A Prayer in Shadows
With the establishment of the Belt-and-Road initiative by China, connectivity and trade routes from China and South East Asia will be more established and better connected.
This allows the sphere of modernisation to increase it’s reach to the region’s developing nations. Typically, this is recognised as a great thing however, for cities like Luang Prabang, a UNESCO heritage site that is revered for its ancient beauty, the onslaught of modernisation would be a threat to its ancient way of life.
Luang Prabang received it’s UNESCO title because it has remained unchanged in its architecture, heritage and culture, seemingly trapped in time since the past. The thesis thus seeks to explore how architecture can intervene and bridge the gap of the past and modernity, without losing its ancient beauty and slow pace of life as modernisation is slowly introduced into the region.
During dusk, an ephemeral phenomenon occurs in Luang Prabang. The town is slowly enveloped in darkness as it begins its transformation into a “1 street” city.
The glow from the night market’s light is unique because it is absorbed by the surrounding darkness entirely, unable to be reflected by the surrounding buildings, seemingly lost in the void. This unique lighting quality is due to the city’s heritage rule which prevents the use of modern bright lights.
In Jun’ichiro’s book “In praise of shadows”, he mentions about how as orients we have come to live with darkenss, even finding beauty amidst shadows. He talks about how there is beauty to be found in dark laquer bowls that come alive not in bright lights but in dark environments, when it reflects the soft candle glow in restaurents.
Understanding that such a unique quality of light might be extinguished if modernity were allowed to establish itself entirely in the city, the project seeks to intervene and create a bridge that connets heritage and modernity, without trampling on the existing culture.
Understanding that the predominent religion of Laos is Buddhism, the intervention seeks to create a retreat of sorts, hinging on the cultural value and teachings which the monks actively share with visitors to form the main programme. The existing temples, or “Wats” would serve as the foundation which new retreat centers would be built on so that visitors may live on site and partake in temple teachings.
The retreat aims to create a platform where modern arts can cross pollinate with traditional Buddhist art, eventually forming the possibility of hybrid arts. The retreat thus creates programme spaces like arts. music and meditative class spaces for visitors to learn from the monks, while simultaneously sharing worldly knowledge with the monks.
The project explores a future where rising sea levels due to global warming threatens the way of life for islandic nations like Singapore. It postulates a future where Singapore adapts to living with water, when low laying areas like the East Coast region is flooded. The main theme revolves around sustainable food systems in an aid to reduce the country’s carbon footprint.
By becoming more self reliant, the country is able to ensure food security. The intervention proposes a scenario where the locals farm and care for their pork supply within their commercial mall. By locating the pigs in such close proximity to the main flow of traffic, the aim is to foster a relationship between men and pig, such as one would have with the community cat that lives in the void deck.
Through frequent interaction and understanding how pigs live, the project aims to remind men to only consume what is enough, as more pigs that the community raises has to be slaughtered to fulfil the greed of humanity.
The pigs are allowed to roam freely around the commercial grounds. The sight of free roam pigs removes the notion of farmed meat as locals can freely observe the pig’s way of life from the decks.
Aside from meat, the pigs also provide in other ways like manure and composting. Biodigesters make use of the manure to create methane as an energy source while compost are used as fertilizers for the surrounding flaura.
The pig’s pans are fitted around the peripheral, where rows of fresh flowers are planted along the boardwalks. These helps to counter any foul smell and also brightens up the surrounding sight.
1st Storey Plan
Strategically located at the apex of the island, the commercial building is sandwich between the residential area. The mall also supplies the neighbouring plots with their supplies, shipping items out to the respective island’s delivery points.
“And then he looked from pig to pork, and from to say which
Site Section
Interior Render
from pork to pig; but already it was impossible was which.”
With the decommision of Pasir Panjang Power Station, the idea of recovering what was lost is seen as a poetic reunion, a merger between what was lost and what the revitalization could bring for the future.
The Sierra was conceived as an architectural expression that sought to recover the part of Labrador Hill that was removed in 1953 and subsequently in 1978 for the creation of Power station A and B. The removal of natural land is seen as a man made notion and the idea of replacing what was once lost can also be perceived as an artificial action, resulting in a paradoxical cycle. This paradox helped to conceive a massing that takes on a mountainous form, something that is rather different and contrasting against Labrador Hill although similar notions echo.
In conjunction with the future development of the Greater Southern Waterfront, the building seeks to host an array of events that are aimed at creating a better environment for the new population. Due to a heightened awareness in heathcare, a bulk of today’s young adults are actively participating in some form of exercise or sport. This rising trend spurred the creation of sports hub that caters to the various sporting needs that the southern district would need.
The architectural intervention houses retail outlets on the first 3 floors, boasting a wide variety of entertainment centres for the future population that inhabit the Greater Southern Waterfront district. The main programmes begins from the 4th floor onwards. Housed within are an assortment of courts for various sports like badmintion, tennis, basket ball and volley ball. Avid runners need not worry about the elements of nature from disrupting their runs as a 470m loop track circles the entire floor. The various courts are scattered around from the 4th to 9th floor and accompanying the sport arenas on each level are a multitude of small cafes and eateries that will aid in refuelling the users for a better game.
Reflecting on the heritage of the site, the aim of the design was to create what was once there hence the massing began by creating a massing that resembled the original hill.
The massing explored variations that best expressed the contours of a mount when viewed from all sides.
The inital form was created by extruding several cross section planes. It is further massaged by slanting them at an angle so that the massing will always be viewed as 3 dimensional face instead of a flat plane. This helped to mimic the contours of an actual hill, creating a resemblance to the remaining portion of the mount that remains on the right side of the power station.
Following the common typology as most malls, the first 3 floors are dedicated to the retail section. By adopting individual stall units, tenents can opt for short term leases or long term rental, even potentially taking over multiple units to expand their frontage.
Moving to the upper floors, the interior space is converted into sporting arenas like baseket ball and badminton courts. As the floor plan is open, the space flows freely, blending from one space to another seamlessly.
Returning to the original idea of recreating a mount, the form takes inspiration from chinese paintings of mountains, where one is able to appreciate the layering of the landscape.
The facated pieces of the roof emerges from the ground, forming the staggering planes of green roofing that emulate the endulating greenery of actual mountain-scapes. The manicured “mountain-scape” allows users to appreciate the man-made mountain from both external and internal spaces.
Exterior Render
Interior Render
112 Jalan Langgar was a small renovation project for a family’s kitchen cabinetary in 2020
Eco Sanctuary Tower was a full renovation with built in works for the entire unit.
32 Jalan Liman Manis was a full renovation for the family, with built in cabinets for the kitchen and rooms, as well as special built works like a mini theatre
Woodsquare was a design proposal for a restraunt bar layout and design for the Tipsy company. The shop layout consisted of 2 seperate facing units, with the bigger unit having the restaurant seating.
