Archifest 2016 Showcases Talent From DP Architects and DP Design |
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DP Architects’ head-turning technicolour urban installation at Raffles Place Park caught the attention of The Monocle, designboom, Indesignlive and TODAY newspaper.
Drawing inspiration from the festival’s theme of ‘Exhale’, the design aims to re-examine the often breathless pace of life associated with a dense city. DP Architects’ gigantic, technicolour inhabitable urban sculpture plays on the interaction of primary colours which overlap to produce a vibrant spectrum of secondary and tertiary colours that induces visitors to forget about the stressful city life and ‘Exhale’.
| Image by Teo Zi Tong courtesy of DP Architects |
Composed entirely of construction site materials, the design seeks to playfully refresh the city by injecting vibrant swathes of colour in public space by way of a psychedelic pavilion. The pavilion’s character is built on nuance and mutability: colours fade, shift, saturate and interact as one moves in and around the space.
Mr Chin Thoe Chong, director of DP Architects, said, “DP Architects is thrilled and honoured to be a part of this milestone year – the 10th anniversary of Archifest. Our firm was founded with the belief in enriching the human experience and spirit, it is thus befitting that this year’s Archifest theme ‘Exhale’ also embodies this same ethos – of breathing new life into the city’s public spaces in order to refresh and uplift its inhabitants.”
Ms Ang Guo Zi, associate director of DP Architects explains, “The pavilion presents a wider spectrum of colour than is currently found in that specific locale and this invites visitors to focus, reflect and appreciate their surroundings with a fresh eye. Humans have an automatic response to colour; the psychology behind it shows that people’s moods can be influenced by different hues as the different electromagnetic energies and wavelengths of colour elicit not just psychological but even physiological responses.”
Working closely together with contractor Shanghai Chong Kee Furniture & Construction Pte Ltd, the pavilion was designed with a smart approach to zero waste. The steel scaffolding comes from the contractor’s existing stock and will be reused on other construction sites after the pavilion is dismantled, while the netting is safety netting that will have an afterlife in various construction sites after the festival ends.
Responding to an invitation by SIA to interpret this year’s festival theme ‘Exhale’ in a 2x2x2 space, DP Design created an interactive Cheer Me Up balloon installation to add to the pavilion’s vibrant liveliness.
The installation encourages passersby to participate in ‘cheering up’ a nondescript air balloon by collectively pumping air to inflate it. Once inflated, the balloon presents a cheerful face to bring a smile to participants.
Mr Mike Lim, director of DP Design, commented, “We wanted to go for something small, yet effective and impactful. Too often, we have developed blind spots around us as we weave through the city, and we wanted to introduce offbeat surprises like these to make the day of any busy city-dweller.”
DP Design associate, Ms Leong Wei Lin, said,
“Through this installation, we would like to bring some smiles to passersby, where people can take part in a little frivolity on a typical work day watching or making a bright yellow sphere inhale and exhale. We hope that through this activity, people can relieve some of the daily stresses that they face, take time to relax and most importantly, take themselves a little less seriously.”
DP Architects is thrilled and honoured to be a part of the 10th anniversary of Archifest, a milestone celebration for the annual public festival that celebrates the built environment.
The Archifest Pavilion is installed at Raffles Place Park and will be open to the public from 23 September to 9 October 2016. The two-week long festival will be anchored at the pavilion, featuring exhibitions, conversations, Architours and other fringe events.
For information on the full list of activities taking place at the pavilion, visit www.archifest.sg.
Media coverage:
httpss://monocle.com/minute/2016/09/22/
https://www.todayonline.com/entertainment/arts/what-do-archifest-2016
https://www.indesignlive.sg/articles/projects/a-pavilion-that-invites-pause