CULTURAL SUSTAINABILITY IN SINGAPORE THROUGH STUDIES ON A MODERN KAMPONG HOUSE

Abstract

Issues on sustainability in architecture have been focusing on techno-centric approaches in dealing with environmental concerns, as though that is the only constituting factor to architectural sustainability. Similarly in Singapore, sustainability in architecture is tuned in the same direction with perhaps apparent concerns in the economic sense; the social dimension to sustainability is often overlooked.

The dissertation seeks to contribute to the knowledge of the socio-cultural dimension in architectural sustainability through the case study of a landed residential dwelling, 26 Cable Road House, in Singapore that is termed as a “modern kampong house”. Reinterpretation of the traditional dwelling typology would be examined by understanding the contemporary execution in spatial organization, climatic responsiveness, building materials and tectonics, scale, as well as its expression through aesthetics in relation to its precedent, the traditional Kampong house typology.

The outcome of the case study would address how cultural issues are comprehended in architecture in Singapore and the dissertation concludes with a critical assessment on whether the approach in negotiating culture in architecture in Singapore is sustainable.