VIRTUAL: Prague Heritages

Abstract

A city is shaped by various historical and geographical features. A city is like a ‘living organism’ in continuous metabolism. Buildings and places in urban areas are constantly being transformed to adapt to urban development needs. In this process of continuous flux, a single historic building or a place should not be seen as heritage alone. The historic buildings/ places in dense urban settings, such as in Singapore, can influence a larger area. Several conserved buildings in Southeast Asian historic cities share common issues, such as underutilisation and low vitality, both a waste of resources and space. In response to this situation, rejuvenating the past by making it relevant and vibrant for the present and future should be the only way to revitalise the place. However, this should be done by considering various cultural, economic, social and architectural aspects. Using Capitol Singapore, a historic building complex built in the 1930s, located in the heart of the Civic District of Singapore, this paper will analyse its effectiveness as a rejuvenation project and sustain its relevance and appeal to the city centre. Capitol Singapore underwent a $1.1 billion mixed-use redevelopment from 2011-16 and won the 2016 Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Architectural Heritage Award. Based on the findings, this paper will develop a ‘Vitality Assessment Framework’ for redeveloping historic buildings in urban settings.