This project is for a competition to design an Indian heritage museum in Singapore.
The aim of the concept was to create a building that houses all aspects of the brief with a unique look quoting from Indian culture. One good example is the main facade which has stairs connecting the different levels. These stairs are ordered in such a way that they refer to the famously stepped wells of Rajasthan in India. A local Singaporean Indian artist was asked to do the mural painting.​
PLACEMAKING
THE MEMORY BANK
SINGAPORE [SG]
As a settlement Singapore's history goes back to the 3rd century, of which some archeological and written proof exists.
In 1819, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles negotiated a treaty whereby Johor allowed the British to locate a trading port on the island, leading to the establishment of the British colony of Singapore. Again this history can only be read in books or seen in musea.
In 1965 Singapore became independent and known as the Republic of Singapore. There is still living proof of this important point in history. Older people, their stories can stil be heard.
All we need to do is ask & listen!
Is the collection point of stories from the early days of our republic and current stories. An installation showing a curated selection of 50 to 100 historical & present photos and their fascinating stories told by the owners of the photos.
The Memory Bank will be a meeting place, with benches, for old and young, sharing stories from the old days and dreaming about the future.
Besides viewing and listening to stories, The Memory Bank is also the place to share and collect stories. The installation has a locked collection point where you can leave a photo of your favourite memory which you can write down in 'the memory book'.
Alternatively you can send an email with a scanned version of the photo.
The Memory Bank will physically be located in Tampines, but online it will be a bank for all memories in & of Singapore.
We will be conducting field work finding people, old & young, to ask them about their favourite photo of Singapore. We will sit down with them and ask them about the photo to try and find out the story behind the picture.
After careful selection and in dialogue with the government of Singapore, the best and most suitable photos will be exhibited in The Memory Bank.
The photos will be scanned by us and printed in high definition on A4 size 'Diasec'. The photo will be sandwiched between a substrate- and acrylic panel by a professional company, and mounted on the wall and ceiling.
The photos and their stories will be stored online.
By aiming the camera of your mobile device at a QR-code, visible underneath each photo, a URL will open and the recording will start to play on your device.
