(Re)connections

Exploring the possibility of connections – material and imagined – across space and time.

About (Re)connections

When Nanyang University was established in the 1950s, a monumental gateway arch was erected to mark the entrance into Singapore’s first Chinese university. This gateway stood gloriously tall among the rolling landscape of secondary forests and small kampungs scattered around Jurong at that time, evoking feelings of pride and surreal excitement among its students. With the redevelopment of the Jurong area starting from the 1980s and the extension of the Pan Island Expressway (PIE), the university grounds have been reconfigured. Coupled with the restructuring of the university to become Nanyang Technological University (NTU), the gateway to the former Nanyang University no longer serves as the grand entrance into the university. Instead, it is now surrounded by high rise apartments, low rise homes and community facilities of the Yunnan neighborhood in Jurong West. However, its social significance and symbolism have not faded, but only grown over the years.

So central is the arch to the identity of university that when NTU was established in the 1990s, a replica of the gateway arch within the campus grounds was commissioned and built. And in 1998, the original arch located in Yunnan Park at Jurong West Street 93 was gazetted as a National Monument.

The (dis)location of the historical gateway arch issues a fascinating planning and design challenge. Should a connection be established between the original and historical gateway arch and NTU? How should these connections look like? How can the design show sensitivity towards, respect and thoughtfulness for the multiple stakeholders and the rich layers of history?

This studio project explores the possibility of a connection – material and imagined – across space and time.

(Re)connections 1

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