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Category: Project

Description: Science and technology form a central part of Singapore’s development and image as a modern city-state. Since the 1990s, Singapore’s government has focused on transforming the island into a “knowledge economy.” This entails a heavy emphasis on developing endogenous science and technology that can foster innovation and entrepreneurialism. The design and construction of scientific and technological spaces play a central in fostering such development. By exploring the origins of a particular building (Solaris at Fusionopolis) and its relationship to the wider ecology of the city state, this paper argues that the design of technoscientific spaces represent an effort not just to transform the urban environment, but also to transform Singapore society and Singaporeans more broadly. Generating innovation in science and technology entails transforming social and economic relationships. These parts are tied together by an ecological vision that seeks to link human-social and scientific-natural worlds through design.