now, i’ve been watching this whole “hub” business with an air of detached bemusement.  i think singapore has the potential to be really good at many different things, but we need to find ourselves a couple more synonyms for “hub”.  anyhow, the newest hub is that at fusionopolis, another one of those glass/steel structures populating the buona vista area.  from the outside, i don’t think the building stands out substantially compared to the ministry of education building or the ntu alumni club building.  but when you enter the building, that’s a different matter altogether.  the architects have had a daring hand at injecting curves and interesting angles into the building, so that you get interesting perspectives and feels at different points of the building.  a couple of my favourite points are:

– at the escalator heading downstairs to the supermarket, where the architects have made the space pointed like an arrow and lined with white spotlights, so it gives the space a very futuristic feel.

– at the reception area upstairs, where there has been a gorgeous use of wood to create wavy ceilings and walls.  i don’t think it would have been that expensive to do as the wood looks like compressed ply and all pieces are of a similar shape, just laser cut and arranged in different places. the overall effect is as my friend put it, like being inside a womb, with all its curves and shadows.  there’s an unusual use of wire mesh curtains as a partition for the space, and this works well with the floor to ceiling windows which let muted sunlight play across the black floors through the mesh.

– the tunnel escalator leading up to the genexis theatre, where once again, the sense that you’re time travelling or at least travelling within a high-tech spacecraft is conveyed again, with the verticality of the escalator and the way in which it is lit.

– Fusionopolis, 1 Fusionopolis way, http://www.fusionopolis.a-star.edu.sg/