Singapore Chronicles: Architecture

The early structures in Singapore were constructed from locally available materials.
After British colonisation, more durable materials were used in buildings, which
were designed like those built in London or Delhi. Alongside these were the
shophouse blocks that filled the grid of the early town. As locals came through the
ranks of public service and later struck out on their own, local architecture firms
were set up at the turn of the 20th century and by 1958, architecture was taught at
the Singapore Polytechnic. The periods of nation-building and global city
calibration led to works by both local and foreign architects that now endow the
skylines and landscapes of the island- state.