Architecture Walking Tour of Queenstown
Covering three major parts of Queenstown, the walking tour aims to give the attendees a flavour of the different public housing typologies built by the HDB in the last 65 years. The tour will begin at the newest HDB estates - SkyResidence and SkyOasis @ Dawson where attendees will be brought to the sky terraces for a bird’s eye view of Queenstown. This will be followed by a tour of Stirling Road - where the oldest HDB blocks built in 1960 can still be found. Attendees will also get to look at some very unusual and unique HDB projects - the HDB terrace house. Lastly, a bus ride will bring us to Commonwealth Close where we will visit the “VIP Block” and the very first blocks sold by the HDB to Singaporeans as part of the Home Ownership for the People scheme.
Date: Saturday, 25th May, 9am - 12 noon
Host: Darren Soh
Ticket price: S$50 per person
Group size: 25 people
All proceeds of the tour will go to support Docomomo SG in our activities in documentation, education, and advocation for modernist architecture in Singapore.
About the event
Queenstown is one of Singapore’s oldest public housing estates which is still being developed by the HDB today. It contains over 70 years of public housing buildings all within a stone’s throw of each other. This walking tour will cover a range of public housing across all the eras.
Conducted by Docomomo SG’s founding member and architectural photographer Darren Soh, who volunteers to guide this walking tour, aims to give attendees a flavour of the different public housing typologies built by the HDB in the last 65 years and covers three major parts of Queenstown.
About Singapore Heritage Fest
The Singapore HeritageFest (SHF) is the National Heritage Board’s signature annual outreach event that celebrates the many facets of Singapore’s diverse heritage and culture. SHF works with individuals, groups and communities to co-create programmes and offerings. This allows the festival to uncover lesser-known stories and narratives, engender a greater sense of ownership, and empower Singaporeans to safeguard and promote our shared heritage. The inaugural edition of SHF was staged in 2004, and since then, the festival has continued to provide on-site and online experiences with yearly themes that focus on different aspects of Singapore’s heritage.
Follow SHF at @sgheritagefest | sgheritagefest.gov.sg | #sgheritagefest
About Darren Soh
A sociologist by training, Darren Soh is an architecture and landscape photographer. Darren’s personal works are an extension of his curiosity about how we live and the spaces we create as well as leave behind. He has a particular interest in modernist architecture as well as public housing and is a founding member of the Singapore chapter of DOCOMOMO. Darren is currently documenting the Housing & Development Board’s architectural work in public housing spanning the last sixty five years.
Follow Darren Soh at @darrensohphoto