04 / 31 Graphics Wong Cui-wen Amanda
In Singapore, the built environment is systematically cleaned, maintained and replaced as a form of resistance towards tropical forces of decay. Aquatic infrastructure is implemented primarily to resist climatic conditions, i.e. to control or overcome tropical forces such as rain and floodwater for short periods and divert its forces into the sea through high-speed evacuation. This “architecture of leaks” operates like a form of parasitic-growth that aggressively alters landscape and cityscape alike, creating a network of infrastructural territory that is untouched by any other form. This thesis is rooted in studying leaks, and struggles to understand the peculiar relationship between architecture, infrastructure and weather. By bringing leaks to the foreground, it questions architecture’s supposed opposition to weather (that has often been used to define it) and critiques the static notion that the infiltration of weather is seen as a sign of failure.
ARE LEAKS ARCHITECTURAL?