"Esplanade Theatre at the Bay" by Jeffery Wong is licensed under CC BY 2.0
The Esplanade Theatres, better described by locals as “The Durian,” are Singapore’s premier performing arts venue. Located on the bay, the spiky outer shells afford excellent views and provide shade by day. At night the Theatres transform into lamps that shine out onto the bay.
"Esplanade Theatre, Singapore" by John Mason is licensed under CC BY 2.0
The design process invited much criticism. One early rendition was meant to represent a lantern, another was described as “concrete blobs.” Architects Michael Wilford & Partners and DP Architects who created the final design strove to create something that would engage the local people and speak to a larger audience. Despite any initial debate, the Theatres have become one of the busiest performing arts venues in the world with 3,000 performances a year. They are a non-profit entity who believes in making the arts accessible to all.
The unusual design won many awards and was completed in 2002 at a cost of 343 million. Due to the close proximity of a subway, the Theatres had to be encased within a concrete block that was padded with rubber. Another design challenge was placing the concrete pilings into the soft soil of the bay.
The Theatres are composed of a 2,000 seat theatre, a 1,800 seat concert hall, a 450 seat outdoor theatre, and a 250 seat theatre.
"Singapore | Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay" by travel oriented is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Interestingly, despite the outrageous exterior, the interior was modeled after traditional Italian concert halls. A panel of 74 members including developers, government bodies, as well as Asian arts experts worked on the interior design. Thanks to renowned acoustic engineer Russell Johnson, the Theatres are known as possessing some of the best acoustics in the world.
Check out my posts on more interesting Singaporean architecture here. Or discover another crazy building here.
