A Brutalism Design Ahead of Its Time
Golden Mile Complex, Singapore :
The Golden Mile Complex preceded by several years avant-garde stepped-section buildings which were built in US, UK and Europe. Its style and aesthetic can be linked to the architectural movement known as "Megastructure", "Linear City" and "Brutalism".
The Infamous Stepped-Profile Building Form
Stepped Terraces become Vertical "Slum”
Avant-Garde Design with Raw Brutalism Expression
A Brutalism Design Ahead of Its Time
Conceived as an urban prototype for lively interactive "vertical City", the Golden Mile Complex was one of the early pioneers in mixed-use development in Singapore. It was an exemplary type of high-density development with diversity of functional usage and variety of enhanced public spaces.
This infamous stepped-profile building contains 3-storey retail podium, 6 levels of offices, 6 levels of apartments and 1 level of duplex penhouse. Its commercial contents have been transformed over the year with extreme diversity, which ranged from art-house cinema to sleazy music bars, from authentic Thai cuisine restaurants to street hawker foods, and from travel agency to specialized wet market. It has also been used as the transportation hub for coaches travelling to Malaysia. To the public, the building was well known as "the little Thai" - an ethnic enclave for the Thai population in Singapore.
Its innovative form has generated multiple interactive communal spaces such as the continuous 1 cum 2-storey height sheltered pedestrian walkway on the first floor, the airy 3-storey atrium in the mall and the lofty sky deck for communal activities above its podium. Most spectacularly, it has also provided the occupants of all the apartments panoramic view of the sea from their own private open terraces and the much essential cross-ventilation due to the narrowness of the inclined-slab.
The Golden Mile Complex was designed by Singapore Architects; Gan Eng Oon, William Lim and Tay Kheng Soon of Design Partnership during their formation years before they broke up to form their own individual firm. The building was completed in 1973, and in 2021, it was gazette for conversation due to popular demand.
The Golden Mile Complex preceded by several years avant-garde stepped-section buildings which were built in US, UK and Europe. Its style and aesthetic can be linked to the architectural movement known as "Megastructure", "Linear City" and "Brutalism".
In March 2006, the Golden Mile Complex was described as a “vertical slum" by Singapore Nominated Member of Parliament Ivan Png: "Each individual owner acts selfishly, adding extensions, zinc sheets, patched floors, glass, all without any regard for other owners".
The disapproval by the authorities for “uncontrolled private extensions” has put a stop to all new stepping-roof profiled building development in the city for decades. A change of mindset comes only until the year 2010, when Architect Moshe Safdie re-introduced the infamous stepping roof-form again in his iconic "Sky Habitat" design. In fact, the private extensions of Golden Mile Complex are really a legal issue of estate management rather than a problem of design.
In 2022, an en-bloc sale was finally successful after numerous attempts. It has been scheduled to be closed on May 2023 for conservation with major addition and alteration.
JS . Photography
November 2022
canon 6D . 16-35mm/F4 . 70-200mm/F2.8
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