the symbiote
Year 2 Semester 2 | ABC Waterfronts
Supervisor: Chang Jiat Hwee
Student: Fong Shi Yuan
PREMISE
This brief called for the design of a building along Kallang River that demonstrates a crystallized pedagogy of environmental awareness and sustainability. This project is kickstarted by assessing the impacts of man's wasteful acts; urban residues of different scales. Kallang River was originally known as Kallang Basin, a highly polluted reservoir of water caused by discharge of dirty water by the waterfront communities. The frequent flooding of the basin meant that it the overflowing water often carried waste materials into the river, thus, the straightening of Kallang River was envisioned as the solution. While this strategy cleaned the river over time, the basin was gradually converted into a concrete canal devoid of activities, yet another urban residue of a larger scale. In addition, the waterfront spaces were developed into different programmes, and at times inevitably creating awkward corners and junctures due to urban planning.
The ABC waterfront presents itself as a sustainable and clean strategy to curating river banks. Yet, this draws even greater attention to developing these valuably “beautiful” spaces. The symbiotic watercraft recycling centre asserts itself as a gateway to uncovering the urban residues of urbanization, producing items of recycled construction waste. A watercraft that not only cleans and collect recyclable waste, but functions also as a mode of transport. Instead of partaking in the production of urban residues; awkward urban spaces, it’s existence attempts to remove and uncover these residual spaces.
DESIGN
This scheme introduces a watercraft based workshop complex that connects the urban residues found along the length of Kallang River. While it functions as an entrance to the ambiguous spaces camouflaged amidst the busy urban fabric, the water crafts deployed cleans the river and the peripheral residue, bringing back recyclable materials to the workshop complex.
The site was chosen based on the myriad of transport options: car, bus, train and foot, as well as its unique residual characteristic of being wedged between two main roads, a bus terminal and the river. However, these options in close proximity did not equate to accessibility as there were no direct roads that connected to the main site, in addition, the chosen site was sunken, much obscured from vision. The first intervention was to draw visual attention to the site using the watercraft storage tower, second was to add an underpass that stitches the void in the urban residue and finally free assign a higher spatial hierarchy to the underpass level.
The main focus of the project was to articulate the circulation within the site given the four points of entrances. The central plaza receives the visitors from the direction of bus terminal, while the peripheral plaza receives those from the train station and Kallang riverside park.
The difference in height levels was mitigated by the peripheral plaza that shortens the vertical climb between each levels, creating an almost undulating surface that encourages the exploration of the terrain. Further, the expression of ramps was to address site's accommodation for wheeled transport without the need to dismount.
The workshop spaces are assigned its individual stalls directly above them, with its visual relationship addressed by the undulating terrain and the tropical skylight that defines the spatial organization of the open roofscape. The climatic response in ventilation, rain-proofing and light penetration is integrated into the architectural expression of the site circulation; such as the steps, as louvres, roof eaves as balustrade, skylight as street furniture, and ramp as sunlight exposure and air ventilation.
The circulation is curated around the viewing experience of the unloading space of craft materials, the workshop space as exhibits and the stalls that reinforces the narrative of the lost value in the disposed objects we deemed as waste. Finally, the visitor can follow through to the end of the journey by taking the watercraft upstream to view the sites, and at the same time cleaning the river. By re-introducing the watercraft as a form of transport, this schemes attempts to complete and close the cycle of learning by encouraging a real benefit to our environment.