Writers: Jennifer Eveland and Serene Tng
Behind every historic building are stories of people and connection across time. Whether it is through photography, artworks or films, youths are finding new ways to tell new and fresh stories about historic gems that make these landmarks even more precious.
In addition to the annual Architectural Heritage Award (AHA) conferred to two projects in 2019 – Temasek Shophouse at 28 Orchard Road and a residential shophouse at 105 Onan Road, the third edition of URA’s annual Architectural Heritage Season in November and December 2019 presented more heritage events and activities including a wider range of youth projects.
A key feature is the Architectural Heritage Award film series that has been presenting diverse stories of conserved buildings and national monuments. In its fifth year, the project is a collaboration between URA and the Nanyang Technological University’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information. We check out three out of the 15 films screened at The Projector on 24 Oct 2019.
Watch all the films here.
What is special about this film: Rare footages of old Singapore Produced by: Nichole Tan, G. Nanthinee Shree, Nur Afrina Zulkifli, Brenda Jansen Gazetted for conservation: March 2007 Awarded the AHA: as part of the “Fullerton Heritage” development in 2011
Screenshot of Bill Jee, a local tour guide, who shares his father’s experience of Clifford Pier in the 1930s, as taken from the student film on Clifford Pier, released as part of URA’s 2019 Architectural Heritage Season.
“My father landed on this Clifford Pier in the 1930s. Back then, the car park in front of Clifford Pier…there are plenty of hawkers to provide food and beverages for people who are working along Collyer Quay and Telok Ayer Basin,” says Bill Jee, a local tour guide.
Part of the experience of arriving and departing Singapore through Clifford Pier located in the heart of the city and working in the area for over 60 years is the street food available just around the corner.
This film remembers and celebrates the street food that has bonded people across time around this historic building.
Through vintage footage and swanky jazz, the film transports you back in time to the bustling street life around the pier. Built in 1933 by the Public Works Department, the boat services at Clifford Pier ended in 2006. This art-deco style building was then sold together with the former Customs Harbour Branch building to form part of “Fullerton Heritage”, a waterfront development today that has hotel, commercial and recreational uses.
The contemporary Asian restaurant at Clifford Pier continues the celebration of street food with its own take on hawker dishes.
What is special about this film: The heartwarming story of connection between two neighbours Produced by: Hemant Mathy, Toh Yi Shien, Christel Lim, Sophia Kuek Gazetted for conservation: October 2006
Screenshot of the interview with B Uthayachandran, the Yoga Instructor and Legal Advisor of Ramakrishna Mission, as taken from the student film on the Mission, released as part of URA’s 2019 Architectural Heritage Season.
“The Ramakrishna Mission has got a certain goal, to help as many people as it can, and to kindle the spiritual aspect of a human being. That means when they look at you, they do not look at you as Chinese or woman or anything. They look at you like you are another spirit….You and I are the same,” says B Uthayachandran, Yoga Instructor and Legal Advisor, Ramakrishna Mission.
This overarching philosophy and the belief that all religions lead to the same path is embodied in the main temple building that reflects all systems. The building combines architectural features that borrows from different religions and the Indian culture.
Located at 175 Bartley Road, the Ramakrishna Mission is a branch of the Ramakrishna Order of India, a worldwide spiritual and welfare organisation. The site consists of three buildings - the main temple building, together with a boys’ home and a cultural centre. Built in the 1950s and 1960s, the buildings feature a transition of architectural styles from Art Deco to Modern.
This spirit of openness to all cultures is shown in the film through a personal story of warm friendship fostered between the Mission and its neighbour, the Bartley Christian Church. Connected by an open canal, both have been lovingly supporting and helping each other over the years.
What is special about this film: The tender moments on what the building means on a personal level Produced by: Eryka Fontenilla, Lim Ji Ah, Chia Kiat Ming, Zachary Tia Gazetted as a national monument: February 1992 Awarded the AHA: 2003 and 2018
Screenshot of architects Li Sau Kei and Nigel Greenhill of GreenhillLi sharing their personal connection to the Asian Civilisations Museum, as taken from the student film on the Museum, released as part of URA’s 2019 Architectural Heritage Season.
“The museum for me is a kind of book that I’m writing. It is a story of my life, the life of the people around me, the life of Singapore. And every day, it is like a different chapter, that is full of colour and full of experience,” says Kennie Ting, Director, Asian Civilisations Museum, reflecting on what the museum means to him.
In addition to Kennie, the film features architects Li Sau Kei and Nigel Greenhill of GreenhillLi who developed two new contemporary wings in 2015 and a Korean docent guide, bringing across emotional responses on the significance of this landmark building to them personally and for the larger community.
Completed in 1867, this former Empress Place building is one of the key historical treasures overlooking the Singapore River. Originally planned to be used as a courthouse, it housed colonial government offices instead until the late 1980s.
The National Heritage Board took over the building and made it the Asian Civilisations Museum in 2003. Several restorations and extensions over the years have remained faithful to its original neoclassical Palladian architectural style.
Explore heritage gems in Tanjong Pagar and Bukit Pasoh with a special self-exploration guide, Backyard65, produced by the Singapore Institute of Technology. Access the guide here.
Check out 18 whimsical and quirky illustrative artworks inspired by conserved buildings by students from the School of the Arts, Singapore. These are on display at the URA Centre ground floor facing Maxwell Road.
Rediscover Kampong Gelam with new lens through photographs by over 30 students, mentored by professional photographers in a heritage photography initiative by URA in partnership National Youth Achievement Awards Young Photographers Network. The photographs were exhibited at the Malay Heritage Centre until 13 January 2020.