Tag: Singapore Architecture

Capping Modern and Tradition: The “Revolutionary” Roof of the Singapore Indoor Stadium

COURTESY OF KAWAGUCHI & ENGINEERS

Some have likened it to a traditional Japanese hat. Others see the outlines of a Star Destroyer spaceship from the futuristic movie Star Wars. Without a doubt, the roof of the Singapore Indoor Stadium is one of—if not, the most—distinguishing feature that has made it a familiar icon along the Kallang Basin today.

The design first arose almost forty years ago when Japanese architect Professor Kenzo Tange was appointed by the Singapore government to partner Singapore-based RSP Architects Planners & Engineers to help develop an indoor stadium in 1985. He and his team, including Yasuhiro Ishino and Paul Tange, his son, set about coming with a building that would blend in with its waterfront location then shared with the former National Stadium and other attractions such as the Wonderland Amusement Park and the Oasis Theatre Restaurant Niteclub and Cabaret.

➜ Read the full essay in DOCOMOMO Singapore

Drawing Out Architecture

They define the shape of a city. They contain its people and their multitudes of lives too. Buildings are the ubiquitous fabric of our urban condition, yet they somehow remain in the background of the minds of many city dwellers.

Perhaps it is their towering silhouettes that overshadow questions of how they came about. Or their immutable forms that make them seem like a natural phenomenon. But no building is simply a heap of materials, be it stone, concrete, steel or glass. They are assemblies of intentions, resources and beliefs—expressed in a language known as “architecture”.

Architecture may not be able to speak for itself, but the people who created it can. This is how I learned about the buildings by W Architects. As the editor of this exhibition catalogue and the studio’s first-ever monograph published in 2020, I have been privileged to spend hours listening to managing director Mok Wei Wei as he patiently walked me through four decades of the studio’s projects. These recollections at W Architects were frequently interrupted by an excuse to retrieve a drawing, a document, a magazine or newspaper cut-out and even a book from his office to vividly bring home a point.

➜ Read the full essay in To Draw an Idea: Retracing the Designs of William Lim Associates – W Architects

Looks Green. Certified Green. But How Green Is It?

COURTESY OF MARVIN TANG

Cities today look greener than before. Many new buildings come with terraces and rooftops landscaped with greenery. They are also installed with a host of energy-saving technologies that make them certified “green buildings”. Yet, according to the United Nations Environment Programme’s Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction, the sector’s carbon emissions worldwide reached an all-time high in 2022. It is also not on track to achieve decarbonisation by 2050, and the gap between the sector’s climate performance and the pathway to decarbonisation is only widening.

➜ Read the full essay at Singapore Architect