Catching up some, been exploring.
Fusionopolis: The purpose-built, vertical Silicon Valley of Singapore, home to new-economy sounding firms like Synerges and Connexeties (not real names, but you knowi what I mean). A rooftop 'Fitness First' with a pool. Sleek lobby with Starbucks and a smoothie bar. This is a piece of Palo Alto transplanted and put down in suburban Singapore, and it seems at least half full of Westerners.
This is part of the 1 North development, a massive master planned playground for the 'creative class', abutting the National University, Nanyang University of Technology, Singapore Polytechnic, and an old Colonial neighbourhood of former army barracks called the "Wessex Estate." Singapore's wealthiest and most expatriate-heavy neighbourhoods are not far away to the North in the Tanglin / Orchard / Bukit Timah area.
Who works here? White people with sandals, Seattle types. Lifestyle stores.
Not far away is a new mall (new as in just opened) called "The Star". It was designed by the British architectural firm Aedas and looks like a spaceship. It wouldn't be out of place in a Ridley Scott film.
Inside the sterile spaces of consumption, a live band was playing Disney movie themes. It made me think again of William Gibson's description of Singapore as 'Disneyland with a Death Penalty..."
People show up, in Fusionopolis, to business meetings in shorts and sneakers. They seem to meander around. Working remotely. Palo Alto on the phone.
The Wessex Estate
Thus my interest in the Colonial aesthetic in Singapore begins. It is already the focal point of the creative industries and creative vibe in neighbourhoods such as Little India and Chinatown and the Civic / Arts District in the city centre - shop houses (Edwardian / Victorian terraces) and grander, white buildings of British design.
Here in the suburbs, the Colonial architecture takes the form of re-habbed 'black and white houses', former Army Barracks and the homes and villas of the administrators and civil servants of the Colonial government. The very wealthy lived in grand villas / estates behind gated gardens - these are by and large still occupied by wealthy Singaporeans and expatriates, or have been torn down for bigger and taller things.
The Wessex Estate is a 50 acre (or so) forested plot of attractive but simple 'black and white' army barracks, of Art-Deco and Bauhaus (and Raj) inspired bungalows. Mainly built from the 1930s to the last days of Colonialism in the 1950s.
These are the 'service residential' that is meant to somehow feed into the larger One North development - galleries, day spas, little cutesie design stores and tiny theatre companies. I do not see a connection between this area and the high-rise sleek of Fusionopolis (which is visible over the treeline), other than the fact that they are owned by the same company (the State venture, Jurong Town Development Corporation, or JTC).
This area has clearly been purposefully saved from the wrecking ball and 'maintained' as a creative cluster and heritage zone, evoking a certain nostalgic yesteryear. The question is why, and by whom? Mini coopers and minibikes, some with British ensignia, line the streets. The streets themselves are straight out of Surrey: "Weyhill Court" and "Westbourne Lane".
Lots of British mummies in fancy cars waiting to pick their blond children up from the school, the Tanglin School, which seems judging by the cars and the security, to be very posh, and probably a 'go to school' for wealthy Britons for many years.
"Workloft at Wessex" is the name of the community of live-work (or just work?) residences here, with names such as "Centre Stage School of Art". I wonder who works here and will need to seek them out for interviews.
The whole vibe is very British, in a Raj or Caribbean sort of way. Interesting that it evokes 'other' places.
Construction seems to be encroaching though, and the yesteryear character of Wessex Estate does seem slightly precarious, as Lily Kong wrote some years back. The sheer scale of these new developments and multilane freeways makes low-density residential seem quaint and conspicuous.
Wessex Village Square
The hub of Wessex Estate is a small collection of restaurants, cafes and hang out spots. These are 'woodsy chic' and probably not a particularly cheap beer or coffee. though I need to find out.
Though these seem at first like little neighbourhood organic spaces, the 'One North' logo is displayed on the sign, showing that this, too, is part of the master plan, and owned / operated by the Jurong Town Corporation, and therefore, indirectly, the Government of Singapore. So grassroots this is not.
At 3pm, some woodsy types are hanging out, but nobody else. This must be a weekend and after work spot.
"Laurent's Cafe and Chocolate Bar." Who goes to a chocolate bar?
And an italian restaurant called Pietrasanta.
"Asian Inspired Art and Living!" says another place. Asian inspired? Or British inspired Asian Inspired British inspired etc etc
The Col Bar
The Col Bar, short for 'Colonial Bar', is a hole in wall porch with a bar attached. I found it closed during siesta time. But certainly had a mess hall, summer camp sort of feel. Some black and white community post its and notes on a message board, some Heineken beer mats strewn about. Must be enticing on a warm night with friends.
And yet.
An information wall on the back of the building told the story of the Col Bar, and, as I read, I realized this is a reconstructed building (recently) made to mimic the original, which was destroyed in 2003 for a freeway expansion.
In 1953, this was a canteen for a 2600 acre British military base, and in these dying days of the British rule, was named 'Colonial Bar.'
It was, as the info-plaque reads, a "Gastronomical Oasis for Liver and Onions and Lamb Chops."
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In 2003, the building was torn down, but SAVED!!! By the Jurong Town Development Corporation (JTC).
The Dis-Assembled Colonial Bar was Re-assembled, wooden plank by plank, on Whitchurch Road in its current location. It reads:
..."The Intrinsic Soul of the place" was re-created and replicated "close to exact."
This to me seems fascinating: A shoddy, un-impressive structure which symbolized the British military rule of Singapore, which isn't TERRIBLY historical (post war, not pre war), was carefully reconstructed to become a modern day symbol of, what? The Creative Class? And if so, why does the British Imperialism of yesterday symbolize the Creative Class in Singapore? This, I think, is the crux of my PhD. Why is it important to preserve buildings that represent a contested time in Singaporean history - one that featured violent protests and a long and difficult independence movement?
Singapore 'broke free' of its Colonial shackles in 1959 and set out to build something new - and yet here, carefully reconstructed, is the old British mess hall. Meant to attract Seattle types, their dogs, and their blond children.
Reopened 25 February, 2004
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Ersatz Colonialism. What does that say about modern Singapore? Or an aesthetic that reflects Singapore's national ideology, and neo-confucian ideals?
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