d+a | Issue 116 • Jun/July 2020

13 applied urban research and experiment, and for its pure bold modernist aesthetics. “Many modern buildings have high architectural and design significance where their striking forms incorporate layers of well- integrated planning, design and construction and engineering innovation,” points out Jonathan Poh, another foundingmember of the Docomomo- Sg Working Group-In-Progress and Founder and Principal Architect at Provolk Architects. “Significant post-independence modern buildings in Singapore can be considered the nation’s best-designed buildings and thus are important to be conserved.” Take Jurong Town Hall, built in 1974, for example. Its conservation and refurbishment recovered the spirit of its original design and purpose, and reprised its symbolic role in Singapore’s industrialisation drive. “Consequently, modernist buildings offer subsequent generations of Singaporeans the chance to study the creative history of our society,” explains Mok Wei Wei, Managing Director of W Architects and a long-time champion of this issue. Echoing his point is TiahNan Chyuan, Director of cross-disciplinary design practice FARM, “They are like time capsules for future generations to revisit and experience the creativity and audacity of the 1960s.” Not to be overlooked either is how they accrued urban significance by marrying extreme urban intensification with high-quality living AND THE OSCAR GOES TO… A key component to a modern building’s survival is buy-in from the local community, especially the lifestyle industries. One of the biggest success stories is The Projector, an indie cinema that doubles up as an event space. Its founder Karen Tan (who is also a co-founder of the Docomomo-Sg Working Group-In- Progress) shares her thoughts on how she has given Golden Mile Tower a new lease of life. “The Projector started from our work at Pocket Projects, which is a creative development consultancy focused on adaptive reuse. Our approach has always been to respond to what is there. We think it is key to look at both the architectural as well as programmatic aspects; the hardware and software have to work together. As an example, our biggest intervention on day one was to put a stage in the Redrum room, replacing half the seats with bean bags and wooden terraces. The idea was to evoke a creative response from the audience. This has been immensely successful, as people have been inspired and emboldened to do a variety of events ranging from pole dance competitions, to experimental music gigs and meditation sessions. To ensure The Projector feels like it has grown into the building, rather than copy-pasted, changes were introduced gradually. The box office was only added three years after we opened, and we kept existing, old elements like the 1970s seats and signage on the doors to give people a sense of time and place. The Projector was also part of a larger experiment in gradual adaptive reuse of a large complex. We wanted to see if we could seed an ongoing change in the building by clustering complementary uses that could then grow and evolve the building over time. For instance, architecture studio Zarch Collaboratives opened a gallery below us, and The Great Escape bar popped up in our carpark. Unfortunately, the building management is very restrictive, and so that put paid to lot of other ideas people had. The main challenge remains to get this forgotten modernist building back on the public radar and invite people back into our spaces to re-imagine new uses within. Hence, The Projector’s spaces are deliberately flexible and ‘un-polished’. This is key to making people feel relaxed and at home, where they can just be themselves, and is in line with our ethos of inclusivity and independence. We even get tourists who come to see an alternative side to Singapore.” 1. Golden Mile Complex / 2. Tiong Bahru Estate 2