September 2008
Singapore Institute of Architects(SIA) announces the launch of Archifest08, to be held in Singapore in the month of October 2008. A month-long festival celebrating architecture and the built environment is due to return for a second year after the successful event held for the first time last year.
Look forward to a myriad of exciting events including Exhibitions, Forum, Architours and other Fringe Events at the Archifest. Be inspired by the gallery of the year’s best architectural projects; learn from watching the presentations of a stellar line-up of world-renowned architects; get up-close with some iconic and very interesting buildings on a guide tour. The festival is a public event packed with architectural-related activities and happenings for all to participate in.
The theme “Man + Environment”provides a focus for Archifest 08, as the stage is set for us to re-examine the relationship of Architecture with the Environment. This complex relationship encompasses context, genius loci, history, culture, economics, and technology to the growing concern about the role of Architecture in the degradation of our environment. With clear and present issues facing many countries all over the world, Archifest 08 aims to present the challenges in balancing man’s needs and the environment.
Organised by Singapore Institute of Architects (SIA), Archifest 08’s main events will be featured at the festival hub at the National Library Building at Victoria Street. Archifest 08 is an initiative supported and co-funded under the Architecture and Urban Design Excellence (A•UDE)Promotion Programme by the UrbanRedevelopment Authority (URA), and sponsored by BlueScope Steel and Johnson Suisse Bathroom Solutions.
SINGAPORE ARCHIFEST 08 HIGHLIGHTS
EXHIBITIONS
6 –24 Oct 2008 / 10am –9pm/ National Library Building Plaza/ Free
The collection of exhibitions will be held at the Plaza of the National Library Building, featuringaward-winning works from various architectural competitions as well as internationally acclaimed urban designs. Exhibitions will be launched on World Architecture Day, 6 October 2008.
+9thSIA Architectural Design Awards
The most prestigious award conferred by SIA to promote and encourage distinction in architectural design, the Awards recognizes the achievements of SIA members in their pursuit of architectural excellence and motivates architects to push the boundaries with innovative solutions. The exhibition will feature a selection of the Award recipients, including the winners of the two new awards, namely ‘Best Project Below S$1 Million Construction Cost’ and ‘Building of the Year’.
+ SIA-Getz Architecture Prize
The SIA-Getz Architecture Prize for Emergent Architecture in Asia is to honour bi-annually an architect who contributes to emergent architecture in Asia. In the last decade, Asia has seen an overwhelming rate of development. This is beginning to leave an impact in architecture history now as well as in the future. It is therefore timely to recognise and promote emergent Asian architects and architecture -in a similar way that Pritzker Prize has done for the worldwide community of architects.
+ SIA-Hunter Douglas “Eco Friend Awards”
Jointly organized bySIA and Hunter Douglas, the SIA-Hunter Douglas Awardshasintroduceda new category –“Eco Friend Awards” – to promote creative use of sustainable products. The Awards invite architects to submit an environmentally friendly design that highlights the creative use of any sustainable products and building materials or innovative new applications. Winning entries will be showcased at the exhibition.
+ SIA-Philips Green Innovation Award
Jointly organized by SIA and Philips, this inaugural award aims to drive adoption of innovative sustainable design in Singapore by providing a platform for architects to showcase their innovations and recognizing industry leaders who champion innovative, yet sensible, green solutions, in their projects. Winning entries will be showcased at the exhibition.
+ Man+Environment Showcase
A specially curated showcase of the projects undertaken by the speakers at the Archifest Forum with the theme “Man + Environment”.
ARCHITOURS
3-5, 10-12, 17-19 Oct (Fri -Sun)/ Various locations
Hugely successful in 2007, the Architours will return to make architecture accessible to the general public through guided tours. Run by students of Architecture, Architours was started to promotediscourse on the influence of architecture on social surroundings as well as cultivating an appreciation for design itself. The emphasis has been placed on “reading” instead of merely looking; engaging and questioning extents of relevance and suitability of architectural typologies applied to Singapore; as well as assessing the success of how these typologies has been grafted onto our city’s landscape –studying and gaining a sense of understanding of architecture in Singapore. Architours hopes to encourage people to open their eyes and look around, observe the settings in which they exist from day to day but which they have never noticed.
Some locations Architours will be visiting include Biopolis at One-North, Wessex Estate, Lasalle College of the Arts and Marina Barrage. When the sun goes down, tours will continue to several architects’ offices to get an insight into how our built environment is conceptualized, ending off with drinks at various bars.
Morning Tour
Singapore as one of the most thoroughly planned cities in the world invited foreign world renowned Architect Zaha Hadid to propose ideas for its ambitious Bio Hub of One North. But how does one balance the ambitions of a nation state whilst preserving what is contextual and in the process create a habitable environment inspired by nature and the environment. What makes the One -north so special is the way it exploits the spatial characteristics of the existing natural landscape. Examining One-North as an organic city that grows, degenerates and regenerates itself like nature, one can admire the poetics of topography applied by Zaha Hadid. Fragmentation of the masses integrates
and connects the site with the surroundings as well as the programmatic fragments within the master plan. In essence, fragmentation as away of connectingthe new architecturewith existing site conditions.
Locations: One-north, Biopolis, Wessex Estate,Colbar
Date & Time: 3-5, 10-12, 17-19 Oct (Fri -Sun) | 0900 -1300
Pricing:$25(students) | $45 (adults)
Afternoon Tour
In the afternoon, Architourszoom in on the urban strategies for the built environment of a metropolis. Infrastructure is one of the most important aspects of city planning and transport as the lifelineof the city; they permit the city to operate by sustaining the daily activities of the city dwellers. Architours also examines how architecture provides conducive spaces for humans within a man-made construct. How does the built environment integrate itself with the existing civiclandscape, in the case of Lasalle College of the Arts with its integrated streetscape? And beyond the built environment, how are the urban open spaces treated? All these components come together to create a readable image of the Singaporean city.
Locations: Lasalle College of the Arts, Marina Barrage, Terminal 3, Crown Plaza Hotel
Date & Time: 3-5, 10-12, 17-19 Oct (Fri & Sat) | 1400-1800
Pricing: $25 (students) | $45 (adults)
Night Tour
Architours aims to bring the public behind the scenes of Singapore’s up and coming architectural offices. Bringing offices under umbrella of creative spaces, Architours attempts to exposethe inner workings of the design process, how projects are being executed and their realization. The interesting part comes into play when the public can see the totality of the design process in terms of working spaces, understanding the projects and intimate exchanges with the designers. We attempt to observe the interfaces that some of these offices have with bars and shops, to show the extension of the working life into the night life. The overall theme is to present the constructed environments that architects work in, and to highlight the working lifestyles of these creative individuals. The tours will also highlight areas like Mount Sophia which form the buzz of the personal pursuits in which creative individuals exist. Its community of bars, creative offices and gallery spaces grouped together form the collective psyche of the creative community.
Locations: Various architects’ Offices, Mount Sophia area, Day and Night Bar
Date & Time: 3-4, 10-11,17-18 Oct (Sat & Sun)|1900-2300
Pricing: $60 (students and adults)
Architectural Design Awards Tour
The aim of thisis to acknowledge theawardsgivenfor the making of public space, townships and urban design will also highlight the urgency of our times, as many more people partake in the urban experiences, living working and playing there. Taking place over 3 Sundays in October, the tours will bring the public to view award winning architecture, includingrecipients of this year’s SIA Architectural Design Awards, Aga Khan Awards and President’s Medals.
Locations: Award winning architectureby recipients of 9th SIA Architectural Design Awards 2008, Aga Khan Awards and President’s Medals.
Dates: 5, 12, 19 Oct (Sun) | 1400-1900
Pricing: $35 (students)| $55 (adults)
All tours start and end at the National Library at100 Victoria Street. Tickets for Architours will be available at SISTIC (www.sistic.com.sg) from 1 September 2008. More details of the Architours is available atwww.archifest.sg
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