SYMBOLISM OF TALL BUILDINGS IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

Tall buildings are a significant part of every urban population’s life. It is a necessity for every modern city to signify their prosperity, thriving economy and establish their presence and status in the ever competitive international prestige. The imageability of a tall building can complement its strength of symbolism to reach further and impact deeper into its audiences for them to awe and admire at the beauty and implicit symbols of the tall building. This paper embodies a study in which 62 Singapore citizens revealed their attitudes towards tall building and opinions towards the symbolism of tall buildings in Singapore and also studies the influencing facets of an imageable and iconic building.

The opinions obtained through this study proposed that tall buildings in Singapore vastly symbolise “prestige, affluence and power”. A high percentage of the respondents chose to work in high-rise buildings for its underlying symbolism of better job prestige and status and many viewed skyline with prominent tall buildings to be an economically affluence and advanced city. The height factor was initially postulated to be the predominant factor in rendering a building with national significance in Singapore. Instead, results from this study showed that one-of-a-kind architectural façade design is the main feature responsible for making a building impressionable and, thus, a national emblem.