BAYWATCH SINGAPURA: INCUBATING ELYSIUM

Abstract

This dissertation hypothesizes that the architecture of Singapore’s first reclaimed coast initiated subsequent massive urban change. The East Coast is not just a sleepy coastal residential estate but also the urban incubator of modern Singapore. Singapore is today the “City in a Garden” because of meticulous architectural experimentation, social reorganization and bioengineering conducted along a 15km stretch of sandy bays. Through detailed historical analysis and first hand investigations of the coast as a singular mega structure, the post-­‐independence Singaporean spheres of influence can be delineated into the following frameworks: remaking living environments, urban infrastructure, lifestyle creation and spatial products of social surveillance. The reclaimed coast has provided the urban theory upon which the rest of modern Singapore today is designed. By understanding the true motivations of East Coast from the time of its inception till today, one attains a better understanding of how design, state, social security and territory go hand in hand in Singapore. The dissertation

concludes with a discussion on how the continued pursuit of such ends may result in drastic repercussions and possible eventual backlash.