d+a | Issue 120 • 2021

12 / MOOD BOARD / I f you have recently passed the stretch of Ophir Road parallel to Bali Lane, you would have noticed a colourful mural spanning more than 230m long and five metres tall. Created by 17 Singapore-based artists including Studio Moonchild and KILAS, the “Graffiti Hall of Fame” was commissioned by placemaking group One Kampong Gelam (OKG) and supported by the Urban Redevelopment Authority, Singapore Tourism Board and Land Transport Authority. Aside from its value as a piece of street art, it masks the noise barriers that block the construction site of the North-South Corridor expressway and acts as an additional attraction for the enclave of Kampong Glam. At thenearbySultanGate, OKGhas temporarily converted some roadside parking lots into mini parklets, occupied by furniture designed and crafted by local carpenters Roger&Sons. Their pieces are also found along Keong Saik and Jiak Chuan Road, where a similar project is being done in collaboration with LOPELAB. With a bit of imagination and effort, placemaking can seamlessly be introduced into a neighbourhood or even architectural project. Temasek Shophouse, restored by Surbana Jurong in 2019, is a co-working facility and testbed for sustainable initiatives. At the same time, it also has an inclusive public space on its ground floor for communal social activities, including a social enterprise café. Touchpoint@AMK 433 by TOUCH Community Services, designed by Freight Architects and COLOURS: Collectively Ours, saw the transformation of a public housing void deck into a seamless indoor-outdoor landscaped space that is open to the public too. Chong Keng Hua, Founding Partner of COLOURS, describes it succinctly, “Placemaking is integral to create not just beautiful and usable spaces, but also sociable, delightful and meaningful places for the users.” WE HOPE THESE EXAMPLES INSPIRE YOU TO INTRODUCE MORE COMMUNITY-ORIENTED SPACES INTO YOUR NEXT PROJECT. PLACEMAKING POSSIBILITIES WORDS LOW SHI PING / PHOTOGRAPHY URA, ODDINARY STUDIO