Tag Archives: Singapore Property

The new design ascetic

Posted on 24 Sep 2009 | Comments Off on The new design ascetic

Pared down, simplified and minimal, architects are all reassessing what is really essential in life, reports ARTHUR SIM

Claudio Silvestrin, who has designed 18 villas for developer YTL Corp at Sentosa Cove, believes that architecture is akin to ‘composing poetry on earth in partnership with the earth…’.

WHETHER it is because of the constant talk about the economy, wealth destruction or the periodic stockmarket jitters, homeowners appear to have lost the desire to build ever bigger and flashier homes. Instead, the prevailing design aesthetic seems to be more about ascetism, as more people decide that living in excess is just so last century.

One of a kind: A house by Daniel Libeskind – Libeskind presents the world with a new way of living with his prefabricated villa (above) and a house by Mink Tan – who searches for the Asian soul in his architecture (next)

Pared down, simplified and minimal, architects are all reassessing what is really essential in life. Daniel Libeskind, who designed Reflections at Keppel Bay, has perhaps gone a step further by designing a prototype of a house that is prefabricated and can be shipped anywhere in the world. He describes the house as ‘a limited artistic edition of a new space, of a new way of living, a total work of art’.

Called the Libeskind Villa, the four-bedroom house is a composition of three simple interlocking volumes that generate a myriad of geometric spaces. And in keeping with volatile oil prices, it offers maximum insulation and durability, cutting-edge technologies and compliance with some of the toughest energy-saving standards across the world. In designing Libeskind Villa, Mr Libeskind reduces the essence of a home to only the most critical elements and the design just stops short of being austere.

And there is no shame in austerity, especially today. Architect Gwen Tan of Formwerkz has even chosen to celebrate it. Describing a house she is designing for a client, she said that one of the biggest constraints was that the site was so tight it could only accommodate a very small house. Fortunately, her client’s needs were simple and Ms Tan decided that this should be ‘celebrated’. Continue reading →

Comments Off on The new design ascetic

Posted in General, Property Market / Real Estate

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Residential market needs a rework

Posted on 24 Sep 2009 | Comments Off on Residential market needs a rework

Changing policies as market conditions change reflects pragmatic and adaptive policymaking which should be applauded

THE big picture driver of real estate wherever is the economy. A residential property buyer pays a certain amount for a particular location because he likes to work, live and play there. Should Singapore execute successfully on mega projects like the integrated resorts, improve her infrastructure, grow her economy and become an increasingly important global city, the trend for property prices is up.

Balancing act: Changing policies as market conditions change reflects pragmatic and adaptive policymaking which should be applauded. Moreover, well-timed pre-emptive moves deserve the most kudos. However, perhaps there is a case for adopting a framework where only supply measures change while demand measures remain unchanged

But how fast should prices rise? Is there excessive speculation in the Singapore private residential property market? These are tricky questions and governments everywhere, through their policies, play a major role in impacting the property market. Recently, the Singapore government, acting to pre-empt any speculative bubble from forming, unveiled both supply measures such as reinstating the confirmed list of land sales in the first half of 2010 and demand measures such as disallowing the interest-absorption plan and interest-only loans being offered to buyers of uncompleted private homes.

Changing policies as market conditions change reflects pragmatic and adaptive policymaking which should be applauded. Moreover, well-timed pre-emptive moves deserve the most kudos. However, perhaps there is a case for adopting a framework where only supply measures change while demand measures remain unchanged. This is not just about letting free market forces reign as adopting such a stand creates more certainty for developers and property buyers, both of whom are committing to sizeable investments. Whenever large sums of investment are being made, consistent regulations are called for and the residential property market should be no exception. For example, let’s be clear whether we want schemes like deferred payment or interest absorption all the time, not at all, or some of the time. Continue reading →

Comments Off on Residential market needs a rework

Posted in Property Market / Real Estate

Tagged , , , , ,