Singapore Pte. Ltd. : A Question of Limits
Lau, C. 2017. Singapore Pte. Ltd. : A Question of Limits. Postcards from the Anthropocene . Edinburgh, Scotland 22 - 24 Jun 2017
Lau, C. 2017. Singapore Pte. Ltd. : A Question of Limits. Postcards from the Anthropocene . Edinburgh, Scotland 22 - 24 Jun 2017
| Title | Singapore Pte. Ltd. : A Question of Limits |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lau, C. |
| Type | Conference paper |
| Abstract | The notion of limits pertains specifically to Singapore’s physical size and resources, and how these limits are circumvented, even celebrated, through the nation’s capacities, ambitions, projections and influences. Hence the design proposals for Singapore Pte. Ltd. revolve around a question of limits: architecture’s limits, the city’s limits, the nation’s limits, the limits of resources (labour, money, materials, ideas) and the limits of time traversed through history, the present and what is to come. In this instance, Postcards from the Anthropocene focuses on the architecture and city limits of the country. Ongoing land reclamation projects have increased Singapore's land area by 23% in just over half a century. This is architecturally most evident within the central urban core which encompasses both the old and new business districts. The first reclamation project in 1822 historically took place under the colonial administration, and the current financial heart to the south of the island is built on where there was once only water. This new site is fuelled by conspicuous consumption made possible by a burgeoning economy, but most of all, is part of an imperative to cultivate an emerging national image which balances a colonial legacy and aspirations towards cutting-edge culture. To begin, the city’s old colonial architectural legacy is reclaimed through reinvention and reappropriation. The other strategy sees the introduction of unexpected programmatic spaces, landscapes, scales and ideologies which respond to the fluid and uncertain socioeconomic and cultural conditions of a nation-city-state. More importantly, the interventions interrogate issues of power, stakeholdership, sociocultural transformation and economic resilience in responding to an evolving demographic, a maturing civil society and uncertain geopolitical challenges. The architectural proposals elude the island’s limits by anticipating, exceeding and overachieving. Referencing the first millennium where land was reclaimed along the coast, Singapore Pte. Ltd. seeks to intensify the physical reclamation of land, sea and air limits, boosting the island by augmenting and multiplying its most desirable assets. |
| Year | 2017 |
| Conference | Postcards from the Anthropocene |
| Web address (URL) of conference proceedings | https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0Bw1nJAVzSmJ8SndQVTB3cXNLQkE?usp=sharing |
| Web address (URL) | http://www.postcardsfromtheanthropocene.com/ |