National Gallery Singapore
Words, voices and images: Connecting to cultures around the world
"These buildings are part of the history of Singapore, for most of the people they could see the buildings from the outside and now they have the chance of seeing them from the inside".
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Director
Cinematography
We congratulate the architects, builders, exhibition designers and curators on a job well done and one that adds a deeper dimension to the culture and creativity of Singapore. Photographs: gallery photos by Beton Brut, other photos Andrea Hylands. Our warm thanks to Yann Follain
Singapore’s built heritage and contemporary enterprise and achievement have come together to create a series of beautifully designed institutions, where history, culture and contemporary art are now exhibited.
These institutions include the National Museum of Singapore, Asian Civilisations Museum, the Peranakan Museum, the now cultural activities in the Old Parliament House (Arts House), the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall and our old favourite, the Singapore Art Museum (SAM, formerly Saint Joseph’s Institution) and now, perhaps the grandest of all, the National Gallery of Singapore. The colours of each building, subtle and each slightly different, but in many ways announcing themselves as one. The once British colonial buildings now far removed from their original purpose.
The National Gallery of Singapore was opened on 24 November 2015 after a decade in the making. For several years, the construction phase took almost five years, we had looked directly down on the day and night construction of the gallery from our window on Stamford Road, so at last came a chance to enter the completed building. The new gallery occupies what were once the City Hall and the Supreme Court buildings. It is obvious by talking to the attendants that there is immense pride in the new gallery.
While the Old Parliament Building dates back to 1827 (it was originally built as a residence but was directed to public use as part of Stamford Raffles’ town plan for Singapore) the City Hall and Supreme Court neo-classical buildings are relatively new. The City Hall was constructed between 1926 and 1929 and the construction of the Supreme Court Building followed in the years 1937 to 1939. The two buildings were planned to be harmonious in their original design and this aspect has meant that these buildings now sit together so successfully as one and as the new National Gallery of Singapore. The buildings relative youth does not lessen their significance in Singapore’s history, their vast form defining the field of the Padang where independence celebrations were held.
The new gallery was designed by France’s studioMilou Architecture (now with offices in Singapore) and CPG Consultants Pte Ltd and construction of the gallery complex was led by the Takenaka-Singapore Piling Joint Venture.
During the design phase of the building Yann Follain (WY-TO architects and Creative cowboy films culture counsel) worked for studioMilou on the architectural aspects of the highly complex buildings. After the designs for the gallery had been completed Yann went on to co-found WY-TO in Singapore and Paris and subsequently won the contract to design the exhibition spaces, which he co-designed with Gallagher & Associates Asia.
Jean François Milou describes the design experience as:
“Adding layers to, rather than altering essential aspects of the monument in the name of creating one institution”.
Walking around the National Gallery of Singapore with Yann we consider the design detail in the gallery spaces, the carefully planned colour schemes, the detail of the exhibition cases and wall hanging systems, the clamps and hidden fittings to support sculptural works, all so delicate and sophisticated. The detail and the amount of work that had to be done are really mind-boggling.
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“These buildings are part of the history of Singapore, for most of the people they could see the buildings from the outside and now they have the chance of seeing them from the inside. While it is important for Singaporeans to discover the buildings people are also coming here to see the artworks.
"In relation to the design of the Supreme Court galleries you have to remember that in the courts different kinds of people were entering and court buildings are complex to design for that reason. We try to describe how the building was by keeping these court elements".
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"The lawyers, the public as well as the prisoners who only meet at level three and they were not allowed to meet each other before they reach the court. Prisoners were held in the cells below and were brought to the court room through a web of corridors connecting the cells and the dock directly. These passageways have been kept. The public were directed downwards into the courtroom while the lawyers and judges came in from the same level”.
BETON-BRUT%20copy.webp)
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The organisation of the galleries is that the Supreme Court Building is dedicated to South East Asian Art and also includes some Singapore artworks.
BETON-BRUT%20copy.webp)
The City Hall is dedicated to Singapore art galleries only. It reflects the same kind of narrative that is from the late 19th century all the way through to the 70s and 80s describing the history of the region through art. There is one long Singapore gallery dedicated to works from ink, a particularity of Singapore artists and the use of ink as a medium in painting. So this work connects the various galleries. During the design of the galleries we worked very closely with the curators about the content, positioning of paintings, using a colour from a painting to determine the colour of a gallery wall, the addition of documentation with the work.
BETON-BRUT%20copy.webp)
In the contemporary galleries we created a very different environment and you feel that you are no longer in the historic buildings. We wanted to show that contemporary artwork is not necessarily just videos and art installations but paintings and other forms of visual art.
BETON-BRUT%20copy.webp)
"Because of the strong bright sunlight in Singapore, where there are windows on to galleries, the blinds move automatically with the sun so that the artwork remains protected. We worked with the Heritage Conservation Centre of Singapore to see how we can mount or affix the artworks in their galleries to ensure they are not damaged while being well displayed and exhibited. With the curators it was about the placement of the artworks, with the conservators it was about the safety of the artworks".
"We thought about the design from the perspective of multiple entry points as there is not necessarily one entrance and one exit. The gallery is very large so people will view the gallery over multiple visits. So you can view the gallery on the go, so that is why it was a bit difficult to design it addressing the idea that people might not enter at the start of the exhibition".
These institutions include the National Museum of Singapore, Asian Civilisations Museum, the Peranakan Museum, the now cultural activities in the Old Parliament House (Arts House), the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall and our old favourite, the Singapore Art Museum (SAM, formerly Saint Joseph’s Institution) and now, perhaps the grandest of all, the National Gallery of Singapore. The colours of each building, subtle and each slightly different, but in many ways announcing themselves as one. The once British colonial buildings now far removed from their original purpose.
The National Gallery of Singapore was opened on 24 November 2015 after a decade in the making. For several years, the construction phase took almost five years, we had looked directly down on the day and night construction of the gallery from our window on Stamford Road, so at last came a chance to enter the completed building. The new gallery occupies what were once the City Hall and the Supreme Court buildings. It is obvious by talking to the attendants that there is immense pride in the new gallery.
While the Old Parliament Building dates back to 1827 (it was originally built as a residence but was directed to public use as part of Stamford Raffles’ town plan for Singapore) the City Hall and Supreme Court neo-classical buildings are relatively new. The City Hall was constructed between 1926 and 1929 and the construction of the Supreme Court Building followed in the years 1937 to 1939. The two buildings were planned to be harmonious in their original design and this aspect has meant that these buildings now sit together so successfully as one and as the new National Gallery of Singapore. The buildings relative youth does not lessen their significance in Singapore’s history, their vast form defining the field of the Padang where independence celebrations were held.
The new gallery was designed by France’s studioMilou Architecture (now with offices in Singapore) and CPG Consultants Pte Ltd and construction of the gallery complex was led by the Takenaka-Singapore Piling Joint Venture.
During the design phase of the building Yann Follain (WY-TO architects and Creative cowboy films culture counsel) worked for studioMilou on the architectural aspects of the highly complex buildings. After the designs for the gallery had been completed Yann went on to co-found WY-TO in Singapore and Paris and subsequently won the contract to design the exhibition spaces, which he co-designed with Gallagher & Associates Asia.
Jean François Milou describes the design experience as:
“Adding layers to, rather than altering essential aspects of the monument in the name of creating one institution”.
Walking around the National Gallery of Singapore with Yann we consider the design detail in the gallery spaces, the carefully planned colour schemes, the detail of the exhibition cases and wall hanging systems, the clamps and hidden fittings to support sculptural works, all so delicate and sophisticated. The detail and the amount of work that had to be done are really mind-boggling.
“These buildings are part of the history of Singapore, for most of the people they could see the buildings from the outside and now they have the chance of seeing them from the inside. While it is important for Singaporeans to discover the buildings people are also coming here to see the artworks.
"In relation to the design of the Supreme Court galleries you have to remember that in the courts different kinds of people were entering and court buildings are complex to design for that reason. We try to describe how the building was by keeping these court elements".
"The lawyers, the public as well as the prisoners who only meet at level three and they were not allowed to meet each other before they reach the court. Prisoners were held in the cells below and were brought to the court room through a web of corridors connecting the cells and the dock directly. These passageways have been kept. The public were directed downwards into the courtroom while the lawyers and judges came in from the same level”.
The organisation of the galleries is that the Supreme Court Building is dedicated to South East Asian Art and also includes some Singapore artworks.
The City Hall is dedicated to Singapore art galleries only. It reflects the same kind of narrative that is from the late 19th century all the way through to the 70s and 80s describing the history of the region through art. There is one long Singapore gallery dedicated to works from ink, a particularity of Singapore artists and the use of ink as a medium in painting. So this work connects the various galleries. During the design of the galleries we worked very closely with the curators about the content, positioning of paintings, using a colour from a painting to determine the colour of a gallery wall, the addition of documentation with the work.
In the contemporary galleries we created a very different environment and you feel that you are no longer in the historic buildings. We wanted to show that contemporary artwork is not necessarily just videos and art installations but paintings and other forms of visual art.
"Because of the strong bright sunlight in Singapore, where there are windows on to galleries, the blinds move automatically with the sun so that the artwork remains protected. We worked with the Heritage Conservation Centre of Singapore to see how we can mount or affix the artworks in their galleries to ensure they are not damaged while being well displayed and exhibited. With the curators it was about the placement of the artworks, with the conservators it was about the safety of the artworks".
"We thought about the design from the perspective of multiple entry points as there is not necessarily one entrance and one exit. The gallery is very large so people will view the gallery over multiple visits. So you can view the gallery on the go, so that is why it was a bit difficult to design it addressing the idea that people might not enter at the start of the exhibition".
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We congratulate the architects, builders, exhibition designers and curators on a job well done and one that adds a deeper dimension to the culture and creativity of Singapore. Photographs: gallery photos by Beton Brut, other photos Andrea Hylands. Our warm thanks to Yann Follain