https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/rss/676/feed Charmaine Chan has worked as a journalist in Australia, Japan and Hong Kong. She became the South China Morning Post's Design Editor in 2005, having been its Literary, Deputy Features and Behind The News editor. She covers architecture and interior design, and oversees the books pages. Charmaine is the author of Courtyard Living: Contemporary Houses of the Asia-Pacific (Thames & Hudson). en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg Charmaine Chan,Stephen McCarty Charmaine Chan,Stephen McCarty Forty years ago, a building rose above Central district that would rewrite the rules of architecture. The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) Main Building – a tower so radical in its conception that it made every high‑rise built before it look timid – remains as startling today as the day it opened. To mark the anniversary, we tell its story in two voices: those of architect Norman Foster, who, as he returns to the city, reflects on the inspiration behind the building that defined... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/design-interiors/article/3348811/norman-fosters-hi-tech-hsbc-masterpiece-turns-40?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/design-interiors/article/3348811/norman-fosters-hi-tech-hsbc-masterpiece-turns-40?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Apr 2026 08:00:09 +0000 Charmaine Chan Charmaine Chan “Beauty is only skin deep.” That proverb has championed inner qualities so successfully that outward appearance is often dismissed as superficial. In architecture, that assumption is harder to sustain. Around the world, increasingly loud calls are being made for an end to buildings deemed boring, if not outright ugly, on the outside. But what does that mean? Who decides? And why should we care? For months, these questions led me down a rabbit hole that seemed to circle back on itself. That was... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/design-interiors/article/3347097/have-architects-built-boredom-our-streetscapes-and-can-it-harm-our-health?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/design-interiors/article/3347097/have-architects-built-boredom-our-streetscapes-and-can-it-harm-our-health?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Mar 2026 09:00:12 +0000 Charmaine Chan Charmaine Chan I’M A FIRST-GENERATION Chinese-American. My parents left Shanghai in 1948 to go to grad school at Cornell. When I was born (in 1949), my grandfather gave me a Chinese name that my mother (a biochemist) said sounded like Billy. She didn’t like its meaning because it was too flowery, so she gave me a Chinese name that basically means “good money”, which is not very romantic. But to respect my grandfather’s wishes, she gave me the American name Billie, which is unusual even in America. I GREW UP... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/design-interiors/article/3335700/architect-billie-tsien-identity-fear-and-doing-duolingo?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/design-interiors/article/3335700/architect-billie-tsien-identity-fear-and-doing-duolingo?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Dec 2025 07:18:12 +0000 Charmaine Chan Charmaine Chan Catering to the young is anything but child’s play these days, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun. Take Lezhi Camp, a 2,560 square metre playground in the hills of Kunming, Yunnan province, where visitors are encouraged to commune with nature both outdoors and in. At the heart of this ambitious educational and recreational facility is a siheyuan, or courtyard house, given a spirited 21st century twist by Joey Ho Tzung Hsien, of Pal Design Group. Designed for little humans and grown-ups... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/design-interiors/article/3327359/playful-reimagining-traditional-chinese-siheyuan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/design-interiors/article/3327359/playful-reimagining-traditional-chinese-siheyuan?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Sep 2025 10:15:08 +0000 Charmaine Chan Charmaine Chan Visitors to the Pantheon often leave with tangible souvenirs – a Roman coin, a pendant of its famous dome, a model of the ancient architectural marvel. But Singaporean architect Lim Koon Park, founder of Park + Associates, took home something more profound: a feeling of oneness with nature. “What really attracts you when you enter is the oculus open to the sky,” he recalls of his family’s excursions to the temple-turned-church in Rome, Italy. Through the circular hole puncturing the Pantheon’s... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/design-interiors/article/3316929/singapores-first-3d-printed-house-out-there-yet-introverted?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/design-interiors/article/3316929/singapores-first-3d-printed-house-out-there-yet-introverted?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Jul 2025 04:45:08 +0000 Charmaine Chan Charmaine Chan Damien Hirst, eat your heart out. A handsome bike in a vitrine might just be more eye-catching than a lifeless shark in a tank. Maybe it’s just me. The bicycle-as-art exhibit is, apparently, not always the first thing visitors notice when they enter this 2,560 sq ft, three-bedroom family home in Repulse Bay, given the apartment’s numerous talking points. “They can see the bike but I think they are more attracted to the garden and overall layout,” says Travis Wong, who, with wife Ashley Yeung and... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/design-interiors/article/3305509/fewer-corners-mean-fewer-arguments-inside-feng-shui-informed-makeover-hong-kong-home?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/design-interiors/article/3305509/fewer-corners-mean-fewer-arguments-inside-feng-shui-informed-makeover-hong-kong-home?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 07 Apr 2025 22:15:08 +0000 Charmaine Chan Charmaine Chan While expressing preferences can sometimes feel like playing favourites, it also encourages deeper reflection and sharpens our understanding. So when revisiting PostMag’s 2024 homes to select the best, we came up with a top 5 based on specific, subjective criteria. 1. Most breathtaking The scenery contributes to the ever-changing beauty of the AB Concept founders’ home in Karuizawa, Japan. But it is the cantilevered living room that offers the most immersive experience, allowing you to imagine... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/design-interiors/article/3292402/our-top-5-home-interiors-2024-japans-karuizawa-hong-kongs-lantau?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/design-interiors/article/3292402/our-top-5-home-interiors-2024-japans-karuizawa-hong-kongs-lantau?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 31 Dec 2024 03:00:09 +0000 Gavin Yeung,Cat Nelson,Charmaine Chan,Dave Besseling Gavin Yeung,Cat Nelson,Charmaine Chan,Dave Besseling It seems anyone can anoint themselves a bona fide foodie these days, but as any discerning reader knows, a couple of well-lit Insta pics does not an epicurean make. But fear not, you have something they don’t. These: See our gift guides for … the aesthete, the culture vulture, the nesting couple, the “could be better” aunt and chill island dweller. 1. Hoopla pencil case, HK$259 There’s nothing like canned fried dace with salted black beans to stir the appetite and a nostalgia for times past,... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/food-drink/article/3289685/postmag-christmas-gift-guide-9-ideas-foodie-your-life?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/food-drink/article/3289685/postmag-christmas-gift-guide-9-ideas-foodie-your-life?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Dec 2024 10:15:13 +0000 Gavin Yeung,Cat Nelson,Dave Besseling,Charmaine Chan Gavin Yeung,Cat Nelson,Dave Besseling,Charmaine Chan What do you gift someone who just likes to be different? Just because they live on one of Hong Kong’s outlying islands doesn’t mean your friend’s a straw-hat sporting, flip-flop wearing slacker with no taste. Here’s everything for the one on your list who prefers to colour outside the lines. See our gift guides for … the aesthete, the culture vulture, the nesting couple and the “could be better” aunt. 1. Shroommate supplements, from HK$480 Founded by three Hongkongers, Shroommate espouses the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3289481/postmag-christmas-gift-guide-9-ideas-chill-island-dweller?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3289481/postmag-christmas-gift-guide-9-ideas-chill-island-dweller?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Dec 2024 10:15:11 +0000 There’s just no pleasing some people. But we’ve spent some extra brain power on this collection of unexpected gems to satisfy even the most finicky of the “why did you make the bacon so curly” crowd. See our gift guides for … the aesthete, the culture vulture and the nesting couple. 1. Bamford Twelve Days of Joy Advent Calendar, HK$1,905 British skincare brand Bamford has released an advent calendar that would be ideal for the beauty maven in your life. Featuring 12 products across its range,... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3289292/postmag-christmas-gift-guide-9-ideas-delight-your-could-be-better-aunt?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3289292/postmag-christmas-gift-guide-9-ideas-delight-your-could-be-better-aunt?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Dec 2024 10:15:13 +0000 Gavin Yeung,Charmaine Chan,Cat Nelson,Dave Besseling Gavin Yeung,Charmaine Chan,Cat Nelson,Dave Besseling Their home is their castle – so give them everything they need to get cosy. See our gift guides for … the aesthete and the culture vulture. 1. Baea bedding, from HK$950 To minimise environmental impact, Baea’s bedlinen is made from 100 per cent organic cotton and comes only in light hues (to limit use of dyes and other chemicals). Beyond its eco-credentials, Baea’s designs are simply beautiful and snuggle-worthy soft. Winners are the Rocks and Wild Meadow collections. baea.com 2. Loveramics’... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/design-interiors/article/3289156/postmag-christmas-gift-guide-10-ideas-your-favourite-couple?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/design-interiors/article/3289156/postmag-christmas-gift-guide-10-ideas-your-favourite-couple?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Dec 2024 12:15:07 +0000 Gavin Yeung,Cat Nelson,Charmaine Chan,Dave Besseling Gavin Yeung,Cat Nelson,Charmaine Chan,Dave Besseling If Hong Kong were to have a uniform for 2025, these items would make a pretty good starting point. So get started, build out from these and we’ll convene next December to see where we all end up. See our gift guides for ... the aesthete. 1. Qui x Nobu x Kaws Tequila, HK$7,780 Go big with Qui Tequila’s 25-year-old extra añejo bottling, created in collaboration with artist Kaws and chef Nobu Matsuhisa. Carrying notes of cherry, honey, toffee, white pepper and cooked agave, this collector’s item... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3288733/postmag-christmas-gift-guide-8-ideas-please-culture-vulture?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3288733/postmag-christmas-gift-guide-8-ideas-please-culture-vulture?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Dec 2024 10:15:08 +0000 Every holiday season when you’re buying gifts, there’s that person on your list who may not necessarily have it all, but insists on the hippest version of any particular thing. Don’t let them drive you nuts this year – we’ve been hard at work in our own Christmas workshop, turning up unexpected iterations of some classic picks, none of which will be relegated to the back of a drawer come January. 1. Participation’s Aberdeen singlet, HK$395 These Hong Kong hood tops are designed to keep you easy... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/passions/article/3288689/postmag-christmas-gift-guide-8-ideas-your-trendiest-friend?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/passions/article/3288689/postmag-christmas-gift-guide-8-ideas-your-trendiest-friend?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Dec 2024 04:45:09 +0000 Charmaine Chan Charmaine Chan In 1988, upon moving to Tokyo, British architect Mark Dytham made a pilgrimage to Ginza to see one building he believed encapsulated everything he had imagined Japan to be: Nakagin Capsule Tower. “It was one of the first proper hi-tech buildings in the world, like a machine or a robot, and represented a vision where things don’t have to be static,” the co-founder of Klein Dytham architecture says. “I thought it was the future.” So in 2022, it was with mixed feelings that Dytham stood on a street... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/design-interiors/article/3285613/how-japans-infamous-nakagin-capsule-tower-finding-new-life?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/design-interiors/article/3285613/how-japans-infamous-nakagin-capsule-tower-finding-new-life?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Nov 2024 04:45:08 +0000 Architect Terence Ngan and interior designer Ed Ng were home in Karuizawa on New Year’s Day this year when Japan’s most dreaded alarm radiated from their mobile phones. The eerie chime, which presaged the 7.6-magnitude temblor in the Sea of Japan, warned of a serious earthquake to come. As the ground began to move, the AB Concept founders sized up their 10,000 sq ft house, lavishly furnished with treasures collected over the years. Thankfully, being hundreds of kilometres from the epicentre of... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3270191/how-hong-kong-architect-and-interior-designer-made-their-home-breathtaking-green-retreat-japan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3270191/how-hong-kong-architect-and-interior-designer-made-their-home-breathtaking-green-retreat-japan?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Jul 2024 01:15:08 +0000 Customers have multiple ways to broadcast satisfaction with service these days, whether it be through website reviews, social media recommendations or word-of- mouth referrals. Vanny Luk Wing-sang took an entirely different approach to endorsement, however. Soon after moving into the 1,296 sq ft (120 square metre), two-bedroom apartment in Pok Fu Lam on Hong Kong Island that Hong Kong-based Hintegro redesigned last year for her and husband Tommy Yeung King-leong, who is in the hotel industry,... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3266300/mid-century-modern-design-meets-eastern-thinking-future-proofed-hong-kong-home?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3266300/mid-century-modern-design-meets-eastern-thinking-future-proofed-hong-kong-home?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 16 Jun 2024 03:15:07 +0000 Maximising the space in micro-apartments often means choosing one or more of the following approaches: creating multifunctional furniture; employing technology to shape-shift layouts; installing a mezzanine level, ceiling height permitting. Or, as a despairing Hong Kong homeowner once pointed out to me from a window of his dinky digs, using a van parked outside as a wardrobe. Former property agent Alice Zhang’s net 322 sq ft (29.9 square metre), one-bedroom flat in Sai Ying Pun on Hong Kong... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3261260/pinterest-driven-hong-kong-micro-apartment-full-sized-tub-roomy-shower-built-oven-design-duo-make-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3261260/pinterest-driven-hong-kong-micro-apartment-full-sized-tub-roomy-shower-built-oven-design-duo-make-it?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 May 2024 05:15:18 +0000 One “trick” for prolonging the enjoyment of sprawling design festivals is to ask yourself: “What is the one thing you would take with you, given the opportunity and the space?” Rana Beiruti laughs at the seemingly impossible question. But upon giving herself manageable parameters by clarifying “something that fits into my home, into my life”, the curator of “Arab Design Now” (ADN) nominates a series of works by architect Amina Agueznay. Her undyed wool and palm husk Portals 1-4 installations... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3257121/arab-design-now-flagship-qatars-design-doha-biennial-history-and-heritage-are-spurs-creativity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3257121/arab-design-now-flagship-qatars-design-doha-biennial-history-and-heritage-are-spurs-creativity?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 31 Mar 2024 08:15:16 +0000 Soon after assuming his post as Australian ambassador to China in 2007, Geoff Raby visited a restaurant in Songzhuang, Beijing, and was captivated by what he saw: oil paintings of cheerfully industrious pigs. So taken was the diplomat by the works that he asked for an introduction to the artist. An invitation to Li Dapeng’s workshop followed. “But it just so happened that on the afternoon we were going, Andrew Forrest was in town,” Raby says, referring to the Australian mining billionaire, who... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3252068/how-contemporary-chinese-art-collection-former-australian-ambassador-beijing-was-accidentally-pieced?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3252068/how-contemporary-chinese-art-collection-former-australian-ambassador-beijing-was-accidentally-pieced?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Feb 2024 23:15:12 +0000 For sale: baby shoes Never worn That unsettling six-word story appears like a news ticker in my mind’s eye the moment we arrive at Kwai Chung’s Home of Forever Love (HoFL), Hong Kong’s first crematorium for “abortuses” of less than 24 weeks’ gestation. I’m here to understand how architecture can affect the emotions and why even the smallest details matter. Just inside the entrance portal, a semi-enclosed courtyard beckons. Visitors circumnavigate the leafy plot partly on paving stones that... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3237689/how-architecture-can-affect-emotions-hong-kongs-first-crematorium-abortuses-uses-design-ease-pain?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3237689/how-architecture-can-affect-emotions-hong-kongs-first-crematorium-abortuses-uses-design-ease-pain?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Oct 2023 23:45:07 +0000 Zip ties may be among the world’s most useful inventions, but when used to secure a building they send mixed messages. One is a half-hearted “Keep Out”. “Disposable” might be another. Which is why my spirits droop as I peer through a glass door at the grade three-listed Brutalist Guard House at the Shaw Studios residential blocks in Clear Water Bay. While realising today is not my lucky day for a close look inside the two-storey cantilevered structure, I recognise, too, that the cheap plastic... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3230524/why-hong-kongs-brutalist-buildings-are-vital-part-citys-history-and-group-encouraging-others-embrace?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3230524/why-hong-kongs-brutalist-buildings-are-vital-part-citys-history-and-group-encouraging-others-embrace?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Aug 2023 04:45:11 +0000 When translating culturally bound words, Japanologist Philip Gabriel once explained, three choices exist: leave them as they are, add simple explanations or find rough equivalents. However, the American translator of bestselling Japanese novelists acknowledges that vocabulary covering Japanese houses is tricky. Engawa, in particular, is problematic, he says, because it refers to a type of veranda – but not as we know it. The challenge for translators has just become tougher. In leafy Karuizawa,... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3228300/inspiring-21st-century-take-traditional-design-japanese-boutique-hotel-latest-stable-architecturally?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3228300/inspiring-21st-century-take-traditional-design-japanese-boutique-hotel-latest-stable-architecturally?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Jul 2023 23:15:08 +0000 Before finding the 1.8-hectare (4.4-acre) patch of land on which his idyllic getaway house now stands, Indian-born Canadian businessman Ty Bhojwani had already visited scores of plots. Many had been in the beachside town of Alibag, near Mumbai, on India’s west coast. “I’d seen 100; why not 101?” he jokes, recounting the day, in 2012, when he knew the search was over. Little did the founder of a global knitwear company realise the story had only just begun. First came the prologue: a boat trip... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3225898/10-year-dream-realised-indian-modern-plantation-house-wraparound-infinity-pool-home-two-halves?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3225898/10-year-dream-realised-indian-modern-plantation-house-wraparound-infinity-pool-home-two-halves?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Jun 2023 04:45:10 +0000 “Language is the stuff almost all human culture is made of,” philosopher and historian Yuval Noah Harari recently wrote, pointing out that everything – from our gods to human rights to money – is a cultural artefact created from the stories we’ve told. “What would happen once a non-human intelligence becomes better than the average human at telling stories?” To try to gauge the present competence of AI in storytelling, we asked two award-winning novelists to take on ChatGPT in writing flash... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3222741/can-you-spot-story-written-ai-vs-one-penned-award-winning-human-author-two-flesh-and-blood-writers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3222741/can-you-spot-story-written-ai-vs-one-penned-award-winning-human-author-two-flesh-and-blood-writers?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Jun 2023 08:15:10 +0000 In 2000’s Icelandic romcom 101 Reykjavik, the protagonist is shown enjoying a bath in his mother’s small, open-plan flat. As soon as he steps out, she drains the water and lowers a cushioned lid. Voilà: the living-room sofa. The seemingly inconsequential 20-second scene shocked Hong Kong architectural designer Gary Chang Chee-keung when he realised how many people squandered the space above something they might use only once a day. So when it came to installing a tub in his own home, in Sai Wan... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3221087/one-micro-apartment-24-set-ups-architects-home-so-functional-museum-recreated-it-soon-show-will-be?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3221087/one-micro-apartment-24-set-ups-architects-home-so-functional-museum-recreated-it-soon-show-will-be?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 May 2023 00:15:18 +0000 It is hard to think of a typical Hong Kong village house without picturing a three-storey box blighted on the outside by any, or all, of the following: pipes, vents, air conditioners, clothes lines, small windows, neglected balconies, metal grate doors. The interiors are rarely more thoughtful. But it does not have to be that way, according to two architects behind a village house in Tai Wai, in the New Territories, that stops the traffic, literally. Designed by BREADstudio co-founders Benny Lee... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3216780/clean-lines-eco-friendly-bespoke-hong-kong-village-house-people-stop-stare-because-it-so-different?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3216780/clean-lines-eco-friendly-bespoke-hong-kong-village-house-people-stop-stare-because-it-so-different?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Apr 2023 04:45:13 +0000 Here’s how to find the Kiang Malingue gallery on Sik On Street, if you’re walking from Wan Chai MTR station. When Google Maps announces: “You’ve arrived at your destination,” your journey has really just begun. Scan Queen’s Road East for a Middle Eastern takeaway and a Chinese furniture shop. The gap between them is the “secret” entrance hiding in plain sight. Make your way through the portal and gird for the steep passage ahead. The glint from a slim, six-storey-tall building will lead to your... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3213704/simplest-dumbest-materials-how-art-gallery-conversion-painted-matt-silver-stands-out-blending?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3213704/simplest-dumbest-materials-how-art-gallery-conversion-painted-matt-silver-stands-out-blending?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Mar 2023 04:45:11 +0000 Restoring buildings from bygone eras is no easy undertaking anywhere in the world. So it is no surprise that, for Hongkongers JoAnn Leung Woon-yan and Niko Leung Hong-ken, turning an 18th century courtyard house in Zhejiang province into a nine-room bed-and-breakfast was a baptism of fire. Neither fully anticipated the ins and outs of being at the helm of such a project in China’s countryside during the pandemic. Now called the Eight Blessings (Bafu) Inn, the 600 square metre (6,458 square foot)... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3209456/bed-and-breakfast-conversion-chinese-courtyard-house-takes-sensitive-simple-living-approach?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3209456/bed-and-breakfast-conversion-chinese-courtyard-house-takes-sensitive-simple-living-approach?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Feb 2023 05:17:07 +0000 Some couples like his-and-hers basins; others opt for different bathrooms altogether. When they expanded their Wan Chai home, on Hong Kong Island, last year and installed a new kitchen, gemologist Jada Lam and chef David Lai gave themselves separate refrigerators. “Mine has just daily stuff, whereas his is sometimes all restaurant stuff,” says Lam, opening their Samsung fridges, positioned side by side next to Gaggenau appliances in their now 1,574 sq ft (146 square metre), one-bedroom home. “He... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3205504/two-apartments-become-one-hong-kong-home-scandinavian-furniture-his-and-hers-fridges-and-cosy-man?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3205504/two-apartments-become-one-hong-kong-home-scandinavian-furniture-his-and-hers-fridges-and-cosy-man?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Jan 2023 04:45:11 +0000 It seems almost rude to interrupt Chi Wing Lo in mid-reverie just outside Hong Kong’s Tai Koo Shing MTR station. Easy to spot in his uniform of loose white linen, the Hong Kong-born architect is standing, head cocked, scanning the high-rises that have given the area form. His wide-eyed expression is not surprising. It has been more than four decades since Lo last visited the neighbourhood, even though he grew up just a short ride away, in Shau Kei Wan. A fisherman’s son with an impressive haul... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3201362/rags-success-story-hong-kong-architect-chi-wing-lo-lead-designer-regent-hong-kong-hotels-rebirth?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3201362/rags-success-story-hong-kong-architect-chi-wing-lo-lead-designer-regent-hong-kong-hotels-rebirth?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Nov 2022 03:15:10 +0000 Soon after Covid-related lockdowns began, interior designers around the world and their clients began reappraising lifestyles. Isolation and the perceived need for rooms behind doors quickly led to predictions that open-plan layouts have had their day. How things change. “Counter to the pandemic, we wanted to have more friends around,” says Jacob Berman, explaining some of the thinking behind the redesign of the 1,800 sq ft (167 square metre) home in Mid-Levels on Hong Kong Island he shares with... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3200565/we-couldnt-ignore-view-penthouse-duplex-radically-reshaped-make-most-hong-kong-panorama-and-create?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3200565/we-couldnt-ignore-view-penthouse-duplex-radically-reshaped-make-most-hong-kong-panorama-and-create?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Nov 2022 05:15:09 +0000 It is not hard to see why a spectral sculpture stopped Philippa Haydon dead in her tracks when it beckoned, from the window of a studio gallery, several years ago. Not only are its diaphanous billows and drapes captivating, the illuminated acrylic work also seems to respond sympathetically to the show-stopping sinuous staircase that ripples through the four levels of her 6,000-square-foot (560-square-metre), art-filled, seven-bedroom Sydney house. “I was driving past and was immediately taken by... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3197278/bungalow-huge-four-level-house-show-stopping-staircase-designed-sydneys-indoor-outdoor-lifestyle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3197278/bungalow-huge-four-level-house-show-stopping-staircase-designed-sydneys-indoor-outdoor-lifestyle?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Oct 2022 06:10:25 +0000 It’s perhaps fitting that Piet Hein Eek lives in recycled space. In a corner of an old light factory he moved into in 2010, the Dutch industrial designer and scrap-shifting craftsman has built what he jokes is “Eindhoven’s smallest home”. He says that, at just 45 square metres (480 sq ft), the three-storey dwelling provides not only a place to sleep but also areas to cook and entertain. In addition to a kitchen – which doubles as a corridor – the tiny house is equipped with a movable table that... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3196496/high-end-furniture-made-used-materials-sustainable-success-story-dutch-designer-it-took-time-people?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3196496/high-end-furniture-made-used-materials-sustainable-success-story-dutch-designer-it-took-time-people?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Oct 2022 04:49:07 +0000 Anyone who still doubts the benefits of working remotely should make a beeline for Argo at the Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong – not necessarily to pull up a chair and plug in a laptop at the enchanting harbourview bar, but to marvel at how adapting work to life, instead of the other way around, can have clear creative benefits. That is the experience of interior designer Ed Ng, who, with architect Terence Ngan, created Argo during an extended stay in Japan. In 2020, the co-founders of AB Concept... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3187522/japanese-cabin-woods-became-covid-escape?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3187522/japanese-cabin-woods-became-covid-escape?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Aug 2022 04:45:22 +0000 When BREADstudio co-founder Benny Lee Chiu-ming adopted a cat in 2016 from the Wan Chai branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), little did he realise that the process would inspire an award-winning project. Inadvertently lodged among happy memories of the occasion was the niggling question: shouldn’t humans and their new charges have more time and space to bond before going home together? Now, the architect has laid the groundwork for that to happen, perhaps... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3163047/hong-kongs-newest-recycling-centre-award?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3163047/hong-kongs-newest-recycling-centre-award?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Jan 2022 23:15:17 +0000 There is much to unpack in Eileen Stow’s colourful residence in Coloane village, Macau. Comprising two units connected by an external staircase, it is a stroll away from the original outlet of Lord Stow’s Bakery that drew her from Britain to the then Portuguese enclave in China 28 years ago. She made the move to help run the expanding business founded by her brother, Andrew Stow, whose experiments with egg tarts yielded a sweet sensation. The siblings’ histories are also intertwined in that... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3162104/how-instagrammable-east-meets-west-home?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3162104/how-instagrammable-east-meets-west-home?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Jan 2022 01:15:18 +0000 Like most sayonara parties, the convivial gathering on May 28, 2014, in Tokyo’s Shinbashi district was tempered by wistfulness. Forty guests, some of whom had travelled from Hong Kong, mingled with design glitterati to bid farewell to a 26-year-old about to test the waters beyond Japan. This was no ordinary departee, however. Leaving to take up residence in Kowloon under the roof of Hong Kong’s M+ museum of visual culture was Kiyotomo, Japanese architect Shiro Kuramata’s sushi bar with... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3155436/why-tokyo-sushi-bar-star-exhibit-m-museum?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3155436/why-tokyo-sushi-bar-star-exhibit-m-museum?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Nov 2021 02:30:54 +0000 Earth Detox: How and Why We Must Clean Up Our Planet by Julian Cribb, pub. Cambridge University Press If you ever have Australian science writer Julian Cribb over for dinner, don’t serve strawberries for dessert, at least not the supermarket-bought varieties consumed by the truckload, especially during summer. As he will readily explain, the produce may look luscious but it is “saturated” with fungicide to prevent fuzz spreading uncontrollably after a few days – the way it used to when he grew... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3150794/man-made-chemicals-are-killing-us-and-theyre?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3150794/man-made-chemicals-are-killing-us-and-theyre?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Oct 2021 10:45:19 +0000 Until Proven Safe: The History and Future of Quarantine by Geoff Manaugh and Nicola Twilley, pub. MCD Carved into sandstone at a 19th century former maritime quarantine station in Australia is a distressed message in Chinese that should resonate with millions of people around the world unlucky enough to have crossed paths with Covid-19. “Fearful of contagion,” reads the inscription, by Xie Ping De of He county, Anhui province. “A burst of grief so un­bearable that it is inexpressible […] My... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3144047/must-read-history-quarantine-its-future-technological?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3144047/must-read-history-quarantine-its-future-technological?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Aug 2021 09:15:07 +0000 Unraveled: The Life and Death of a Garment by Maxine Bédat, pub. Portfolio Whenever Japan’s domestic goddess Marie Kondo preaches her gospel – of discarding belongings that no longer spark joy – she prompts wholesale purging as rapturous as the reaction to her immaculate tidying concept. In the wake of Kondo’s 2019 Netflix series, for example, Americans formed long queues outside thrift shops to relieve themselves of clothing. And 18 months of pandemic-related lockdowns have only expedited... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3137903/poverty-pollution-and-profligacy-fast-fashion-horror?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3137903/poverty-pollution-and-profligacy-fast-fashion-horror?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 Jun 2021 20:15:00 +0000 Pipe Dreams: The Urgent Global Quest to Transform the Toilet by Chelsea Wald, Avid Reader Press The “eww” factor is undeniable, but in 2003 Hong Kong stopped holding its nose when the subject of toilets arose. That was the year Sars visited Amoy Gardens, in Kowloon, sickening hundreds of residents, killing 42 of them, and leaving a miasma of mistrust about the city’s sanitation infrastructure. Soon, Hongkongers were readily discussing everything from water closets to soil stacks to floor drains... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3134339/toilets-wasted-opportunity-author-takes-deep-dive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3134339/toilets-wasted-opportunity-author-takes-deep-dive?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 May 2021 11:15:11 +0000 Beginnersby Tom VanderbiltKnopf Malcolm Gladwell popularised, and oversimplified, the notion that 10,000 hours constitutes the “magic number of greatness”. That investment of time and effort, he argued in his 2008 bestseller Outliers, is imperative for anyone hoping to master anything from a sport to computing to music. The message? That success is far from arbitrary; it requires work. But that’s assuming you want to make sacrifices and be an expert. What if you cannot afford the equivalent of... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3131438/beginners-tom-vanderbilt-argues-youre-never-too-old?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3131438/beginners-tom-vanderbilt-argues-youre-never-too-old?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 May 2021 11:45:12 +0000 The Flower Boat Girl by Larry Feign Top Floor Books Two million words and eight years after he had started researching and writing about the most successful pirate in the world, Hong Kong-based American cartoonist and writer Larry Feign binned everything he’d created. Telling the story as an outsider looking in just wasn’t working. But he knew what had to be done. He started again in first person, realising immediately, “Ah, this is natural.” The Flower Boat Girl – a novel based on a true story,... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3128692/flower-boat-girl-tells-story-cheng-yat-sou-who-rose?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3128692/flower-boat-girl-tells-story-cheng-yat-sou-who-rose?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Apr 2021 08:15:09 +0000 Groupby Christie TateSimon & Schuster She had been a valedictorian with bright career prospects. But now-lawyer Christie Tate knew she was in trouble when loneliness, complicated by bulimia, made her wish for death. Enter Chicago-based therapist Jonathan Rosen (a pseudonym), whose unconventional ways will arch a sea of eyebrows. Trading on complete transparency, he encouraged patients not only to divulge freely among themselves but also to date each other. Keeping secrets, and by extension... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3127725/group-christie-tate-details-her-experiences-radically?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3127725/group-christie-tate-details-her-experiences-radically?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 31 Mar 2021 06:45:08 +0000 Fiction The Liar’s Dictionaryby Eley WilliamsDoubleday We’ve heard of fake news, so fake words should not come as a surprise. But be prepared to be dazzled by the “mount-weazels” around which Eley Williams constructs her hilarious novel, The Liar’s Dictionary. The weaselly neologism was coined to refer to the fictitious entries that serve as copyright traps in dictionaries and encyclopaedias. One per edition is all that is needed to nab copycats. The problem is that at least two have been... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/article/3124861/three-books-about-lying-fictional-fake-words-very-real?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/article/3124861/three-books-about-lying-fictional-fake-words-very-real?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Mar 2021 07:15:16 +0000 Non-fiction Gabrielle Chanel: Fashion Manifestoedited by Miren Arzalluz and Véronique BelloirThames & Hudson It’s been 50 years since her death, in 1971, aged 87, but Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel’s story continues to fill new books, including this illustrated volume, published to accom­pany a 2020 exhibition at the Palais Galliera in Paris, the first retrospective of her work ever held in the city. Edited by the director and curator of that museum of fashion and fashion history, the essays within... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3123874/three-books-coco-chanel-offer-new-insights-historical?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3123874/three-books-coco-chanel-offer-new-insights-historical?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Mar 2021 06:45:05 +0000 Unnatural Companionsby Peter ChristieIsland Press “Belling the cat” assumes new meaning, and urgency, in Unnatural Companions, which underscores the negative impact of our pets on biodiversity. Our feline friends are only one domesticated species killing wildlife, however. Dogs are also implicated, and not just because they, too, are stalkers. Meaty and fishy pet food takes a toll on oceans and available land. Then there is the problem of the diseases our pets can spread. Canadian science... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3123609/three-books-about-animals-what-we-can-learn-them?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3123609/three-books-about-animals-what-we-can-learn-them?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Mar 2021 09:15:13 +0000 Fragile Monsters by Catherine Menon Penguin Reading Fragile Monsters was, for this Malaysia-born reviewer, akin to reliving a story that wasn’t mine. Set in the state of Pahang, the family saga might seem “exotic and overdone” to those with Western sensibilities. But – borrowing from the protagonist, who is home after a decade in Canada – to the Malaysian eye it’s real life. An important part of that reality is the atmosphere evoked, of a place where bomohs perform magic, leprosy isolates the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3122354/three-novels-explore-nature-our-relationships-home?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3122354/three-novels-explore-nature-our-relationships-home?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Feb 2021 03:15:14 +0000 The Hidden Girl and Other Stories by Ken Liu, Head of Zeus Third-culture kids will chortle at the observations of William, in “Ghost Days”, one of Ken Liu’s short stories in his latest collection. Educated in Britain, the put-upon son wants to be seen as a “proper Englishman”, and flinches when his Cantonese-speaking father insists on using his child’s Chinese name. In perpetual disagreement with his own heritage, William piles on contempt for the old ways, lamenting to himself: “It’s the first... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3120752/three-books-immigrant-experience-ken-liu-younghill?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3120752/three-books-immigrant-experience-ken-liu-younghill?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Feb 2021 12:15:07 +0000 The Woman Who Stole Vermeer by Anthony M. Amore, Pegasus Crime Facebook users should be able to find Rose Dugdale, who in 1974 orchestrated a robbery of 19 paintings from Ireland’s Russborough House. You know it’s her because in the place of a Facebook portrait is Vermeer’s Lady Writing a Letter with Her Maid. The theft of that artwork, among others by such greats as Gainsborough, Rubens and Goya, earned Dugdale a place in the world of art crime. “That it was thought to be the largest such heist... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3118764/three-books-go-inside-world-art-heists-even-new-yorks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3118764/three-books-go-inside-world-art-heists-even-new-yorks?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Jan 2021 09:15:07 +0000