In the fifth edition of i Light Marina Bay, LASALLE was invited to create a work aligned to the theme of light and nature at the waterfront.
Relocating Locality – a series of interlocking pavilions, made from raw and natural materials such as wood and bamboo – was presented by LASALLE’s Media Lab and a group of BA(Hons) Fine Arts students.
Based on the concept of ‘rest areas’ in parks, man¬made spaces from which to contemplate nature, Relocating Locality re-situated the pavilion into the cityscape.
Historically, the pavilions of gardens are a site of retreat from bustling city life. The pavilions become markers, the nodes, the rendezvous points – that become spaces of relation. For instance, the Green Pavilion at Singapore Botanical Gardens is a landmark for the Botany Centre – dually functioning as a site of leisure and conservation. Building on their observations of signs of deviation from the ubiquitous daily grind of urban life, the team also looked at different formats and purposes of lighting in the city. The colours and lighting choreography took inspiration from the street light decorations that traverse entire roads during festive seasons, the aesthetics of lighted Chinese altars, as well as makeshift stages for the getai performances that are usually found in the suburbs during the hungry ghost month.
Taking the familiar elements of fixtures from the heartlands and the social architecture of parks into the manicured city centre, the work served to add an extra dimension of vibrancy that normally cannot be experienced within the financial hub of Marina Bay. As a series of connected open pavilions on the grass, visitors were encouraged to pass through, move about, socialise and interact with the space. To further insinuate this idea of slowing down and relaxing, the work featured tarpaulin covered cushions and wooden pallets designed as reclining seats. In this context, the pavilion serves as an inviting rest area toward which the audience find themselves compelled to gravitate.
Located at the Promontory at Marina Bay – an open field backed by the Marina Bay Financial Centre and facing out into the bay – from either direction, Relocating Locality was framed in stark juxtaposition against the cityscape.
The rawness of construction materials used, as well as its lighting reminiscent of void deck coffee shops lent contrast to the work’s polished surrounding environment. The work offered an alternative perspective to the existing buildings – as a hypermanicured picturesque frame – as a heightened contrast to the building blocks of construction set against the bay with the skyline in full view. In this way, Relocating Locality acted as a mediator between nature, the city and its inhabitant citizens.
