Page 8 - Darren Soh's Interview with Kanto_Neat

Tampines GreenRidges

How would you describe Singaporeans’ relationship with HDB developments? Would you say
that the HDB efforts have been largely successful in their mission and meeting Singaporeans’
changing needs?

Well over 80% of Singaporeans live in HDB apartments, so I would say that most Singaporeans have
to deal with the HDB daily in the form of the flat they live in. Initially built to fulfill a very dire
need for clean and affordable housing in the 1960s, the HDB has reinvented itself over and over
again as a provider of public housing in Singapore. However, because it is doing this reinventing,
there will inevitably be some misses along the way, together with the hits. These “misses,” as
defined by the HDB, will often never be repeated again in form or function, and then these blocks
or estates become unique and special and will go down in history as such. The hits will continue
to be replicated at scale, and I believe the HDB tries very hard to have its ears on the ground.

Any new (or old) piece of architecture in Singapore that you have shot that you feel strongly
about?

Where do we even begin?! Let’s talk about my childhood home, the first HDB block that I ever lived in.
This is block 82, Commonwealth Close in Queenstown. Queenstown was the first town to be completed
by the HDB, having taken over the town from the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) from 1960 onwards.
I lived in block 82 from 1976 to 1980 with my parents and grandparents before moving to another part of
Singapore. Thankfully, the block is still standing today, but because it was first sold to the public in 1964,
there are only about 42 years left on their 99-year lease before they must be returned to the government.