Grilles by rote

• Main Author: Chia, Thong
• Other Authors: Chalit Kongsuwan
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: DRNTU::Visual arts and music
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/74446
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

What started out as an interest to utilize undervalued fabric to create tapestries through various tying techniques led to a series of exploration and experimentations of how other commercial fast discarded materials (e.g. used event banners, old bicycle inner tubes etc.) could also be repurposed through similar tying techniques to create form and structure in products. Various experimental results led to the discovery of how these materials can actually be harnessed to bring something old and forgotten into a new, modern context. As such, local steel window grilles commonly found in old buildings and estates around Singapore in the 1900s was chosen as the main focus of this project, which seeks to remind people of the memories they associate these heritage window grille designs with. In recent years, lesser of these patterned window grilles are seen around our cityscape, as grille designs have since been simplified, due to rising production cost and mass production practices. Much of what we see today, along our streets and corridors are uniform bar windows that serve the primary function of security and nothing else. Since these steel window grilles were key aesthetic features in many local architectures of the past, many locals have unknowingly associated them with nostalgic memories of the past; be it events, people or places. With nostalgia and a sense of loss, Grilles By Rote project acts as a memoir for these past memories in modern-day context and space. Through a tapestry sliding screen system, people can customize and select grille designs which holds the greatest significance to them; in hope to habitually help people grow awareness and understanding of these almost forgotten grille designs, which form an integral, yet overlooked part of our shared Singaporean heritage.