#melody chater

[yanderelmk]

the host project was put on a temporary halt, happy to say I found the time to work on it again- and this is just more my own silly take and personal opinion- one I honestly don't mind being attached to my account

- if you want to, make a Mary Sue/ Gary Sue or a self insert, have fun with your characters and just have fun with your own creations. -

over personally seen a lot of people in the art community, especially in fandoms take things too seriously in my opinion, as long as you know it's not real and you're having fun with your characters and your creations that's what matters, your art and concepts don't have to be perfect, well thought out, or even 100% original. yes absolutely keep it to something you've mostly made on your own, but also know you're making something for you, and if you make something for yourself make it something you enjoy and have fun with, don't let others dictate how you make something because really your own happiness and enjoyment should come first ∞% of the time

-🪷

I agree to a point! It depends. My definition of Mary Sue/Gary Stu are people who make overpowered characters and break the rules of the world. I've had nothing but horrible experiences with owners of Mary Sues/Gary Stus. Hell, one of the toxic people that were part of this blog's server had the most Mary Sue characters ever as a wish-fulfillment thing. It's ok to have fun, but there are still limits, and those limits need to be enforced because without them shit goes South real quick. Like it's all in good fun, but what happens when that person's "good fun" includes harmful stuff? Fiction bleeds over into reality, so we need to be careful with that. My thing is this: Powerful OCs are okay, just don't break the world and its narrative. As long as you're not hurting yourself or others (i.e. those people with personas who are actively racist/pedophilic/homophobic) it's theoretically okay. If you want a massive power fantasy, go write your own story about it instead of breaking apart a pre-established work. In the case of Lego Monkie Kid Mary Sues/Gary Stus, that's worse because it crosses over into the disrespect and twisting of Buddhist lore and religion to fulfill a self-indulgent power fantasy. Hell, I had one person who tried to merge Christianity with Buddhism to make their OCs more powerful than the Jade Emperor himself, in the process massively bastardizing the lore to get there. In short, a Mary Sue. On a less-serious note, I've had people with Mary Sues/Gary Stus who pitch bitch fits because their super-omega powerful OC that killed and became God wasn't welcomed in RP or fandom circles because they completely trounce all over everything. Nobody wants to play with someone who has such mighty power they have no flaws and/or make the other characters redundant. TL;DR: I agree, but up to a point. Fun is fun, but limits are very necessary. I'm actually gonna let Scott talk in on t his because he was in the art community and heavier in the fandom community around the Toxic Era! ~ Melody -------------------------- From the perspective of someone who is in the art community himself, I get what you're saying. OC creation used to be viewed under such a harsh and critical lense that it really made it feel like nobody was allowed to make anything without it being criticized so harshly that some people (me included) got discouraged from creating fan content as a whole. It makes sense to not want people to ever have that experience. But there is a "however" to this situation.

While it makes sense to want people to just have unrelented fun, unfortunately (as some recent experiences have very well shown), an individual's personal definition of "fun" can easily be harmful to everyone else. We had someone who thought it was "all in good fun" to have a character go through leaps and bounds to bend the moral standpoint on thirsting after minors. That, to them, was "all in good fun" and "just fiction".

Though, and let me be clear, I know that your intention very well likely wasn't to include those types of people under the umbrella of "it's fun and fictional, so it's okay". But that is the specific wording that the creators who do do harmful things use to excuse themselves. We have to specify that we don't mean them because, as was mentioned and proven, they will get in if they have a sliver of room to.

But onto the main point of me hopping in

Personally, I agree that the way I define a Mary Sue/Gary Stu is only if the character in question breaks the rules of the world that the character is presented in. However, I've been on the receiving end of interacting with people who have Mary Sues/Gary Stus and trying to roleplay/work with them. And it was, in no short of terms, downright draining to try and work with. These characters gave this sense of inadequacy, where it would make you feel bad for trying to work with them because there was so much unintentional "look at how much better my character is than yours" stuff each time. Plus, trying to find a way to make a character like that work is outright exhausting. It can really bog you down and make you lose your passion if you keep having to stop and fix what their character keeps breaking because they went with what was fun, not with what actually works.

Personally, I feel like such characters are bad from a developmental standpoint. What I specifically mean by that is this: It's normal and healthy to have Mary Sue/Gary Stu characters as they are necessary to a writer's development and learning how to make more form-fitting characters. However, to say that the characters are always okay to make and you shouldn't worry about making a character that actually makes sense is harmful. You can't grow your skills as a writer if your go-to plan is to throw the rules to the wind and do whatever just because "it's fun". An easier way to put it is that while it's normal and healthy to have such characters, never having/refusing to make functioning characters is harmful because then you never learn how to make a comprehensive story or a character that people can legitimately enjoy.

Don't get me wrong, you shouldn't build your character off of what other people will like. I still feel like enjoyment and a creator's own individual ideas is always more important. But I do mean to say that openly never caring about making functional characters/refusing to grow past the Mary Sue/Gary Stu phase can lead to underdeveloped writing capabilities and can be legitimately distressing for others to engage with due to how overpowered the character would be.

TL;DR: Mary Sue/Gary Stu characters aren't inherently bad, are normal to a writer's development, and shouldn't be subjected to harsh criticism because they are, in some ways, harmless, and it's a perfectly understandable statement to say that people should just be allowed to have fun with their creations. However, there should be awareness to the fact that such characters can be outright disheartening/frustrating for others to try and work with because you let them be so overpowered and world-bending. And while there should be allowance to such characters, claiming that they're always okay leads to people not knowing how to write characters properly for any fandom and can actually stunt you if you're not careful. And while I agree that people should be allowed to have fun with their creations, we have to recognize that some people's definition of "fun" is legitimately harmful.

IMPORTANT ADDITION: When I say Mary Sue/Gary Stu, I mean characters that bend the rules of the world they are placed in. These specifically are the ones that are genuinely harmful. I don't mean to imply any other type of characters who were considered Mary Sues/Gary Stus when I use the term. I feel like overpowered characters can work very well, if the creator can find a way to make it fit within the confines of the media. If they can't, then it's a problem. Those are the only characters I mean to address in my statements.

-- Scott

#melody chater #scott talks

[straycatboogie]

2023/01/07 English

BGM: Pizzicato Five - ファンキー・ラブチャイルド

Today I worked early. This morning I listened to The Art Of Noise's "Legs". It's a famous song in Japan because a Japanese magician Mr. Maric uses it as his theme song. When I listen to this kind of song, my body starts to move with it. Indeed, music is mysterious. Sweet melodies and throbbing rhythm move my mind and body actively. I always tune my mind with vast music. My taste is sometimes said as weird. When I was a student, I couldn't join my classmates' music talk because of that strange taste so I felt lonely. But now I can be proud of my taste. 

I got a direct mail about the English conversation class we will have this month. I want to go there if I can. This year who will I meet in this class? I wonder if my skill of English is getting improved through this class, daily chatting, and my diary? I want to climb steadily through my whole life without hurrying up. But I have to accept that I can't climb without making mistakes. My life would go through hardship. But I try to stay steady, do actual practice, having English in my life. Write my ideas on my memo pad in English, try to use English in my daily life, and practice. This is my way of learning. Yes, it is really a cluster of tiny efforts.

I am still reading Morten H. Christiansen & Nick Chater's "The Language Game". This book tells me that we do our usual communications with actual "improvisation", and that makes our tradition the rule of conversation. It also means that we don't learn strict terms of usage of language to do communications. "Improvisation" is the key term of this book. It also tries to express "the collapse of our language". If we used language so randomly, it would end as a disorder? but these authors say that our language must not be such a fragile thing. It can contain rich chaos... This is a really great book to think about that kind of huge enigma of language.

At today's lunchtime, listening to Susumu Hirasawa's "金星", I imagined "How everything would be if I ran away from this life?". Run away from this job, this town... it says that the current state was brought from the fact I have never run away. I kept my work because there weren't other things to do. Yes, a really negative motivation. And... finally, I met my friends. Great and precious friends. I can see that I could live more smartly, and more pleasant without any stress. But it wouldn't suit me. I am... yes, I am a fool. I am never smart...

#diary #english

[cascadingsorrows]

whether it be melodies that give you inspiration for your muse or songs that get you into the writing mood—pick 10 songs you find to give you the urge, the drive, or the creativity to write for your muse—then tag your peeps to get an insight on their musical inspirational feels.  

one.  Heartbreak Hotel Piano Acoustic Version - Alice Chater two.  Treat you Better - Shawn Mendes three.  Back to Black - Amy Winehouse four.  Scared to be Lonely Acoustic Version - Martin Garrix, Dua Lipa five. Black Widow - The Animal In Me six. Nothing Left to Lose - Jeremy Jordan seven. Resentment - A Day to Remember eight.  Lotus Emerging on the Surface of Water - Liu Fang nine.  Demons - Alec Benjamin ten.  Love The Way You Lie - Eminem, Rihanna

TAGGED  BY :  @birdcvged {Thank you!} TAGGING :  @cxndybxstxrd, @evcryopeneye, @detroitfortune, @memorystxrs, and anyone else haha

#✦ Emperor’s smile cascading in mirth | Meme |

[thesinglesjukebox]

DUA LIPA - PHYSICAL

[7.50]

It's okay! Move that boogie body!

Leah Isobel: It is a dark and stormy night. In a sinister science lab located somewhere in Carmen Sandiego's plush pomo lair, a pop singer plugs in a neon light, shrugs into a next-season Gaultier lab coat and gets to work. In the reflection of her gold-tinted goggles we see her add one (1) part Extract of "Into You," one (1) part Juice of Newton-John, and four (4) drops of Synthesizer Spice into a contoured beaker. She turns on the flame of a Bunsen burner; stream gushes from her concoction like a geyser, emitting a high, keening refrain. She whispers a few luscious words into the steam -- "diamond," "sssimulation," "adrenaline" -- but her experiment still lacks a certain something. Then -- BOOM! -- in a thundercrash of lightning, it hits her. Eureka! She turns and sees her reflection illuminated in the glass of an emergency axe container, kept onsite in case of fire. "Well," she chuckles to herself as she breaks the glass with a four-inch stiletto heel, "I am creating something... hot." Axe in hand, she chops the neon light into pieces and stuffs the shards, now glittering like a million sequined dancefloors, into the beaker. With the addition of this Decoction of Disco, her potion bubbles... it burbles... then KABOOM: it explodes the entire building and half of the surrounding city! She stands in the wreckage as thunder splits the sky above and sirens wail in the distance. We see Dua's eyes glow green before she throws her head back to the sky and screams: "GAY RIIIIIGHTS!" [9]

William John: Probably the best example of what parts of the Internet's stan culture would facetiously refer to as "gay rights" from a mainstream musical artist since... the last Dua Lipa single, or, failing that, "Into You." Like those precedents, "Physical" is camp but magisterial; playful but extremely melodramatic; sweeping, dance floor ready, and dripping with an exultant swagger. Her reminder to "hold on, just a little tighter" at the bridge is, truthfully, a hollow gesture; at that stage, the listener is so deeply embroiled in her glorious disco caprice as to not really be capable of gripping anything at all. [10]

Jackie Powell: It couldn't be clearer that Dua Lipa had something to prove not only to herself, but to the pop music intelligentsia on her sophomore offering. What has struck me most about the Future Nostalgia cycle is how Dua is executing every facet of it with confidence. On this track, she's not afraid of hitting notes that eclipse the breadth of her previous singles, especially on the bridge. "Physical" is a representative offering of exactly what she's aiming to prove. Each track we've heard so far reflects a different decade accompanied with a modern polish. I don't think I'm the only one who believes Olivia Newton-John's '80s exercise sexual metaphor smash "Physical" deserves the tribute it's getting here. There's a clear homage paid to her and to Patti LaBelle on Lipa's own "Physical." I'm going to interpret her lyric "We created something phenomenal" as a bit of a double-entendre. Not only is it about sex in the narrative of the track, but it's a comment on Lipa's approach to this era and her confidence on every single part of it. The sexual symbolism isn't just in the lyrics, but also in the track's composition and the narrative communicated in the visual treatment. The vocal highs that she hits on the bridge represent a climax musically and sexually. She has so much confidence in the visual treatment, she spends most of it braless. That takes guts. [9]

Tobi Tella: Dua Lipa's perceived lack of personality has turned out to actually be lack of a schtick preventing her from artistically evolving, something many of her peers are plagued with. Also, I've died and gone to gay heaven. [9]

Alfred Soto: The way Dua Lipa's unexpected bon mots and smoky sultriness ride the beat and compete with the strings compensate for a production too dressed up in leg warmers and headbands for my taste -- I mean, her exhortations are more fearsome than erotic. [7]

Julian Axelrod: Pop's '80s revival arms race has escalated to its natural endpoint: the accidental exhumation of Olivia Newton-John. I wish Dua Lipa had used "let's get physical" in a more literal iteration; singing it over hyperdrive synths guarantees it'll be never played in its intended setting, especially when she has half the energy of ONJ. But she hit the mark where it counts: This is going to rule spin classes for the rest of the year. [6]

Brad Shoup: A throwback training-montage track that suggests sex but is really about dancing and Olivia Newton-John erasure. This is Stranger Things pop. [5]

Thomas Inskeep: Sex is natural, sex is fun, sex is best when soundtracked by throbbing '80s synths. [6]

Ashley Bardhan: Okay, fine, I enjoy horny music. Sue me! This song is what would happen if ABBA was brought back to life as a bunch of hot 20-year-olds in little shirts from Fashion Nova. The "let's get physical" chorus feels a little lazy since it's a direct lift from Olivia Newton-John's 1981 hit, but this is a great song to listen to while thinking about that video of Charli XCX holding poppers. No complaints here. [7]

Alex Clifton: I've underestimated Dua Lipa. Her first album had some hits and misses, but Future Nostalgia is shaping up to be one of the best pop releases of 2020 based on the strength of its singles. "Physical" is a cascade of rainbow lights in a roller rink and makes me long to go out to a club, one where I can get down in a huge crowd of people and dance my white-girl ass off poorly. I'm an extreme introvert, so anything that makes me want to leave the house and be around strangers is powerful stuff indeed. It's a little cheesy, but who cares? It's a love letter to the '80s with all the campiness a song citing Olivia Newton-John should have. I'm desperately in love with Dua Lipa after hearing this, and I have a feeling "Physical" will be one of my favourite songs of the year. [9]

Stephen Eisermann: Dua Lipa has quietly become the pop superstar that so many of us wanted Carly Rae to be. Both women make incredible music, but it is Dua who has found commercial success; after hearing "Physical," it seems pretty obvious why. It's a retro-laden, power-pop track that is extraordinary only in the way Dua delivers it. What should be pedestrian instead is hypnotic, infectious, and oh so delicious. [8]

Lauren Gilbert: I promised a friend I'd blurb this song, and now that I've sat down to write it, I have nothing to say. It is a perfect pop song -- Dua knocks it out of the park on this record. I keep getting distracted from writing jamming to the track. I'm dancing while lying down on my couch. She created something phenomenal; we are left with no choice but to stan. [10]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: I've justified Dua Lipa's dearth of personality in years past, but this is where things don't add up: her dead-eyed singing makes no sense during the chorus, whose synths lack the fervor to make up for clinical vocal melodies. Around this time last year, we had Lizzo's "Juice"; now we have "Physical" as an example of '80s pastiche that only feels like it exudes energy and passion and charm. [2]

Will Adams: It's neat to have a single that's its own Initial Talk remix, but the synthpop revivalism is a bit too literal, to the point of putting all its chips on an Olivia Newton-John quote. It's not until the bridge -- "keep on DANCING!" -- where the drama locks in and starts, but only starts, to feel real. [6]

Kylo Nocom: Dua Lipa, determined more than ever to win the Popjustice £20 Music Prize, accidentally transforms into Alice Chater in the process. [5]

Katherine St Asaph: If "Physical" being by Dua Lipa wasn't hypertargeted enough to the Popjustice set, is that the synth progression from Saint Etienne's "No Cure for the Common Christmas" in the intro and beneath the chorus? It's certainly the same height of drama. The track attached isn't quite so charged: a little too Lady Gaga circa "Applause" and a little too Peloton instructor quoting Olivia Newton-John for absolutely no reason besides the culture deciding at some point to make the phrase a permanent, meaningless meme. (The song doesn't even sound particularly '80s; the disco strings are the decade prior, and the vocal squiggles on the verse are so specifically 2016 a time traveler's on their way to erase them.) Dua Lipa only betrays a personality on the spoken-word bridge; ironic how that and the vaporous intro, the least physical things on this track, are the most thrilling. [7]

Vikram Joseph: The intro feels like a prickling at the back of your neck, the one-line pre-chorus feels like plummeting six floors in a broken elevator, and the chorus is such a headrush you can practically smell the poppers: "Physical"'s thrills might be straightforward, but they're visceral as fuck. There are vintage Lady Gaga vibes, the "come on!"s are surely a nod to "We Are Your Friends," and the whole thing reminds me, inexplicably, of Bon Jovi's "It's My Life." But Dua Lipa is starting to make this all seem effortless, and the panache with which she delivers "Physical" easily pulls it clear of the gravitational field of its forebears. [9]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: "Physical" dares us to be the boldest versions of ourselves. It finds itself at the perfect intersection of confidence and lust. Dua Lipa is flirting with you with a playfulness she can only possess because she already knows you're going home together -- and she won't let you leave until the dancing is done. Dancing here is instinct, it's synths that sound as sweet as they do sinister, it's salty like the sweat that rolls down your forehead after you've been, well, physical. Dua Lipa is crushing the Confessions on a Dance Floor album that I've long been waiting for Lady Gaga to make. Dance floor music has long been my site of refuge and catharsis, so it's refreshing to be reminded that it can still sound so immediately, eminently thrilling. [9]

Kayla Beardslee: This doesn't quite reach the heights of "Don't Start Now," but damn it comes close. "Physical" should, in theory, be a cookie-cutter pop girl release, but Dua proves once again that she is the most important element in her music. The producers are doing everything right too, but who else could pull off her endearing smirk in "common love isn't for us" or that wonderful growl in "follow the noise"? And Dua takes us through a transcendental bridge that highlights the best qualities of her voice: singing simple lyrics that say everything they need to, she's breathless yet confident, desperate for touch yet satisfied with the musical world she's helped to create. Something phenomenal, indeed: this rollout has been a joy to follow. [9]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: "Physical" takes the opposite approach to "Don't Start Now" -- while that song's studio version swallows up its singer in a beautifully constructed, sterile disco pastiche (the live versions and remixes are much better), turning her into just one more retro cog, "Physical" makes her the center of attention. The production around her is good enough (the synth preset change right before the chorus starts is especially nice), but not particularly coherent or hooky on its own. In the vacuum left, Dua gets to have more fun, charismatically switching between vocal styles and walking around like she owns the place. [8]

Jibril Yassin: A powerhouse vocal colliding headfirst with production that's neither plodding nor limp. It's a song that's meant to feel like a blockbuster and after a few failed tries, it's thrilling to hear Dua Lipa finally nail the landing and sound like the superstar she wants to be. [7]

Michael Hong: "Physical" is magnetic. Its pulse is unrelenting, its atmosphere is shadowy and captivating, and Dua Lipa gives possibly her best vocal performance. There's no sense of the up-and-coming performer who delivered everything with stolid execution, instead, "Physical" is a sly wink of a pre-chorus leading to a forceful command: "baby, keep on dancing like you ain't got a choice." Dua Lipa is at the helm, all thoughts and any other desires are out the window, and the night is neverending. [7]

Joshua Lu: Several of Dua Lipa's past hit songs have relied on a marketable veneer of cool: "New Rules" works because she's the straight-talker friend giving advice, "Don't Start Now" necessitates a stoic character who can't be bothered to fret about her ex, and even on collaborations like "One Kiss" does Dua employ a rather unemotional voice, like she's a blank canvas for Calvin Harris' more playful and engaging production. "Physical" feels like such a departure for Dua not just because of its obvious throwback sound, but because this veneer of cool is completely torn down when the song reaches its rushing chorus. She sounds more and more desperate as her voice climbs and the synths soar above her, and her cries of "come on" ring as desperate instead of dominant. The song is indebted to pop titans of yesteryears (Olivia Newton-John obviously inspired the title, but the theatrics of the song feel more indebted to Bonnie Tyler or Patti Labelle) to the point of it not really feeling like a Dua song, but she sells it all so convincingly that it feels like a natural fit. It's part pop song, part epic showdown, and I look forward to Dua continuing to push herself to the forefront of mainstream pop music greatness. [9]

Scott Mildenhall: Little wonder that Lipa's so keen to get physical, given that she's "dreaming in a simulation" -- her focus seems to be on the former, since the latter exemplifies the aimlessness of the verses in comparison to the locked-and-loaded chorus. That has its thrills, yet never feels as loose as seems intended. "Physical" comes across too in love with the idea of being a kind of Perfect Pop to actually be it; an anthem for kinetics developed via science textbook. [7]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

#Dua Lipa #pop #music #music review

[superanchorbouquet]

October Playlist

My Name Is Alice // Alice Charter

Heartbreak Hotel // Alice Charter

Someone Special // Anna of the North

Bad kind of butterfly // Camilla Cabello

Fools // lucian

It's ok not to be ok // Demi Lovato

Placebo // Oda

Is it just me // Sasha Sloan

Class act // AViVA

Never get to hold you // Carly Rae Jepsen

Zzzz // Melanie Martinez

Never call me again // SVEA

One drink away // Cher Lloyd

Lot to love // Dua Lipa

Talk about It // Dua Lipa

Act of God // Dua Lipa

Secret // Dua Lipa

Theif // Alice Chater

Girls X Boys // Alice Chater

Two of us // Alice Chater

Heaven // Cheryl Cole

Break the ice nostalgia mix

Ares // Alice Charter

Fix this // Alice Charter

Tonight // Alice Charter

92 // Fickle friends

Christmas without you // Ava Max

Courage to change // Sia

New York // Cyn

I love it // Kylie minogue

I'll get better // Svea

She always get what she wants // Florrie

Sweet Melody // Little Mix

Thank u // AURORA

I love you but I love me more // SVEA

Love me again // SVEA

Rudolph the red nose reindeer // Kacey musgraves

You're not alone // Kiiara

#October #Playlist #2020

[architectnews]

2 Murray Road, Hong Kong, China

2 Murray Road, HK Offices, China, Hong Kong Commercial Development, Modern Chinese Tower Building, Images

2 Murray Road in Hong Kong

23 Sep 2020

2 Murray Road, HK

Design: Zaha Hadid Architects

Location: Hong Kong, China

image © Arqui9

Located in the heart of Hong Kong’s central business district, the 36-storey Murray Road project for Henderson Land replaces a multi-storey car park to create an urban oasis adjacent to Chater Garden within a short walking distance to both Central and Admiralty MTR metro stations.

images © Arqui9

With its base elevated above the ground to shelter courtyards and gardens cultivated with trees and plants in the centre of one of the world’s busiest cities, the design creates new civic plazas that are enveloped by nature.

Echoing the organic forms of the natural world; the redevelopment connects with the adjacent public gardens and parks. These tranquil outdoor areas flow into the generous communal spaces of the interior; the craftsmanship and precision of the curved glass façade enhancing this seamless connectivity between the building’s interiors and the surrounding gardens and city beyond.

image © MIR

The design reinterprets the structural forms and layering of a Bauhinia bud about to blossom. Known as the Hong Kong orchid tree, the Bauhinia x blakeana was first propagated in the city’s botanic gardens above the Murray Road site and its flowering bud features on Hong Kong’s flag.

image © PixelFlakes

At the core of the city’s financial district, the project is situated at the east-west / north-south junction of Hong Kong’s network of elevated pedestrian walkways; connecting directly with surrounding gardens, shops and restaurants as well as the offices of leading financial and civic institutions.

A high-tensile steel structure provides very wide span (up to 26m) of naturally lit, column-free, Grade A office space with a 5 metre floor-to-floor height giving maximum flexibility; its vertical core located on the eastern side of the building to optimise views of Chater Garden and the city’s renowned skyline to the west.

images © MIR

Working with the Henderson Land and Arup’s Building Sustainability Team, the design has achieved LEED Platinum and WELL Platinum pre-certification together with the highest 3-Star rating of China’s Green Building Rating Program. The design, procurement and construction targets full certification at occupancy.

The building’s smart management system creates a contactless pathway for all occupants from the street to their workstation that eliminates direct contact with communal surfaces and includes AI-assisted lift controls. Using a mobile phone, contactless smart card or biometric recognition, occupants can enter the building and pass security, call lifts to their office floor and access other zones such as lounge areas and washrooms.

Arranged for access on multiple levels, the large double-height foyer at ground level welcomes staff and visitors with its interplay of natural light, planting and organic forms leading up to the second floor public lobby on the city’s elevated walkway network. Suspended above the canopy of its surrounding tress, the sculptural glass façade of this expansive lobby defines a variety of nested spaces, each refined for purpose and experience.

Designed for intuitive navigation and to accommodate evolving patterns of working with enhanced workplace flexibility, the colour palettes of these finely detailed spaces differentiate key destinations within the tower.

Located on the refuge floor, the Sky Garden is an outdoor recreational space with running track and an aquaponics planting network that acts as an effective biological air-purifying filter by consuming contaminants.

The banqueting hall at the top of the tower offers panoramic views of the city’s surrounding skyline. Hosting a variety of public and corporate events, its glazed roof and façade will ensure this space becomes one of the city’s most memorable venues.

Designed to withstand the region’s powerful summer typhoons, the façade is comprised of 4-ply, double-laminated, double-curved insulated glass units – the first of their kind in Hong Kong – to effectively insulate the building and reduce its cooling load as well as build resilience.

Hybrid ventilation is controlled by the building’s automated management system and enables all office levels to be naturally ventilated. This natural ventilation can be supplemented when required with mechanical dehumidification and filtration to further enhance the indoor environment and air quality.

The building’s air quality monitoring system will detect the degree of occupancy in any interior and automatically adjust indoor air temperature, humidity and fresh air volume to meet demand. These smart systems learn to accurately predict daily occupancy trends to optimise energy demand, ensuring increased efficiencies with lower energy consumption.

Two weather stations installed at street level and roof level will monitor real-time outdoor conditions including PM10, PM2.5, ozone, daylight (solar irradiation), wind speed (m/s), rainfall (mm), temperature (oC), humidity (%) and noise (dB). These weather stations will inform occupants of outdoor air quality and are connected to the building’s automated management system to adjust the tower’s hybrid ventilation as required, ensuring the optimum supply of high quality outdoor air.

The redevelopment also incorporates a solar responsive ventilator (SRV) along the western perimeter of each floor to enhance the comfort of occupants. Powered by photovoltaics, the low speed, silent SRV creates a channel of air that has the ability to adjust solar radiative heat to the perimeter zone for further comfort.

A 26% reduction in electricity demand will be achieved with the use of smart chiller plant optimization, high-efficiency HVAC equipment and daylight sensors that reduce artificial lighting during periods of sufficient natural light.

A top-down construction method is employed to accelerate the redevelopment programme on-site by implementing deep basement and above-ground construction at the same time.

With construction works beginning last year and its procurement targeting embodied carbon reductions as well as the use of recycled materials, 2 Murray Road looks to the future with the integration of advanced design, construction and operational technologies.

2 Murray Road in HK, China – Building Information

Height: 190m (36 levels including ground, 5 below ground) Floor area: 43,200 sq.m Site coverage: 65% developed

Project Team Client: Henderson Land Architect: Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) Design: Patrik Schumacher ZHA Project Directors: Jim Heverin; Sara Klomps, Chris Lepine ZHA Project Team: Brandon Gehrke, Bidisha Sinha, Carlos Michel-Medina, Edgar Payan, Eddie Can, Fernando Alvarenga, Hazel Wu, Inês Fontoura, Irena Predalic, Janet Cheung, Kaloyan Erevinov, Kar-Hwa Ho, Karoly Markos, Kelvin Ma, Kylie Chan, Magda Smolinska, Melodie Leung, Michael Sims, Muriel Boselli, Nailu Chen, Oliver Bray, Paulo Flores, Simon Yu, Tim Yeung, Torsten Broeder, Yun Zhang ZHA Competition Team: Edgar Payan, Adrian Yiu, Brandon Gehrke, Carlota Boyer, Eddie Can, Fernando Alvarenga, Irena Predalic, Karoly Markos, Lorena Espaillat Bencosme, Maria Tsironi, Michail Desyllas, Nailu Chen, Paulo Flores, Philip Siedler, Saman Dadgostar, Torsten Broeder, Uli Blum

Local Architect & AP: Ronald Lu & Partners (Hong Kong) Building Services Engineering: WSP (Asia) Structural & Geotechnical Engineering: LERA Consulting Structural Engineers (Steel); C M Wong & Associates; Eckersley O’Callaghan Asia (Footbridges & Banquet Hall) Facade Engineering: Group 5F; Meinhardt Facade Technology (Hong Kong) Lighting consultant: LichtVision; Speirs + Major (Landscape & Media Façade) Landscaping: PWP Landscape Architecture; Earthasia Quantity Surveyor: Rider Levett Bucknall Sustainability & Civil Engineering: Arup Traffic consultant: MVA (Hong Kong) Acoustic consultant: Shen Milsom & Wilke Vibration consultant: C.F. Ng and Associates AV / IV / Specialist Media consultant: Ptarmigan Integration Limited Security consultant: UCS Hong Kong Signage & Wayfinding consultant: Atelier Pacific

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Zaha Hadid Architects

2 Murray Road, Hong Kong, China images / information from Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA)

Jockey Club Innovation Tower Hong Kong – external link to ZHA website

Location: 11 Yuk Choi Road, Block V, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong, Eastern Asia

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[thesinglesjukebox]

TEI SHI - DIE 4 UR LOVE

[6.57]

Have you heard the world is ending?

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: An abopalypse with deadly stakes: if "Die 4 Ur Love" was a weapon, it'd be a razor-sharp steel dagger lying on a bed of rose petals. [8]

Katherine St Asaph: Gorgeous, but what's the point of an immaculate coruscating polished-pretty gem of a song about the fucking apocalypse? Have we learned nothing from Kesha? That gonzo Lavos gurgle in "Till the World Ends"? Even Alice Chater? [6]

Oliver Maier: "Die 4 Ur Love" is slick and catchy, but poised to the point of stiffness, with an aloof Tei Shi not quite selling the knife's-edge lyrics. This problem is best summed up by the way she repeats "apocalypse," with the same melody, between the pre-chorus and hook, as a clause of its own with no meaningful relation to the rest of what she's saying. Not only does the repetition feel like slapdash recycling, but lyrically it's not much more than a clunky signifier of non-specific stakes, a smoke machine kicked on when half of the audience has left already. [5]

Tobi Tella: Soft and inviting even at rock bottom; the casaulness mitigates the heartbreak. [6]

Leah Isobel: Tei Shi is a quintessential [6] artist, but her solemn pronunciation of "apocalypse" -- a great word to include in a pop song! -- upgrades this to a solid... [7]

David Moore: Sleek electropop that might be Tei Shi's most transparent play for wider recognition, since her sneakier hooks and subtler pop moves circa Crawl Space weren't world-beating, perhaps by design. Still, I think her former sound -- ingratiating but claustrophobic -- feels closer to the zeitgeist. [6]

Nicholas Donohoue: I'm a sucker for any pop song format that's just piling up 10 or so hooks all on top of each other without ever giving away the game. The level of expectation setting and release here is such a mood and groove based slice of solid craft that you end up with a full soundscape that's earned its total consuming final 30 seconds. All so while keeping a cool head that does invoke a form of apocalypse, however bound in any one line by putting every flavor and twist somewhere in the layered cake buildup. [8]

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#Tei Shi #pop #music #music review

[thesinglesjukebox]

ALICE CHATER - TONIGHT

[5.67]

If you guessed Alice Chater, you are correct! We also would have accepted "the entire Billboard Hot 100 of 2011."

Iain Mew: The end-of-the-world banger trend was due a return, and this is very much a return. Question, though: why does she now sound like she's doing a Shakira impression? [5]

Katherine St Asaph: Alice Chater following up "Hourglass" with a song that hinges on the repeated syllables of ga-ga-ta let it go is a choice: one's influences crashing through one's poker face. Maybe that's on purpose, because "Tonight" is all influences: 2011 apocalypse pop with a 2014 Sia melody and 2017 vocal squiggles, a lot of "Disturbia"/"Motorway"/"Marry the Night"/"No Tears Left to Cry" melancholy, a keening house string and ad-libs (both way too low in the mix, but whatever), an explicitly reference to the radio, where one might actually encounter these things in sequence. Also not a lot of Alice in there, but "Tonight" is such potent, yearning time-tripping that I don't mind. I miss 2011 more than I miss some people, a life forever preserved in my memory in neon and sepia, and occasionally try to relive it; the chorus to this -- an initial burst, then a melody that immediately implodes and sinks -- mirrors the feeling exactly. [7]

Alfred Soto: Party slobber that gets the party started if you're in college and spent your adolescence with "Marry the Night" and your older brother's Sky Ferreira mp3s. [6]

Josh Buck: What in the name of all that is "Toxic" is this "Britney for the dark-pop era" nonsense? [3]

Will Adams: Alice Chater's investment in early '10s dancepop alone makes her sound electrifying compared to other pop upstarts of now, but she's especially good at selling it. She flips her voice to where it needs to be -- raspy verses, growled "got-gotta"'s, cathartic ad-libs in the final chorus -- to create a killer pastiche of apocalypse-pop that, while not as immediately explosive as "Hourglass," feels urgent and vital. [7]

Vikram Joseph: This is objectively a banger, but it's such a close genre cousin of Georgia's "About Work the Dancefloor" that, released in the same febrile summer, it can't help but pale a little by comparison. Both songs share a sense of embracing hedonism in complex, uncertain times, with verses that throb with a relentless, cumulative tension and choruses that reach for a transcendence that's just slightly out of reach. But where Georgia created an introvert's dance anthem with a chorus that felt tantalisingly unresolved -- never quite getting out of its own head -- Alice Chater takes a more linear route, with the processed post-chorus vocal hook perhaps sounding just a little too generic. It goes admirably hard though, and there's plenty of room in pop right now for both of them. [7]

Kayla Beardslee: I want to like this so bad. Parts of it deliver everything I'd want from an effervescent synthpop song -- the explosive chorus, the wobbly synth, Alice Chater putting in a strong vocal effort -- but the lyrics drag it down hard. "Got-gotta let it go," "I wanna be with you tonight": this is exactly what people who don't like pop think pop sounds like. And everything "Tonight" tries to do, Chater's previous single "Hourglass" did better. [5]

Ian Mathers: Lyrically this isn't a particularly interesting take on the always fertile field of pop songs addressing some sort of apocalypse, but the drunken sway of some of those synths in the back -- those I want to get a closer listen to. Between them and the satisfying delivery of "got-gotta let it go" (almost percussive!), this one winds up on the right side of the line. [7]

Kylo Nocom: Alice Chater goes for a less image-conscious approach to 21st-century pop revivalism, but without anything else to offer sounds like some sort of poor anachronism spewed from the wasteland of rejected Sia demos. No danger, no threats, no harm ultimately done, but a little bit of time wasted. [4]

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#Alice Chater #pop #music #music review #writing