058_landscape of fear

I accidentally found this interesting place some time ago while I was in a cab from somewhere back to my office. The walkway in the picture is no different from any others but it is made uncommon by its location. It cuts through a network of underground service lines including dangerous ones such as high voltage cables and gas pipes. Walking along this walkway probably gives you a chill down the spine like walking through a guaranteed safe path on a battlefield filled with landmines. Stepping out of it and then, boom!, you are gone.

057_HDB LUP

I have earlier written about HDB (public housing by Housing & Development Board) in 009_public housing. Space planning and outlook of the flats differ from each other depending on their generations. According to HDB, “some HDB blocks built before 1990 were not provided with 100% access to lift to meet demands for privacy”. The Lift Upgrading Program (LUP) is initiated by HDB to improve such condition. It is quite interesting to see how an existing building can be adapted to fit in a new element that was not designed for. Read more about LUP at http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10208p.nsf/WPDis/Lift%20Upgrading%20ProgrammeOverview?OpenDocument

056_short flight

Regulation is regulation. You don’t question or argue with regulation.

This is probably one of the shortest handrails in the world.

055_SDPC

It is considered an offence to bring a pack of duty-unpaid cigarettes into Singapore. To differentiate, with effect from 1 January 2009, all duty-paid cigarettes sold in Singapore will be marked with the letters SDPC on every individual stick. A packet of cigarettes without the marking will cost the offender a fine of S$500. SDPC stands for, no prizes for guessing, Singapore Duty-Paid Cigarettes.

054_F1’s first night race

The World’s first F1 night race will take place in Singapore on 28th September 08 (tomorrow) at 20:00 local time. Since the race begins at night, lighting is a key factor to ensure safety of drivers. The system, realised by Italian-based Valerio Maioli SpA, requires about 3000 lux to illuminate the circuit within the city’s Marina Bay area up to 4 times brighter than a typical stadium. This has resulted in a pretty interesting urban phenomenon – Illuminating City.

053_ interiorisation of urban space_04

Another great example on conversion of open-air urban realm into interior space is Bugis Junction. Situated above Bugis MRT Station, the shopping mall is Singapore’s first glass-covered, air-conditioned shopping streets. Existing shophouses with their five-foot ways (read about five-foot way on post #036) are preserved and modified by the demands of capitalism. For more information, visit http://www.bugisjunction-mall.com.sg.

052_line dance

According to Wikipedia, a line dance is choreographed dance with a repeated sequence of steps in which a group of people dance in one or more lines, all facing the same direction, and executing the steps at the same time. (Refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_dance) Line dancing has a wild-wild-west image because it was danced predominantly to country-western music in its early days. To date, line dancing has become more popular with a wider range of music. There are several groups of line dancing society (or association or whatever) in Singapore. All you have to do are to browse their websites, download dance step sheets, practice a bit, check the venue for the next gathering and you are good to go. In May 2002, Singapore held a Guinness World Records as World’s Largest Country Line Dance with 11,967 line dancers. The record was broken in December of the same year by Hong Kong.

051_tunnel tv

More and more of space are being utilised for commercial purpose. (See 046_commercialisation of urban space) SMRT, a train service provider in Singapore, has offered a new media called Tunnel TV during a ride between Newton and Orchard MRT stations. Tunnel TV composes of 360 LED panels mounted on the tunnel wall synchronising with the train speed to create moving images. (Read more about Tunnel TV at http://www.smrtmedia.com.sg/enews/Feb/index.htm)

050_the colonnade

The late American architect Paul Rudolph designed a few buildings in Singapore. Among them is the Colonnade, one of a handful of buildings with interesting design here in Singapore. Completed in the year 1988, the 28-storey apartment block still looks contemporary, as if it was just designed by some young architects with program/data-driven design approach.