wHAT IS AN ARcHITEcTURE Of THE HOT & wET?

A collection of Architectural Love Stories

Singapore, Johor, Batam

Hot & Wet is a series of thematic investigations into the coastal regions of the Singapore Metropolitan Region - consisting of Singapore, Johor and the Riau Islands.

The first chapter (LAND LUST) is about Singapore’s lust for land, and the hard realities when it can no longer thicken itself. The second chapter (SAMA-SAMA) is about Batam’s love affair with Singapore, and its unfulfilled waterfront desires. The third chapter (COMPRESSIONS) tells Johor’s attempt to be Singapore’s extension, as it compresses its coasts into binaries of land and water. The fourth chapter (LEAKS) looks at how Singapore leaks, and the infrastructure of these leakages. The last chapter (CRISIS) concludes with the hotter & wetter reality of the climate crisis, specifically Johor’s defensive strategies against flooding.

These five themes are ultimately linked to each other. And keeping with the spirit of looking at the big picture, we try to review works by others that are looking at similar topics. These are interspersed between the chapters. We see the final product as a book that you will perhaps find in a book store in the future. At the same time, it also becomes a foundation of research & speculation that will become our separate thesis projects.