Rethinking Community Spaces: A Community Walk through Toa Payoh
As part of the HDB Community Week 2013, My peers and I participated in the Community Building Seminar organised by the Housing Development Board of Singapore (HDB). This two day seminar allowed us to learn from various participants who are from different walks of life, and one interesting part was the opportunity to be part of...
Voids in the Deck
Once, where the void deck stood as one of the primary requirements and characteristics of public housing blocks in Singapore, and part of the pillars of community bonding, today, new typologies experiment with creating a community, without the void deck. One such example is the Treelodge @ Punggol. Comprising of several blocks with 15 storeys...
Capitalism & Spatial Justice: The Reality of Design & Planning of Communal Spaces in Singapore Public Housing Estates
Introduction Design & planning of communal spaces in public housing estates are getting more attention in recent years. This is especially so in Singapore, where strong community bonds among residents of various races and nationalities are important in maintaining social security in our metropolitan city with high influx of global citizens. Furthermore, 80% of...
Sustainable Living Kampung – Changing Singapore’s landscape from the Ground Up
In recent years the rising power of community action and engagement in shaping the environment has become increasingly evident in Singapore. Many bottom-up initiatives have sprung up to encourage alternative approaches that seek to restore the connection between city dwellers and the land for the many universal values. Ground-Up Initiative (GUI)’s Sustainable Living Kampung in...
The Social Memories of a Voiddeck
“downstair” Directed By Diya Tan Produced By Quek Hui Min, Helmi Ali Director of Photography PK Tan This film was produced as a final-year project in the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information (WKWSCI), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. All Rights Reserved 2008. downstair. A colloquial and affectionate term used by many when referring...
The Politics in Public housing : the ideology driver of the government
Pinnacle @ Duxton. Topped out with a viewing gallery soaring 50 stories above ground only open to VIPs, is THE crowning glory of Singapore’s Public Housing Development Since the inception of Singapore, the PAP government has never strayed from its commitment to provide public housing for the whole nation. To them, continuing support for public...
Building from the Ground-Up: Experience the Kampung Culture
The Ground-Up Initiative in Singapore advocates community spirit initiatives, urban farming programmes to change the way of innovating, from the ground-up. GUI is now embarking on a new and exciting journey and experience the Heritage Kampung with them! Exploring Our Heritage Through Kampung Culture Heritage Kampung 2012 is a 5 months long event to celebrate the...
Community gardening – Community ungardening
Clementi Makeshift Farm getting the boot, literally. Copyright © Matthew Allen, WSJ A community garden is a single piece of land gardened collectively by a group of people. ...
Singapore fast-forward
Singapore’2012 from zweizwei |motion timelapse| on Vimeo. Zweizwei’s amazing motion time-lapse shows Singapore’s urban vision in a fast forward narrative. Accelerated sceneries are accompanied with abstract soundscapes to bring across the key messages of the urban ambition of Singapore – shiny, greenery, density, modern, colourful and exciting.
Community Greens: A brief comparison between the gardening schemes in Singapore and Hong Kong
Tampines Green Community Gardens in Singapore Sau Pau Ming Community Gardens in Hong Kong Gardening as a social process Collective gardening is a huge trend in the city. There are rooftops, vacant land and underutilized spaces that can be used for gardening. In other words, there are lots of opportunities. But why it is in...
Invisible logic of the city #9
Downtown Singapore in 1966/1967 © Argentem “This is because it is transforming itself into a new kind of city—- the Global City……….. But once you see Singapore as a Global City the problem of hinterland becomes unimportant because for a Global City the world is its hinterland” —-S.Rajaratnam delivered a speech at Singapore Press Club titled “Singapore:...
Invisible logic of the city #8
Chinatown © STB Digital Library “It is pure intention: if there is chaos, it is authored chaos; if it is ugly, it is designed ugliness; if it is absurd, it is willed absurdity” —Rem Koolhaas’ description of urban development in Singapore taken from his essay Singapore Songlines This is part of a series titled: Invisible logic of...