Tall, charming and sensible : the history of HDB design from 1960s-1980s

• Main Author: Siti Munirah Abdul Rashid
• Other Authors: Koh Keng We
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2021
• Subjects: Humanities::History
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/147311
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

By examining the rich and complex history of Singapore’s public housing and situating design thinking, processes and influences of the HDB flats between the 1960s and 1980s with a historical and global context, I argue that while every effort has been made to assure a distinctive design to HDB flats across various estates on the island, the homogeneity of the Singaporean public landscape is a testament to the rigorous standardisation that guarantees the quantitative and qualitative efficiency demanded of a nation emerging out of an acute housing shortage inherited from the British colonial government. I also argue that despite starting out as means of providing immediate shelter, designs of the HDB flats over the decades have become a fundamental driver in nurturing a sense of community among residents and it is this continuous emphasis on how the state, through the Board, has been central in confering a sense of nationhood through the building of modern new towns, that which is constantly made known to the public through state-sponsored publications like the ‘Our Home’ magazine for instance, in order to drive home feelings of pride, belonging and one-of-a-kind excellence.