The redesign of a heritage shophouse in Singapore along Blair Road sought to blur the boundaries between space and object.
The Ministry of Design MOD tried to explain the thinking behind Canvas House with a layer of white that “provides a canvas for the future, whilst revealing historical preservation in concentrated spots”.
Colin Seah, founder-director, ministry of design said: “When it comes to adaptive reuse projects, the question is always the same, how do we tread the line between the past and the present?
“If one opts for the project to be just about preservation, it's as good as time standing still... which could be paralysing and inhibiting. But at the same time, neither do we want to disregard history completely by creating something too foreign or novel.
“Our response was to layer over the existing history with a proverbial blank canvas while leaving choreographed glimpses into the past, blanketing both space and the furniture in it - allowing us to blur the inherent boundaries between past and present, object and space."
The brief and how MOD answered it
MOD has newly completed an all-white Canvas House for co-living, set in a heritage shophouse in Singapore along Blair Road.
The developer (Figment) gave a fixed budget and four months (design, sourcing and fitout) to re-imagine the interiors, with the aim of renting out the suites to ex-pats for 3-12 month stays.
Rentals start from S$3300 a month. The brief was to do something absolutely appealing to long-stay renters, and a way for this co-living shophouse to stand out.
Faced with a tight budget and a tight timeline, alongside the desire for an overarching concept to underpin the moves, the team conceptualised the “Canvas House”: Painting the entire house in white, to provide a canvas for the future, MOD decided to focus on “upcycling” to meet both constraints.
Majority of the tables, chairs, chests, mirrors, screens and vanity desks, were repurposed and given a new lease of life.
To pay homage to the past, yet give it character for the future, MOD painted these pieces all white but carved out “playful peek-a-boo reveals” of vignettes on the decorative dragon or longevity vases, ceramic plates hung on the wall, and wooden screens, vanity dressers and chairs.
To present this spatially, MOD created a text-based neon art piece, featuring a quote by Thomas Jefferson that encapsulates MOD’s approach to Canvas House.
The quote summarises the attitude of the house, quoting Colin, “it is a neutral white canvas for the future to be dreamt upon, rather than a wholesale homage to the past”.