Category Archives: Architecture

Blogs covering matters relating to architecture and matters related to architecture and photography.

Westmount Square, Montreal

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Mies van der Rohe's Westmount Square in Montreal.

Westmount Square is one of my favourite buildings in one of my favourite cities. Perhaps I should correct myself here, Westmount Square is a actually a complex consisting of three buildings, two residential towers and one office tower. Included within the bounds of the complex is a shopping concourse and a low rise two storey structure housing medical suites and other facilities. Below ground are more shops, parking facilities and a series of subways linking the complex to the nearby Atwater Metro Station and the adjacent Place Alexis Nihon complex.

The architect for this project was Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The complex was completed in 1967. Two things here. The first regarding Mies van der Rohe. In some texts, this project is referred to as being designed in the “International” style. I would prefer to refer to design as being “modernist”. But then, what do I really know? Mies van der Rohe and several other European architects of note more or less defined the style and set in motion as a movement.

What I found really appealing in this project are its clean lines – both vertical and horizontal and how well integrated all the components are and, of course, its transparency. From whatever point of view one takes to view this complex, there’s a sweetness and balance to all the various structural components here.

What is of interest here is the “openness” and transparency of this project’s design, especially that of the residential towers. By “openness” I mean the use of floor to roof glass panels on the main façade – all this for a project that was designed and finished some 45 years ago. What’s more, the detailing in this project is superb, even to this day.

The other thing is, this project was completed during what may well have been Montreal’s heyday – a period which culminated with the 1967 International and Universal Exposition or “Expo 67″, as it is more commonly referred to.

This was a period of interesting development and growth for Montreal. While the Expo celebrated Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic dome, further up the river is Moshe Safdie’s iconic Habitat 67 which, to me, is still one of the more interesting if not most significant pieces of architecture I have encountered.

Between Westmount Square and the Parc Jean Drapeau, where Expo 67 was held, is IM Pei’s Place Ville Marie (formerly the Royal Bank Tower). While completed in 1962 it sort of falls into this “heyday” period in Montreal’s recent history. The are several other projects of note that come out of this period but, all in all, this period and these projects more or less define Montreal – this from an architectural point of view.

Enjoy.
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TECHNICAL NOTES: This image was taken with a Canon EOS 1D MkII data capture device using a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM Lens.
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Rogan is currently based in Hong Kong where he undertakes photography assignments and commissions for architects as well as corporate, design and editorial clients. Rogan specialises in Architectural, Corporate and Social Documentary photography.
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LaSalle College of the Arts – Singapore

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LASALLE College of the Arts - Singapore - ©Rogan Coles

While in Singapore this past July, did something of a walkabout around town and came across the LaSalle College of the Arts. To the uninitiated, not the always the easiest place to find, this in the sense that its tucked away in an area somewhere off Beach Road and near Bugis Junction in the down town part of Singapore.

On an initial walkabout of the area, a friend of mine took me past this is establishment. On the walk he told me something of the history of how this campus came into being.

On first impressions I was immediately stuck by the form and dimensions of the place. While imposing, the campus is actually quite small. Or, that it just seems this way.

The term, “deconstruction” immediately came to mind. In some ways it looks like a block of something that had been “dissected” – something not quite solid, not quite inert, not quite liquid. A block of ice but not of liquid, a block of glass but not that solid and, by no means, in any way symmetrical. Almost jelly fish like but then without that creature’s particular shape or form.

As part of another dimension and one that is by all means organic, is this huge white membrane spanning and almost enwrapping the whole structure. I would be hard pressed to call it a roof. This mebrane is almost tent-like as in the dimensions of circus tent but then, this is neither a tent nor a circus. This awning, if it could be called that, is only apparent when entering the campus. From several other angles and away from the campus, this element is neither apparent nor visible. All that see from several external vantage points is this huge, solid and dark edifice.

All in all, there’s this interesting blend or better still, fusion of contrasting elements, things hard and brittle, soft and enveloping, things dissected and bisected, little treasures that sort of come out of a bone shakers bag. Not sure how to else to describe this project but I like it, I really like it.

Images from this shoot are not up on my main portfolio site, this for the simple reason that I’m not particularly happy with the images I’ve taken of this project on this occasion. Put another way, it was a little difficult to get the best out of the occasion. The campus was closed for the holidays and, the day on which the photography was done, it was overcast and dull. Having seen other photography done subsequently, there are evening shots done here which show this project off in a better light, so to speak.

The recipient of several international architectural design awards, the architects of this project is the Singaporean practice of RSP Architects.

More images of this project can seen over at my Photoshelter archive.

As a side note, I’ve got to add that Singapore is the home to some of the more exciting and certainly some of the most interesting architecture I’ve seen in any one location for a long while. I may blog and elaborate on this comment in a future post – stay tuned.
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TECHNICAL NOTES: This image was taken with a Canon 5D MkII using a Canon TS-E 17mm f/4 L Tilt-Shift Lens.
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Rogan is currently based in Hong Kong where he undertakes photography assignments and commissions for architects as well as corporate, design and editorial clients. Rogan specialises in Architectural, Corporate and Social Documentary photography.
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Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.

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I’m not too sure about this project. I like it and I don’t. In one sense this whole thing is quite sordid (no pun intended) almost bounding on the hideous and garish. In another sense, the whole concept and design is decidedly exotic to the point of being almost quixotic.

Don’t get me wrong, I really loved photographing this project. There are features and elements in this design that are rarely found anywhere else. Most high rise projects tend to be two dimensional – the base and the height. This project has a third dimension or element of interest.

Of course the key feature here is the so called 340m-long “SkyPark” – the Zeppelin like structure that sits atop the three supporting towers. Not too sure if I would call this this project’s “crowning glory” but, this feature certainly sets apart from anything like it anywhere else in the world thus, making this project unique.

When I set out to photograph this project I didn’t know who the design architects were let alone who was involved in developing the project. Yup, I know, I get that way sometimes – as in shooting first and then ask questions later.

I’ve since found out that project’s design architects are Moshe Safdie Architects. While the name rang a bell somewhere, it wasn’t until later that the I realised that it was the same Moshe Safdie who designed, for what is to me one of the most iconic developments of all time – Habitat 67. This low rise condominium complex is located on the shores of the St Lawrence River in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The project was designed and built while Safdie was still in his twenties and, 45 years on, it still stands as a testament to fine and inspiring design. As iconic as Habitat 67 was in its time, seems like Marina Bay Sands may be heading much the same way in the present age.

The Marina Bay Sands is a Las Vegas Sands Corporation development. That it is a resort sort of surprises me – this in the sense that it is located in a prime location within the precincts of a Singapore’s CBD. One usually thinks of resorts as being located out in some rural or exotic location. I guess this location could be described as “exotic” if not unique – more on this in another post.

That I took this image in the way I did wasn’t based on any prior knowledge or research. Just saw this picture on a prior evening and long after the sun had already gone down. Went back the next morning and then later again in that afternoon. This is one of the images from this particular shoot.

This and other images featuring the Marina Bay Sands are located over in my Photoshelter archive. Enjoy.
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TECHNICAL NOTES: This image was taken with a Canon 5D MkII using a Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5 L II Tilt-Shift Lens.
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Rogan is currently based in Hong Kong where he undertakes photography assignments and commissions for corporate, design and editorial clients. Rogan specialises in Architectural, Corporate and Social Documentary photography.
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Updates to my Photoshelter archive

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Photoshelter home page

Photoshelter home page

Its not very often that I find either the time or the occasion to wave my own banner so to speak. However, this is that occasion and this is the time to do just that.

I now refer to the update of the home or front page at my Photoshelter archive over at rcoles.photoshelter.com

Its been a while, a long while since the last update. And while I may have thought the selection of images on the previous home page was great, they weren’t altogether relevant to what it is that I actually do – this from a business point of view. Yes, I take pictures and I take lots of them and perhaps compulsively so BUT, and recently, the question of, “So, what is it that you do precisely?” has popped up a little too often. My bog standard response of, “I take pictures” no longer seems to cut it. Hence the update. I’m hoping this will go some way in answering that question – of what it is that I do.

Hey-hey, this is all “mind over matter” – as in time to get out of one’s head and get on with what matters. Enjoy.
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Rogan is currently based in Hong Kong where he undertakes photography assignments and commissions for corporate, design and editorial clients. Rogan specialises in Architectural, Corporate and Social Documentary photography.
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Times Financial Center.

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Times Financial Center, Shenzhen

Times Financial Center, Shenzhen

It took nearly all of 7 months to do all the photography on this project and to get this particular shot. The construction of the project took a little longer than anticipated to complete. While the finishing touches were being put in, the developer then proceeded to slap a banner up the side of the building to declare it was complete and to advertise that the space within was to let. Then, one day in April, the banner was removed and the with this, the weather improved.

In doing the final photography, around 2 days was spent in and around the site and photographing the project from which ever angle offered the best views. This particular image was my key and defining image for the whole shoot. It all came together as envisaged – the angle, the lights, the lighting and the “perfect sky”.

This image was shot as is and it was shot on film. The only filtration I used was a 20 or 30 magenta CC filter and that was it. There was no dropped in background as seems to be the common thing to do in this digital age.

To shoot the image, I used a Panfield 4×5 inch field camera with a 6×9 cm roll film back and a Schneider 90 mm f/8 lens.

While this image was shot on film I had to do a hi-res scan – this serving two purposes. One was to deliver the image to client, The was that the image still required some “reworking”.

This project has surrounded by various other development that were still under construction. As a result, the skies surrounding the building were full of gantry cranes and other artefacts. These needed to be removed. The up-lighters on the right spire weren’t working. So I had to clone the left spire to fix the image. After this did some colour correcting to clean up the lighting on the building. This meant adding more magenta which helped enhance the sky, cleaned up the foreground a little and that was about it.

TECHNICAL NOTES: The original image was taken using a Panfield 4×5 inch field camera, a Schneider 90 mm f/8 and 6×9 roll film back. The film used as Fuji Velvia. The design architects were the US firm of Brennan Beer Gorman / Architects whose head office is located in New York.
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This and other similar images can be now be found over at my image archive at Photoshelter.
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Rogan is currently based in Hong Kong where he undertakes photography assignments and commissions for corporate, design and editorial clients. Rogan specialises in Architectural, Corporate and Social Documentary photography.
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