Tanjong Pagar Railway Station by Jeremy San
Inauguration: 1932
Architect: Swan & Maclaren
The former Tanjong Pagar Railway Station is gazetted as a National Monument, following the landmark June 2010 agreement that saw the transfer of the former Malayan railway land from Malaysia to Singapore. Its external appearance has been remarkably unchanged safe for some ad hoc alterations over the decades. The architects had spared no effort to design an edifice that reflected its strategic significance — as both Malaya’s “front lobby” and the concluding point in the flow of raw produce from the well-endowed hinterland to Singapore’s busy port to be shipped worldwide. Immense panels of mural art lining the walls of the cavernous Passenger Hall depict scenes of labourers extracting Malayan raw produce that was translated into wealth vis-à-vis British governance and infrastructure development. The building facades are masterfully rendered in Shanghai plaster – comprising Portland cement and fine stone chipping, to simulate traditional masonry.
Solemnity and vigour are conveyed by colossal pylons that frame monumental archways at the main entrance, adorned by four heroic allegorical sculptures representing Agriculture, Commerce, Transport, and Industry. Underneath the graceful arches, inset panels with arabesque motifs are subtle local inflections in an otherwise internationalist design devoid of overt ethnic symbols, unlike the contemporaneous Federated Malay States Railway Headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
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Approximate Size: 1 m x 1.488 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.