School of Arts in Singapore

I always appreciated art schools who try to stand out from the rest and demonstrate they are places where young people are directed through arts. This is why the buildings themselves shouldn’t be ordinary ones, simple schools, but design and architectural masterpieces, to offer an example for the pupils. It seems that Singapore’s High school for visual and performing arts from Zubir Said Drive understood the best the power of example and projected a $121 million, 52,945.54 sqm, under the supervising of the WOHA’s architects. The project was finished in 2009 and it’s an amazing piece of art.

School of the arts woha11

Besides its amazing design, the building is constructed in a way which provides natural light and ventilation for its both parts. This is why the building was considered a ‘machine of wind’, designed to channel and intensify Singapore’s light breeze. The designers seemed to be interested on conserving the nature not only by ecologist technologies, but also by creating green spaces. The school’s roof is designed as a park and some walls of the building are covered in vegetation.

School of the arts woha11
School of the arts woha11
School of the arts woha11
School of the arts woha11
School of the arts woha11
School of the arts woha11
School of the arts woha11
School of the arts woha11
School of the arts woha11
School of the arts woha11
School of the arts woha11

The school has two parts so it can provide a safe learning and also contact with the public. The first part is named the Backdrop and gathers a concert hall, drama theatre, black box theatre and several small informal performing spaces. The second part is where the effective learning process takes place and it is called the Blank Canvas. The vegetation on the facades isn’t just a design trick, but a natural filter which keeps away the humidity, the dust, the heat and the outside noise.{foundon archdaily and pics by Patrick Bingham-Hall}.