Amidst constant urban development, The Four Asian Tigers: Culture, Heritage, and Urban Revitalisation (TFAT) is a publication exploring the namesakes’ capital cities through a selection of eight different case studies and their efforts in engaging with a space’s cultural character. It questions the good, the bad, and asks what can be done for heritage and its impact on communities as cities continue changing.
Rapidly-developing economies were the direct cause of each region’s urbanisation, affecting how priorities shifted and how built spaces were utilised. This running theme throughout the case studies covered in TFAT pushed ‘money’ to be integrated into the book sleeve’s visual, which was also inspired by the urban material of concrete.
Drawing from the architectural topic, physicality was incorporated into TFAT’s look with the slab-style form of the book and debossing details on the cover and chapter dividers. Asian-inspired elements such as the coin-inspired cover and coptic binding were incorporated whilst taking care to avoid archetyping and keeping the design sleek.
‘Cement Gray’ and ‘Real Gray’ papers used from G.F Smith
‘Segment’ typeface by Frode Helland, Indian Type Foundry
Textual sources:
“Tiong Bahru Market & Food Centre”, Roots Singapore.
“Tiong Bahru: From cemetery to hipster enclave”, Maps Tell Stories, 4 Oct. 2017.
Lee, Elliot. “New Bahru and the Shopping Mall-ification of Our Historical Buildings”, Rice Media, 19 Jul. 2024.
About page, New Bahru.
“Nan Chiau High School”, Wikipedia.
“How New Bahru Is Truly Supporting Singapore’s Creative Scene And Lifestyle Businesses”, Female Singapore, 14 Aug. 2024.
Wong, Crystal. Chan, Icy. Lam, Lily. Zayed, Tarek. Sun, Yi. “Assessment of Public Engagement Approach in Various Project Stages: The Case Study of Central Market, Hong Kong”, Korea Institute of Construction Engineering and Management, 7 Dec. 2020.
“History Timeline”, Central Market Hong Kong.
Hahn, Henri. “Hong Kong: the history of Central Market”, Atelier de Hahn, 3 Jul. 2023.
Lee, Celia. “Hidden Hong Kong: A history of Central Market”, Localiiz, 18 Aug. 2023.
“296 Tai Kwun, Centre for Heritage & Art”, Herzog de Meuron.
“Tai Kwun: A Monument to the Past”, Chatteris Hong Kong, 3 Jan. 2022.
Holmes, Damien. “Tai Kwun: Central Police Station Revitalization”, World Landscape Architect, 23 Oct. 2023.
Hsu, Aaron. “Unveiling the Charm of Dihua Street”, Taiwan Today, 1 Jul. 2011.
Kuo, Shih-Ling. Chen, Chun-Liang. “Operation Analysis of Cultural Heritage Service Ecosystems: Empirical Study Based on Dihua Street and Guansi Shihdianzih Old Street in Taiwan”, MDPI, 13 Apr. 2022.
Yang, Allie. “Exploring the magic of Taiwan’s ‘Spirited Away’ city”, National Geographic, 6 Jul. 2022.
“Jiufen Old Street”, New Taipei Travel.
“Hanok Village”, Seoul Hanok.
“Bukchon Hanok Village (북촌한옥마을)”, Visit Korea.
Lee-Boquien, Siyoon. “Preserving Heritage, Pioneering Progress: Revitalizing Seoul’s Historic Hanok District”, Development Asia, 19 Jul. 2024.
Min, Hyun-Suk. “Bukchon Conservation Project (2001~2004)”, Seoul Solution Korea, 17 Apr. 2023.
Image sources:
The Oval Partnership
Mike Kai Chen
White Rice Culture
Peryferie
SeaState
SGalf
Kosublog
WhyQ
National Archives of Singapore
Hungry Go Where
Finbarr Fallon
Singapore Land Authority
Design Anthology
Athirah Annissa
Ivy Chok
Hong Kong Development Bureau
Dynamic Media
Tai Kwun Hong Kong
Fat Chicken Meal
Herzog & de Meuron
Hong Kong Tourism Board
Chyan Phang
FoVisuals
Hiufu Wong
Cheng Poh Hung
Busv 9153
Central Market Hong Kong
David Wong
Yung Huang Yong
Cotaro70s
Redaroundtheworld
Ricky LK
Marek Piwnicki
Mike Kai Chen
Ronson Chen
Jiufen The Ocean Theory
Johnlsl
Wei86
Sirawit Mahanin
Skjackey Tse
Young Jun Park
Art Yard 67
Hoolataipei
Travel Taipei
Adam Jones
Jisun Han
Lee Hyun Chan
Alexisjetsets
Clement
Hanvin Cheong
REUTERS
Walk over the world
Matt Kieffer
News1
Arhcframe
Seoul Museum of History
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