand. 4 years on and it seems that "designers" have moved away from that. In essence, it seems like the space just needs to organically develop into a collection of all the things the store resonates with. Visual merchandising is more key than conceptualizing a space, at least in our books. Feel free to disagree with all this in comments section.

All the furniture here was made in Indonesia. If any of you like the look of it, let us know and we'll be able to direct you to the source. We'll post more in the coming days.

-ssm

tangs : tent museum concept pitch

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I've been out of the Sifr/KIN office and back in the architecture studio for almost two months now and I've been asked by Chris to share a little bit about how we approached our first Tangs pitch.

We needed to present a couple of schemes to Tangs in a cool way so we decided to produce a leporello packet (accordion binding technique by folding a long piece of paper back on itself).

I started out with rough sketches which I then overlaid with some light colors and textures in Photoshop. White, bright, and clean is very much a part of the Sifr/KIN aesthetic and it just has the sophisticated je ne sais quoi, so I kept the images simple and light-washed. (On the other hand, I guess gold rococo mirrors and frou frou teal chairs make up the other half of another Sifr/KIN aesthetic, but that would be for another pop-up store, another day, or another annex.)

To create the leporello, I arranged the images in one large image for plotting at our friends' office (thanks a ton, Dean and Richard and Paulo who helped us out that day). Unfortunately, the plan to print double-sided on thick, creamy paper did not work so I ended up making the leporello by hand instead of the traditional folding method. I'm happy they still impressed Tangs though, because Tangs ended our meeting asking for a few more copies and talking about final schemes for our pop-up store!

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A raised enclosure for one to be surrounded by clothes.

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A series of steps and double-steps for displaying, sitting, walking. The void becomes storage.

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A screen which implies enclosure of space, a space filled with some modular furniture.

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A translucent tent for us to shop in. Uplighting creates silhouettes. Bundled 2x4 lumber creates a bench.

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Pipes and pallets and changing elevations. I like industrial chic.

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from KCL

Ithaca, NY, USA

public nuisance radio show no. 66 : funk bast*rd (cosa nostra)

public nuisance no.66 has finally arrived, be prepared for another musical adventure with the funk bast*rd. this month's show is a little more beat heavy which is welcomed warmly. if you guys like what you hear on this mix you should check out, 'bake & shake' this saturday at la maison (green fairways, next to mimolette) / music will be insane, bring your listening ears and dancing feet.

*note: if you're up for some great music (they'll be playing too many genres to list), disco:very at velvet this friday is going to be off the hook.



Public Nuisance show No. 66 w the Funk Bast*rd (Cosa Nostra) by Cosa Nostra

Fashion or Garment Construction/Assembly

Most of us tend to be highly influenced by "Fashion" etc.

I need to ask some of you out there what you're influenced by; "Fashion and it's idea" or the actual process of "construction and garment assembly"? Please enlighten me because for a while now, people haven't really noticed the latter.

From personal experiences at Fashion School in New York, the class was most definitely divided into two different schools of thought and you could categorize people as soon as they walked into the studios. I'm reminiscing. All this happened about 6 years ago so it's slightly hazy.

Strangely so, it was easy to spot the people who were more interested in the "idea" than in the actual process. Most of the people that signed up to be part of the "idea" dropped out within six weeks or headed right into depression after the 3rd day. It was a humorous sight that'll always remain as a firm reminder for the rest of my production days.

The idea of this post is to ask what you guys are thinking. Are we moving into greater appreciation for construction, quality? With the ascent of Menswear at the moment, we're now lucky enough to really see great clothing that is focusing less on the "idea" but rather on the actual garment, the styling and the people the garments resonate with. Are you happy with this?

As far as I know, the situation in this city is one that is currently still behind the international circuit. We're still in the midst of embracing the "idea" when we hear of an event or launch happening. We're enamored by the parties, the overly stylish yet seemingly uninteresting attendees and the desire to really be noticed. Seems like we're not actually promoting or cultivating a great design scene but rather just a "scene". This is what makes this city really interesting to me because in the not so distant future, we're probably going to be laughing at this phase and thinking about how strange we all looked.

I did a couple of gigs with CJ at a local college for design and in those discussions we always tried to promote the idea of fashion as a whole and not just the good bits. Are you interested in making a "good" shirt first or are you dead set on making a shirt that looks really cool? We posed that question continuously and hoped to the powers above that we'd get people interested in the first half of that question.

So what are you? What do you peoples think?

I'll leave you guys with a really good article on some of the types of people we relate with. Get it here.

"Yet interestingly enough, fashion is not a word that inspires Adeline. “I don’t like this word, fashion,” she confides. “There are two things for me. There are clothes, and there is fashion. Fashion – it’s trends, money, industry, and companies. On the other side you have clothes – construction, fabrics, and people who want to know about clothes. How we make clothes, how we wear them, how we feel in them. It’s my way to see the clothing, the exchange between my customers and I”.

Behance: If I Knew Then What I Know Now

I'm sure some of you already know of the creative platform, Behance Network, this is some content from one of their sister sites, 99% (1% inspiration). Einstein was on the ball when he coined that one... Where ever you are right now, whether in school or transiting between jobs this short video may help to pose the question to yourself, "Where am I right now?". Not only in relation to geography, time and space but on a non linear plane of thought as well.

Where are you in the universe? Are you steering your own ship? (Feel free to comment below)

Office Chairs

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to attempt to document KIN in a more intimate/personal way. So today, I dcided to document our office's curated chairs because we picked up a pair at a junkyard, bought one for a dollar, and threw another one out.

FUUR for Mayo Inn

Our good friends over at FUUR (the lot that worked on the new K.I.N interior) are up and at it again, this time giving a breath of fresh air into the interior of the Mayo Inn. A prewar building that was recently converted into a boutique hotel in 1995. Located on the fringe of Little India and nestled at the confluence of several cultural districts. The Mayo Inn is one of the few buildings in Singapore that has withstood the test of two different occupations, war, and rapid modernization. The new interior bridges together the historical frame of the building with a contemporary minimal design that results in a distinct blend of old and new. If you've got friends coming into town, the Mayo Inn is a great suggestion (optimal for both business and tourist travelers) offering a great location, rate and accommodation.

Photography by: Djulian Chng & Jovian Lim