A Study of Ethnic Influence on the Facades of Colonial Shophouses in Singapore: A Case Study of Telok Ayer in Chinatown

Abstract

Regionalism in Asia has so far been debated within the discourse of post colonial struggles to exert a cultural identity in the face of globalization. This paper however adopts the perspective that strands of regionalist thinking were already evident during the colonial period. Colonial shophouses in a selected case study area in Singapore’s Chinatown are used to illustrate the constant interaction and negotiation of the different strands of influence within the specificities of time and place. Through a quantitative analysis of the facades of these shophouses, the study attempts to illustrate the rich tapestry of a hybrid architectural landscape woven by strands of “influence” including ethnic identity, colonial imposition and tropical living in the search for identity by the local community. © 2007, Architectural Institute of Japan. All rights reserved.