Country: Singapore
Design Intent
Initially, site research was done on Pulau Ubin and a trail proposed for which we designed a hut and outpost. During my research I discovered 2 major problems at the northern coast of Ubin, Soil Erosion, which is a permanent irreversible damage to the geography of Ubin and Sea litter which does not get picked up in Ubin regularly because deemed to be a difficult unsafe process. Having identified these problems, I looked to an inherent natural solution in the Mangrove swamps of Ubin. The roots of the Mangrove holds down the soil and sand and retains them to the coast, while the density of supports provide an opportunity to be a catchment for Sea litter. I took Mangrove not only to be my structural inspiration for the building, but I took the concept of its growth as well. The way the mangrove grows is such that it plays a balancing act between its branches and roots like no other tree. The roots of the mangrove grow wherever it is need to prop the tree up. Similarly I wanted to adopt this flexibility and adaptability in my design – a building that grows to meet the needs of the user and eventually, like any living organism, dies after a period of time.
To study circulation within a mangrove habitat I turned to the mudskipper, an amphibious fish which takes the mangrove to be its home. After much research I decided on certain things that I thought could be applied to my design. Firstly, the amphibious nature of the mudskipper informed my design such that my building at times was partially submerged in water during high tide. And this allowed floating litter like plastic bags and bottles to collect in specific points in my building for ease of disposal. (For this, I studied the vernacular passive fishing traps and adapted them to catch litter instead.) Also, the mudskipper had a clear demarcation of spaces according to public spaces (above ground level) and private spaces (below ground level). Similarly I used the upper floor to house the more public programmes and the smaller, intimate spaces below their parallel.
Going back to adopting the adaptability of the Mangrove, one of the merits in this project is a flexible system that allows it to be deployed wherever and whenever needed, if needed at all. This allows for future growth and expansion of the space to meet future requirements. The biodegradable nature of the building (constructed in Bakau wood) allows it to decay after a while. One of the key programmes of the building is mangrove planting around the compound of the centre. If deemed in the future that the centre is unnecessary, it can be swallowed by the new mangrove forest and returned to nature.
The bulding acts like a scaffolding to the mangrove in an act to return and repay our debt to nature. This project seeks to not only protect, but heal the northern coast of Ubin.
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