Architect returns to source of Singapore story by the river

In this series, The Straits Times speaks to architects and residents about urban spaces that inspire them

- Chantal Sajan

Who: Mr Tan Kay Ngee, 68, multi-award-winning founder and principal architect of Kay Ngee Tan Architects, is a scholar, educator and architect with offices in Singapore, London and Istanbul.

Mr Tan picked up the President's Design Award 2023 for Designer of the Year. His firm has received several awards conferred by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), including the 2024 URA Architectural Heritage Award for Conservation (Distinction) for Bukit Timah Railway Station.

Besides urban and landscape design, his practice includes works in graphic and product design, theatre and architecture writing.

A registered architect in Singapore and the United Kingdom, Mr Tan, who is bilingual in English and Mandarin, has contributed essays and findings about architecture to local and global publications such as Chinese-language daily Lianhe Zaobao in Singapore and weekly magazine Yazhou Zhoukan (Asia Weekly) in Hong Kong.

Books he has published include Cities Of My Longing (2019, Taipei), Magnetic Fields Of Cities (2008, Taipei and Shanghai) and Never Ending Summer (1978, Malaysia).

"I remember a gigantic floating stage erected at the river's edge of Boat Quay. The temporary platforms for performances were stitched together and propped up on wooden or bamboo stilts sitting on a few sampan (boats) that were tied together to provide some semblance of stability.

This floating stage transformed the Singapore River into a week-long carnival and is a fond memory from my childhood years. Fascinating scenes of Chinese wayang staged on water can still be found in the late Lim Tze Peng's paintings.