CONSERVING SINGAPORE’S MODERN

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This is the first feature in a year-long series where we spotlight the conservation of Singapore’s modern built heritage across six different themes. Visit the d+a website for complementary stories on this important issue.

Let us be honest: Modernist buildings are not the easiest to love.

Abstract, hard-edged, unornamented and often composed of solid, simple walls of reinforced concrete, they are the antithesis of conventional definitions of beautiful architecture.

In Singapore, they are everywhere, since the country underwent rapid urbanisation when the modern tradition was in vogue, loosely defined as from the 1950s to the 1980s.

It naturally begs the question of why they are special and worth saving – in short, what exactly is the fuss?

Perhaps the most compelling argument is that they are symbols of Singapore’s “can-do spirit” in its nation-building years.

“These are the tangible legacy of the visionary leadership of local politicians, planners, developers and architects who created a vast new landscape during 1965 to 1975,” says Ho Weng Hin, one of the three founding members of the Docomomo-Sg Working Group-In-Progress and Founding Partner of Studio Lapis.

For example, the Pearl Bank Apartments, designed by architect Tan Cheng Siong, became an important prototype for high-rise, high-density urban living that embodied the pioneering spirit and innovation of that era.

While it still stood, it was studied and feted by architects, planners, urbanists, architectural historians and heritage enthusiasts both as an elegant solution to

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1. Golden Mile Complex

2. Tiong Bahru Estate

applied urban research and experiment, and for its pure bold modernist aesthetics.

“Many modern buildings have high architectural and design significance where their striking forms incorporate layers of wellintegrated planning, design and construction and engineering innovation,” points out Jonathan Poh, another founding member of the DocomomoSg Working Group-In-Progress and Founder and Principal Architect at Provolk Architects.

“Significant post-independence modern buildings in Singapore can be considered the nation’s best-designed buildings and thus are important to be conserved.”

Take Jurong Town Hall, built in 1974, for example. Its conservation and refurbishment recovered the spirit of its original design and purpose, and reprised its symbolic role in Singapore’s industrialisation drive.

“Consequently, modernist buildings offer subsequent generations of Singaporeans the chance to study the creative history of our society,” explains Mok Wei Wei, Managing Director of W Architects and a long-time champion of this issue.

Echoing his point is Tiah Nan Chyuan, Director of cross-disciplinary design practice FARM, “They are like time capsules for future generations to revisit and experience the creativity and audacity of the 1960s.”

Not to be overlooked either is how they accrued urban significance by marrying extreme urban intensification with high-quality living

A key component to a modern building’s survival is buy-in from the local community, especially the lifestyle industries. One of the biggest success stories is The Projector, an indie cinema that doubles up as an event space. Its founder Karen Tan (who is also a co-founder of the Docomomo-Sg Working Group-InProgress) shares her thoughts on how she has given Golden Mile Tower a new lease of life.

“The Projector started from our work at Pocket Projects, which is a creative development consultancy focused on adaptive reuse. Our approach has always been to respond to what is there. We think it is key to look at both the architectural as well as programmatic aspects; the hardware and software have to work together.

As an example, our biggest intervention on day one was to put a stage in the Redrum room, replacing half the seats with bean bags and wooden terraces. The idea was to evoke a creative response from the audience. This has been immensely successful, as people have been inspired and emboldened to do a variety of events ranging from pole dance competitions, to experimental music gigs and meditation sessions.

To ensure The Projector feels like it has grown into the building, rather than copy-pasted, changes were introduced gradually. The box office was only added three years after we opened, and we kept existing, old elements like the 1970s seats and signage on the doors to give people a sense of time and place.

The Projector was also part of a larger experiment in gradual adaptive reuse of a large complex. We wanted to see if we could seed an ongoing change in the building by clustering complementary uses that could then grow and evolve the building over time. For instance, architecture studio Zarch Collaboratives opened a gallery below us, and The Great Escape bar popped up in our carpark. Unfortunately, the building management is very restrictive, and so that put paid to lot of other ideas people had.

The main challenge remains to get this forgotten modernist building back on the public radar and invite people back into our spaces to re-imagine new uses within. Hence, The Projector’s spaces are deliberately flexible and ‘un-polished’. This is key to making people feel relaxed and at home, where they can just be themselves, and is in line with our ethos of inclusivity and independence. We even get tourists who come to see an alternative side to Singapore.”

spaces, which served to transform the way Singaporeans live, work and play. “Our modern buildings became the manifestation of Singapore’s experimental urban renewal programme under the Government Land Sales that shaped the city’s future,” says Ho.

In a way, some of the early modern buildings also paved the way for the Asian city in time to come.

“High-rise and high-density are terms we are familiar with now but back then, they were alien. These buildings were ahead of their time and made it possible for everyone to see and experience what the future might be,” says Tiah.

To better understand modern buildings, it is important to take a step back in time to understand how their design language came about.

“It became a proposition after World War I in Europe, when a lot of quick rebuilding was necessary in the devastated cities,” explains Mok.

Among the pioneers of the Modernism movement were Walter Gropius and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe from Germany and Le Corbusier from France, with the latter influencing the design of many public housing projects in the United Kingdom.

Modernist architecture adopted the use of new industrial materials and technology resulting in characteristics such as simplicity of form; functional, flexibile and flowing spaces; exposed structure; and lack of ornamentation.

Advancements in technology also accelerated their popularity, specifically the invention of reinforced concrete, resulting in buildings that did not need to be enclosed by load-bearing walls.

“In fact, the void deck in our housing development board buildings owes its origins to some of these Modernist ideas,” adds Mok.

The use of steel and glass technology enabled the opening up of views and increased transparency through ribbon windows that then transformed the spatial relationship between the inside and out.

While the style was considered avant-garde when it first came to the fore, market forces soon discovered a way to commoditise it.

“People found it convenient to build fast and make fast money. By the second half of the 20th century, modernism had become adopted internationally, with many cities looking the same.

“To make things worse, many of the modern buildings were poorly built, resulting in a movement corrupted by money,” explains Mok.

Through its research, Docomomo-Sg has identified several other contributing factors that threaten the existence and future of modern buildings, particularly the privately-developed residential and mixed-use post-1965 ones in Singapore: 1. Modern buildings suffer from deteriorating conditions due to aging fabric and services, as well as inadequate maintenance. There is a lack of legislation that mandates enforcing preventive maintenance of private properties to prevent premature building decay. 2. Owners face sharply depreciating property values, as these modern buildings reach the mid-point of their land lease, compounded by the uncertainty in qualifying criteria for a building lease top-up.

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3. People’s Park Complex

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3. Collective sales offer a highly-attractive alternative to owners to dispose of their stratatitled units to a developer willing to pay a high price for these city-centre complexes located on prime land. The current land policies unintentionally encourage speculative enbloc activities and accelerate urban renewal with ever-shortening building cycles. 4. A 100 percent owner consensus, regarding the redistribution of strata title shares tied to the increased GFA, is needed for conservation. Bureaucratic restriction has failed to promote conservation as a viable option, while encouraging redevelopment, requiring consensus of a mere 80 percent.

These factors do not exist in solidarity, but work together to exacerbate the situation.

“Owners of aging leasehold buildings are reluctant to invest in maintenance overhaul costs partly because of the depreciating property values of their homes as the 99-year lease runs down,” says Poh.

“A collective sale is thus seen as a means to be liberated from the onerous liabilities while making a windfall.

“This in turn also discourages communities from taking care of their residential buildings, allowing them to deteriorate even more, up to a point where their demolition seems inevitable, way before their original designed lifespan.”

Does this mean the end is in sight for Singapore’s modernist buildings? Is our urban fabric destined to only have colonial buildings, shophouses and contemporary architecture?

Lorenzo Petrillo is Director of LOPELAB, an urban design studio that explores the intersection between modern buildings, placemaking and adaptive reuse. He shares his rationale for this.

We want to prevent the unmeasurable loss of identity and character that happens when iconic buildings are demolished forever. Cities are evolving at an amazing pace across the world and particularly in Asia. Sustainable development has become a goal for all countries seeking a balance between social, environmental and economic needs. The current model is focused primarily on providing marketable space at a reasonable cost and very often, this happens by demolishing iconic buildings to make space for the “new”. At LOPELAB we believe this does not have to be the case. In applying placemaking thinking by putting people at the heart of urban growth, we can make the “old” better than the “new”.

Most of LOPELAB’s projects focus on the regeneration of unused or under-utilised urban spaces. An example is the Singapore Urban Design Festival 2019, a placemaking event that champions sustainable urban development through educational and unique experiences. The 2019 edition was held within the top two levels of a multistorey carpark in Jalan Besar, after discovering that in Singapore, 80 percent of the top floors of a carpark are un-utilised for 72 percent of their lives.

The programme consisted of a three-day summit as well as a weekend of festivities. The former took an indepth look at sustainable development through the lens of technology in three aspects: Resources, mobility and people. Participants were invited to put their newfound knowledge to practical use with hands-on and experiential workshops that offered practical knowledge on hacking our public spaces. A roller disco (built right where the cars would park), light and art installations, pop-up rooftop restaurants for communal dining, wellness activities and live performances were part of this unforgettable experience that inspired thousands of people about the potential of our urban spaces.

I believe that the way lifestyle industries can support architects in the conservation of Singapore’s modern built heritage is in recognising the potential and bringing their creative endeavours to these iconic buildings. Nowadays, branding is about “authentic and unique experiences” and these places lend themselves to the best expression of it. Buildings like Golden Mile Complex and People’s Park Complex are not only a concrete agglomeration but a real eco-system in continuous evolution. Their walls are preserving the history and character of a neighbourhood and demolishing these buildings means erasing all of this forever.

According to the United Nations, 68 percent of the world’s population will live in urban areas by 2050.

The economic opportunities and convenience is a trade-off against the disconnect with nature and wide, open spaces – but all is not lost.

Increasingly, designers are finding creative ways to curate indoor oases where green dominates, including in the bathroom.

This is a wellness megatrend identified

by Villeroy & Boch. In fact, the ceramic manufacturer has a wide range of products that complement it.

Through the use of natural materials and with the possibility of expressing individuality, the pieces come together to compose a space of self-identity that also welcomes in the outdoors.

Here, the German brand offers three themes derived from the wellness megatrend to inspire your next bathroom design.

Artis washbasin in Neo Mint

From deep fir to lush moss, the range of hues that this colour can come in is vast and never fails to delight. The effect can be anything from cool, relaxing and refreshing, to warm, natural and even futuristic. Pick a bathtub with the sides in a glowing emerald, or a washbasin in Villeroy & Boch’s on-trend shade of Neo Mint that evokes images of a high-tech world.

Theano bathtub in green Subway 2.0 Collection

Get wet – and also wild. Nature is not always peaceful and serene and it should be celebrated in all its gritty glory. Cover the walls with striking wallpaper designed with lush flora and fauna, or fill corners with pots of exotic indoor plants for a look of controlled chaos. Pair these with furniture in wood or earth tones and classic white ceramics, or even bold colours like coal black or earthy brown. This is perfect for those with nothing less than an adventurous streak.

Oberon 2.0 bathtub in Coal Black Collaro Collection

Harness smart technology through the mobile phone to introduce nature for a complete wellness experience. Introduce exotic bird calls or the cheerful sound of a bubbling stream through the smart sound system ViSound. This can be integrated into the bathtub and has a moodsetting sound box with four vibration transducers and one amplifier unit. Out of battery but can’t bear to leave the bathroom yet? Villeroy & Boch’s Finion collection comes with side cabinets and shelves that can have an inductive charging station integrated into it.

La Belle Collection

Memento 2.0 Washbasin & Finion Vanity unit