A STUDY OF ART DECO DETACHED HOUSES IN 1930S SINGAPORE

Abstract

The 1930s in Singapore was an exciting era. With it came the influx of automobiles, radio, cinemas, cabaret... Elements of a consumerist pop culture that infiltrated the world. At the same time, a new wave of qualified architects who started to deviate away from the classical tradition that has been predominant previously to adopt new materials and technologies that came with the era. These architects included FW Brewer, JM Jackson, HR Arbenz and locally qualified architects such as Ho Kwong Yew, C. T. Im, Chung Swee Poey. Also, Singapore’s first English trained native architects such as CY Koh and Ng Keng Siang also started a trend of training local architects overseas. Art Deco was architecturally a break from traditions. It was also symbolic of the change in the socio-cultural contexts under which it was adopted. It was the image of the modern, developing in tandem with improvement in technologies of sanitation, air conditioning, increased use of lifts, structural steel, steel windows and reinforced concrete. Of course, while socio-cultural contexts and the architects behind these architecture were important proponents of its appearance, the client also has a big part to play in choosing to adopt the Art Deco style rather than other styles that were concurrent with Art Deco. This paper seeks to study the Art Deco detached house of 1930s Singapore as a product of the intersection between such sociocultural contexts; architectural trends of the era, available technologies and materials, individual architects, and the clients.