COMPLETED 2014
GARDENS BY THE BAY, VARIOUS PUBLIC SITES AND GARDENS AROUND SINGAPORE ISLAND
PEOPLE POWER_ We do not remember days — we remember moments, how things felt, smelled, tasted, looked. Each salvaged timber plank from the former National Stadium once witnessed fierce pride, deafening cheers, and rippled with the Kallang wave. Now, in its second life, it can once again.
The Kallang Wave is a gesture of national pride, community, and togetherness on the largest of scales. Initiated by an enthusiastic few, the crowd slowly swells in a continuous rolling sequence ringing around the entire stadium, to the accompaniment of hoots and hurrahs. The act is independent yet the effect is of contagious unity.
Our design of the bench tries to capture this experience by creating an unusually long (9-meter) bench that rises and drops in a sinuous wave pattern, allowing the user many opportunities to utilize the bench in different ways. The exaggerated length is a reminder of the participation in something larger than oneself. The form is a reference to the ups-and-downs of a sports game’s melodrama and, of course, the Kallang Wave motion itself. The bench, when placed back in the cityscape, is an opportunity for all to reflect, remember, and revive the old Stadium.
This installation and product design was jointly commissioned by the Urban Redevelopment Authority, FARM and the Singapore Furniture Industries Council. Following which, the bench was selected by public vote to be replicated and positioned around several public gardens Singapore island.
