Archifest breaks new ground

FOR the first time in its 17-year history, the Singapore Archifest is dispersing its exhibitions, installations and programmes across an entire precinct instead of convening in a centralised venue. The annual festival celebrating architecture and the built environment has embraced Kampong Glam as its precinct of choice this year. 

It has erected several beautiful installations across the bustling area. They include a series of intricate shelters displaying poetic lines that contemplate the human journey from life to death; an open-air communal space boasting interconnected tables in the charming shape of dulangs (or round food trays); and a meeting place set around a cluster of trees adorned with strips of colourful cloth-like maypoles. 

Festival director Calvin Chua says: “We’ve observed the positive impact on the neighbourhood when a festival is decentralised and embedded within neighbourhoods. It allows for more public participation and enlivens urban public spaces… We chose Kampong Glam because it is very much the representative ‘centre’ of Singapore in our nation’s history as an important trade hub, and has since been rejuvenated in modern day to become a hip tourist destination that attracts travellers from all over.”