Progress and Current State

In the early stages of its opening along with the Food Market in the 70s and 80s, the People’s Park Complex (PPC) was a popular destination for locals and tourists to shop and dine in the heart of Singapore. The City Room was actively utilized as a public forum where public events such as public health campaigns, holiday festivals, fashion shows, and rallies were held. The gaps between the people’s park and the surrounding buildings acted as green spaces where people could rest and gather.

With the advancement of Singapore’s city planning, the People’s Park Complex became an important node within the urban fabric. The building’s transit system was upgraded, with the addition of the garden bridge and the MRT exit. Both interventions changed the experience of the complex and its visibility towards the surrounding areas.

In terms of the building’s envelope expression, multiple colour schemes were applied: Brutalist, Blue-Brown, Turquoise-Orange, and finally Green-Yellow. The application of paints at the facade was meant to synchronize the PPC building to the technicolour tone of Chinatown. Glass Facades were added to close the inverted-terracing composition of the building’s facade, with some parts in curving glasses. The reason was to close the building for AC usage. The blank facade has also been used for advertisements. On the inside, the simple lines for the railings of the corridors were redesigned in a more ‘orientalist’ manner, with the metal works of the railings, and the mezzanine of the city room in a curved plan. This was to emphasize the ‘Chinatown-ness’ of PPC.

Currently, there are still some of the shops that have continued since the opening of the PPC. A famous sight of the area is the Chinese uncles that hang around the premises of the building. But now, the PPC is famous for the new wave of incoming Mainland Chinese, indicated with the opening of Northern Chinese restaurants, and travel agents for the Mainland Chinese.

Meanwhile, the resurgence of interest in PPC by local Singaporean youth groups was sparked by contemporary events held at the rooftop such as Getai Electronica and a rooftop bar by Lepark. The scenery from the rooftop, which to some, is reminiscent of Hong Kong’s skyline, became a place where people can take pictures. But these incidents were temporary.