Rejuvenating a historic quarter
envisioning spatial practice of co-production & collaborative consumption in the neighbourhood centres of singapore
SITE
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Joo Chiat is Singapore’s first designated Heritage Town known for its multicultural heritage with a good mix of modern and traditional commerce today. This interesting site condition with its rich culture of making and the production of a myriad of products and services proved suitable grounds in guiding the establishment of a system of architectural interventions to promote co-production for social cohesion while maintaining economic vitality.
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SYSTEM
NEIGHBOURHOOD MANUFACTORY
The culture of making is envisioned to be a continuous closed-loop system in providing the necessary resources required to produce the “building blocks” of the neighbourhood.
NEIGHBOURHOOD MANUFACTORY (ENERGY)
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An energy generator produces electricity and biogas using organic wastes collected from commercial food establishments within the neighbourhood. A fleet of electric autonomous vehicles that provide ride sharing services and also collect and transport the organic waste.
NEIGHBOURHOOD MANUFACTORY (BIO-MATERIAL)
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A centralized bio-material farm and 3D-printing hub is proposed as the epicentre of the neighbourhood, where collaborations can be formed, creativity unleashed, entrepreneurship nurtured, social connections strengthened, and new communities established.
COMMUNITY FARM-MARTS
Community farm-marts are distributed across the neighbourhood, serving also as designated pick-up and drop-off points for the autonomous shuttle vehicles. Each farm-mart consists of a small-scale urban farm and food market providing fresh and healthy food products to all residents with lower cost and environmental impact.
3D-PRINT ENHANCED TACTICAL URBANISM
The community collectively recycles unwanted materials and food waste is properly harnessed from eateries and households. Existing leftover spaces such as in carparks, corridors, or void decks become potential spaces of production for alternative structural and packaging novel biomaterials. Residents then collectively make use of them to build some public amenities such as pavilions, play furniture and street furniture.
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This incessant process of engagement to co-create, co-own, and co-manage a neighbourhood of their own naturally builds up a sense of belonging and attachment within the community, thereby truly contributing to social cohesion.
Residents from all walks of life, young and old, are able to customize and product many things to change and create their own everyday environment to live, work and play in. |
