Background
The Anglo-Chinese School at Cairnhill (1924-1928) also known as the Chinese Methodist School, was a school building commissioned by the American Methodist Mission in Singapore out of necessity to accommodate an ever-increasing enrolment of pupils. Designed by Frank Wilmin Brewer of Swan & Maclaren, the scheme proposed a three-storey pavilion housing the entrance and main hall, with classrooms, staff lounges and offices directly behind in a 2-storey complex arranged around a central courtyard space. The $114,000 project was funded in part by the government, with the remainder being funded by private subscriptions; notably, it was Tan Kah Kee, a Chinese businessman and influential educational philanthropist who funded a significant portion of that amount1
Research question
Amidst the background of the British administration of Colonial Singapore, the AngloChinese School at Cairnhill amongst a few others, juxtapose the obnoxious tendencies of eurocentricmonumentalarchitecture, suchastheOldSupremeCourt. Architecture, moreoftenthan not, has a motive. In the politically charged climate of Singapore, akin to other colonial states, architectural form is utilised as a physical manifestation of the colonial doctrine as a visual display of power, forming a sphere of influence of a ‘colonial realm’. So why did the architecture of buildings such as the Anglo-Chinese School at Cairnhill exist as an oddity to the dominant ideology of the elite architectural form in the colonial state?
Colonialism
To answer this question, one must understand the colonial construct: in architecture and in society – “no single ideology or ‘style’ undergirded the architecture of the British empire2” . As the British empire sought to spread itsinfluence, the translation of its identity was carefully considered. Thearchitecture of theBritishcoloniesisnot asimple duplicateof Britain, having to account for climactic considerations and reinforce the relationship between the
1 Davison, Julian. Swan & Maclaren: A Story of Singapore Architecture. ORO Editions and National Archives of Singapore, 2020.
2 Preeti Chopra, “South and South East Asia,” ed. G. A. Bremner, Architecture and Urbanism in the British Empire, June 2016, pp. 278-317, https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198713326.003.0009.
colonisers and the colonised; to impress, display political presence, or symbiosis – striking a balance between responding and ruling in urban space. The architecture of the British Empire is inexplicably intertwined with the indigenous population, commissioning them to design and construct, and ultimately patronise and use. Architecture provides a contact zone in which transculturation is physically evident. Examples in South and Southeast Asia exhibit two distinct approaches in Imperial style and architectural insertion
To examine these typologies, the public buildings of Malayan States and Singapore are employed to present the divergent paths in reacting to the social climate This causation can be rooted in the purpose and function of these imperial colonies: Malay states were harvested for their abundant resources Mining and agriculture demanded a large workforce of immigrant Chinese, Malay, and Indian labourers to work in discrete sectors of the economy – architecture is used to weave these distinct groups into the colonial loom, connecting the communities together. Hence, the public architecture of Malaya adopted an Indo-Saracenic3 modality (first seen in modern states of British India) to unite the immigrant-dominant workforce with the colonial regime, boosting economic development.
Singapore, on the other hand, operated in a drastically different due to its primary purpose. In contrast to Malaya, Singapore lacked natural resources, but its geographical location enabled its use as a trade port and the gateway to the rest of east Asia. An 1822 city proposal by Sir Stanford Raffles proposed a central European town housing government and administrative buildings, isolating different ethnic communities in clusters away from the central district. The civic district adopted the enduring purity of European classical architecture4 (also evident in British Hong Kong) housing buildings such as Victoria Theatre and Memorial Hall, Old Supreme Court Building, and the Municipal Court building
anchoring Singapore as an Imperial stronghold.
The people of colonial society, too, are an assemblage of different entities; even among the colonisers, they are not monolithic – some may represent the church, some may represent the state. Each entity has different tendencies and doctrines. While the state administration has
3 Preeti Chopra, “South and South East Asia,” ed. G. A. Bremner, Architecture and Urbanism in the British Empire, June 2016, pp. 278-317, https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198713326.003.0009.\
4 Preeti Chopra, “South and South East Asia,” ed. G. A. Bremner, Architecture and Urbanism in the British Empire, June 2016, pp. 278-317, https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198713326.003.0009.
a monopoly over urban forms, other architecture originating from these organisations may emerge out of the urban fabric. The genesis of the Anglo-Chinese School in 1886 came out of the necessity to provide education when the government neglected this sector of development, leaving the responsibility to foreign missionaries 5 . The American Methodist Mission represented the church, commissioning the Anglo-Chinese School in Cairnhill for the secondary school after its current location at Amoy street was incapable of facilitating the high traffic of pupils.
Chinese Renaissance?
The institution is adorned with distinct Chinese motifs, bearing striking visuals that resemble traditional forms such as the swept eaves of the roofs and large brackets under the eaves that imitate dougong typology, referencing the architectural style of Singapore’s ethnic southern Chinese population. Described by local press as “Semi-Chinese6”, the so-called “Chinese Renaissance style” is a reconciliation of modern building techniques and stylistic idioms of western and oriental influences respectively; this was the second outing in which Swan & Maclaren pursued this style (the first being Denis Santry’s Chinese Methodist Church in Telok Ayer commissioned by the same organisation), but the style originates from mainland China during the first half of the 20th century
When discussing the identity of the architectural style of ACS Cairnhill, the term “Chinese Renaissance” which is often synonymously associated with the building is arguably a misused terminology. Renaissance implies that there is a revival or renewal of classical models, but this new style makes no attempt at reviving the Chinese grand tradition, instead the ornamentations that adorn the buildings we associate with this style are merely representations of Chinese traditional form. Instead, the style is more akin to the Beaux-Arts architectural tradition, characterised by classical facades layered with rich ornamentation, “All of this contributed to a style of architecture that was theatre-like in its artificiality, yet rare theatrical: its academically determined composition of ornament and sculpture verged on a
5 Davison, Julian. Swan & Maclaren: A Story of Singapore Architecture. ORO Editions and National Archives of Singapore, 2020. 6 “ANGLO-CHINESE SCHOOL.” The Straits Times. November 16, 1928.concept of architecture as image7”. The architectural style observed in ACS Cairnhill and other architecture of this style seemingly articulate the “Chinese Beaux-Arts” 8 building typology The spread of western ideologies in republic China came during the end of the Qing dynasty; European and American missionaries made conscious efforts to visually indigenise and dewesternise their architectural forms, seeking to educate and convert the Chinese population9 . A total of 17 colleges were opened, paving the way for China’s modern education and modern architecture10 .
Henry K. Murphy
Henry Killiam Murphy was an American architect recognised for his extensive contributions to the Beaux-Arts tradition and proliferation of western architecture in Modern China known for designing several educational campuses in eastern cities such as the Ginling College in Nanjing 11 , andShanghai College: the largest missionary college in China12. In1914 hevisitedthearchitectural marvel of theForbiddenCity. Inspired, headvocated for hisChinese clients and colleagues to draw inspiration from oriental tradition and not place the western architecture intervention on a pedestal13 .
Murphy’s stint in China saw him participate in the planning of 14 universities over two decades. Over thisperiod, heincreased his knowledge of grandChinese tradition, allowing him to be so effective in his design of western colleges. Murphy understood Chinese architecture
7 “Beaux-Arts Architecture.” Anna, December 2, 2016. https://anastasiia235.wordpress.com/2016/12/01/beaux-arts-architecture/.
8 Stephen H Whiteman et al., eds., Ambitious Alignments: New Histories of Southeast Asian Art, 1945-1990(Power Publications : 2018), p.141-p.146.
9 Cody, Jeffrey W. “Striking a Harmonious Chord: Foreign Missionaries and Chinese-Style Buildings, 19111949.” Open Access Kent State (OAKS), December 1, 1996.
10 Yan Hong, “Shanghai College: An Architectural History of the Campus Designed by Henry K. Murphy,” Frontiers of Architectural Research 5, no. 4 (2016): pp. 466-476, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foar.2016.07.002.
11 Cody, Jeffrey W. “Striking a Harmonious Chord: Foreign Missionaries and Chinese-Style Buildings, 19111949.” Open Access Kent State (OAKS), December 1, 1996.
12 Yan Hong, “Shanghai College: An Architectural History of the Campus Designed by Henry K. Murphy,” Frontiers of Architectural Research 5, no. 4 (2016): pp. 466-476, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foar.2016.07.002.
13 Cody, Jeffrey W. Building in China: Henry K. Murphy's "Adaptive Architecture," 1914-1935. Sha Tin, N.T, Hong Kong : Chinese University Press, 2001.
in a radical oversimplification of its heritage into 5 tangible attributes: (1) orderliness of arrangement; (2) frankness of construction; (3) massive masonry base; (4) curving, up-turned roofs; and (5) gorgeous colour14. This formula to “adaptive architecture” repackaged western engineering and rational design in Chinese traditional styles, facilitating a “bidirectional flow of Chinese and Western architectural culture15”. This form was well-received and quickly adopted due to a perceived nationalistic spirit, the style was especially utilised in educational complexes due to its symbolic “deference to Chinese history and adherence to scientific progress”16 . His pioneering work paved the way for the first generation of Chinese architects through apprenticeship or influence, allowing them to break through tradition and challenge convention.
Anglo-Chinese
Transculturation describes the phenomena of converging cultures. As defined by Merriam-Webster: “a process of cultural transformation marked by the influx of new cultural elements and the loss or alteration of existing ones17” There are two main modes of design when defining transculturation in Chinese architecture during this period that authors Soon18 and Cody19 synonymously agreeupon atranslation of Chineseto western or westernto Chinese presents a dilemma of striking a balance; between a western building adopting design motifs that are of Chinese origin or taking a design form that is Chinese and incorporating modern western building technologies and material. One ponders if architecture is truly deserving of the name ‘Chinese’ – there is so much more to Chinese architecture than its tangible qualities; and if it is indeed an equal balance of two cultures – in what was described as a bidirectional
14 Yan Hong, “Shanghai College: An Architectural History of the Campus Designed by Henry K. Murphy,” Frontiers of Architectural Research 5, no. 4 (2016): pp. 466-476, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foar.2016.07.002.
15 Yan Hong, “Shanghai College: An Architectural History of the Campus Designed by Henry K. Murphy,” Frontiers of Architectural Research 5, no. 4 (2016): pp. 466-476, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foar.2016.07.002.
16 Cody, Jeffrey W. “Striking a Harmonious Chord: Foreign Missionaries and Chinese-Style Buildings, 19111949.” Open Access Kent State (OAKS), December 1, 1996.
17 “Transculturation Definition & Meaning,” Merriam-Webster (Merriam-Webster), accessed November 18, 2022, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/transculturation.
18 Stephen H Whiteman et al., eds., Ambitious Alignments: New Histories of Southeast Asian Art, 19451990(Power Publications : 2018), p.141-p.146.
19 Cody, Jeffrey W. “Striking a Harmonious Chord: Foreign Missionaries and Chinese-Style Buildings, 19111949.” Open Access Kent State (OAKS), December 1, 1996.
flow of culture of Henry K. Murphy’s adaptive architectural considerations, one cultural force clearly takes precedence and commands the majority of its influence over the other. Are the traditional Chinese sensitivities being overly westernised and lost in the pursuit of modernisation?
The Arts and Crafts movement and Frank Wilmin Brewer
Frank Wilmin Brewer (1886-1971) was the first university-trained architect to practice in Singapore20, graduating from King’s College. Hailing from a lineage of architects (hisfather and grandfather were both architects). Brewer joined Swan and Maclaren in 1922, quickly gaining reputability for his residential design; his affiliation with the English Art Workers’ Guild gave him a strong foundation and understanding of the Arts and Crafts movement – a biproduct of post-industrial revolution England, it was a critiqueon the overly-mechanised forms, the disenchanted processes of the industrial machine, instead seeking to return to a more fulfilled, utility of design21 - promoting structural “authenticity” and the use of locally sourced materials.
Over his 8-year stint at Swan and Maclaren, Brewer conceptualised several bungalows for British expatriates – reflecting ‘home’ with his contemporary use of the distinct aesthetic of the British Arts and Crafts movement. Buttress walls, half-timbered gables, unornamented external elevations rendered in roughcast cement and a dramatic expanse of hipped roofs are all defining form and material characteristics of C.F.A. Voysey – a pioneer of the movement who had asignificant stylistic influence of Brewer’s work, earning him thenickname “Tropical Voysey22”.
The attributes of Brewer’s architectural arsenal thatfeaturein projects such as hishouse for E.A. Barbour at DalveyEstate are evident. ABrewer Signature – interior: a straightforward
20 Davison, Julian. Swan & Maclaren: A Story of Singapore Architecture. ORO Editions and National Archives of Singapore, 2020.
21“Arts and Crafts Movement,” Encyclopædia Britannica (Encyclopædia Britannica, inc.), accessed November 18, 2022, https://www.britannica.com/art/Arts-and-Crafts-movement.
22 Davison, Julian. Swan & Maclaren: A Story of Singapore Architecture. ORO Editions and National Archives of Singapore, 2020.
symmetrical plan, with a ground floor-cum-stair hall, ground floor lounges flanked by “twoup, two down” dining room and billiard rooms, twin bedrooms arranged one level up in the same symmetrical fashion; exterior: a symmetrical front elevation, flared eaves, buttressed walls, and unrendered lower floor contrasting with plasterwork above. The adaptation to the tropical climate: steeply pitched canopy roofs with large eaves, running the perimeter of the ground floor help to cool air and omit solar radiation on walls– seen in Brewer’s 1923 house for the Anglican Bishop of Singapore23 – this experimental roof morphology was adopted in later Swan and Maclaren projects, notably for schools.
Hecontinuedto incorporatetheArtsandCraftsmovement in hisdomesticcommissions, however the same cannot be said for his commercial projects – after his departure from Swan and Maclaren, he deviated from the Arts and Crafts movement that was synonymous with his name towards an increasingly modernist approach, evident in his design of the Cathay Cinema in 193724
23 Jason Ng, “Frank Wilmin Brewer (1886 - 1971),” Docomomo Singapore (Docomomo Singapore, August 17, 2021), https://www.docomomo.sg/people-and-organisations/frank-wilmin-brewer.
24 Jason Ng, “Frank Wilmin Brewer (1886 - 1971),” Docomomo Singapore (Docomomo Singapore, August 17, 2021), https://www.docomomo.sg/people-and-organisations/frank-wilmin-brewer.
Examination
In interiority and exteriority, the morphology ACS Cairnhill building bears a striking resemblance to the hallmarks of Brewer’s Arts and Crafts influence. Brewer’s formula is adapted from home to institution, preserving the symmetry in plan and front elevation. The identical layout of spaces in plan: entrance hall-cum-stairs, leading to an augmentation of the “two-up, two down” formula seen in Brewer’s residential commissions; classrooms and staff lounges in place of bedrooms, dining, and billiard rooms. Brewer’s design utilised local materials such as the green glazed Chinese air bricks, serving both as function and ornamentation. The canopy roof seen in the Bishop residence is seen again in the three-tiered roof, fulfilling the same function, however, this time embellished with Chinese eclecticism. The increased length and breadth of the building opens a central atrium space, further augmenting the cooling efficiency of the design. The Rusticated surfaces of the columns that line the atrium are octagonal and specifically “thin Chinese bricks”25 (unrendered and exposed which contrasts with the plastered surfaces of the rest of the school).
Although the materiality of the building also reflects Brewer’s Arts and Crafts architectural style, utilising the available resources at hand – reflecting a nation undergoing colonial industrialisation and towards westernisation The attempt at incorporating Chinese characteristics seem poorly considered both in materiality and purpose though, contradicting the structural “authenticity” – a defining principle of the movement Chinese columns are usually of woodorgranite,cappedat thebaseandnot thetop;thelargebracketsthatsupposedly supported the entrance block emulate the dougong typology (which would usually be used to support the swept roofs, made of timber and free to shift around); the ones observed in the building are cast to the main building structure in concrete, spuriously “supporting” the second floor instead of supporting the roof in a delicate lattice of a timber structure
Conclusion
As the layers of architectural clout of ACS Cairnhill are uncovered, we begin to see that it has a legitimate place in Singapore’s colonial fabric, existing as much as any other elite,
25 Davison, Julian. Swan & Maclaren: A Story of Singapore Architecture. ORO Editions and National Archives of Singapore, 2020.monumental European classical architectural form in the imperial state. The nature of any society invites distinct forms to physically manifest in the urban landscape, responding to the cultural forces that shape its architecture. Another question then begs to be asked: if such a building with its distinctive trademarks exists as the standard in colonial society, then is such a building actually an architectural oddity?
Throughout the essay, the Anglo-Chinese school at Cairnhill wears many hats and is labelled with manynames. The sociocultural lineages that influencethe building’s morphology originate from the Chinese eclectic style, Chinese Renaissance, western missionary architecture in China, Chinese Beaux-Arts, and Arts and Crafts movement concurrently; to tag the building to a single influence conclusively would prove to be rather difficult. The transcultural disposition of colonial expansion contextualises the rather chameleon-like nature of ACS Cairnhill. At the confluence of it all, it adopts from fragments to form a Frankenstein’s monster of quasi-cultures that have culminated into a single institutional building Putting everything into context, the Anglo-Chinese western-Chinese cultural translations of the building’s morphology become ever-apparent. Fulfilling the same function as the western missionaries in China, the building adopts an architectural style colloquially recognised as the Chinese Renaissance. As this term has been conclusively discredited, what its architectural style can be understood as is a culmination of the Chinese Beaux-Arts of Murphy’s adaptive architecture that bears the ornamentation that give architecture a recognisable Chinese-ness to it, assimilating with Brewer’s competency in the Arts and Crafts movement that is applied in the material translation. It is, however, an inauthentic, misrepresentation of true Chinese architecture. The building that sits on top of Cairnhill is of a western tropical modern typology that bears embellishments of Chinese tradition, paying homage to the cultural heritage whilst forging a vernacular for a modern Singapore.
[2512 words]
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Building Information
Anglo-Chinese School at Cairnhill a.k.a. Chinese Methodist School
Architect: Frank Brewer of Swan & Maclaren
Built: 1924-1928
Location: 126 Cairnhill Road
Status: Extant
“One Map.gov.sg.” Singapore historical map 1954. Accessed September 20, 2022. https://www.onemap.gov.sg/hm/.
Fig 1. Section 71 of the 1954 historical map of Singapore. The Anglo-Chinese School at Cairnhill is demarcated in red, occupied by the Teachers Training College in 1954.
Brewer, Frank. Anglo-Chinese School, Cairnhill, Frank Brewer, 1924. Photograph. The Long and Winding Road. Singapore, February 21, 2018. National Archives of Singapore.
https://thelongnwindingroad.wordpress.com/2018/02/21/the-chinese-styled-buildingon-cairnhill/.
Fig. 2 Plans for the Anglo-Chinese School (modified for the Cairnhill Road site), in the National Archives of Singapore.
Fig. 3 Elevations and Sections for the Anglo-Chinese School (modified for the Cairnhill Road site), in the National Archives of Singapore.
Brewer, Frank. Anglo-Chinese School, Cairnhill, Frank Brewer, 1924. Photograph. The Long and Winding Road. Singapore, February 21, 2018. National Archives of Singapore.
https://thelongnwindingroad.wordpress.com/2018/02/21/the-chinese-styled-buildingon-cairnhill/.
Lim, Jerome. Photograph. February 21, 2018. The Long and Winding Road.
https://thelongnwindingroad.wordpress.com/2018/02/21/the-chinese-styled-buildingon-cairnhill/.
Fig 4. Frontal façade of Anglo-Chinese School at Cairnhill, now occupied by Cairnhill Arts Centre.
Lim, Jerome. Photograph. February 21, 2018. The Long and Winding Road. https://thelongnwindingroad.wordpress.com/2018/02/21/the-chinese-styled-buildingon-cairnhill/.
Fig 5. View into the interior courtyard of the building.
Accessed November 18, 2022.
https://www.goodclassbungalows.com.sg/dalvey-estate-gcb/.
Fig. 7 House for E. A. Barbour, Frank Brewer, 1923
“GCB Areas District Roads Dalvey Estate 10 Dalvey Estate GCB Good Class Bungalow.” Good Class Bungalows.
Davison, Julian. Swan & Maclaren: A Story of Singapore Architecture. ORO Editions and National Archives of Singapore, 2020. : 246
250, 302-303,319-321
Fig. 7 Bishop’s Lodge, Frank Brewer, Bishopgate, 1923