crafted in Singapore, sophisticated Asians are realizing the potential of local cultural sources and design elements to impart magical moods in contemporary settings. So are their Western counterparts; David Copperfield's New York apartment conjures up a languid colonial lifestyle with poolside items such as Javanese planter's chairs; John Cougar Mellancamp sleeps in an antique Burmese teak four-poster; more contemporary Asian home accessories are being commissioned by Donna Karan, Karl Lagerfeld and Joseph from designers like Thailand's Ou Baholyodhin. Singapore-based interior designer Ed Poole, whose projects in Southeast Asia include the communist-chic House of Mao restaurants, has coined the term "urban tropic" for "the new Asian look in which modern furniture and accessories-everything from place mats to ashtrays-are being produced using indigenous materials such as coconut wood in places like Chiang Mai and Bali".
Juxtaposition is the key. Singaporean architects and interior designers Mink Tan, Sim Chen-Min and Sim Boon Yang are developing an 'ethno-modern' approach by placing focal areas of exotic details against clean, contemporary backdrops. "We want to avoid the dogmatic distinction of modern versus Asian vernacular," says Sim Chen-Min. This sentiment is echoed in the West by authorities as diverse as US-based fashion designer Vivienne Tan, whose China Chic takes a highly personal and provocative look at using cultural details (cheongsams to Qing desks) as counterpoints in Occidental settings, to UK-based interior designer Kelly Hoppen, whose East Meets West style is seen everywhere from first-class airline cabins to the homes of celebrities. As Hong Kong entrepreneur and designer of the elite China Clubs in Asia, David Tang, notes: "If you want to do a Chinese interior these days, it has to be a bit Western."
Bathroom bliss. In Judy and Morgan McGrath's tropical modern home, a painting by Indonesian artist Sukamto rests on an easel by the free-standing jacuzzi tub. The smoothness of the latter is a delightful contrast to the textured travertine used for the floor and shower area.
Collector's corner. Antiques such as a 19th-century Burmese betelnut box (on floor at left), a 19th-century Thai repousse silver bowl (on a Thai reproduction rain drum) and a Tibetan medallion rug create an exotic living space for Catherine Lajeunesse. Behind the Filipino rattan sofa (with Princess & the Pea cushions) is a Thai temple drum.
While dining under red silk lanterns and stainless-steel window bracing is not everyone's cup of cha, the idea of being unapologetic about the past-communist, colonial or kampong-is another facet of embracing what is local. Kerry Hill calls this 'authenticity': "It has to do with the genuineness of origins, a sense of belonging. It is felt as much as it is seen and evolves through intuition." However, in this age of mass communication and travel, what is local and what is universal is becoming increasingly intermixed, as Hill is the first to point out.
New Asian Style is somewhere in between local and universal, modern and ancient, chaos and calm. Nowhere in Southeast Asia is this more apparent than the former British colony of Singapore, where all the homes in this book were photographed. The vast majority of the three-million-strong population of this young city state which separated from Malaysia in 1965 lives in high-rise apartments and is comparatively well-educated (increasingly outside of Asia) and well-travelled. Moreover, as in the West, these 'New Asians' are increasingly likely to be living as single occupants or childless couples as they are in nuclear or extended families.
Such broad brushstrokes characterize the home owners and house occupants in this book who are "as distinguished by their multiplicity" as their homes, to paraphrase Singapore-based architect and author Robert Powell's definition of 'New Asian'. They are just as likely to own a second home in Bali as in London; they shop in Bandung, Bangkok and Brisbane; they tend to design at least some of their own furnishings; and some of them are not even of Asian ethnicity.
An attitude more than a given look, New Asian Style is above all about invention, experimentation and individuality, qualities which are unrestricted to geographic or racial boundaries. The urge to personalize one's home environment has never been so strong. As Donna Warner, editor of Metropolitan Home, says: "Homes are about happiness, not about being right."
Elegant Chinese furniture such as this late Qing Dynasty blackwood reading chair characterizes this contemporary Asian interior by Stefanie Hauger and Arabella Richardson, in a shophouse renovation by Chan Soo Khian.
Islands in the sun. The living area and a wooden pagoda appear to float on the infinity pool. Understated ornamentation outside the living area includes three roughly chiselled granite blocks and a bonsai tree.
Spirit Level
Restraint as well as risk characterize the design of this refined home by Justin Hill of Kerry Hill Architects (KHA), Singapore. An exciting synergy of interior and exterior was achieved by Hill and the Tongs-two surgeons and their teenage daughter.
At the main entrance, two water gardens lap a granite walkway, creating the illusion of walking over water, a typical Asian concept. The sense of ceremony is heightened by a dense double door with a wooden bolt, reminiscent of Chinese courtyard houses, complemented by a slatted double door leading to the central courtyard. "Although this is a formal entrance the clients agreed to leave it partially open to the elements, reflecting the tropical climate as well as Singapore's slightly more casual lifestyle to that of other Asian countries," notes Hill.
A seemingly natural progression of space is one of the tenets of zen philosophy, which welcomes ambiguities between indoors and outdoors, and between public and private spaces. Such blurred divisions are underlined both in the layout and materials. The two main axes of the house provide wonderful vistas from, respectively, the living area through the courtyard to the dining room and the painstakingly tended Japanese garden; and from the much-used piano, through the living area, down the hall and the garden again. Malaysian balau wood, limestone and granite feature extensively inside and out, while green Chinese slate roof tiles lend a subtle Oriental nuance.
Only a few pieces of the owners' collection of traditional Chinese furniture from their previous home, a conservation shophouse in Emerald Hill, were timeless and streamlined enough to make the transition.
Much thought also went into selecting the glinting glass mosaic tiles for the pool: "We wanted a dark blue green as in Tian Hu (Heavenly Lake) in the Tian Shan mountains in Xinjiang," says the owner. Even nature conspired to create a consistently beautiful theme; algae staining the ribbed concrete pool wall a glowing copper shade which matches the timber louvres.
The chenggal-wood, oversized front door-flanked by two potted mandarin trees on the outside-confers a sense of entry.
Delaying the arrival into the central courtyard for feng shui purposes and dramatic effect, a slatted chenggal door affords transparency as well as privacy.
The first main axis runs from the living space through the courtyard to the dining room. Dense bamboo and other
