23 September 2008
River light-up may not wear well
Coinciding with the inaugural F1 Grand Prix race in Singapore, the first phase of the lighting makeover of the Singapore River was switched on, on 20 September 2008. At the same time, this year's Singapore River Festival was launched. Both use the same concept -- of flashing rainbow lights. How does an otherwise historic district look now with such a tacky scheme? Photo essay.
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10 comments:
actually i think the lights under esplanade bridge look cool, complementing the modern angular design of the bridge itself. as for the lights along the river, well... tacky they may be, but you'd have to happy about the "rainbow" colour scheme, surely! ;)
Your comment about the lights being tacky may be incorrect.
For foreigners (and mind you, the lights are not for locals), the lights are intriguing and refreshing.
For a local, they are tacky and sian.
But so what? Since when did the govt or STPB do anything for locals in this area?
F1 is for the rich. Not for the normal SGporean la.
TAN
Swiss
I remember being rather taken aback by the Clarke Quay lily pads when I visited Singapore, so I'm glad to hear they may not be all that popular!
You're right some of the lighting is rather garish. A bit like the kitschy (and copyrighted) light display on the Eiffel Tower. Far better, I think, just to use floodlighting in one colour to highlight the features of the bridge or other structure.
Thanks for your photo posts. It helps hermits like me know what Singapore is changing on the surface... Most of these are awful. Picture ten, of the tunnel I believe, looked like the entrance to a whorehouse.
I have nothing else to say, except that the uninspired nature of the whole lighting schmuck makes it look like "rush work".
visiting Singapore a number of my foreign friends commented that the lights are tacky, ugly, boring and unoriginal. not only that, they think it is so "cultivated" unlike HK where it seems vibrant because it is not planned.
one asked a very interesting question, "do singaporeans do anything that is not planned?" and that is the crux of being a singaporean, everything is planned and not by the people but by our "gods".
rush rush rush.
pretty clear no deep thought and artistic consideration was put into the lighting design.
Ahh, Singapore doesn't need artists! We need only engineers and scientists(oops, don't have them either).
;-)
We reap what we sow.
We'll see whether it looks pretty on camera come Sunday.
E.o.M.
Is it really that bad? I actually find it alright. Sure, the colourful lights on Cavenagh bridge (#4) and the fluorescent tubes under Esplanade bridge (#9) seems bizarre, but other things look fine to me. A little bit repetitive, yea, but the theme's rainbow...
In fact, I quite like the placards that you find cheap (#3). I thought it is simple yet turns out pretty nice.
I liked some of it though a good number of them really looked tacky. Especially the rainbow bridge. What were the designers smoking?
This island-city is fast becoming a joke, and a bad one at that.
Something to note: Pic no.9 of the white fluorescent tubes under the bridge is actually an artwork as part of the Singapore Biennale. See "Lightlines by Hans Peter Kuhn" - http://www.singaporebiennale.org/venues-marina-bay.html#esplanadebridge
Unfortunately no explanation is provided on the website.
I remember one day when I passed by that bridge near UE square (not sure what it's called), it looked different. I don't quite remember how it looked like before but it definitely wasn't multi-coloured and splattered with disease-like colourful circles. Not sure what was the rationale behind the make-over, sure it was there for quite some time.
I really don't get how come such decorations can't be done more tastefully. HDB Flats like to transform into rainbows as well. You mean the people who designed it actually sincerely felt that it is nice?! They're trying so hard to be futuristic and all, but the product always turns out so... pardon me, I think "OBIANG" is the perfect adjective.
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