THE FLOATING CITY : PROPOSAL FOR DEVELOPMENT OF THE MARINA SOUTH FINANCIAL AND BUSINESS DISTRICT

Abstract

The thesis develops the Marina South Finance and Business District as a flooded quarter with the introduction of water to divide the land into parcels, resulting in an eventual increase in combined surface area, and the manifestation of a new typology of skyscrapers as a response to the transformed landscape. It is a discussion of the imminent stoppage of supply of sand from our neighbouring countries to Singapore. To step ahead of this threat, Singapore carries out a self-consuming act: digging into one’s own soil reserves for the continuation of the nation’s physical growth in the form of land reclamation. The experiment takes place at Marina South, where a system of subtraction of earth takes place on the pancake-flat reclaimed site to form canals, in the process enlarging the Marina Bay freshwater reserves and parceling up the land into plots of different shapes and sizes. The system maintains a steady and efficient workflow, achieving the final network of water bodies in phrases, in synch with the development of building blocks by zones. The fill material is then strategically redistributed and re-used, resulting in an increase in the absolute national size and usable space of Singapore. A varied hydrological urban situation with an entirely new order and modus operandi has been carved out. The new urban response to the changed landscape called for an inversion of the typical skyscraper model, to have top-heavy forms with much smaller foot prints, stitching a canopy with their masses. The exterior in between the buildings is interiorized with the shade and enclosure created, while the interior of the buildings are exteriorized in their layered exposure to the elements. The eventual form would be more reflective of Singapore’s hydrological and tropical condition.