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| Bench/Stadium, Andrew Crombie (MKPL Architect) |
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| Bench/Stadium, Andrew Crombie (MKPL Architect) |
Bench/Stadium. Design by Andrew Crombie (MKPL Architect).
The stratification of the proposed, ziggurat-like, skin is evocative of the texture of the original stadium seating. The curved, planed external surface is new, however the natural, textured, weathered grain of the original planks will be revealed within the interior of the bench. The form, the inverted planks and the longevity of the material, suggests a solidity, a rock like permanence to pay homage to the absent stadium. The elliptical shape, symmetrical for efficiency, is a cultural memory, an echo, rising from the dust of the preceding civic icon. The pure form is reminiscent of sports facility typology. The bench will be a sculptural object in the landscape, immobile but changing, during the day the bench would be solid, stanch, but ethereal by night with the benefit of artificial illumination.
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| 1973, Peter Chen |
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| 1973, Peter Chen |
1973. Design by Peter Chen.
The National Stadium remains, even in erasure, as one of the more iconic buildings to come out from the era of post-independent Singapore architecture. Its architecture, like its place in time, was unique. The design approach is a simple one, choosing to draw direct reference to the architecture of the Stadium as design generator. Inspired directly from the architectural form, the bench seat seeks to create a form that is reminiscent of the roofline, through an undulating profile of its laminated timber sections, while the supporting cantilever structure of galvanized metal sections references the original structural design of the seating galleries.
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| Benchmark Sat, Larry Peh (&Larry) |
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| Benchmark Sat, Larry Peh (&Larry) |
Benchmark Sat. Design by Larry Peh (&Larry).
Taking inspiration from victory podiums, this bench is a fitting tribute to the National Stadium. The stadium was a key venue for the setting of numerous benchmarks. At the front and rear elevations, the deliberate omission of horizontal planks reveal the Chinese characters “一”, “二” and “三”, representing the podium’s first, second and third places respectively. Likewise, when viewed from the top, the design displays the Roman numerals, “I”, “II” and “III”. The bench, with three levels, opens up a variety of uses for adults and children alike. While it is inherently human to strive for the first place, Benchmark Sat allows the user to choose a preferred seat, thereby setting his or her comfortable benchmark.
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| Lumber, Hans Tan |
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| Lumber, Hans Tan |
Lumber. Design by Hans Tan.
Once logged from trees, the seating planks of the former national stadium are returned to the primordial state of a trunk as a tribute to the stadium for being a genesis of Singapore’s progress by supporting the people through many National events. With the worn out surface of the planks created by years of weathering and abrasion having an uncanny likeness to bark, they lay together like a fallen trunk where one would instinctively sit, offering the same support to the passerby it once rendered to crowds.
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| bench, Raymond Hon |
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| bench, Raymond Hon |
bench. Design by Raymond Hon (NUS).
bench is a bench that is constructed of out the wood salvaged from the benches of the Old National Stadium, bonded seamlessly with adhesive. The weathered texture of the wood on the top surface is retained to preserve a tangible part of history for future generations to feel, as well as an attempt to preserve 37 years of service to the occupants of the Old National Stadium, and now in the form of a public bench, enabling it to continue its service discretely.
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| Stadium Bench, Wong Mun Summ & Richard Hassell (WOHA) |
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| Stadium Bench, Wong Mun Summ & Richard Hassell (WOHA) |
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| Stadium Bench, Wong Mun Summ & Richard Hassell (WOHA) |
Stadium Bench. Design by Wong Mun Summ & Richard Hassell (WOHA).
The timber planks that formed the seats for the National Stadium were witness to the years of nation building. The bench design seeks to keep this sense of time and history visible and tangible. The bench is expressed as a collection of objects which can be disassembled, each plank is visible as an individual relic from the stadium, treated with respect and veneration. The weathering of the planks is a type of record of a precise amount of time that has passed, from the freshly sawn planks when Singapore was born as a modern nation, to these silvered, matured, aged wood 47 years later.
(Descriptions by Bench Exhibition @ URA)
