where thoughts materialise.

So we're into the sixth version of my blog after the last version hung around for a year or so.

Now, a bit of info on this image. This photo was taken one lovely spring afternoon, featuring the iconic Old Well from the UNC Chapel Hill campus. I would like to think of this image as a tribute to my time in UNC Chapel Hill, the awesome friends I made and the memories I now hold dear.

A milestone in my life indeed.

I've dropped the tagboard cos its useless and taking eons to load. But thanks to Angela who helped me set it up, I still do like and will miss the pink interface.

So yeah, it's the sixth one you fellas!

Yours.

27 April 2008

you know you miss my older entries

October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

As an urban geographer, let me induldge in this.

What I've always been thinking about since the new downtown was conceived is the idea of social justice, which I have dealt with in part in my entry on the I/on Orchard development. The challenge, I've always thought, is to make sure that no portion of society is left out - that a development is not class-biased and does not become a site of exclusion for those who cannot afford it.

But my thoughts have somewhat tweaked itself. The idea(l) for an urban development to be class-free will always, sad to say, remain an ideal. Just as the Singapore is a stratified society as all modern capitalistic societies are, developments will be such as well. However, the beauty in my opinion is, the class divide within Singapore is not as bad or wide as some might make them up to be and developments with some clever planning can bring these stratas together in an urban party of citizens. And to that extent, I feel the Esplanade has done that resonably well - it is neither a white elephant nor a highly class-biased destination.

So my eyes have been on the Sands development (hereafter MBS), being the major headturner-to-be, sitting on, in my opinion, the most prime piece of land in Singapore.

I feel that one best way to marry classes in a single urban development is to not built a city within a city, meaning a development has to adopt an attitude of creating a connective node through integrating open spaces seamlessly from its architecture. Non-gated. And a waterfront simply makes that job easier since the built environment is provided with a very good reason to simply spill into an expanse of nature.

The idea of piazzas is hence a crucial point of exchange, reconciling citizens from all walks of life. I've seen that for myself in Italy, where piazzas are people magnets of good urban energy. And to make sure such a space attracts a good representation of Singaporeans, the hardware has to be a right balance of landscaping, events and facilities.

When I saw Safdie's thoughts on designing MBS in an exhibition at the National Library, I was glad his vision was sane. He created an Events Piazza, which is the large space with the step-like features towards the water body. Though less impressive than the ones I've seen in Italy, it is nontheless an effort to make MBS more approachable to all.

So I turned my eyes to the S/entosa IR, and I am very glad at what I saw.

Though not much details have been released on the project, the images seem to suggest that it is relatively non-gated with a Festival Walk which acts as a linear piazza in this case.

See how it tries not to build just one imposing ubergrand superstructure? Instead, it is dotted with developments of different scales and a lot of walking space in between. But much remains to be seen for this development lah. I just like how lush the place is designed to be. Tonnes of trees and interweaving water bodies. Very nice.

In conclusion, I do not think that an entirely class-free development can ever be achieved. It is how architects and the management negotiate the use of land to cater to needs of the varying segments of society that is pertinent in developments to come. That, I am sure, can be achieved with creativity and a passion that goes beyond money-making, but to love and serve all.

nimgnoy let the night fall at 12:11 PM

1 comments

1 Comments:

At 11:43 PM, Anonymous said...: Geez...
you're such an urban planner shiz

H