stephanie peh (or steph)
freelance arts & culture writer
creative producer
steph.peh@gmail.com
write | Produce | Record | See
selected pieces, mostly online. more in-depth print work available via email.
Books
Pink Chilli in a Bowl (2023)
Main contributing writer
Commissioned by Isabelle Der Hagopian and Manuel Der Hagopian
Neither a tourist guide nor a work of historical records, “Pink Chilli in a Bowl” is a personal archive of forgotten places and time-honoured buildings that may someday be wiped out—some of which have already disappeared amidst the backdrop of a city that is constantly developing. These pages detail an intangible side of Singapore, encouraging readers to tap into their imaginations and reconstruct their mental map of the island nation in ways that inspire them… (Learn more)
Self-made: Creative Lives in Southeast Asia
My first personal project, which was entirely self-funded. I worked on it between 2018 – 2020... (Read more)
Design Reports
Monocle Radio Episode 505: Chapter 2
Vietnamese architecture studio Kientruc O approached the Bó Mon Preschool, a charity project, with sincerity, empathy and sensitivity to the environment. We don’t need a lot of money or ground-breaking ideas to change lives. (Listen here)
Video: KIENTRUC O
Publication: Emerge 2023
Editorial commissioned by Design Anthology
Contributed two long-form essays to the publication of Emerge 2023, an exhibition exploring craft and industrial design in Southeast Asia. (Download the publication for free here.)
People
Holycrap
AIGA Eye On Design
When Claire and Pann Lim floated the idea of starting a magazine with their two children back in 2013, their daughter, Aira, then 6, was bewildered. “Who’s going to want to read a magazine about our family?” she asked. (Read more)
Manuel Der Hagopian (group8)
indesignlive.sg
Having lived in HDB my whole life (which I love), there is much to admire about Manuel’s egalitarian approach to public housing for the middle class. his work emphasises community and creates the foundation for the kind of society I yearn for, where respect is not about the type of house you live in or the car you drive but is borne of human relationships. Architecture can facilitate that. (Read more)
Takenouchi Webb
OnOffice Magazine (Summer 2021)
"In Japanese, we say teinei. Step by step, sincerely and seriously," explains Takenouchi. Rather than being driven by concepts, the pair find joy in carefully considering and crafting every element within a space, sticking to the mantra that a successful space has everything in the right place. (PDF Available on request)
Naoko Takenouchi and Marc Webb photographed in their office, 2021
Vo Trong Nghia
Design Anthology
Vietnamese architect Vo Trong Nghia has been meditating in the hills of Myanmar. He returned home to Ho Chi Minh City for a short visit during the Lunar New Year in 2020 but ended up staying on due to the pandemic. (PDF Available on request)
Andra Matin
Cyril Lancelin
Thomas Heatherwick
Wendy Teo
Hidden Places
b-side.city (now defunct)
.gif: Leaning on Music
ScRach MarcS: Dancing for Culture
thesupersystem: Advocating for Nature
YABAI YABAI: Beauty in the Ordinary
(PDF Available on request)
Conservation/ Community
Garden Of Hope
Publication: Cubes #97: Re-Nature
After an interview with Ng Sek San at his office in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, he so kindly took me (on his smart car) to see Kebun Kebun Bangsar, a project that he has been lobbying for, unsuccessfully, since 2013. The community garden, meant to turn unused land into a place for Malaysians to gather and learn about food while providing for the homeless, only broke ground in 2017—still without official approval; guerilla-style. All that aside, the garden is thriving today, producing beautiful herbs and crops. It is also a home for farm animals. If anything, the takeaway is that if something is fundamentally good, it’s only a matter of time before the naysayers are converted.
Kebun Kebun Bangsar is neither manicured nor curated. It is a living, breathing and thriving ecosystem of diverse crops—a place for people to learn about food origins. As a non-profit, it depends solely on the blood, tears and sweat of volunteers. It also serves the underprivileged. To make a donation, please visit their Facebook page.
Excerpt:
For years, eight acres of green space sat unused amid dense suburban Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. The land belonging to the Tenaga Nasional Berhad (Malaysia’s main power company) was meant to transmit electricity and hence, was unsuitable for built projects. Sensing potential for permaculture, a group of volunteers led by landscape architect Ng Sek San lobbied to optimise the reserve as a garden that serves as a non-discriminative space for food cultivation and education.“I believe that if you do the right thing and work the land sympathetically, it will take care of you,” says Ng, who is a firm believer that small acts can lead to big changes.
The Future Of A City’s Past
Publication: By Design: Reframing What Design Is
Profile piece on architectural conservationist Ho Weng Hin of Studio Lapis. We visited Ho’s studio to learn about his practice and advocacy for restoration over demolition. The piece appeared in By Design: Reframing What Design Is—a publication edited by In Plain Words for Singapore Design Week 2019.
Excerpt
Memories exist in the deep realms of our minds but they also take shape in physical forms. A family heirloom can evoke recollection and reflection. On an urban scale, historical buildings physically embody a city’s past by documenting stories of bygone eras.Keeping old buildings was not always about standing in the way of Singapore’s economic progress and future development. “We are not for keeping something for the sake of maintaining the status quo. Inevitably, change must come as a different generation of users have different needs,” he says.
Yet, the complete elimination of the old is not the only way to achieve growth. If anything, it is the least creative. Conservation design is often about finding alternative solutions and harnessing new technologies to give an old building a new lease of life.”
Other Work
Another Land, ongoing
Agency: Black
Editorial work for Another Land, a self-care brand that creates high-quality and sustainable products made in Taiwan. (View here)
Restless
Writing work commissioned by branding and design studio Restless.
1) Messaging and copywriting for Imbue
2) Copywriting for Tela
3) Copywriting for That Wine Is Mine
Joanna Dong
joannadong.com
Profile write-up for the wonderful singer and person, Joanna Dong. Till today, I carry with me parts of our conversation (which took place over two hours in a Zoom interview).
Singapore: Inside Out Tokyo, 2017
Agency: in the wild
"Singapore: Inside Out is an international and experiential showcase that recognises Singapore's top creative talents from a spectrum of disciplines, and serves as a platform for multi-disciplinary and cross-national collaboration. I worked on the exhibition copy for the 2017 Tokyo edition, titled HyperCity, which features multidisciplinary Singaporean and Japanese artists in dialogue, exploring various cultural phenomena, in search of what it means to live in a metropolitan city. (Read more)
National Arts Council, 2016 – 2017
Agency: Black
Copywriting for Annual Report:
2015 / 2016
2016 / 2017
The Lo & Behold Group Website, 2016
Client: The Lo & Behold Group
Moderator for the Talk Show at Singapore Design Festival, 2016
Client: Singapore Furniture Industries Council
1) The Designer and the Maker (Ewins x Studio Architetto Egidio Panzera)
2) Creative Collaboration – The New Medium? (UNIQLO x Machineast x Roots)
3) Printed Matter – Past, Present and Future (Antalis x Somewhere Else)
4) Outside the Classroom – Empowering The Next Generation (University of South Australia x Admira x NAFA)
Brand Guide: Singapore Edition, 2015
Agency: Foreign Policy Design Group