THE PATTERN LANGUAGE OF ORCHARD ROAD - A PLACE TO 'WATCH THE WORLD GO BY

Abstract

The study of Sense of Place acknowledges the importance of studying urban landscapes on phenomenological perspectives. This dissertation examines, through a case study on Orchard Road, its Sense of Place, specifically, one where people are attracted to visit the place for non-purposive reasons. This phenomenon was termed by architect-cum-urban planner, Alexander Christopher as 'watching-the-world-go-by'. In identifying Orchard Road's Sense of Place, a new approach - Pattern Language - was used for its ability to conceptualize PLACE to tangible physical features. From the data, it was shown that Orchard Road not only has such a sense of place, but this sense is one peculiar to Singapore. This is important because in the concept of Place, a true sense is also one, which is unique to its locality.