Lianhe Zaobao, 威尼斯建筑双年展新加坡馆回归本地展出 餐桌上理解城市规划

(Translation)

The Singapore Pavilion exhibition for the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, organised in celebration Singapore’s 60th year of independence, has officially returned to Singapore for a local showcase. Through a curatorial concept inspired by the dining table, members of the public can explore Singapore’s architecture and urban planning projects through elements of food culture.

Speaking at the exhibition opening on Friday (May 22), Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Finance and National Development Indranee Rajah said that the success of Singapore’s built environment was not accidental, but the result of long-term, careful and forward-looking planning.

She said the exhibition’s central message highlights how design is a crucial cornerstone of Singapore’s success. “We plan, not just for today, but for our future generations. And that story is embodied in the Master Plan, which is a living document of intention that guides the nation’s medium-term development over the next 10 to 15 years.”

Indranee added that the latest Master Plan, officially unveiled last December, drew nearly 220,000 participants and contributors over more than two years of public consultation. Much like the shared dining table featured in the pavilion, different perspectives converged to form a collective whole.

Exhibition runs free at the National Museum until August 2

The exhibition, titled “RASA-TABULA-SINGAPURA”, is open to the public free of charge at the National Museum of Singapore from now until August 2.

The exhibition reinterprets the concept of “Tabula Rasa”, showcasing how Singapore has developed its unique identity through food, trade, movement, memory, and the everyday lives of its people.

Professor Khoo Peng Beng, co-curator of the Singapore Pavilion and Head of the Architecture and Sustainable Design pillar at the Singapore University of Technology and Design, said that the centrepiece of the exhibition is a series of large “table landscape” that uses food culture to explore how architecture, policy and design intersect with everyday life Singapore. The exhibition presents Singapore’s development through the metaphor of “main course” and “side dishes”.

The “main course” showcases Singapore’s planning strategies across different scales, while the “side dishes” feature an assortment of traditional local kueh in varying flavours and forms, symbolising how design innovation, policy, and community building can work together to strengthen Singapore’s multicultural society.

Professor Khoo said, “This richly spread dining table demonstrates how Singapore’s diverse society functions. Clear boundaries allow people to gather, while also enabling our collective wisdom to grow.”

During its exhibition in Venice from May 9 to November 23 last year, the Singapore Pavilion attracted more than 63,000 visitors from around the world, offering international audiences a glimpse into Singapore’s unique approach to planning, design and nation-building.

During the event, Indranee also announced the official launch of Singapore’s open call for entries to participate in the 2027 Venice Architecture Biennale, inviting interdisciplinary teams to submit curatorial proposals. By combining architecture and storytelling, Singapore will continue to further strengthen its presence and influence in the international architectural scene.

Singapore has participated in the Venice Architecture Biennale since 2004, with each edition reflecting different stages in the nation’s urban development narrative.

“Since our first participation at the Biennale in 2004, each Singapore Pavilion has captured a distinctive phase in our urban narrative – from our early expressions of resilience and innovation in land use, to today’s explorations spanning the full spectrum of scale, from master planning to urban and architectural design. Two decades on, Singapore’s presentations have matured into multidisciplinary dialogues that invite the world to experience Singapore as a living system of design”, said Yap Lay Bee, Group Director (Architecture and Urban Design), Urban Redevelopment Authority.