View PDF - Buro Ole Scheeren

palace RESIDENCE
>> Scheeren’s design emphasises public use of the space
around the buildings. To engage the community, DUO will
lift traffic off the ground, which will be freed up for gardens,
retail and food outlets in small units, reflecting the scale of the
shophouses in neighbouring Kampong Glam. “I like to think
of this project as a civic nucleus — a space not only of civic
scale, but also of civic importance,” says Scheeren.
To achieve his vision, Scheeren prefers to work with models
rather than a computer, which may otherwise lead to the
homogeneity of “horizontal striping”. To avoid this, he designed
a hexagonal pattern of sunshades that improve DUO’s energy
efficiency while lending texture to the façade. “As you move
around the buildings you can see how different the façades
are. It’s almost like dancing towers; there’s this very kinetic,
very dynamic relationship between them,” he explains.
If DUO’s context-based design seems like a rebellion
against self-referential buildings, it is no accident. The same
can be said of Scheeren’s other projects — creating interaction
through horizontal stacking to counter the isolation caused
by vertical towers; disrupting a skyline of smooth steel and
glass with a cut-away, pixelated condominium façade.
He is interested in how
DUO’s twin buildings
would interact with
each other and with their
immediate environment
“I think the new is always, to a certain extent, provocative.
So it would be disconcerting if nobody would be at all
disturbed by [the work I’ve been doing] because that would
be proof of the fact that what I have done is not new at all,”
says Scheeren. He believes that architecture can help
stimulate discussions and “make people think about what
things are or should be”. He adds: “While each project is a
momentary statement or commitment you make to a certain
position, I think the work itself is something that, hopefully,
will keep on evolving. And I think that all work that stops
evolving stops being interesting.”
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