taspublications
- Jun 12, 2012
- 1 min read

TAS Debate 2012 – “Contemporary Singapore Architecture Does Not Exist”

Debate motion:

“Contemporary Singapore Architecture Does Not Exist”

When tackling contemporary urban issues, one fundamental challenge is that Singapore is both a global city and a nation-state. Being a global city provides opportunities and funding to open up important civil and social spaces that were once closed. Yet the rush to brand Singapore as a global city and match cultural capitals like London and New York has also led to international or even ‘Western’ orientations that may often seem disjunctured from the concepts of urban locales. The notion of contemporary Singapore architecture is thus both celebrated and contested.

At the heart of the issue is the question of identity. Will the constant flux and reinventing of Singapore’s built environment result in a contemporary Singapore where a dynamic interplay of ‘global’ with ‘local’ precipitates a multicultural city? Or will it result in a timid, mix-and-match landscape that creates an interchangeable global city that has no individual identity not place attachment? Is hybridity, with the preservation of traditional culture in modern design forms, the way forward for architects shaping the future of Singapore’s landscape?

The Speakers: