Visible Differences: Why Are Singapore’s Chinese Buildings Becoming Harder to Tell Apart?

Stand in front of Thian Hock Keng, Wak Hai Cheng Bio and the former Thong Chai Medical Institution today, and it is not immediately obvious that they belong to three different architectural traditions. A century ago, the distinctions would have been much clearer: Hokkien terracotta red and swallowtail ridges; Teochew grey and white, with roofs densely worked in ceramic shard decoration; Cantonese grey and white, with straighter ridges and wok ear gables.

This lecture will examine how such differences may be read, and why they have become increasingly difficult to decipher. It will conclude with the example of the united temple which brought together different deities and communities under one roof, and postulate that this amalgamated form may yet be the most distinctively Singaporean typology of Chinese religious architecture.

Free, pre-registration is required: Click here

Zoom link: Click here

Speaker

Assoc Prof Yeo Kang Shua

Singapore University of Technology and Design

Speaker biography

Yeo Kang Shua is Associate Professor of Architectural History, Theory and Criticism at the Singapore University of Technology and Design, and Hokkien Foundation Professor in Architectural Conservation. Trained as an architect, he researches Singapore’s architectural history and Chinese temple architecture. His restoration work has twice received UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation, and he has served as jury chair for those awards. He is also a published author, and his books include Divine Custody, Honourable Mansion and Wak Hai Cheng Bio: A Dialogue between Architecture and History.

Moderator

Professor Kenneth Dean

Director of Wan Boo Sow Research Centre for Chinese Culture

Department of Chinese Studies, National University of Singapore