Heterogeneous Modernisms: Colonial Architecture and Modernities in Bandung (original) (raw)

Everyday Modernism: Architecture & Society in Singapore (cover, intro & TOC)

2022

Everyday Modernism: Architecture and Society in Singapore is the first comprehensive documentation of Singapore’s modern built environment. Through a series of building biographies, the book uncovers the many untold histories of the Southeast Asian city-state’s modernisation, from the rise of iconic buildings, such as the Pearl Bank Apartments, the former PUB Building and the Jurong Town Hall, to the spread of ordinary typologies like the condominium, the multi-storey car park, the podium-tower block, the flatted factory, the community centre, the standardised school building, the pedestrian overhead bridge, and the columbarium. Co-authored by Chang Jiat Hwee and Justin Zhuang, the book’s 33 essays cover the social and architectural lives of many modernist types in Singapore—from their births to their transformations in both their social perceptions and uses over time, and finally to their eventual deaths through demolitions and redevelopments. The essays are richly illustrated with some 200 archival images and drawings as well as around 100 contemporary photos by architectural photographer Darren Soh. By examining the evolution of the once exceptional into the typical and how abstract spaces become lived places, the book traces how modernism radically transformed Singapore, made its inhabitants into modern citizens and has become part of everyday life in the city. ISBN: 978-981-325-187-8

Too Young To Die: Giving New Lease of Life to Singapore’s Modernist Icons

2018

Three of Singapore’s most iconic and historically-significant buildings from the post-independence era — Pearl Bank Apartments, People’s Park Complex, and Golden Mile Complex, are at risk of collective sale and demolition. To date, no post-independence strata-titled modernist building in Singapore has received official conservation status. Given the historical and architectural significance of these buildings, the Singapore Heritage Society believes that it is timely for current land-use policies and regulatory frameworks to be re- evaluated to facilitate the conservation of modernist structures for adaptive reuse, and for private owners and developers to plan for a longer building lifespan incorporating evolving ideas for rehabilitation and regeneration.

The Import of Art: Exhibiting Singapore’s National Development through MoMA’s Visionary Architecture

ISEAS, 2017

The Import of Art: Exhibiting Singapore’s National Development through MoMA’s Visionary Architecture Ms Kathleen Ditzig spoke on “The Import of Art: Exhibiting Singapore’s National Development through MoMA’s Visionary Architecture”. She introduced the exhibition, which featured imaginative, visionary, and idealistic projects from international architects considered too revolutionary to build. Friday, 29 September 2017 – For the 14th instalment of the Arts in Southeast Asia Seminar Series, Ms Kathleen Ditzig (Assistant Curator and Manager, Curatorial and Programmes, National Museum of Singapore) spoke on “The Import of Art: Exhibiting Singapore’s National Development through MoMA’s Visionary Architecture”