Indies @ Little India by Loh Ying Ying
SYNOPSIS Inspired by the phenomena of clustering trades and cultures in Little India, my project is a ground-up Indian Arts centre that seeks to inject a new cultural attractor into the fabric of Little India. The project transforms old and underutilized shophouses, and breathes life to the present urban scape, and to the iconic shophouse, which is the main architectural typology representative of Little India. THE SITE Through on-site investigation, the gradual gentrification of Little India was identified, where stores and cafes catered to tourists and the middle class are slowly replacing traditional Indian trades. Streets such as Dunlop and Madras Street are dominated by boutique hotels, shops, cafes and western pubs. Ironically, such a decline of local culture and tradition is occurring within historic shophouses. Despite the government’s conservation of the architectural shell of shophouses, the soul and intangible aspects of Little India is slowly fading. This thus forms the basis of my intervention for a new cultural and arts node, created by readapting existing shophouses. The heart of Little India, its cultural and religious core, lies along Serangoon Road, where many notable Hindu temples are situated. It is along this core axis, where Indian festivities such as Deepavali celebrations are mainly held, and where the Little Indian Heritage Centre was eventually constructed. My chosen site, situated between Upper Weld Road and Dickson Road, was identified to be located strategically near Little India’s cultural core and near the gentrified area. Micro-site analysis has also revealed the site (an existing carpark facing the back of a row of shophouse) is underutilized, has poor street spatial experience, and lack attractors. Hence, the site is suitable for my intervention which would also activate the urban scape. Four vacant shophouses were identified, in which they will be readapted through a series of transformations to become the new Indian Arts and cultural center.
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PROGRAMME The intention of this project is to allow visitors to have an authentic appreciation of Indian cultural arts, from the crafting process to its consumption in a looped circulation, where artists and visitors can meet and mingle. To achieve this, the programmes and spaces were carefully zoned and organized. Retail is placed on the ground floor, as the first thing visitors experience on both entrances. On the shophouse end, there is a supplies shop that caters to both visitors and artists alike. Mirrored to the extension side, there are craft stores selling finished crafts. Next, visitors move through the F&B. Through the series of interconnected courtyards, one can move from the lower floor to the upper storey, and from the shophouse to the extension and vice-versa. The spaces and programmes are all organized around the courtyards, while circulation is through and around the courtyards, in a loop. Art Galleries are also a connection that connect the artist studios to the public spaces. Foldable doors and movable walls were utilized to achieve a flexible and open collaborative work space. Studios also are organized to be parallel to each other to offer visual connection. For instance, from the painting studio one can see the dancers in the dance studio, which can serve as an inspiration for their art making. Studio-related supporting programmes such as artist in residences, artist lounge, bathrooms and art library are also positioned around the studio spaces. 7 TRANSFORMATIONS TO SHOPHOUSE 1. Linear to looped circulation, by creating connections between the 4 shophouses. By creating large corridors through the party walls, lining them with arcades, and a bridge that runs across the empty courtyard, the newly created horizontal axis is emphasized. 2. Aggregate shophouse lightwells into large internal courtyard, transforming the typology of a shophouse into a courtyard house 3. Enlarging and mirroring the left-hand side existing shophouses’ linear stairwell into two strips of peel-away (on the left: stair well, on the right: light well). 4. Appropriating the existing façade elements from the arch window, and circular ventilation holes, into circular windows and arches throughout the new design. 5. Using brick infill of shophouse as structural load bearing walls in the extension 6. Dividing into half, the shophouse’s existing pitched roof form to create the new roof on the extension 7. Extending the shophouse by doubling its footprint and turning what should be the back of the shophouse into the front. This is further highlighted by mirroring 5-footwalkway.
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FN/RG Studio, Year 2018, Fiona Nixon Tan & Razvan Ghilic-Micu Department of Architecture School of Design and Environment