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Bras Basah Complex (BBC) has been acknowledged as the City of Books in Singapore. Completed in 1980, it housed bookstores that were demolished along the old Bras Basah Road. Students had been visiting the place for books and stationery. Today, BBC gains a new stream of visitors, which are students of neighbouring arts institutions. It has experienced changes throughout the years. Some of the bookstores altered their business to selling watches and leisure goods and ceased from operations. BBC has been losing its identity and characteristic as the City of Books, the icon of arts, culture and education.
BBC has a unique shape. It has voids and atrium that also becomes the centre of BBC. The project focuses on the new typology of the atrium of BBC that looks empty. The atrium is the shopfronts of all bookstores in BBC. The main programmes are an exhibition area, point-of-purchase (POP), and play.
The concept of POP showcases the products from the bookstores. It opens the opportunity for bookstores to exhibit their products and exposes those bookstores that are located in more isolated areas of the building. The project also would like to widen the range of age groups that use the space, especially kids and young generation. The parents will be able to shop at the POP area while their kids are able to play and read the books. It merges the experiences of shopping, reading, exploration and playing.
The idea of maze and subtraction will be the foundation of the project. It boosts exploration and discovery within the space, which increases the movement of the users and complements the high energy from kids to discover the space from their perspectives. The project will strengthen BBC’s identity as the City of Books through the alternative ways of “filling” the emptiness of BBC. The process of finding is related to exploration. One needs to explore a space or environment to discover what he/she is looking for. An exploration incorporates negative volume where one can pass through it. The negative volume can be formed by subtracting from the initial volume. The subtracted volume creates new spaces and passages.
Subtraction gives room of exploration and discovery. The treatment of subtracting the volume will give a new way of making use of the space. It allows the contribution from the outside to embrace the space.