SINGAPORE A CITY OF GROWTH
ARC 3113 TALES OF THREE CITIIES PROJECT 2A BY ALEXIS OH KENG YEE (0312501) Photos used are by Luca Sartoni Illustrations are author’s own
FOREWORD
Singapore is an island country famed for its efficiency and status as one of the top commercial hubs in the world. There is little doubt that the urban planning in Singapore is one of the best executed in the world, however, there is a discourse on whether this success is mirrored in their urban design. Urban design is about making connections between people and places, of movement inside and around the urban form, of the connection between the natural and built environment. Urban design, is about place making.
In the following pages, the themes of urban design will be probed with photos and sketches. The photos do not belong solely to any one theme but rather bounce back and forth. The themes explored range from morphology to wayfinding, from scale to boundaries, from order to change and continuity. The photos are shown in black and white to minimize the noise and to focus on the essence of the street instead of the vibrancy of the colours.
MORPHOLOGY FORM CHANGES FUNCTION The presence of an ad-hoc flea market changes the urban landscape not only in form but in function. The altered circulation in turn affects the street boundaries, concentrating movement along the stalls instead of through it. The parallel movement creates traffic alongside the stalls, altering the way the shopfronts are perceived. The shops in turn provide shade to the temporary walkways, creating an in-between space that is filled with character and activity.
MORPHOLOGY FUNCTION CHANGES FORM Traditionally, five-foot walkways were intended as pedestrian walkways that were parallel to the street. However, over the years the need for more space drove the shop owners to utilize the five-foot ways in various ways. In both photos, we see the activities of the shop being pushed out onto the walkway. While this narrows the walkway, it does not completely hinder movement. The interesting thing is how the utilization of a walkway changes the form of the building. With the activities pushed outwards, there is more interaction between the pedestrian and the shop.
LEGIBILITY
&
WAYFINDING
STREET SIGNAGES, THEIR CHARACTER AND MEANING While street signs typically denote traffic signages, the street signs in Singapore extend to the shop signages as well as facades. These shop signages in their various shapes and colour are significant in the identity of the street. For most people, this ‘identity’ serves as a landmark when trying to navigate the city. It is hard to mistake Chinatown for Little India, regardless of what part of the world you are in. They are a means of wayfinding.
LEGIBILITY & WAYFINDING STREET SIGNAGES AND ESTABLISHED PATHWAYS Singapore as a whole is incredibly organized and well planned. There are clear demarcations of where to turn, where to walk and even where to take the first step. While this might be overwhelming for some, it is this vigorous order that gives the city it’s identity as an efficient and clean place.
LEGIBILITY & WAYFINDING WAYFINDING BY GUIDED MOVEMENT AND MEMORY Singapore places a heavy emphasis on verticality as the lack of land parcels forces them to build upwards instead of across. This restriction has resulted in a surreal experience when moving around the buildings. The effects of vertical transportations in buildings are further emphasized by textured walls and manipulation of light and shade. These are significant in the way a user remembers a city. The sudden changes in texture, light, smells, all these help lock the image of the place into the memory.
PERMEABILITY & BOUNDARIES MOVEMENT AND HUMAN BEHAVIOUR The street edge, pedestrian pathway and shopfront are all boundaries to each other and are interrupted only by the openings along the shophouses. This promotes permeability instead of maintaining a purely parallel movement. The sketch is of a row of shopfronts in Singapore with the blacked out areas denoting openings. People move along the shops, in and out of them and sometimes even through them. With permeable buildings, users create their own pathways.
PERMEABILITY & BOUNDARIES HUMAN BEHAVIOUR AROUND OPENINGS AND EDGES In some cases, permeability not only generates movement but also positive dwelling spots. As seen in both photographs, people (from this part of the world) generally linger in the shade and corners. Urban behaviour studies show that people do not gather in the middle of a large open space, rather prefer to hover at corners, nooks and edges.
PERMEABILITY & BOUNDARIES UNDERSTANDING AND APPLYING Urban studies have shown that people will sit on any surface as long as it is possible. The shopfront has included a raised curb that serves as a resting point for pedestrians. The presence of this unconventional seating has changed the boundaries of the space, pushing the street further back away from the shops. This creates an unintentional buffer space between the shops and the streets.
HUMAN SCALE & PROPORTION BIO-MIMICRY, A LESSON FROM NATURE In a city where the architecture generally towers over the people, the need to create a feeling of ease and wellbeing is paramount. While these buildings are generally massive compared to the human size, in some sense they mimic the scale of nature of which there are no bounds. The facade structure of ION Orchard resembles tree trunks while it’s glass canopy is reminiscent of the dense foliage in the tropical rainforest of South-East Asia.
HUMAN SCALE & PROPORTION HUMANIZING SCALE AND PROPORTION The urban scene in Singapore utilizes horizontality to emphasize scale. While the buildings tower over the average Singaporean, the “invisible� horizontal lines generally act as a break line to indicate one storey and is present in almost all structures regardless of form. Even the pillar structure of ION Orchard has a change in material to indirectly indicate this horizontality.
HUMAN SCALE & PROPORTION THE ART OF LAYERING WITH SCALE A cityscape is complex, it is the result of layers upon layers of facades, structures and in-between spaces. To avoid overwhelming the visual senses of pedestrian with verticality, layers of horizontal elements as well as solid structures are included to break the monotony. The layering creates depth and transcends the space into a three-dimensional place.
ORDER & INCIDENT BALANCING CONSISTENCY AND VARIETY IN THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT There is always a struggle in cities like Singapore where the rapid growth results in the displacement of heritage buildings. However, Singapore has placed equal importance between conservation and development, resulting in refurbished old shophouses sitting alongside modern urban infills. The consistency of the street is maintained by the uniformed skyline and street leveling.
ORDER & INCIDENT UNIFYING DIFFERENT FORMS One of the great success of a city scape is the unification of the skyline. The different buildings, each with its own unique form blends together seamlessly, offering an overall picture of the city of Singapore at a glance. One of the unexpected benefits of having a vertical city is the compactness of everything, it is rare that a city’s character can be captured in one photograph. It is worth noting that the unification of forms applies to both the built as well as the natural environment.
ORDER & INCIDENT HARMONY IN CONTRAST The growth of a city is very rarely uniformed. It happens in spurts and in different concentrations. There will always be parts of a city’s anatomy that are suspended in time, parts that haven’t quite caught up to the rapid succession of growth. The photo on the left shows a typical backalley in Singapore. As is the nature of a vertical city, parts of the cityscape can always be seen in the backdrop. While this image is contrasting in nature, there is a certain peace, as though the street is curating a journey from one place to another.
CONTINUITY & CHANGE RESPECT FOR HERITAGE AND SUPPORT FOR CONTEMPORARY CULTURE Marina Bay Sands claims to be a garden city, a global business hubs catered for the elite group of the world. Singapore has created a city in itself with Marina Bay Sands, a city that boasts bold contemporary forms and wide promenades. It is a far cry from the modular and colourful shopfronts from days of old. However, Singapore has not forsakened heritage for modernity, rather, created identities for different parts of the city.
CONTINUITY & CHANGE MAINTAINING THE ESSENCE OF BEFORE Bold forms and organic facades might be the new trend but the street has maintained its characteristics from the olden days. Large openings that promote porosity are reminiscent of the rhythmic openings of shophouses seen in the older parts of the city.
CONTINUITY & CHANGE MOVING TOWARDS A NEW ERA It is worth noting that while Singapore is embracing a new era, one of modernity and contemporary forms, the country is moving in a more human oriented direction. Wide promenades and walkways bring the people closer to nature and promote the idea of a walkable city. This is an example of change that is beneficial, it is a change for the people.
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