WATERLOO ARTS VILLAGE

Abstract

This thesis began as an urban study response to the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) plans to ‘enliven the Bras Basah Bugis area to bring fresh exuberance and youthful energy to the area’ as well as the designation of Waterloo Street as the Arts Belt. The thesis aims to design a space for the local art community to thrive in an urban environment. Some of the key strategies proposed are the introduction of a live-in creative community comprising of artist and students as well as spaces that will facilitate the activities of the creative community. Preliminary studies suggest that while there are interesting activities happening along the Arts Belt, many are hidden from the public eye and left unknown. Hence, the Arts Belt appears seemingly uninteresting. The proposed Waterloo Arts Village concept will introduce a circulation spine that will link together several buildings and make them more accessible to the public. The adaptive reuse of these buildings will bring artist-in-residence as well as art students from the vicinity into the complex to form an art community. Activities common to the artist and students will have a spill over effect onto the streets creating a more vibrant street life and give the arts village a stronger identity. The architectural design aims to provide space for social gatherings between artists and public and provides space for the artists to work, live and exhibit. The arts village is envisioned as a space that will attract, nurture and sustain the creative community and act as a catalyst for future redevelopment along the Arts Belt. The Waterloo Arts Village plays a pivotal role in a micro master plan proposal that will allow better physical connection along the Arts Belt via a pedestrian network and the removal of internal boundary walls; thus creating a well integrated art enclave. The Waterloo Arts Village forms the entrance that will attract and channel people into the Arts Belt.