Singapore Architecture

In 2001, Apple issued its Retail Store Manifesto, proclaiming its ambition to use retail to convince people that “Macintosh offers a much simpler, richer, and more human-centered computing experience” despite retail stores being unpopular among technology companies at the time. This vision has shaped Apple’s unique approach to retail, transforming its stores into environments beyond shopping. Since the inception of its first store, Apple has redefined the retail experience, emphasizing customer engagement and education and creating a community around its products. The stores “have become the embodiment of the Apple lifestyle.” This is done through products displayed on tables for easy access and mid-height furniture clusters in an open plan to foster interaction and visual orientation within the more prominent “Apple community.”

DP Architects group, in collaboration with Kingsmen Exhibits, unveiled the Singapore Pavilion design for the Expo Osaka 2025. The concept centers around the tagline ”Where dreams take shape,” aiming to offer an insight into the country’s culture and impactful innovations. The pavilion, taking the shape of a 17-meter-high sphere clad in recycled disks, creates a multi-sensorial exhibition showcasing actions and innovations that encourage a more sustainable future.

Nestled in the heart of Southeast Asia, Singapore stands as a beacon of sustainable urbanization. According to the 2016 Green City Index, the city-state of Singapore was the greenest city in Asia at one point. Renowned as the “City in a Garden,” Singapore has intertwined lush greenery, verdant parks, and new environmental policies into its urban fabric/ After gaining independence in 1965, the city-state stands as a testament to how urban life can integrate with nature.

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Safdie Architects has officially opened the new campus headquarters for Surbana Jurong, Singapore’s leading architecture, urban design, and infrastructure firm. The project expands Safdie Architects’ vision of 'for everyone a garden' into the workplace with a design that draws on the tranquility of the site’s previously undeveloped natural setting to foster shared moments of engagement and creativity. Achieving Green Mark (Super Low Energy) certification, the campus is the flagship development of the emerging Jurong Innovation District, envisioned as the first business park set in a tropical rainforest.

Marina Bay Sands has unveiled plans for a significant expansion project to be designed by Safdie Architects, led by Moshe Safdie, the architect of the existing structure. Featuring a luxury hotel and a 15,000-seat entertainment arena, the new intervention signals a new development phase in the evolution of the iconic landmark in Singapore. Anticipated to commence construction by July 2025, the project is slated for completion by July 2029, promising an array of new amenities and facilities for visitors to enjoy.

The urban heat island effect occurs when pavements, roads, and buildings absorb the sun's heat and radiate it back, causing the temperature to increase and preventing the city from cooling down. With the growing reliance on cars in cities, the number of urban car park spaces is also increasing to accommodate buildings. This has resulted in the conversion of large areas of pervious land covered with vegetation into impervious hard surfaces for more car parks. The use of materials like asphalt, combined with the lack of shade, reflective steel surfaces of parked cars, and loss of greenery in these extensive car parks, contributes to the amplification of high-temperature effects and extreme heat events, making urban spaces uncomfortable. This transformation is impacting the climate of car-dependent regions and calls for collaborative ideas and efforts to mitigate the negative effects of rising heat.

Spanning continents and cultures, architecture-focused events serve as platforms for the gathering of diverse groups of professionals to share innovations and embark on dialogues regarding some of the most pressing matters faced by our profession. Embodying the spirit of collaboration, highlighting local cultures and practices, and fostering open debates, this year’s list of events covers a diverse range of biennales, forums, city-wide celebrations, international fairs, and awards.

Singapore’s Science Center recently hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for the new building, designed to promote STEM education in all of Singapore. Situated adjacent to the Chinese Garden MRT station, this state-of-the-art facility designed by world-renowned Zaha Hadid Architects aims to become a landmark attraction in the Jurong Lake District. The new 55,000 sqm center is expected to open around the end of 2027, coinciding with its 50^th anniversary.

Most biennales and architecture events, especially the recent ones, have influenced and shaped the dialogue of the ones that followed. In fact, during a conversation earlier this year with Lesley Lokko, the curator of the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale, she explained and affirmed that “all exhibitions […] take sustenance from those that came before”, further noting that “if I look back at the dozen or so Architecture Exhibitions over the past twenty years, each one has contributed in some way to the discourse of the next.”

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Drawing inspiration from the visual style of acclaimed director Wes Anderson, known for films like "Asteroid City" and “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” this new architectural film chronicles the homeland and landscape of Singapore. Directed by Kevin Siyuan, this is the second volume of “A Wes Anderson-ish Singapore” released. Moreover, the 20-minute documentary will be previewed on Singapore’s National Day and focuses on the urban planning, architecture, parks, and the people of Singapore.