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When you’ve been following progress on a building for over two years, it’s sometime hard to come up with a fresh approach. But as part of our continuing association with the California Academy of Science in San Francisco, this is exactly what we were asked to do.

Various parts of the building had definitely matured somewhat since opening day with additional exhibits added along with the filling out of the planting in the rainforest. Filling the entire height (and more) of the interior, it had become near impossible to get an overall view of the dome since the exhibit installation prior to the opening.

June 2008

October 2008

Literally rising to the challenge, we wrangled a scissor lift literally inches from the opposing wall and with several carefully stitched frames, managed to capture the entirety of the glazed ball.

Adjacent to The Sail @ Marina Bay which we photographed some time back for NBBJ, Phase One of the latest Singaporean project for Kohn Pedersen Fox is nearing completion. Almost bridging the remaining space between the older central business district and the new integrated resort, the  Marina Bay Financial Centre comprises three office buildings and two residential towers.

Following shortly after Singapore’s National Day Celebration, the spectacular opening ceremony of the Youth Olympic Games was held on the floating stage in Marina Bay. In typical Singaporean style, everything involving the entire international event had been abbreviated into a three letter acronym. It was all about the Y.O.G.

So any CEO heading from the ECP to the CTE via the CBD not only had to pay the ERP but also contend with the YOG.

OMG!

SInce the first Portuguese trading and missionary outposts sprang up there in the late 1500’s, Macau has been known for it’s church architecture. On every postcard, every travel guide, every map, there’s the famed facade of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Actually, the flamed facade is probably a more apt description as it seems this edifice is all that remains after a devastatingly spectacular fire in 1835 .

The Ruins of St. Paul’s Cathedral 1854 by Wilhelm Heine

More recently, Macau’s other houses of worship have undergone their own transformation creating a new explosion of coloured lights across the night sky. Huge casino franchises from Las Vegas and Australia have built enormous gambling palaces which since 2007, have raked in more revenue annually than the entire Las Vegas Strip.

Literally standing out from the crowd, not only because it doesn’t have a casino, is the newly opened Mandarin Oriental Macau, part of the One Central mixed use development designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox.

With subtly angled bay windows scattered across the facade, the passing clouds emulate the broken reflections dancing on the rippled  lake, set in motion by the wakes of a dozen distant dragon boats warming up for the afternoon’s tournament.

Usually wishing for less clouds in the Asian skies, I found myself that evening in the the perplexing position of wanting just a few more to bring a certain spontaneity to the unfolding scene. Evidently, the local deities were all too busy with requests for guidance from the blackjack tables to intervene on my behalf. The wind dropped, the surface of the lake turned to glass and well, I guess I can live with that….

If the notion of a civilized society is one that seeks to provide an esoteric platform, intellectual or otherwise, from which one can clearly view and appreciate the world at large, then the appearance of yet another window cleaning rig must surely be the portent for a brighter future.