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THEATRE OF LIFE Beverly Su Year 2 Semester 2

This studio project attempts to superimpose two seemingly unrelated realities together, to displace you from your current environment by transporting you into the hyperreality of another space time as another persona within your environment.

Parallel Reality brings the residents of the past Tiong Bahru back into the future. Original residents (ORs) from a few decades past enter this “familiar” theatre. But lo and behold, they find themselves transported into their past activities in the surrounding areas.

By shifting your point of view into the foreign, we see the familiarity of the everyday and our own environment/culture with a fresh eye. This journey in essence attempts to shift our perspective, keeping us on track from the preconceptions which might have blinded us and the distractions which our whims might otherwise have chosen.

However, the once commonplace activitiy is now exaggerated nto the most peculiar and astounding versions of the original act. Entranced, they feel as if they have now just become the spectators to this stupendous exhibition of life in the new Tiong Bahru.

In this studio, I back in time into a parallel reality to discover the secrets, dreams or losses of Tiong Bahru. I travelled into Tiong Bahru through the eyes of my chosen persona, Fan Yew Kwang, my great-grandfather.

The series of buildings are scattered along Seng Poh Road, the heart of Tiong Bahru’s activitiy in this place. Taking into account the access points and traffic direction, the experiences afforded in the Tiong Bahru to come will not be forgotten.

I created a travelogue to systematically document the parallel life in the past. The travelogue serves as a personalized data which can also be combined into a collective information to form an overall psychogeographic map of the area. This provided an alternative way to study spaces, the surroundings and the everyday, and allowed me to reapply my findings into a new program of my design.

Part 1 Preparation of Travel - Forage and Identify Persona

1.1

Persona Research Analysis 1930s-1960s

1923

Sister worked as a Samsui woman in construction

1934-1938 Bought the corner flat on Eng Hoon Street, started family.

Fan Yew Kwang (1903- - 1978)

He came to Singapore from Sanshui District in Guangdong, China and started Tai Shan Tobacco Company.

Singapore Improvement Trust started building public housing. 1930

1938

1939

1945 He and his family hide in Air Raid Shelters behind the flats.

1950s He helped his wife sell chee cheong fun on the streets.

1945

World War II begins to affect Singapore.

He lost his business due to war.

1941

Continued to try out buisness ventures, and raised his grandchildren. 1946

Life at a Glance

ute cafe

from Wah Heng Coffeeshop

to Prive Bar

from King’s Theatre

to Highline Residences

from Seng Poh Market

to Tiong Bahru Market

o Tiong Bahru Market

from an air raid shelter during the war

to part of the Tiong Bahru Community Centre

Routes

Work Home Daily Activiities Religious Leisure

Topographical Changes throughout the years (1800s - 2000s)

1918

1846

1814

1913

1953

1945

1975

1958

2000

Road changes throughout the years (1950s - 2000s) (Removal of Chinese Cemetery)

1954

1956

1969

1972

1981

kground formation

Background Information

During the Japanese Occupation, Tiong Bahru’s roads and buildings were destroyed, and the area was used to cultivate tapioca and yam. By the end of the war, the value of the estate had decreased rapidly, and slums at the time were estimated to house 100,000-150,000 people. SIT faced the uphill task of repaving destroyed roads, repairing damaged buildings and clearing the useless tapioca and yam plantations.

ound mation

Background Information

Work on 72 acres of land was completed by 1931, but attempts by the SIT to sell it to private developers failed due to a negative economic outlook. It was only in 1936 that the SIT elected to develop Tiong Bahru Estate by itself. In December 1936, the first block of SIT flats (numbered Block 55) were completed. Today, it stands at the intersection of Tiong Bahru Road and Tiong Poh Road. Construction continued even up until the outbreak of World War II, and by 1941, 784 flats had been built to house a population of 6,000. After the war, the situation became urgent as much of the existing infrastructure had been damaged and needed repairing, and a squatter colony (numbering about 100,000 to 150,000) had in the meantime settled in the slums dotting the estate. To handle the housing shortage caused by World War II, the SIT commenced construction on a second wave of public housing from 1948 to 1954, consisting of 1,258 new SIT flats.

Tiong Bahru was also known to locals as “Den of Beauties (mĕi rén wō)” colloquially known as “Mistress Village (èr nai chūn)” for housing mistresses of rich men. Due to the high costs of flats, Crazy Rich Asian men commonly kept their second homes stashed away in Tiong Bahru. The estate’s proximity to Great World Amusement Park also drew cabaret dancers and ‘pippa girls’ (aka prostitutes) as inhabitants of the flats with their ‘majies’ or minders.

ground ormation

Background Information

Also in 1959, the newly-elected People’s Action Party (PAP) replaced the SIT with the modern-day HDB, and tasked it with building 900 new low-cost flats in Tiong Bahru by 1961 as part of its five-year plan. The plan had to be sped up as a result of the infamous Bukit Ho Swee fire on 25 May 1961, which ravaged 40.5 hectares of land and left 16,000 people homeless. To date, it remains one of Singapore’s worst and most destructive fires in history.

kground formation

Background Information

Today, Tiong Bahru is a veritable patchwork of traditional buildings and modern infrastructure, dotted with contemporary new cafes that are tucked under tall mature flats. While some may call it gentrification, there are also others who see it for what it is: a truly unique blend of old and new, coexisting peacefully to create an estate like no other.

Part 2 Travel in Parallel Reality - Observe and Document Findings

2.1

Teleportation Day

Outfifit of the day

Music

Meals in the day

Modes of transportation

Area of Travel

Parallel Activities in Perspective Buying Stationery from Store

Going to King’s Theatre for a Movie

Meals at Coffeeshop

Hiding out in Air Raid Shelter Peddling Food

Worshipping at Temple

Parallel Timings in Perspective

Residential Suites

Quiet Intersection

Bar

N O W Community Centre

A N D T H E N

Busy Food Peddler Street

KIng’s Theatre

Air Raid Shelter

Cafe

Stationery Shop

Boutique Hotel Coffeeshop

Temple

Activities

Buying food from the bread man peddling food on Eng Hoon Street Corner

1950s

2020

Praying, meeting friends, and buying supplies at the Gourd Temple (with Bird seller and Mamak Shop outside)

1950s

2020

Buying school supplies from the stationery store

1950s

2020

Eating lunch at the coffee and fruit shop

1950s

2020

Going to King’s Theatre with family for a movie

1960s

2020

Helping out his wife while taking care of children

Transformations along the Streets:

to a Boutique Hotel

from the Hulu Temple, Mamak Shop and Bird Selling Corner

o a Boutique Hotel from a stationery shop

to a cute cafe

Significant Life Events

During World War II part of what is now the Tiong Bahru Community Centre became a temporary air raid shelter

Big move from illegal food peddling on the streets, to the day and night market on Seng Poh Road, to Tiong Bahru Market

Evening Market

Morning Market

1930s

1950s

Present Day

Part 3 Document and Analyse

3.0

Tiong Bahru Legacy and Life

from a Wholesaler of Sewing Supplies

to a barber shop

Part 1 Preparation of Travel - Itenerary and Guidebook

1.2

Task #1: To journey a day in a life of persona

Mamak shop

Hu Lu Temple

Seng Poh Market

Bird Seller

Itinerary for the day: MORNING: Wait for bread man below house (food peddler) to buy bread for son to eat Wife prepares chee cheong fun to sell, sister goes to do construction work (Samsui woman) Sends son to school Walks to Mama Store to buy cigarettes, then to Temple to pray, buys charcoal for cooking

Illegal food peddling

AFTERNOON: Stops by coffeeshop to meet up with friends’ Stationery shop to buy supplies Helps the wholesaler unload his wares

Coffeeshop

EVENING: Goes to King’s Theatre with family stationery shop

Makeshift Air Raid Shelter during WWII

Task #2: To explore areas where significant life events took place

Significant events/ changes in his life: 1939: Newly-started tobacco factory has failed, he is searching for job openings and business opportunities anywhere he can find 1941: WWII and the impact it had on his life, seeking protection at the air raid shelter 1950s: No more illegal food peddling on streets! Seng Poh Market is built and he is offered a stall 1970s: His death marks the end of the 2nd generation living in Tiong Bahru.. All of them move out as Tiong Bahru .

MOOD CHANGE TO EXPLORE: Tiong Bahru used to be the place for the common people, full of every-day activities, with a market, lots of mamak stores, coffee shops, fruit shops, etc for the residents. As the older generation passes on, Tiong Bahru loses its homey and town feel, as the place becomes almost a tourist spot, and more expensive boutiques taking over the area. The people who grew up in Tiong Bahru have moved away, and only return on the weekends with their aged parents to revisit the good old times. Guide Book for TIme Travel - maps, brief, reminders and timeline

Temple - Mama Store - Bird Seller - Hotel

Stationery Store - Sweet Treats Cafe

Fruit Sellers - Coffeeshop - Drinking Bar

Movie Theatre - Residential Suites

Closer Look at Kim Tian Road (After King’’s Theatre demolition and explosion of new housing)

1984

1988

2000

2007

2020

Background Information

1800s Tiong Bahru (Tiong Lama)

The Hokkien word “tiong” (meaning “to die”) and the Malay word “baru” (meaning “new”) together originally meant “new cemetery”. An older cemetery located at the present-day site of the Singapore General Hospital, known as Teong Lama (“old cemetery”), was built in 1828 to be used as a graveyard for the Hokkien community in the area. However, in 1859, the burial grounds were shifted to Tiong Bahru, giving the area its name.

Background Information

In 1882, the Singapore General Hospital was relocated to its present site, and settlers began moving into the lowlands surrounding it. In the early 1900s, apart from serving as a burial ground, Tiong Bahru was mainly used for cultivating farmland. However, the area was swampy and infested with mosquitoes, and this, coupled with overcrowding and poor sanitation in Kampong Tiong Bahru by the 1920s, became a health problem as the hospital was located nearby.

Background Information

It was then in 1925 that the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT), precursor to the modern Housing Development Board (HDB), spearheaded an improvement scheme initiated by the colonial government. Formed in 1927, the SIT aimed to solve the problem of overcrowding by building new homes for the settlers already living in the area, and tackle sanitation by building a new drainage system. Land acquisition for these housing projects began in 1928, followed by the levelling of hills and filling of swampy grounds with sand. Infrastructure, including roads, drains and culverts, was also added. Meanwhile, the graves in both Teong Lama and Tiong Bahru were exhumed by 1930 and moved to Bukit Brown Cemetery.

Part 3 Document and Analyse - Elements

3.1

Movie Theatre

PAST

Residential Suite

PRESENT

Stationery Store

PAST

Sweet Treats Cafe

PRESENT

Coffee and Fruits Seller

PAST

Bar

PRESENT

Temple Bird Corner

PAST

Boutique Hotel

PRESENT

Part 3 Document, Analyse, Speculate - Elements and Formulation of Programme

3.2

Elevational Element Collage

Movie Suite of the Displace Dwellers

Experience #1 - Temple Bird Corner - Hotel

Morning Prayers

Early Arrival

Hang up bird cages

Meet with friends

Luggages transported up

Draw the curtains and sleep

Experience #2 - Stationery Shop - Cafe

Back from School

Haggling with the storeowner for little stationeries

Foreigner sight seeing

Sweet Treats Cafe to have a dessert

Playing marbles with friends

Waiter running around serving orders

Experience #3 - Coffee-Fruits Seller - Bar

Coffee time

Sampling fruits

Choose a seat at the bar

Buying back fruits for home

Pop open a bottle of wine

Sit back, sip and enjoy, people watch

Experience #4 - Theatre - Suite

Walking to Theatre with family

Entering home after a long day

Choosing a show to watch

Watching shows on personal TV

Entering cinema to enjoy a show

Sleeping

New Programme of Activities

Part 3 Document, Analyse, Speculate, and Evolve - Formulation of Spaces

3.3

Narrative: The Original Residents of Tiong Bahru have come back from far and wide to visit their former dwellings. Walking on the streets, they realize a spectacle. All the relics of the past, the haunts, the hangout spots, and the every-day common places have been radically exaggerated. Hungry, they search go to the corner coffee and fruit seller. Upon entering the place they realize instead of the thick brown liquid, dispensers are spewing out foaming sparkling juices. No more parents trying to wrangle the kids as they gulp down their coffee, instead there are wealthy drunk foreigners enjoying their drinks without a care in the world. As they watch they hear sounds of tinkling coming from across the street. Ah! The stationery shop from old, where they would come and play with the marbles after school. Where they tiptoed by the counter and would beg to buy an eraser, or a ruler with the limited coins they had. But alas! Another paradox they find. Waiters rush around with trays held high, careful not to get in the way of the many fine diners here to sip on lattes and lick ice creams. Like the marbles rolling around on the stone floor, the waiters run in all directions, serving, taking orders and appeasing customers. Oh to find some friends, so they head to the Temple-Bird Corner to meet as of old. As anticipated all is gone except for a lingering bird or two. But when it sees us it goes, leaving a trail. Like what it is now. A fancy boutique hotel, for people coming and leaving. They come leave the place at the crack of dawn and come back late. Where once was bustling with the excitement of community gossip, chanting of prayers and the cackling of birds, now the flurried hustle is only at the arrival of new travelers and the departure of the old. For the final activity beloved by all, they troop to the movie theatre to catch a glimpse of the latest actions. SItting there, they are looking in on a wildly different scene. A conjoined series of rooms, with beds and lamps, a posh rug and a lit stove. Another stretch of what was once there. An up-class residential suite, with oone affluent owner who uses the space all to himself. At this point these ORs realize that they can no longer live the life they once had, and instead they have become mere spectators of this opulent show of life here in this grand theatre Tiong Bahru. keywords - exaggeration, paradox, oxymoron, hyperbole, spectator, show

Plan Collage #1

Section Collage #1

Plan Collage #2

Part 4 Speculate, Evolve and Experiment - 2D Collages

4.1

Section Collage #2

Backstage of Community Dreams

Watching a live life show

Plan #3

Part 4 Speculate, Evolve and Experiment - 3D Collages

4.2

3D Collage #1

Cafe of Reels and Balances

Coffee-Bear Sauna and Swimming

Live life movie suite

Backstage of Community Dreams

Bird Training Hotel of Release

3D Collage #2

Revised Programme from 3D study

“Fly” into the bird training hotel where the regime of the birds is aimed for their eventual release.

Be “reeled” into the cafe of balancing acts and stacked shows.

Dive in and be “dispensed” into the relaxing coffee-beer spa.

Enter through the “projected” backstage into theatre to enjoy the show.

Enjoy the live lifely show in your own personal space.

Part 3 Document, Analyse, Speculate, and Evolve - Formulation of Spaces

3.3

Model-Making Process: Backstage Area

To do a study the 1920s projector, I bought a disposable film camera to take apart and discover its components. This disposable film camera shares many similar components with the projector, so I took dismantled each piece to discover what they were.

Dissesembled parts of the disposable camera 1. Shutter Sptings 2. Outer and inner housing 3. Click-wheel 4. Lens 5. Viewfinder 6. Electrical parts 7. Battery terminals 8. Shutter mechanism 9. Flash discharge tube 10. Circuit board components 11. Film 12. Electrical components 13. Capacitor 14. Battery

Process in Projector/ Camera: Application to Activities

Preparation

Ready for Action!

End of Act

Furnaces Fueled

Bright flashes of images, audience cpature in mind Furnace smoke level increase with excitment level.

Spectators seated

Flying Objects cause curtains to open

Fruitsellers and children at position

Start! Fruits and Marbles fly

Refining Models #1

Model Plan #2

3D Collages Part 4:

Site View

Part 6 Evolve and Create - Finalising Project Title and Schedule of Accommodation

Analysis on Project Titling

Theatre

stage, teleportation tool; exhibition showcase

Theatre of Life

“Theatre is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage.” “Life is the period between birth and death, or the experience or state of being alive; a way of living or a particular part of someone's life; the quality of having a lot of energy, interest, or excitement.”

Life

mundane, everyday happenings

This Parallel Reality project brings the residents of the past Tiong Bahru back into the future. These Original Residents (ORs) enter this “familiar” theatre, and lo and behold, they find themselves transported into their past activities in the surrounding areas. However, the once commonplace activity is now exaggerated into the most peculiar and astounding versions of the original act. Entranced, they feel as if they have now just become the spectators to this stupendous exhibition of life in the new Tiong Bahru.

BACKSTAGE OF COMMUNITY DREAMS WHERE OLD RESIDENTS WATCH THE UNFOLDING SHOW THAT IS PROJECTED OUT BY THE FRUITS AND MARBLES PASSAGE. 1. LONELY SMOKE SEATS 2. MARBLE SLIDE 3. CRATE STAIRS 4. RISING STACKS OF SOLD MEMORIES 5. TRANSITION CAPACITATOR OF PREPARATION

LIVELY LIFE SHOW SUITE SPECTATOR DOCKS FOR ONLOOKERS TO PEER INTO A RESIDENTIAL SUITE SHOW OF LIFE. 1. PROJECTOR SCREEN PEEK WINDOWS 2. LIGHT CURTAIN COLUMNS 3. VIEWING ROWS 4. HOME ACTION STAGE 5. REFLECTION BOUNCE ROOF 6. TRIPOD STAND STRUCTURE

CAFE OF REELS AND BALANCES WAITERS BALANCING ON THE FRAGILE EXPECTATIONS OF CUSTOMER’S LINES, REELING IN UNSUSPECTING VICTIMS INTO A DINING EXPERIENCE. 1. YOYO REEL PATHS OF SERVICE 2. NEWSPAPER MAGAZINE SUNSHADING EAVES 3. ROTATING DELECTABLE TABLES 4. STEP UP KITCHEN

COFFEE - BEER SPA SWIM OF INTERMINGLING MIXTURE OF DIFFERENT CLASSES (BEVERAGE AND PEOPLE) IN THIS WHIRLPOOL OF COMMON SPORT AND RELAXATION. 1. FILM LADDERS 2. BEER POOLS 3. KETTLE SPOUT SLIDES 4. COFFEE PERCOLATOR DIVE TOWER

BIRD TRAINING HOTEL OF RELEASE FOR HUMANS AND BIRDS TO TRAIN, FEED, REST, AND THEN BE SET FREE THROUGH THE RELEASING DOOR WHEN THE PROCESS IS COMPLETE. 1. FOCUS CORRIDOR 2. SLEEPING POLES 3. FEEDING SPROCKETS 4. TRAINING MAZE

Site

100m

Scale 1:1000 @ A2

200m

300m

Entry Points 0m

100m

Scale 1:1000 @ A2

200m

300m

Seng Poh Road

Programme

WAS

NOW

WHAT IF

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BRINGING ORIGINAL RESIDENTS INTO BACK INTO THE FUTURE

NEIGHBORHOOD COMMUNITY

TOURIST ATTRACTION

KING'S THEATRE

RESIDENTIAL SUITE

ENJOYING A SHOW OF CURRENT RESIDENTS' LIVES IN ACTION

STATIONERY STORE

DESSERTS CAFE

PULLED IN BY THE YOYO REELS AND TRICKED INTO A DINING EXPERIENCE

COFFEESHOP

DRINKING BAR

BIRD SINGING CORNER

BOUTIQUE HOTEL

A COFFEE-TO-BEER SPA AND SWIM RELAXATION

HABITATION AND TRAINING GROUNDS FOR BIRDS AND HUMANS

Final Drawings

Exploded Views and Diagrams

BACKSTAGE OF COMMUNITY DREAMS

LIVELY LIFE SHOW SUITE

CAFE OF REELS AND BALANCES

COFFEE - BEER SPA SWIM OF INTERMINGLING

BIRD TRAINING HOTEL OF RELEASE

DfMA and DfM

DESIGN FOR MAINTAINABILITY

DETAILED SECTION FOR FURNACE PIT INSULATION AND ACCESS FOR MAINTENANCE

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