Kallang Airport Hangars by Jeremy San
Inauguration: 1937
Architect: Public Works Department, Singapore
While they were among Singapore’s largest enclosed spaces during the interwar period, the hangars of Kallang Airport, or Singapore Civil Aerodrome, were erected in a matter of months. The prefabricated steel skeletons of these hangars were swiftly assembled on site and cladded in galvanised iron sheets. These hangars are rare surviving models of Singapore’s early industrial architecture. The fenestration admits air and daylight deep into the cavernous interiors, and it is notable for its variety, detail, and even beauty.
Overshadowed by the more iconic, and now conserved, terminal building nearby, the hangars nonetheless had a colourful history. Their inaugural user was a British bomber aircraft, forced down in April 1937 due to engine trouble. Two months later, celebrated American aviatrix Amelia Earhart tended to her Lockheed Electra monoplane here while circumnavigating the world, less than a fortnight before her disappearance over the Pacific.
In 1955, the airport moved to Paya Lebar, and some hangars were dismantled and reassembled there (where they remain). Chief Minister David Marshall then gifted 13 acres of land and buildings at Kallang to establish the Youth Sports Centre. Its badminton coach – local hero Wong Peng Soon who led the victorious Malayan team at the Thomas Cup that year – worked with architect Seow Eu Jin to convert a remaining hangar into a badminton hall. Since then, the hangars have seen further incarnations, including as a used car centre from 1993, and more recently as an art exhibition venue for the Singapore Biennale.
Longterm plans for it, however, remain unclear.
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Approximate Size: 1 m x 1.472 m. Framed.
This is the original print that was exhibited at “Moderns in Our Midst: A Photographic Tribute to Singapore’s Modern Architectural Heritage” in 2015.
UV Printing on 3 mm white DIBOND with 10 mm square aluminium channel on 4 sides. Print does not feature the artist's signature. No other framing options available. No certificate of authenticity provided.
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A portion proceeds from Jeremy San's work will go to Singapore Heritage Society and Jeremy San's estate.
About Jeremy San
The late Jeremy San Tzer Ning was an accomplished architectural photographer based in Singapore, who documented local as well as regional architectural works in Malaysia, Hong Kong and China. Schooled in RMIT, Melbourne, Australia as an interior designer, his graduation thesis was an ambitious photo-documentation project of modern heritage buildings, which also spawned his photography career.
Upon graduation, Jeremy practised as an interior designer in the architecture office KNTA, and also collaborated with experimental design studios HAM Architects, LingHao Architects and AT Lab on various competition and proposals. His design training and practice experience gave him an empathetic eye as a photographer capturing architecture – whether historic, newly completed, or even under construction – as well as urban landscapes. He has been engaged by leading design firms including Alsop, Foster + Partners, Atelier Liu Yu Yang, K2LD, Formwerkz, KUU, Farm Works, UOL, DPA and ipli. His works are widely published, including in journals such as ish, Cubes, and SA. He was also commissioned by Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to work on the Singapore 1:1 exhibitions (2005, 2007), and has collaborated with Studio Lapis on conservation documentation projects such as Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall. In 2012, he was awarded the Discernment Prize for the ICON de Martell Cordon Bleu photography awards.