MUSEUM FOR THE OVERSEAS CHINESE : THE CHINESE MIGRANTS IN SOUTH-EAST ASIA

Abstract

The Concern of this Investigation. In an age of museums, the cities are becoming museums themselves. If historic settings are meaningful, it is because they represent a whole set of social and cultural values. They are manifestations of the life processes of past eras. Hence, contemporary museums introduce into these contexts should offer the opportunity for exchange with the urban events, avoiding the static image synchronically seen. In this way, every context while never failing to be a diachronic being, characterized and identified by its past also present a present state of being in relation to the museum. The Museum of the Overseas Chinese is a vehicle adopted to explore the role of museum architecture in urban memory. Within the scope of the investigation, this thesis proposes to read museum architecture beyond a mere container for its historical or artistic content, but rather to address a much more assertive treatment of the museum and its urban context as one complete art form, looking essentially outward into the community that it is serving. The Site. In June 1988, the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore proposed a Concept Plan to the Chinatown area, designating it as one of Singapore's historic district. The selected site for the Museum rests on a plateau within the Ann Siang Hill / Club Street area. Lying admist an intricate area of shophouses, it is one of Singapore's remaining intact and consistently good enclave of old urban spaces and buildings. Previously overlooking into Telok Ayer basin, it holds a particular significance to the first generation of Overseas Chinese who entered Singapore mostly through the temple at the foot of this plateau. The Program. Museum of the Overseas Chinese. A museum depicting the migratory history and development of the Overseas Chinese in South-east Asia.