When a man grows, the nation grows with him. So does the architectural development of the country. As demand and need increase, innovation and development take place. Singapore is a country with an area of 728.6 km2. It is both the state and the city. This city is located just above the equator and at the end of Malaysia. It is surrounded by water which makes the city an island. Johor strait marks the territory between Singapore and Malaysia. The main source of transport to Singapore from Malaysia is by road and railways. The main access by road is through the Johor causeway bridge and the Second link bridge. In other countries, the main means of transportation are by Sea and Airways. The main source of income is tourism. So, architectural development of Singapore is mostly based on attracting tourists.
Since Singapore is present near the equator, the climatic condition is typically tropical climate. So there will be a uniform temperature throughout the year. This will help the people to have a Uniform lifestyle, and there is no need for different techniques in buildings to adapt to the climate. Singapore city is considered an urban jungle because of the less area left for farming. Even though the city has lots of landscapes, it only has less than 1% of farmland. Architectural development has given ways to bring landscape with the built structure. This also plays a major role in maintaining a constant temperature within and outside the building. One of the best examples of such a building in Singapore is the Treehouse, Bukit Timah. This building is the world’s largest vertical garden. It also holds a place in the Guinness world record 2014 for its differently designed, sheer sized structure. The estate’s carbon footprint has shown an enormous reduction, and also it reduces the energy needed inside the building. This building is equipped with modern facilities such as heart reducing windows and proximity sensors (for lights). The Tree House also contains a Rain Spa and Aqua gym apart from the recreational swimming pool, which makes the building super cool in Singapore. This structure has 24 floors in it.
Singapore is a country with little land and no natural resources. After its independence in 1965, the British colony was transformed into a major manufacturing and financial Centre. The rapid growth from 1965 to the present time is still spoken about by many economic experts. “Lion city- A simple fishing village to a vibrant Metropolitan”. After independence, one of the major renewal projects took place in the Golden shoe area. This was envisioned as the new commercial heart of Singapore’s financial sector. In the late 1960s, due to the rapid modernisation of Singapore’s economy, the demand for commercial goods increased.
Major developments in Singapore are categorised into the division- Golden shoe district, the Singapore River and Marina Bay. Redevelopment of all three was carried out in different periods. The main developments were along the waterfront. The golden shoe district is concentrated in the financial and banking sector. It is an 80-acre plot of land located in the heart of Singapore’s central business district. The significant buildings that developed in the golden shoe district are 8 Shelton way- AXA tower, Ocean Financial Centre, Pearl Bank and so on. As we can see, all the buildings here are skyscrapers with around 20 to 50 floors each. These buildings were mainly developed for office purposes.
The Singapore River area focuses on historic buildings, busy nightlife and quality waterfront city living. It has pedestrian-friendly waterfronts and promenades. The Singapore River is divided into three parts- Boat Quay, Clarke Quay and Robertson Quay. Boat Quay has almost 100% commercial buildings, and Clarke Quay has 84% commercial buildings. Both Quay mainly caters for tourism and nightlife activities. Meanwhile, the Robertson Quay area is zoned for residential use with commercial and entertainment activities. The commercial buildings are about 17%, residential area about 37%, entertainment about 3%, Offices for about 36% and transportation and parking area 7%. Here we can see that the major development is based on tourism.
Marina Bay is one of the most attractive places in Singapore. The architectural evolution first began here in the year 2010. The first iconic building was the Marina Bay Sand, Singapore’s luxury hotel. Two years later, other developments started, such as the Casino, Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Museum of the art science, theatres, Crystal Pavilions and also Event Plazas. The development here was completely based on tourism and how to keep them entertained. The buildings here had different styles of architecture that could grab the people’s attention.
On the whole, Singapore is a country that has rapid growth in Architecture—bringing different styles and attractive elements to get people’s attention from all over the world. This development began after independence and is still going on. And also Singapore is considered one of the fastest-growing countries in the world.
Reference:
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Available at: <https://issuu.com/irwanshen/docs/research_studio_final_report_-_ura_submitted> [Accessed 8 May 2022].
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