“TRACES” HISTORIC URBAN TRAILS – TRACING HISTORICAL IMPRINTS

Abstract

This thesis starts with the critique of Singapore urban revitalization that mostly driven by modernization and money oriented, which have been carried out up to the extent where urban historic cores were decimated. The site is the old KTM railway land that stretched up from Tanjong Pagar to Woodlands – Johor Bahru (Malaysia), which is likely dividing Singapore into two parts of island. Thesis projects aims to preserve the history, protect the wilderness and in the same time still retain the economic value of it within the context of Singapore. In the study of past and current condition of the site, time and progress are captured which contain historical value for more than 100 years old survival and the wilderness that untouched from the rapid development in Singapore. The project propose to preserve the railway strip land as a green corridor which allows green mode of transportation – bicycle along the path and offers a new enjoyable heritage trails found within the strip. Meanwhile as a replacement of future GFA calculation that previously had been planned under URA master plan 2008 will be pump into one point of densification at big chunk of land parcel (also part of KTM railway land) in Tanjong Pagar (terminus depot). In pursuit of this idea, the project will deals with the connectivity, tracing the historical imprints, and compactness. Architecture is no longer a product, but becomes the material of ongoing process. The wild landscape plays important role in establishing balance with nature, ecology and the needs of contemporary urban life. The space and place will constantly transformed from the inside, by movement and the perception of users.