Thoughts about SOTA, School of the Arts, Singapore

Last Wednesday, 5th of August, our creative thinking class lecturer instructed us to go out and find any piece of architecture that caught our attention most. Walking along, we spotted the School of the Arts Building situated along Prinsep street. My groupmates and I all decided to use the building as our subject. I went in the SOTA building for the school activity, and here are my thoughts about its architecture.

The School Of the Arts

Heavy vegetation and wooden walls

The School of the Arts, Singapore building resembles an ecosystem.

This is evident as we can see the bark-like structure on the lower walls and heavy vegetation.

 Closer view of lower walls

Looking up

It is quite practical to form the SOTA building this way as it promotes green acts and clean air. The vegetation allows more production of oxygen and effectively lessening the amount of carbon dioxide in the air.

                                                     

A few steps inside the building, I feel like I am taking a walk in a rainforest.
A key element in the architecture of the SOTA building is its walls made entirely of wood. The walls are in easily recognizable geometric shapes - mainly triangles. Geometric shapes suggest structure and order while organization and efficiency embodies what a school should be. Angled surfaces opposed the smoothly painted vertical surfaces.

Space created by ceiling

              Once inside, I notice that the ceiling is very high up – more or less 3 floors in height.
                                The lobby gives off a strong sense of freedom and space.

Tiles

As for the interior of the building, the tiles have monochromatic colours, black and white, which gives a perception of a dramatic, cleaner and more spacious or wider area. Occasionally, silver linings can be found running through them. The open space may double as a gallery to showcase the productions the school has to flaunt. Black is a colour that gives off an aura of elegance, mystery, and formality. On the other hand, the contrasting white shows cleanliness, simplicity, and a minimalism approach.





In conclusion, I feel that this architecture is well designed and constructed. I especially love the feeling of how organized and elegant the building is.