Tag: Singapore Playgrounds

Where are Singapore’s Old Playgrounds today?


View Old Singapore Playgrounds in a larger map

Finally had some time to review my research on Singapore’s old playgrounds, and I’ve updated my Google Map with the 19 that are still standing today. The designs of these playgrounds were done between 1979 and 1993 when the HDB took it upon themselves to create and build their own playspaces as part of the public housing estate. Many of the designs were inspired by local culture, and took on a secondary role of becoming visual icons for Singaporeans.

The playgrounds that came after, and have become what we recognised today, are imported from overseas instead. They are cheaper to build, easier to maintain, and generally more innovative in design because they are created by global companies who have the scale to invest in research and development.

I’ve also found images of other playgrounds designs that no longer exist and I’m trying to see how to piece all this together for some kind of article/book. Hopefully, I can get something out by the end of this year. Meanwhile, if you chance by any old playgrounds that I’ve not located on my map, please write to me!

Old Playgrounds in Singapore

Dragons, watermelon, bumboats and doves — these were just some designs of public playgrounds built from the 1970s to early 1990s in Singapore. Built by the HDB, they were based on local themes and icons, and were unique spaces for a generation of Singaporeans who grew up with fond memories of them.

This is an on-going project. View photos of the playground and  find them to relive your childhood!

UPDATE

Read my article at CNNGo for a short history of these playgrounds or my Singapore Architect essay on what we’ve lost with their passing. Also in the works — a more detailed history of the playgrounds and I may have tracked down its designer…

Danger and Dragons

The playgrounds a generation of Singaporeans played and grew up in were slain in the name of safety.

Dragon Playground

“Adults of tomorrow will recall dragons of Bedok” [1]— declared a 1987 headline in The Straits Times newspaper. Three and a half decades later, this prediction seems prophetic given how fondly a generation of Singaporeans now remember the dragon-shaped playgrounds they grew up playing in. Like its inspiration, the dragon, this playground design has become the symbol of a myth, of a now almost non-existent space and way of play for a generation of Singaporeans.

The dragon playground was first unveiled to the public in 1979, one of five ‘adventurelands’[2] that became a part of Singapore’s public housing esates. Other designs included a pair of doves, a metal cage, another with man-made slopes and one made for climbing. These new playgrounds, each costing around S$20,000 to construct, were the Housing & Development Board’s (HDB) plan to “move away from the preponderance of static animal sculptures” found in its existing playgrounds to “miniature adventurelands for the young and active” instead[3].

Read more