2015 - Singapore, Singapore
Singapore Rail Corridor
Singapore, Singapore
CLIENT Urban Development Authority UDA / STATUS Competition Proposal 2015 / SIZE 24km / DESIGN TEAM Balmori Associates, MAD Architects
The model we are proposing as an approach to the treatment of the Singapore Rail Corridor is one of integration of biological and cultural models. The introduction of the past history of the site is our way of adopting a biological model and by that uniting nature and culture. In the words of Nobel Prize Winner Francois Jacob, “living things are in fact historic structures; they are really the creation of history.” When applied to the Corridor, this framework of nature, history, culture, and structure integrates the site’s underlying ecology, industrial past, surrounding communities, and unified future. Such an integrated framework has resulted in a layered concept master plan that uses flexible infrastructure to promote movement along the corridor. Similar to the trains that once moved through the site, we see the flow of community, ecology, culture, and the city along the corridor’s 24 km as central to the plan. Our concept targets the urban and ecological nodes in which these streams of the city mingle. To expand their impact, we will use strategies, including: iconic mobile culture hubs that can host performances and installations, expansive structural and botanical hybrids, and integrated mobility networks. Central to all of these strategies and the others that follow is a sense of movement. The Rail Corridor should act as a living thing—transporting people, ideas, and wildlife throughout the country to nourish the national identity and spirit.