ACROSS THE DIVIDE : DISCOURSE IN VARIOUS FORMS THAT BRIDGED THE GORGE BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PRACTICES IN SINGAPORE SINCE 1960S

Abstract

When Singapore first gained independence in 1965, the architectural politics and discourse related to urban issue of this period precipitated change in the roles of architects. During the course of urban planning and architectural development in Singapore, Singapore’s physical landscape was influenced by government policy and various intellectual discourses stimulated by private architects. Architectural politics and discourses related to urban issues of this period were relatively sensitive. The private architects actively engaged with critical issues of urban development in Singapore, which led to direct criticism of government policies and ideals. It generated an intense relationship between the public architects from government agencies and the private architecture practitioners.The Singapore physical development from 1960 onwards has seen the emergence of various new large-scale urban projects and the government formed various public agencies primarily task with the physical development of an early independence Singapore. The public agencies gained monopoly control over the planning and development of the Singapore physical scene and continued to generate several planning programs to meet the state aspiration. The architects in the private practice were restricted to apply their talents in small private housing and commercial projects. There were various instances that drawn apart the architecture practices and formed bifurcation between the private and public architects.Over the course of physical development in Singapore, the private architects have been actively acting to gain direct participation in various major public development projects. The activities and discourse in various forms brought up by the private architects hinged on the intention to bridge the gorge between the public and private sectors. The various forms of discourse such as open debates, dialogues, research group and publications; have been important to construct an elaborate relationship between the public and private sectors. Various published articles, intellectual dialogues and interviews that were related to the growth of the architecture profession in Singapore, offered substantial measurement to evaluate the issues that confronting a developing nation and to inspect the ambivalence of the relationship between the public and private sectors. This research has to include more than the people that are involved, the constructive dialogues that generated, it has to also understand the development of Singapore physical landscape and the architecture profession as a whole that influence the mutual relationship between the public and the private architecture practices.