--------- "tropicality" and post-colonialism The "Softscape Design Theme" refers to "modern tropical" as a guiding principle, exposing the

pervasive influence of tropicality in the formation of the post-colonial word. Singapore's urbanscape testifies to the subjugation of vernacular architectural vocabulary self-inflicted (prostitution of space) in the material pursuit of a Western-defined semantic of modernity whose local dialect encapsulates artificial formal elements while excluding a functional acknowledgment of "the tropics" that exists as the modern Western world's "other", primitive and innocent, climatically condemned to indolence and noble savagery. ->R ~<<<- BIOCLIMATIC <newatercomp?> ->>>~ Bioclimatic architecture consequently connotes a regressiveness and its usage is largely confined to the relative adaptation of Balinese styles for the construction of recreational villas (for the rich?). A movement for the development of climatic tropical architecture has struggled to be heard despite the involvement of some of Sgs most prominent architects and perhaps appropriately finding most of its productive output in the distand and temperate climes of Western institutions. What is lacking is not want of talent nor resource but the impetus to expore -> self-reflexive of the implicit accusation of tropicality: that tropical inhabitants lack the climaatic dynamism or nourishment requisite/catalyst for ingenuity and environmental adaptation/manipulation. "Investment in Singaporean semantics it seems, preclude independent innovation which is undervalued due to perceived volatility. The argument is transparently circular but >>>>concerns cultural sustainability-> econ The investigation of desalination is little different from ____ learning to harness the fecundity of vertical space to address the scarcity of lateral space. This space, like water, has a complex All of the flaws highlighted are not without simple, achievable solutions > ppl have been actively exploring etc main absence is the impetus for experimentation because investment strategy precludes invention due to perceived volatility AC s passive ventilation problems -> quality of life It comes from conscientious observation The R's -vx circulation contxt + terrain bernoulli effect ~<<<- VERTICAL ARCHI ->>>~ Their thin profiles versus the geometrically massed UE Sq are welcomed acknowledgments of the surrounding {DESIGNED TO MITIGATE DISRUPTION TO PREVAILING WINDS??} 7 meter vertical column of air-circulation is disrupted => conceive of surrounding/environment in lateral terms contradicting efforts at verticality - vertical cities asia -PARAMETRICISM VS DARK MATTER

-ref x ttresses/stairs - climactic, temporally-aware archi <econ arg.> The absence of a sense of ownership - or in more relevant terminology: cultural unsustainability, is not a "problem" that would be solved by economic/environmental sustainability as implied by MBT's speech -> it is symptomatic. There is a need to redefine high-rise urban living as an apical preference rather than an economic compromise. The R makes a strong case for this within the context of its speccialized market, but to propagate such a paradigm shift (which is also in the interest of raising the "quality of life") requires a synthesis of climactic architecture with vertical emphasis and new financial/economic models to yield climactic and temporally aware architecture beyond climatic and temperally(?) responsive

----- pilotis / kampong, hypostyle stilts -> airflow - HUMAN SCALE => include sensory XP as parameters AMONG OTHER THINGS ------SENSORY XP Today, great architecture is also designed by instinct and... in unison with nature. The high technology and complicated materialism is just an enormous mantle, which clothes the idea. Underneath, the instinctive solution is still there Le Corbusier (newel lewis j. 1983) Arguing for the integration of phenomenal properties in parametric architecture ----anthropometry(corb?) when experiencing our structure, we unconsciously mimic its configuration with our bones and muscle... [T]he structure of a building is unconsciously imitated and comprehended through the skeletal system (anthropometrism ~ corb) ----ownership / democratic vs dictatorial design Assumption that with economic sustainability a cultural sustainability will necessarily ensue. The purpose of the cultural sustainability is to insure against economic instability, and sustain growth through the problem solving of individuals who are rooted and have a deep experience and understanding of the context A -sense of ownership-Socio-cultural sustainability might >>>>>> TANGE quote on repetitive->confusion etc AUTOPOIETIC ARCHI CENTRAL THESIS ABOUT THE R-> reveals an cognitive reflex/reaction against colonization of space/alien

OTTO'S MINIMIZING DATA NETWORK->longitudinal climation(?) is imposed through primary routes with a series of secondary routes running in parallel fusion between blocks split along lines of 2ndary path network ++++ Ultimately The R is highly significant as a physical exposition that succeeds at proposing its thesis of an organo-urbanism that <int----ts> the efficient and effective outcome It raises many questions about the use of space and whether a collaborative symbiosis is truly present -> vernacular ++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++ If freezing that momentous current into a unified ideology were even possible, its life-bearing potentiality would be lost. The energy required would be immense and the heat displaced would have to be funneled elsewhere. Bridging the gulf logically would involve the construction contextual bridges, self-confidence and the courage to experiment/explore.

The tectonic shifts triggered by the sporadic semiosis that follows Singapore's sporadic spurts of urban development tear rifts of "generational discontinuity" within which muted but resonant protestations evince pervasive disappointment at the failure to fulfill the expectations soled to master plans and sold to people. Spaces are promises unfulfilled and so fulfillment is increasingly sought in virtuality resulting in an apathetic absence of critical environmental awareness. This is most evident f residences that have become functional necessities or financial investments. The Rochester is a product of UE's mixed-use expertise and a poetic generational continuity of collaboration with (younger) Tange. Rooted in ZHA's one-north urban plan, a precedent in "Parametricism" currently evangelized by the firm's Peter Schumacher What makes it more than another forgettable empty promise is its premise on an apparent tropical exploration of Corbusier's urban theories and an emotive reminiscence of Arcological Utopian ideals. The R is The R's mixed-use characteristics could be read with regard to the five objectives of the 2011 Urban Plan stated in Mah Bow Tan's speech: "adequate housing", "bring jobs closer to home", increase "intensity" and "convenience", "expand leisure and greenery", and inclusiveness for "all ages". The transient expatriate population engaged in research work in the science park is served by Park Avenue (UE's hospitality arm) while the density and diversity of retail and recreational facilities compensates well for the wide availability of commercial productivity services in entrepreneurship reactors such as the {---techpark----}. Most significantly, an open and breathable ground plan that incorporates local flora and a porous membrane with Rochester Park distinguishes this mixed-use development from

local predecessors. The porous border shared with Rochester Park is a contiguous organic-urbanity that expounds the possibility of Walking Urbanism in a tropical context. The "social optimum" of holistic urban planning is commonly understood to be an equilibrious or sustainable ecology which results in a Reductionist or Cybernetic approach to framing spatial realities in public interest. Precedents have demonstrated the societal detriment of proscribing universalized structures based on fallaciously imputations - ecologists such as Jorgensen have also denounced traditional Systemic paradigms. >>> Parametricist predilection for "Form" over "Function" propagates a false dichotomy refusing the opportunity presented by technological and scientific advances to study form's functional basis. Frei Otto's most direct and relevant thesis on light and malleable materiality derived through observation on the interrelationality of nodes. The R's internal landscape is littered with examples of this schism incongruous: designer elements heavily featured in marketing efforts which condescend rather than contribute to the holistic architectural program. The astral Metalco Moonstone, for instance, is 4 tons of wasteful white granite that incomprehensibly sets sitters on divergent trajectories in contravention of The R's collaborative message. Furthermore, it visually distracts observers from a Gestalt appreciation of the softscapehardscape dialogue and the imposing verticality of The R's twin towers. It does, however, manage to succeed at making the act of resting on a bench a confusing, uncomfortable and antisocial experience. The smoothed surface of the comically monolithic counterweight denies environmentally cogent tactile interactions, propounding an equation of elegance to complexity or monumentality where materiality and formation processes are concealed. Thankfully, The R mitigates these compromises with the involvement of the geometric complexities of vegetation and visible capillary paths {REF}. The interlocking angularity that pervades public spaces is an engaging visual and kinaesthetic puzzle that engages democratically, turning passive observers into way-finding, puzzle-solving participants. Among other successful functional forms are the two towers which articulate the effect of passing through a narrow ravine from within and of entering a sacred gateway posts from without, utilizing natural light to multiply a single common space into a multitude of temporally defined spaces. The towers's respective heights are a mediated deviation that convey the sense of architectonic motility from the ground, vertically, through elevated atriums and open sky bridges to the peaks, as well as laterally into the surrounding landscape. The R symbiotically services its specialized sibling elements while relying on their vitality to sustain its micro-economy. It forgoes repetitive symmetry and cubic massing, instead, providing diametric arterial routes supplemented with capillaries in its circulation as opposed to UE Sq's contextually appropriate gravity which pulls traffic into orbit or circulating it through its circuit-like orthogonal geometry. According to Tange, the design process incvolved 3 scales, the urban, architectural and human scale. An anecdote to illustrate a productive synthesis of these frameworks is in the repositioning of the 2 towers in the interest of maintaining the visibility of the B&W bungalows that will serve as boutique retail space. The multi-directionality of application in this instance evidences that this 3-tiered process is more intuition than schema, with dividends paid on an orientation from human perspective. The spatial narrative is instead characterized by a balance between the "sense of togetherness [which] is an important characteristic of the one-north development" and the "effervescence" of space which

counter balances the consequent disorientation of overly unified and architecturally similar landscapes. ~{Tange}~ This "effervescence" is pursued through edificial composition and phenomenally rather than abstract ephemera. It is visualized in plan by aggregate circulation of vesicular individuals within The Rochester's ecosystem and experienced directly through the proliferation of cooling water features, the most unique of which is the zig-zagging stream, (REMINISCENT OF EAST ASIAN VILLAGE DRAINAGE SYSTEMS - LIJIANG) a sublime expression of /iki/ indicative of its Japanese sensibilities, which serves as a perfect allegory to contemplate the underlying conflicts. The instantaneous stream of truth lies in between the cultural disjunctions of unshared memories, composed of a dynamic aggregation of individual environmental experience. tropicality The Softscape Design Final Theme's reference to modern tropical exposes the underlying machinations of post-colonial tropicality implicit in Singapore's development. The identification of modern space as heavy, static and enclosed as opposed to the porous lightness of vernacular tropical architecture is indicative of a Western contextualization of the tropics as its innocent, primitive other, climatically condemned to indolence and noble savagery. bioclimatic Bioclimatic tropical architecture consequently connotes regression and the local campaign for research and experimentation of large-scale, high-rise climatic structures remains ignored, leaving distant and temperately enculturated institutions like the AA to fill the vacuum and sell their expertise to tropical cities. It is not for the absence of talent or resources but the presence of inertia which reaffirms the thesis that tropicality lacks the temperate catalyst for independent ingenuity. Despite its designers' best efforts, The R imposes significant ecological disruptions that is addressed aesthetically. The recent spate of floods and infrastructural damage from water run-off demonstrate the expensive and inefficient result of unstudied rapid urban intensification. verticality

sensory xp Emphasis on the human-scale is evidently a necessary step. The noise generatedy by cosmopolitanism may tempt designers and developers into imposing a homogenizing mathematical order to obfuscate the overlapping plurality of preference but this ethnocentric ethno-clasm marginalizes lower income populations and displaces geographically unique countries like Singapore from the path to observing and adapting infrastructure to geopolitical context. ownership Sensory engagement is a psychological investment which enables a semiotic democracy in which individuals are empowered to make meaning of their spaceand transparently possess ooverlapping and distinct spatial identifications.