101. Yee Yuen, 鬼見秫 : Golferino Club
atelier ying, nyc.
Atlantic city had an elephantine colossus hotel which sported a cigar shop in one leg and a spiral staircase in the other.
Yet in our more informed digital era, what comes to my mind for an interior of an elephantine colosseus is more like a pirate ship's captain's quarters and the ship's figurehead, here replaced by a Jackie Gleason-type of character.
This golfer seen as a ship's figurehead is also a faded remainder of former glory, the ship being long gone, this kind of referential provenance lends itself well to my philosophy in making homages. with this crucial premise set as the foundation stone we can now move on with both confidence and conviction.
I like to think of my role being that of a ship carver and this atelier as a carver's workshop. I'm in the constant company of photographers who ply their trade on the streets albeit also on the virtual streets. Nevertheless I see vessels coming back into port via photos taken with modified cameras.
Lastly, a small matter of pride for me is that the ship carvers trade had no manuals, no performance practice, no history or annals. The sky is clear for me to carve away without abandon. My atelier is portable and it's port is largely at tables in a cha chan teng. In Asia I would have a far better choice of locale but it wouldn't necessarily improve my work, which is largely within the miniatures aesthetic. Modestly saying, i don't think there has been a miniaturist before like me.
At first I considered necessary modern improvements: the replacement of a simple elevator lift for the spiral staircase that was contained inside the rear leg of the original Lucy the Elephant hotel of Atlantic City. But delving further in this direction stagnated and lost the design's original momentum.
An entrance by hot air balloon or simplified funicular would give a far away feeling and perhaps one of being stranded even. It would be total privacy within a humorous structure with tourist crowds passing through, unawares.
An iconic graphic of Manhattan adorns the Helio rear window of the cigar lounge, which is in the shape of a ship's hull. The further divisions of space within the lounge make for a central axial walkway between two smaller volumes with filtered natural light from above; a bridge view with the setting sun. The lounge can occupy 15 close friends. The other club room at the head area on the upper level could alternate in function with the lounge. I'm imagining it as a breakfast and tea area.
And yet another refinement would be a driving range in a howdah, not in any way controversial of animals rights.
The retail areas in both legs of the golferino would upgrade from the cigar shoppe of the 1800's to a simple cash cow business.
The proposed siting for this club is an interesting issue: Ideally, it should be on a low lying hill, in Asia, among a set of small hills in a valley, as if it were part of a gigantic golferino course. And it would recall King Ludwig II's fantasy castles. In such a peaceful secluded setting, the club would undergo constant small changes for art exhibitions, High stakes Wei chi (also known as Igo and Baduk) tournaments, all of which would bring many visitors and income. However, upon further consideration, Manhattan's Central Park is ideally suited, on the Great Lawn with its rear facing west and overlooking Belvedere Pond and the driving range sending balls toward the Dakota Building. It would solve the egress problem, providing the necessary air space. Lastly, it would be an ideal beacon tying to the new Trump project being planned, an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course in Manhattan.
The prime use of this clubhouse is for the one I am honoring with this design--- the legendary Taiwan martial arts actor Yee Yuen, who enthralled audiences in movie theatres in the 1960's through the 1970's. His most famous role was the evil swordsman Chao Mu Tien, in the film series beginning with the film "Sorrowful to a Ghost".
Yee Yuen wielded a sword that put his opponents in a hypnotic trance by reflecting sunlight at their eyes before he dispatched them. His fierce, aggressively choreographed swordplay style (for that time) and demeanor inspired the making of one of the first Taiwan 'dark hero' film series. I was truly mesmerized with these films as a child, sitting inside Chinatown's Pagoda Theater.
Yee Yuen held his "soul seeking" sword like a golf club in his trademark style, which inspired my use of the golferino board game and the use of Tadao Ando's central axial bridge (a metaphor for his sword) for catching the rays of the sun.
Yee Yuen may find humor in the cavernous rear of the American-style golfer. The club inside is dead serious though. The half sphere cylinder (as seen on the sectional diagram on the lower left) is further divided by a bridge overlooking a rock garden and stream. This bridge links the two volumes and is lit by an axial light bar (natural filtered light). This bridge recalls fight scenes from the films (Yee Yuen's first film begins with a fight scene in the river). The lower club level is a spacious two-level area that looks out onto Central Park from a series of windows in an iconic Manhattan shape. The upper level club area across the bridge and makeshift river stream is more intimate, with its space divided into 6 small vignettes of club seating.
The Howdah driving range is really best for two; a touch of luxury in keeping with the history of the Howdah. A cheap wine and peanuts bar is in character and would amuse Yee with the American taste of the 60's.
This would be a fine luxurious venue for cast reunions. The film magazines of this era, like The Milky Way Pictorial and Southern Screen often show male martial arts film stars going sightseeing, with more than a few Nikons strapped about them and wearing colorful 70's attire. Now we can imagine a Kong Ban (江兵) and a Chiang Nan (江南) as well as other martial arts legends having Gongfu Tea (Cubanos taste good with tea also) together and reminiscing in total seclusion within an American style interior of the 1950's: terrazzo tiles, Alvar Aalto furnishings, and Ando's subtly lit settings. The constant shifting of comedy (something sorely lacking in Yee Yuen's film career) and luxury of this proposed structure will surely delight its occupants. Perhaps this program was a bit overdone, but its character and intention is attuned to the milieu of Yee Yuen's heyday.
Please see the scenes from a fighting sequence of Yee Yuen on a bridge below.
This design follows in style my designs nos. 47, 53, 57 and 91. If you'd like to see more in this style please visit those drawings.
Design, text and drawing are copyright 2013 by David Lo.
101. Yee Yuen, 鬼見秫 : Golferino Club
atelier ying, nyc.
Atlantic city had an elephantine colossus hotel which sported a cigar shop in one leg and a spiral staircase in the other.
Yet in our more informed digital era, what comes to my mind for an interior of an elephantine colosseus is more like a pirate ship's captain's quarters and the ship's figurehead, here replaced by a Jackie Gleason-type of character.
This golfer seen as a ship's figurehead is also a faded remainder of former glory, the ship being long gone, this kind of referential provenance lends itself well to my philosophy in making homages. with this crucial premise set as the foundation stone we can now move on with both confidence and conviction.
I like to think of my role being that of a ship carver and this atelier as a carver's workshop. I'm in the constant company of photographers who ply their trade on the streets albeit also on the virtual streets. Nevertheless I see vessels coming back into port via photos taken with modified cameras.
Lastly, a small matter of pride for me is that the ship carvers trade had no manuals, no performance practice, no history or annals. The sky is clear for me to carve away without abandon. My atelier is portable and it's port is largely at tables in a cha chan teng. In Asia I would have a far better choice of locale but it wouldn't necessarily improve my work, which is largely within the miniatures aesthetic. Modestly saying, i don't think there has been a miniaturist before like me.
At first I considered necessary modern improvements: the replacement of a simple elevator lift for the spiral staircase that was contained inside the rear leg of the original Lucy the Elephant hotel of Atlantic City. But delving further in this direction stagnated and lost the design's original momentum.
An entrance by hot air balloon or simplified funicular would give a far away feeling and perhaps one of being stranded even. It would be total privacy within a humorous structure with tourist crowds passing through, unawares.
An iconic graphic of Manhattan adorns the Helio rear window of the cigar lounge, which is in the shape of a ship's hull. The further divisions of space within the lounge make for a central axial walkway between two smaller volumes with filtered natural light from above; a bridge view with the setting sun. The lounge can occupy 15 close friends. The other club room at the head area on the upper level could alternate in function with the lounge. I'm imagining it as a breakfast and tea area.
And yet another refinement would be a driving range in a howdah, not in any way controversial of animals rights.
The retail areas in both legs of the golferino would upgrade from the cigar shoppe of the 1800's to a simple cash cow business.
The proposed siting for this club is an interesting issue: Ideally, it should be on a low lying hill, in Asia, among a set of small hills in a valley, as if it were part of a gigantic golferino course. And it would recall King Ludwig II's fantasy castles. In such a peaceful secluded setting, the club would undergo constant small changes for art exhibitions, High stakes Wei chi (also known as Igo and Baduk) tournaments, all of which would bring many visitors and income. However, upon further consideration, Manhattan's Central Park is ideally suited, on the Great Lawn with its rear facing west and overlooking Belvedere Pond and the driving range sending balls toward the Dakota Building. It would solve the egress problem, providing the necessary air space. Lastly, it would be an ideal beacon tying to the new Trump project being planned, an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course in Manhattan.
The prime use of this clubhouse is for the one I am honoring with this design--- the legendary Taiwan martial arts actor Yee Yuen, who enthralled audiences in movie theatres in the 1960's through the 1970's. His most famous role was the evil swordsman Chao Mu Tien, in the film series beginning with the film "Sorrowful to a Ghost".
Yee Yuen wielded a sword that put his opponents in a hypnotic trance by reflecting sunlight at their eyes before he dispatched them. His fierce, aggressively choreographed swordplay style (for that time) and demeanor inspired the making of one of the first Taiwan 'dark hero' film series. I was truly mesmerized with these films as a child, sitting inside Chinatown's Pagoda Theater.
Yee Yuen held his "soul seeking" sword like a golf club in his trademark style, which inspired my use of the golferino board game and the use of Tadao Ando's central axial bridge (a metaphor for his sword) for catching the rays of the sun.
Yee Yuen may find humor in the cavernous rear of the American-style golfer. The club inside is dead serious though. The half sphere cylinder (as seen on the sectional diagram on the lower left) is further divided by a bridge overlooking a rock garden and stream. This bridge links the two volumes and is lit by an axial light bar (natural filtered light). This bridge recalls fight scenes from the films (Yee Yuen's first film begins with a fight scene in the river). The lower club level is a spacious two-level area that looks out onto Central Park from a series of windows in an iconic Manhattan shape. The upper level club area across the bridge and makeshift river stream is more intimate, with its space divided into 6 small vignettes of club seating.
The Howdah driving range is really best for two; a touch of luxury in keeping with the history of the Howdah. A cheap wine and peanuts bar is in character and would amuse Yee with the American taste of the 60's.
This would be a fine luxurious venue for cast reunions. The film magazines of this era, like The Milky Way Pictorial and Southern Screen often show male martial arts film stars going sightseeing, with more than a few Nikons strapped about them and wearing colorful 70's attire. Now we can imagine a Kong Ban (江兵) and a Chiang Nan (江南) as well as other martial arts legends having Gongfu Tea (Cubanos taste good with tea also) together and reminiscing in total seclusion within an American style interior of the 1950's: terrazzo tiles, Alvar Aalto furnishings, and Ando's subtly lit settings. The constant shifting of comedy (something sorely lacking in Yee Yuen's film career) and luxury of this proposed structure will surely delight its occupants. Perhaps this program was a bit overdone, but its character and intention is attuned to the milieu of Yee Yuen's heyday.
Please see the scenes from a fighting sequence of Yee Yuen on a bridge below.
This design follows in style my designs nos. 47, 53, 57 and 91. If you'd like to see more in this style please visit those drawings.
Design, text and drawing are copyright 2013 by David Lo.