Dear SILA members and friends,
Welcome to another edition of SILA's newsletter!
In this special edition, we share a collection of perspectives from students of landscape architecture. The essays were a result of student output from a History & Theory module taught at the National University of Singapore (NUS) in the Bachelor of Landscape Architecture Programme and were curated by tutors of the module, Dr Ervine Lin and Ruen Qing Wong.
The essays themselves were designed to be a self-reflective piece for each individual student as they attempted to bridge design theory and history with an actual landscape. Students were first asked to instinctively select a piece of landscape in Singapore of personal significance to be shared at the start of the semester while the essays themselves were written at the end of the semester as a tool to enable them to read and analyse landscapes from a different perspective.
Many of these sites are synonymous with Singapore as a Global City. In Our Forged Identity, Cia Jiajin explores the theme of identity at Marina Bay. Chai Xin Yi offers her Reflections on Jewel Changi Airport and Cleon Lai Yi Hui ponders the beauty of artificiality in Gardens by the Bay: The Domed Conservatories as Artificial Works of Nature. Mariam Yusuf Rajkotwala examines the relationship between architecture and landscape at Oasia Downtown Hotel in Grey over Green, Green over Grey, while Lai Woei Qing explores the Meaning of HDB Landscapes.
Most of these sites are places that make us feel at home. Azzah Atifah embarks on a journey through Punggol Promenade: A Present from the Past. A jog through Labrador Park prompts Ruozhu Xu to reflect on A Meaningful Landscape: Not a Matter of Size or Complexity. Vince Toh invites us to follow his Reflections on Rower's Bay Park. A revisit to the Tiger Balm Gardens inspires Anderson Wong in Uncovering the Historical Landscape of Haw Par Villa. Cynthia Wee contemplates “24 Hours in Singapore” by artist Baet Yeok Kuan in Mirrored Worlds, Dualism in Landscape. In Khoo Teck Puat Hospital: A Communal Space, Jeffery Lok Yong Quan shares why a hospital is the go-to spot for him and his friends.
We hope you enjoy reading from the young voices in our growing community and be reminded that landscapes can hold much more intrinsic value, meaning and depth than most would expect.
Srilalitha Gopalakrishnan
President
Singapore Institute of Landscape Architects