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The Architecture of Terror

As a personal present for having successfully accomplished the most emotionally and physically draining three years of my life at Cambridge studying Architecture, I indulged myself by purchasing a book titled 'Horror in Architecture' at the AA bookshop in June. The hook was the intriguing title which suggested similarities to my own third year thesis which explored the 'uncanny' or the 'unheimlich' in architecture. Taking architect Aldo Rossi as my main point of research I explored how this sub-genre of horror (or perhaps terror is a more accurate term) could be an important way in which to analyse, criticise and describe the direction in which our contemporary culture is heading.

I was excited to keep reading on about this theme and to explore a new strand to terror in architecture, which was now so close to my heart.  The book was easy to read, compared to some of the texts my supervisor had got me reading over the year and so I was able to get through it very quickly. Considering it was a completely un-researched spur of the moment purchase the content turned out to be not only relevant to my developing approach to architectural investigation but also to my personal summer plans back to Singapore.

The book was organised into chapters exploring the different aspects of horror, with each chapter analysing a particular techniques or sub-genre of the horror film. These same analytical tools were then applied to current architectural precedents, most of which were from SE Asia or China. This was a particularly exciting development in the book as having based my research on Aldo Rossi much of my research was limited to western historical precedents, so it was refreshing to see that the same trend that I had picked up on in my thesis could be applied to the East, with some specific references to Singapore, the place where I spent my childhood. Thus when I arrived to spend my lengthy pre-placement / pre-rest of my life holiday I began looking at the city of my youth through very different perspective. This was not only due to the book, but to the part that it played as a trigger in applying the architectural discourse, that had become such a large part of my life as an architectural student, to the city of which I have such childishly fond memories. Turns out that the firm who wrote the book are two graduates from the Harvard school of Architecture who are now based in and working from Singapore as Lekker Design. Being a mixture of cheeky and, I like to think, a bit ballsy I sent them an email to introduce myself with the hope of being able to have a discussion with them in person. I am happy to say I look forwards to this meeting on my return to Singapore from Vietnam as they replied welcoming me to their studio for an exchange of ideas!

Without giving away too much of the fantastic research in the book the following photos of Singapore capture my interpretation of the book in the context of my own research. Important themes include: Doubling/ Excretion/ Entrails/ Scale/ Distortion/ Repetition...

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There is Terror in Mystery: Parkview Square is one of the more mysterious towers in Singapore, with many locals uncomfortable in their uncertainty over the official use of the building. The extremely forced Art Deco theme in which the building is designed immediately instigates comparisons with the dystopian Gotham City of Tim Walker's Batman films.

With intimidation comes power.

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Typical Terrace: An example of a house in Singapore with two houses to each 'block', the plans are mirrored across the partition walls and thus the facade is symmetrical down the vertical axis. Most housing in is limited to 2.5 storeys, this often leads to an extravagant roof/ attic space in order to maximise floor area.

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The Scale of Terror:  Housing blocks in Singapore, many of which are out of scale with the conservation terraced housing that defines the colonial architectural history of Singapore.

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Contact sheet for the ARCSOC newspaper I compiled for the Cambridge Department of Architecture Summer Show 2013.

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Board design for the ARCSOC Summer Exhibition Show.

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My poster design for the Cambridge University graduate degree show in Battersea, July 9-13th

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A New Mansion Block for Vauxhall

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Through the passage

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