Tuesday, January 09, 2007

SPUR - Singapore Planning and Urban Research Group





Selfish me almost does not want to share this discovery. (Since I want to be able to return to Singapore to get my own copy.) Select Books still has a few copies of the 2 original SPUR publications: SPUR 65-67 and SPUR 68-71 for sale. They are selling for S$47.62. Click on the links for the online shopping webpage for both journals.

Secondly, I found an interview transcript of Philip Bay interviewing Tay Kheng Soon (transcribed by Dinesh Naidu) on the trials and tribulations of SPUR, coloured with political dimensions and personalities of that nation-building era. I found it a very refreshing departure from the story of SPUR that most of us are familiar with. It is definitely very thought-provoking, in view of the paths we are beginning to embark on. So here are the links.
Tay Kheng Soon & SPUR (Part 1)
Tay Kheng Soon & SPUR (Part 2)

From this, one learns that architecture is never entirely separate from politics.