architecture

Showing 4 posts tagged architecture

An Alien Mothership Just Crash Landed in Singapore | Daniel Libeskind’s Reflections at Keppel Bay View the rest of my ongoing X-Pro1 experiences and photos or the rest of the photos on Handcarry Only Without doubt, one of my favourite buildings in Singapore at the moment, is Daniel Libeskind’s Reflections of Keppel Bay, a residential development at the entrance to Singapore’s historic Keppel harbour. Looking like a crash landed alien mothership, the curving, organic yet industrial looking structures seem to sprout out of the surrounding greenery like glass blades. As you might have already suspected, the units at this development don’t come cheap, ranging from SGD1.6-10.5million (USD1.3 - 8.4 million), chump change for the hordes of banker types in Singapore these days. The Camera Its been 2 weeks since I got my Fuji X-Pro1 and I think I’ve gotten the hang of this camera, I’m aware of its limitations and quirks, some of which are fixable by firmware updates, others are probably inherent in the design of the camera. In no order of priority, the things I would like to see fixed: Selectable Minimum shutter speed for Auto ISO, the current camera preset of 1/52 for the 35mm lens and 1/30 for the 18mm lens does not freeze motion and is borderline handholdable. Easy firmware update by Fuji. Aperture Chatter Reduced or Removed, apparently, the chatter is due to the aperture blades adjusting for shifting light levels in order to keep exposure of the EVF/LCD constant. Is it not possible to do the adjustment (gain up and down) electronically in software? Instead of physically opening and closing the aperture blades, causing the chatter and no doubt, unnecessarily draining battery life. Improved AF Performance, I guess if they could do it for the X100 via the 1.20 firmware update, they could possibly improve the AF performance of the X-Pro1 by a bit at least? Especially in low light? Given my style of shooting (anticipated street shooting), none of these factors are in any way deal breakers, which is why I have no regrets selling my Canon 5DmkII and Sony NEX 5N, if Fuji managed to improve on the points above, it might just tip a ‘very good’ camera over to ‘great’. The handy panorama shooting mode on the X-Pro1 delivers great results with a simple sweep of the camera. View the rest of my ongoing X-Pro1 experiences and photos or the rest of the photos on Handcarry Only High-res

An Alien Mothership Just Crash Landed in Singapore | Daniel Libeskind’s Reflections at Keppel Bay

View the rest of my ongoing X-Pro1 experiences and photos or the rest of the photos on Handcarry Only


Without doubt, one of my favourite buildings in Singapore at the moment, is Daniel Libeskind’s Reflections of Keppel Bay, a residential development at the entrance to Singapore’s historic Keppel harbour. Looking like a crash landed alien mothership, the curving, organic yet industrial looking structures seem to sprout out of the surrounding greenery like glass blades. As you might have already suspected, the units at this development don’t come cheap, ranging from SGD1.6-10.5million (USD1.3 - 8.4 million), chump change for the hordes of banker types in Singapore these days.

reflections on keppel bay

The Camera

Its been 2 weeks since I got my Fuji X-Pro1 and I think I’ve gotten the hang of this camera, I’m aware of its limitations and quirks, some of which are fixable by firmware updates, others are probably inherent in the design of the camera.

In no order of priority, the things I would like to see fixed:

Selectable Minimum shutter speed for Auto ISO, the current camera preset of 1/52 for the 35mm lens and 1/30 for the 18mm lens does not freeze motion and is borderline handholdable. Easy firmware update by Fuji.

Aperture Chatter Reduced or Removed, apparently, the chatter is due to the aperture blades adjusting for shifting light levels in order to keep exposure of the EVF/LCD constant. Is it not possible to do the adjustment (gain up and down) electronically in software? Instead of physically opening and closing the aperture blades, causing the chatter and no doubt, unnecessarily draining battery life.

Improved AF Performance, I guess if they could do it for the X100 via the 1.20 firmware update, they could possibly improve the AF performance of the X-Pro1 by a bit at least? Especially in low light?

Given my style of shooting (anticipated street shooting), none of these factors are in any way deal breakers, which is why I have no regrets selling my Canon 5DmkII and Sony NEX 5N, if Fuji managed to improve on the points above, it might just tip a ‘very good’ camera over to ‘great’.

panorama keppel bridge

The handy panorama shooting mode on the X-Pro1 delivers great results with a simple sweep of the camera.

View the rest of my ongoing X-Pro1 experiences and photos or the rest of the photos on Handcarry Only

X-Pro1 Diaries: A Tale of Two Churches View the rest of my ongoing X-Pro1 experiences and photos or the rest of the photos on Handcarry Only I was up early this Sunday morning. Annoyingly, sleep evaded me even as I drew the curtains and reminded myself of the fact that I should be enjoying my lie in, denied me during the week by work. I decided to get up, pack up my X-Pro1 and have walk around the area before church. Chijmes (formerly CHIJ, or Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus), is a convent with a lovely Gothic style chapel right in the middle of Singapore’s downtown area. A Catholic convent for 131 years, CHIJ was set up by four French nuns in 1852 and saw generations of girls educated within her cloisters. The chapel was deconsecrated in 1983 and a $100 million dollars later, the entire complex, including the deconsecrated chapel, was reborn as an entertainment complex with shops and restaurants, and the chapel building is now an events hall for musicals, theatrical performances and weddings. A beautiful example of Gothic architecture, set amidst modern buildings The Chijmes chapel building, right in the centre of the complex Architectural details An old cast iron spiral staircase The grand facade of Chijmes The Other Church Right across the road from the beautifully restored Chijmes, is the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, the oldest Catholic church in Singapore and the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore. Its design was inspired by St Pauls and St Martin-in-the-Fields in London and was first built in 1833 to serve the Catholic community in the newly prospering port of Singapore. The contrast between the 2 churches across the road from each other could not be greater, without commercial money to restore the cathedral, it is in a fair state of disrepair, despite being a working cathedral and church. The steeple of the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd The excavation works being carried out in the building of the new underground Circle Line nearby has also caused structural damage to the cathedral, with long, wide cracks appearing on the walls and its once proud columns seemingly buckling under the weight. A wooden and metal scaffold brace has been put up to shore up the structural integrity of the cathedral and to prevent further damage whilst money is being raised for a proper restoration Cracks are being monitored for signs of worsening An oasis in the heart of a busy city Volunteer wardens A few other parishioners arrived early Being right in the heart of the business district, Mass is attended largely by a transient community of expats, tourists and cathedral regulars A Cathedral Restoration Fund is currently underway to raise much needed money for urgent restoration works to the cathedral. An estimated S$40 million needed, a fraction of money injected into the Chijmes complex across the road. Progress, however, is slow, without commercial interest funding the restoration. For now, the two churches staring at each other across the road, remain a contrast between commercial might and religious perseverance. The Camera Today marks my first week of ownership of the X-Pro1, as a sign of my ‘commitment’, I have also, in the course of this week, sold my Sony NEX 5N as well as my Canon 5D mark II, leaving the X-Pro1 as my ‘main’ camera now. I know I will rejoin the DSLR world again one day so I have at the moment, kept all my Canon L lenses. So far, the X-Pro1 has afforded me a different shooting experience, a more ‘deliberate’ shooting technique favours the X-Pro1 user. The X-Pro1 does not do well with ‘reactionary’ shooting due to the less than lightning fast AF, but instead, a more anticipatory approach will be likely to yield better results. Have a plan of the kind of shots you might be looking for, set the camera up for it and seek the shot out. The X-Pro1 wil then reward with beautiful images, in a package weighing less than one of my DSLR zooms, surely, a godsend for a travelling photographer. I will be posting my ongoing photos and thoughts on the Fuji X-Pro1, please bookmark or subscribe to Handcarry Only to join me on my journey. Click here to view my other posts on the Fuji X-Pro1 and see more photos High-res

X-Pro1 Diaries: A Tale of Two Churches

View the rest of my ongoing X-Pro1 experiences and photos or the rest of the photos on Handcarry Only

I was up early this Sunday morning. Annoyingly, sleep evaded me even as I drew the curtains and reminded myself of the fact that I should be enjoying my lie in, denied me during the week by work.

I decided to get up, pack up my X-Pro1 and have walk around the area before church.

Chijmes (formerly CHIJ, or Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus), is a convent with a lovely Gothic style chapel right in the middle of Singapore’s downtown area.

A Catholic convent for 131 years, CHIJ was set up by four French nuns in 1852 and saw generations of girls educated within her cloisters. The chapel was deconsecrated in 1983 and a $100 million dollars later, the entire complex, including the deconsecrated chapel, was reborn as an entertainment complex with shops and restaurants, and the chapel building is now an events hall for musicals, theatrical performances and weddings.

chijmes front gate

A beautiful example of Gothic architecture, set amidst modern buildings

chijmes chapel

The Chijmes chapel building, right in the centre of the complex

architectural details

Architectural details

chijmes cast iron staircase

An old cast iron spiral staircase

Chijmes exterior wide

The grand facade of Chijmes

The Other Church

Right across the road from the beautifully restored Chijmes, is the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, the oldest Catholic church in Singapore and the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore. Its design was inspired by St Pauls and St Martin-in-the-Fields in London and was first built in 1833 to serve the Catholic community in the newly prospering port of Singapore.

The contrast between the 2 churches across the road from each other could not be greater, without commercial money to restore the cathedral, it is in a fair state of disrepair, despite being a working cathedral and church.

good shepherd steeple

The steeple of the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd

The excavation works being carried out in the building of the new underground Circle Line nearby has also caused structural damage to the cathedral, with long, wide cracks appearing on the walls and its once proud columns seemingly buckling under the weight.

good shepherd scaffold

good shepherd brace detail

A wooden and metal scaffold brace has been put up to shore up the structural integrity of the cathedral and to prevent further damage whilst money is being raised for a proper restoration

good shepherd crack

Cracks are being monitored for signs of worsening

good shepherd

An oasis in the heart of a busy city

good shepherd wardens

Volunteer wardens

good shepherd interior

A few other parishioners arrived early

good shepherd mass

Being right in the heart of the business district, Mass is attended largely by a transient community of expats, tourists and cathedral regulars

A Cathedral Restoration Fund is currently underway to raise much needed money for urgent restoration works to the cathedral. An estimated S$40 million needed, a fraction of money injected into the Chijmes complex across the road. Progress, however, is slow, without commercial interest funding the restoration.

For now, the two churches staring at each other across the road, remain a contrast between commercial might and religious perseverance.

The Camera

Today marks my first week of ownership of the X-Pro1, as a sign of my ‘commitment’, I have also, in the course of this week, sold my Sony NEX 5N as well as my Canon 5D mark II, leaving the X-Pro1 as my ‘main’ camera now. I know I will rejoin the DSLR world again one day so I have at the moment, kept all my Canon L lenses.

So far, the X-Pro1 has afforded me a different shooting experience, a more ‘deliberate’ shooting technique favours the X-Pro1 user. The X-Pro1 does not do well with ‘reactionary’ shooting due to the less than lightning fast AF, but instead, a more anticipatory approach will be likely to yield better results.

Have a plan of the kind of shots you might be looking for, set the camera up for it and seek the shot out.

The X-Pro1 wil then reward with beautiful images, in a package weighing less than one of my DSLR zooms, surely, a godsend for a travelling photographer.

I will be posting my ongoing photos and thoughts on the Fuji X-Pro1, please bookmark or subscribe to Handcarry Only to join me on my journey.

Click here to view my other posts on the Fuji X-Pro1 and see more photos

St Mary’s Cathedral | Tokyo, Japan Seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tokyo, St Mary’s Cathedral was designed by Kenzo Tange in 1964, to replace the original wooden gothic style cathedral standing since 1899 and destroyed during a World War II air raid. Tange conceived the new church as a concrete structure, simple in concept and complex in shape, which recalls the lightness of a bird and its wings. The eight walls – the elements which hold the whole structure – are at the same time roof and walls, enclosing the space and opening to the outside through vertical gaps. The walls are curved hyperbolically to express the tension to the sky, and turning the rhomboidal ground floor into a cross at the roof top. The different heights of the wings, asymmetrical, make it a dynamic shape on the sky background. Read more about St Mary’s on Japan Two (via Tokyo, Sekiguchi, St. Mary’s Cathedral (Kenzo Tange 1964) 04 - a photo on Flickriver) High-res

St Mary’s Cathedral | Tokyo, Japan

Seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tokyo, St Mary’s Cathedral was designed by Kenzo Tange in 1964, to replace the original wooden gothic style cathedral standing since 1899 and destroyed during a World War II air raid.

Tange conceived the new church as a concrete structure, simple in concept and complex in shape, which recalls the lightness of a bird and its wings. The eight walls – the elements which hold the whole structure – are at the same time roof and walls, enclosing the space and opening to the outside through vertical gaps. The walls are curved hyperbolically to express the tension to the sky, and turning the rhomboidal ground floor into a cross at the roof top. The different heights of the wings, asymmetrical, make it a dynamic shape on the sky background.

Read more about St Mary’s on Japan Two

(via Tokyo, Sekiguchi, St. Mary’s Cathedral (Kenzo Tange 1964) 04 - a photo on Flickriver)