Category: Design

July 14, 2011

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!

July 14, 2011

Shiok!

Wow. It’s so rare to see such a bold design from our newspapers here. It is so unexpected that at first, I thought I had picked up TODAY, a similar tabloid-sized newspaper that is usually bounded by an advertisement as its cover. But this is actually The New Paper’s (TNP) cover yesterday when it broke news that Singapore’s national football team was returning to compete in the Malaysia Cup after 17 years.

I suppose such a grand design gesture is appropriate considering how TNP has a strong following of football readers, and the Malaysia Cup has been a traditional staple of news content, from general coverage right down to its former comic strip What’s Hup.

Let’s hope we don’t have to wait another 17 years for another cover that made me sit up.

July 10, 2011

Design For The Dead

British designer and typographer Paul Barnes talked about how letter carvings on tombstones in his country’s graveyards inspired his typeface designs at a lecture organised last month by The Design Society. Well, maybe Singapore’s designers can take some inspiration from the over 80,000 tombs found in one of the last remaining graveyards in this city-state — Bukit Brown Cemetery.

While doing research for a story about this cemetery that first opened in 1922, I discovered many highly decorated tombstones of the rich and famous of Singapore’s history. Most of these were tombs of the Chinese, so the designs reflected the rich symbolism of their culture. The stone lion for instance, is a very common statue that the Chinese believe will help to ward off evil spirits. You will find them outside temples and homes, and also next to tombstones. At the cemetery, there even a variety of designs of these lions.

Besides lions, there are also other statues to accompany the dead, including chamber maids, and this Sikh Guard below, who is also thought to be able to act as guards for the tombs. After all, the Chinese believe in afterlife and tombs are regarded as the homes of the dead.

Another distinct local flavour to some of the tombs are the colourful Art Noveau tiles that were popular with Peranakans and wealthy Chinese of the past. They also decorated their homes with such tiles.

Another form of design that reflected a mix in cultures were in these tombs that had both Eastern and Western symbols.

These are just a small sample of the many intricately designed tombstones in the cemetery, and you can see more pictures I took here. Make a trip down as the cemetery, before it is eventually exhumed for future redevelopment. It’s pretty easy to walk around and explore the cemetery, but you can also use this map created by the Asian Paranormal Investigators, especially if you want to find out which of the tombs belonged to the many pioneers of Singapore’s history.