ArchShowcase 
Sumit Singhal
Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination. Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre by DP ArchitectsJune 30th, 2017 by Sumit Singhal
Article source: DP Architects The Singapore Chinese Culture Centre (SCCC) is a new civic and community institution, spearheaded by the Singapore Federation of Chinese Clans Association (SFCCA), for the promotion of traditional and contemporary Chinese arts and culture locally. The SCCC will house an array of civic and cultural facilities such as interactive exhibition spaces, visual art gallery, a multi-purpose hall, recital room, reading room, practice and rehearsal room and a 530-seat auditorium. Other functions within the centre include office spaces for SCCC, Business China, clans, agencies, 270 number of carpark lots, and some F&B components. Set in the bustling CBD along Shenton Way, with the Marina Bay skyline as a backdrop, SCCC will be located on a site adjacent to Singapore Conference Hall (SCH), a landmark gazetted as a national monument in 2010 and home to the Singapore Chinese Orchestra. Seen as a cultural hub for the Chinese community, both buildings will form a unique synergy through their programmes. Contextually sensitive, the SCCC’s design complements the architecturally striking SCH, with its coherence and clarity of programme, planning and articulation.  Evening view of SCCC Modern and contemporary with its coherence and clarity of programme, planning and articulation., Image Courtesy © DP Architects
 Aerial View of SCCC, Image Courtesy © DP Architects Sensitive to the spirit, historical influences and beliefs found in Chinese culture, the idea of ‘order’ (礼) is the foundation of SCCC’s design. Buildings in Chinese tradition have three-tier divisions – the broad base that elevates the building; the body that houses functions; and the crown that shelters the building and connects to the sky, alluding to the concept of harmony between three key elements – the sky (天), ground (地) and people (人). SCCC’s building massing is a contemporary embodiment of a similar three-tier division – the ‘base’ is an open, porous, urban living room connected to the city; the ‘body’ is the podium constituting functional programmes and the car park; while the ‘crown’ is the glass box where cultural performances and activities will be celebrated.  Colour of building is carefully orchestrated to give a subtle hint of traditional Chinese architecture – red is used for the auditorium ‘redbox’., Image Courtesy © DP Architects  Colour of building is carefully orchestrated to give a subtle hint of traditional Chinese architecture – red is used for the auditorium ‘redbox’., Image Courtesy © DP Architects Traditional Chinese architecture is also strictly symmetrical, with the most important openings positioned along the central axis. The central axis is critical in planning and hierarchy, defining the Chinese idea of ‘order’. SCCC draws its central axis from the existing SCH, running through the building as the through-block link, to the future development of Marina South. From the central axis running from the existing SCH, an 8.8m x 8.8m column grid is set out, perfectly fitting within the column setback line along Straits Boulevard and the drainage reserve line along Union Street. 32 columns support the main building, while eight structural walls define the service core at the back. The structural logic of the SCCC is thus regular and efficient, echoing the orderly modularity of traditional Chinese architecture. The main entrance of the SCCC was also inspired by this idea of a layered ‘order’ found in Chinese architecture. Main doors in Chinese architecture are positioned symmetrically on the central axis, symbolising a spatial hierarchy. The main door functions as the transition between various spaces. A contemporary interpretation of this concept in traditional Chinese architecture has been done, with the main entrance designed as a portal frame. The podium cladding above the entrance echoes the symmetry that fundamentally drives the design principles behind Chinese architecture. Colour of building is carefully orchestrated to give a subtle hint of traditional Chinese architecture – red is used for the auditorium ‘redbox’., Image Courtesy © DP Architects  A multi-purpose rooftop space, it is inspired by the classical Chinese garden landscape, designed with contemporary form and technology., Image Courtesy © DP Architects Although the principles of Chinese architecture are based on order, expressions of this order can be flexible and dynamic to suit various settings. Composition, texture, decoration and symbolism soften the building expression and counter-balances the ‘order’ of Chinese planning. The architectural expression of SCCC was further inspired by the softer composition and texture of a Chinese landscape painting. The multi-layered façade composition is a modern interpretation of Chinese paintings that typically depict the relationship between man-made buildings and nature, palaces and mountains. The SCCC’s glass box on top is seen as a crystal palace positioned atop a mountain – in this case, the podium is expressed as a ‘solid rock’. Just as buildings in Chinese paintings are portrayed with refined and delicate strokes, in deliberate contrast to the untamed wildness of the landscape, the glass box is the expression of simplicity and purity, with vertical and horizontal mullions pushed internally, and the point fix system used for the curtain wall. The point fixing is covered with vibration brass finished stainless steel, in circular dots, which recall the Chinese elements of clay tiles (瓦当) and Chinese seals (印章) found in Chinese architecture.  Roof garden comprises white cube pavilions and unique red-leaf trees planted in grid patterns to echo the modular construction of its architecture and express the convergence of nature and edifice., Image Courtesy © DP Architects  The overall architectural composition of SCCC comprising of an open ground level, a solid and textured podium and a clean glass box floating above, within which a red box containing the auditorium., Image Courtesy © DP Architects In contrast, the podium is the expression of natural creation that is richly textured and layered. Recalling rocky formations, the podium is layered to support respective floor slabs, and tilted at various angles to create texture. Vertical louvres in a modular panel are used to create a ‘bamboo look’, with knuckle-like extrusions fixed on at random intervals. Various pocket gardens and sky terraces are positioned where the ‘rock’ splits within the podium, to mimic greenery growing in rock fissures that are found in Chinese landscape paintings. To complete the look, the Sky Forest on the roof contains unique red-leaf trees that will make the landscaping within SCCC stand out as a memorable focal point within the city, when viewed from surround high-rise buildings. About DP Architects
Contact DP Architects
Tags: Singapore Category: Cultural Center |
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|||||
email
Facebook
Twitter
RSS Feed
