View from Singapore: Under economic pressure from other Asian cities, Singapore is reinventing itself for the twenty-first century - architectural firms

Will Singapore survive for another hundred years? It is a question occasionally posed by my acquaintances in South-East Asia. When I consider cities in Asia which were formerly seats of power -- cities such as Angkor in Cambodia (802-1431), Ayuthaya in Thailand (1351-1767), and Fatehpur Sikri in India (1570-1585), I am reminded that some of the greatest centres of economic potency and cultural achievement have fallen victim to changes in circumstances beyond their control.

By any account Singapore is now considered to be a global city. Saskia Sassen suggests that in certain service industries, currency dealing for example, Singapore serves a global city function. (1) And in 'A new mapping of the world for the new millennium', researchers at the Department of Geography at Loughborough University UK, place it among the 10 so-called 'Alpha cities in the world in terms of global service space'. (2)

But its operating costs and manpower costs are no longer competitive with places like the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in southern China, and its manufacturing industries are 'hollowing out'. In short, Singapore must once again reinvent itself as it did upon becoming an independent nation state.

On 4 December 2001 plans were revealed for one-north -- a new 'urban quarter' to cultivate biomedical research and research-driven industries. The master planner for one-north is London-based Zaha Hadid Architects who were selected in an international competition. The masterplan covers 190 hectares of land, some of which was formerly British military bases and officers' housing. Over the coming years, the area will become home to an anticipated 50 000 new residents, and accommodate 70 000 workers.

It is in the nature of a global city that the skyline is punctuated by the signature architecture of a coterie of so-called 'global architects', a significant number of whom are located in London, New York and Tokyo. Singapore's new Supreme Court Building designed by Foster & Partners was unveiled to the public on 5 January 2002. The nine-storey rectangular building accommodates 27 courtrooms and is topped by a two-storey structure in the form of a steel-clad 'discus' housing the Court of Appeal. The new Court, which will be completed by 2004, is intended to boost Singapore's international standing as a dispute resolution centre in intellectual property, corporate finance, biotechnology and World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements.

Meanwhile the Singapore National Library Building, dubbed a 'library for the twenty-first century', designed by Ken Yeang, started on site in October 2001. It has undergone some changes since Yeang won the international design competition in 1999, but essentially it remains true to the original concept.

Curiously, not one architect in Singapore has yet been able to make it into the global architecture league to the same extent as Malaysia's Yeang. But there are a number of individuals and firms who are perhaps on the verge of doing so. Architect William Lim, the doyen of Singapore practice William Lim Associates defines a 'global' architect, in the Singapore context, as one who is operating internationally at the invitation of foreign clients or developers and not hanging on to the coat-tails of a Singapore developer. By Lim's definition Australian architect Kerry Hill, the principal of Kerry Hill Architects, who has been based in Singapore since 1979, might be considered a global architect, for the practice is currently building and designing projects in Bhutan, India, Dubai, Sri Lanka, Canada, Australia and Japan. Kerry Hill is still on a high after being presented with an Aga Khan Award for the Datai Hotel in Langkawi, Malaysia (AR November 2001, p62).

One of the younger firms which is beginning to stir interest internationally is SCDA Architects, whose principal is Yale graduate Chan Soo Khian. The architectural language of Chan (see AR July 2001, p50) has sustained a three-month long debate in the Singapore Architect (SA) and The Straits Times, on a regional (tropical) architectural language. The debate was initiated by a workshop led by Chan in the Department of Architecture at the National University of Singapore and fuelled by an editorial in the SA penned by respected architect Tay Kheng Soon. Tay, who is an advocate of a tropical modern architectural language of 'line, edge, mesh and shade', takes exception to Chan's pursuit of a language of 'space, light, structure and surfaces (implying planes)'. Tay argues vehemently that local architects have to reject 'the facile and supine recourse to European design baggage'. Chan responds that 'this is a continuing process concerned with dealing with the tropical climate with new structural and formal device s'. Chan is currently building in Shanghai, New Delhi and New York while Tay is working on projects in Ho Chi Minh City and Malacca.

Two other young firms on the verge of international acclaim are WOHA Architects -- Wong Mun Summ and Richard Hassell, and KNTA Architects -- Tan Kay Ngee and Tan Teck Kiam. In 1999 WOHA won the International Award of the Australian Institute of Architects for their Emerald Hill House and a year later emerged as winners in an international competition for Boulevard and Stadium MRT stations in Singapore. Their recent Maple Avenue House is indicative of the quality of their work. In December 2000, KNTA were the winners, in association with Edward Cullinan Architects, of an international competition for the design of the Singapore Management University (SMU) campus masterplan. KNTA who have offices in London and Singapore have projects in Tokyo, Sydney and Seattle.