Speculations
EDITORS
Bobby Wong
PUBLISHER
Centre for Advanced Studies in Architecture (CASA), Department of Architecture, National University of Singapore
PUBLISHED DATE
2011
ISSN
978-981-08-9457-3
The projects on exhibit follow 4 directions:
Anticipating the obsoletion of heavy industries, this series of projects speculate the takeover of Jurong industrial area by Jurong Bird Park. A new typology of infrastructures, bird aviaries, is propagated over the landscape, resulting in hybrid industries. Nature’s seizure appears sinister as the masterplan seeks to facilitate a more effective mode of exploitation and consumption.
Tr(ASH) City at Pulau Semakau
Responding to fears engendered by climate change, consumption patterns and drastic population growth, Tr(ASH) City attempts to combine landfills and habitable spaces. Ash resulting from the incineration of waste is stored in colossal silos rising over a submerged Pulau Semakau. The silos act as structural foundations upon which a new city is to be built. This series of projects speculate the maximisation of limited resources and the emergence of society adapting to its new environment.
Kafka’s Kukup
This project imagines the construction of a penal colony on Pulau Kukup, Johor Bahru. The prison attempts to reform inmates through the replanting of mangroves, following which new consumption programmes co-opts the structures left behind by the prison. Kafka’s Kukup narrates the struggle and contradictions of control, inspired by Franz Kafka’s “The Castle”.
Unearthing the historical context of St John’s Island as a quarantine station during colonial administration, Pyron 7719 proposes a vaccine laboratory – where humans serve as test subjects. The project’s controversial endeavour tests the moral judgement of its observers as a small group is seemingly sacrificed for the greater good of society.