Return of the Nature Parks (as Super Structure)

The Urban Tarzan responds to the increasingly hostile urban environment of Downtown Singapore. It opposes the conventional typology of maximising floor plates for commercial, monetary and material culture. It also criticises the lack of physical playzone in the downtown district, where work and transaction dominates as the anchor programme. Hence, Urban Tarzan attempts to break the monopoly of the concrete jungle and display the heroic return of wilderness and fun in the city.

This project proposes an alternative typology of a high-rise tower that incorporates the operations of the public realm, ecological habitat and the climatic environment. The composition of the tower examines a computational form-generation methodology: discrete aggregation - where the assembly of the components is initiated and constructed through a bottom-up, peer-to-peer approach. This method of form generation allows the design to emulate nature in a constructive manner. The discrete construction is appropriated by the relations between aggregates, structural efficiency and spatial effectiveness.

The composition of the aggregates are investigated and iterated in a constant feedback loop to incorporate space, functions and services - activating what seems to just-so be a structural element into a device of spatial experience and system of ecology. This manifestation of a structure-only aggregate results in a porous and unpredictable outlook of the building where the inconsistency of the structural element negotiates and shapes the creation of architectural experiences - yielding a circulation path that dances around columns and beams, fragmented floorplates and decentralised service systems.

The Urban Tarzan challenges a park (naturally horizontal typology) as a vertical tower. It re-imagines how nature could be re-experienced in a modern superstructure setting that would provide a sense of freshness, wilderness and bionomics. Leveraging on the architecture form, an ecological system (as programme) is curated between human, plants as well as native and migratory bird species. The seemingly leftover site is revived and returned to nature - becoming a fundamental part of Selegie Road's ecological and urban habitat.

In the age of climate change and land scarcity, Urban Tarzan provides an alternate solution that brings nature even closer to home. It does not only seek to create additional green spaces, but to develop an ecological and circular system between the users, site, species and climate. Pre-fabrication and Timber Construction technology further reduces the carbon embodiment of our built environment. All in all, the Urban Tarzan suggests a proposal to inspire a paradigm shift in the attitudes and methodology towards high-dense development and commercialism.

The Project is located at the junction of Selegie Road and Short Street near Rochor, Singapore. The site is currently occupied by the ‘Ten Square, Landmark of Good’, car display tower. The project has a site area of only 124 sqm with a 64m height limit. The key consideration of the site includes: climate study, surrounding architecture morphology, functions of building, user livelihood and birds habitation.

Urban Tarzan attempts to function like a nature park. To stimulate an ecological system, specific species of plants are selected for the growth and attraction of birds, insects and other animals. Furthermore, planter boxes are allocated for the incubation of nursery. It is expected that the planter boxes are refreshed seasonally which would result in a new outlook to the tower every few years. The users transit through the tower by an elevator or steps. Circulation paths are unexpected and provide quiet spaces for contemplation; zones for social gathering; viewpoints for scenes and nature appreciation. Slides, made only possible through verticality, are added to act as a ‘teleportation’/’wild-card’ device to instantly transport users into different zones of fresh experience. It also acts as a quick escape device to exit or move through the building in a faster manner.

The structural design intention is to minimise embodied carbon whilst providing maximum maintainability. This is achieved with pre-fabricated components and timber construction. All parts of the tower are constructed through All parts of the tower are constructed through a kit of parts – including but not limited to: structure; floor grills; hand-rails; planters; seats; bird-house. Four Timber Columns are secured to +-shaped steel plates. The length of each timber column is maximised for prefabrication delivery of a container truck. The gaps between the timbers acts like a rail-system for other components (eg. Planter, floor-grilles) to be ledged onto it. This means that components of the building can be easily removed/swapped for maintenance or re-organisation purposes. All Urban Tarzan services are decentralised – It collects rainwater, stores and disperses to the planters directly. It functions naturally through the act of gravity and does not require a pump from the water mains.