Tiong Bahru – A modernist district in the tropics

The plot of land where Tiong Bahru stands today used to be a cemetery at the fringe of the city, occupied by around 2,000 squatters. In 1927, the land was acquired by the SIT, which cleared the site and built roads in an attempt to make it more attractive for private developers. But because no one expressed interest in the project, the SIT decided to develop the area itself. This resulted in the construction of 20 housing blocks, including 784 apartments, during an initial phase from 1936 to 1941, plus a further 55 blocks, including 1,258 apartments, completed after the Second World War, in 1954. The design of the complex is attributed to the Scottish architect James Milner Fraser, who was among the first to introduce modernist principles in housing design in Singapore.

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