Hi Ralph, our last conversation (see article 'The Hidden Poetry Side of Cities, novembrer 2018) focused on your specific interest in cities and urbanization in the Far East. Now, I'd like to talk a bit more about your works in Singapore, the city where you have lived in the past few years. We had discussed before social control and discipline as a government tool to ensure the quality and well-being of citizens. You said: «Singapore is a very comfortable but also predictable place to live in, which can be a good and a bad thing at the same time.» I feel like this is a very good synthesis. Still, as a western guy, I wonder if we are judging overseas countries too much on the basis of our own cultural assumptions. What do you think about it? How do Singaporeans see themselves? Do they feel like living in a sort of " bubble" or dream?

Ralph Steinegger (RS): I think it would be illusory to pretend to be able to judge others free of cultural assumptions. Especially for us Westerners, with all of our historical-cultural baggage. That said, I think it is very important, in today's increasingly polarized times probably more than ever, to at least try to gain multiple perspectives on important issues to deepen our understanding of the world. That's why I travel, read and listen to different sources, and talk to people of different backgrounds. As to your second question, Singaporeans are proud of their country's achievements of the last decades, and quite rightly so. They appreciate the safety and stability provided by their government, as well as robust infrastructure and generally high living standards. But they certainly don't see themselves as living in some sort of dreamland. On the contrary, they know the older generation had to work hard for the achievements of the present. Income inequality, long working hours, social pressure to perform and conform; for many Singaporeans, life can be quite tough with plenty of worries, like for many of us.

© Ralph Steinegger from the series 'Aspects of Control'

The ongoing chapter 'Aspect of Control' highlights some interesting aspects of the management of a territory that has however well-defined geographical limits. A small island strung between Malaysia and Indonesia, and historically contended for its strategic position. This geological morphology and geopolitical landmark make Singapore very interesting as an urban observatory. In your statement, you talk about «a land-use plan that looks half a century into the future». What kind of needs do you think reflects this look in the future? What are the expectations? And their main strategic drivers?

RS: Singapore is acutely aware of its small size. To make up for it, Singapore has to think very strategically about the use of its land resources. That's where the land-use plan (officially called Master Plan) comes into play. Each individual piece of land on the island, whether small or large, is assigned a purpose for the near and distant future. As a result, land is continuously repurposed - or in the jargon of urban planners: freed up, reclaimed, recycled, or upgraded - to provide for future growth and needs. In some way, it can be argued that this obsession with land and maximizing its value is connected to a feeling of insecurity, born of Singapore's geographic limits and lack of natural resources. A fear of becoming insignificant in the global order and ultimately losing its status as a regional hub and entrepôt.

© Ralph Steinegger from the series 'Aspects of Control'

© Ralph Steinegger from the series 'Aspects of Control'

There is another aspect that intrigues me about Singapore, like all those realities in which we see rapid and decisive urban and real estate development. It's rather an invisible issue, or who are the people who build this city? Where they come from? Where they live? They are only a workforce or an integral part of this vision of the future? Is Singapore’s land plan inclusive or not?

RS: This is quite an interesting aspect. Singapore's construction sector relies on a large number of foreign workers. Currently, there are about 300'000 foreign workers in the construction industry alone, mostly from India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and China, constituting about 5% of the population. Working conditions for these workers improved considerably over the last years. But problems persist; workers get paid a fraction of the money of regular employees and sometimes have problems to get paid at all. They live either directly on the construction sites or in huge dormitories on the periphery of the city state. Actually, quite a number of my pictures in my different series on Singapore are shot around those dormitories. To most Singaporeans and other permanent residents these workers are largely invisible. That does not mean one cannot see them; they are everywhere in the city. Obviously on construction sites, but also along the roads pruning trees, or doing minor repair jobs in the public housing estates. They provide the necessary manpower to fuel growth and keep the city well maintained and orderly. Yet, it is as if they live in a separate reality and much of the time the two worlds have nothing to do with each other. 

© Ralph Steinegger from the series 'Aspects of Control'

© Ralph Steinegger from the series 'Aspects of Control'

© Ralph Steinegger from the series 'Aspects of Control'

Again in 'Aspects of Control', to represent the pervasive power of control you have chosen to tell it via the emblematic and ubiquitous use of «bright orange safety cones, barricades, danger signs, and plastic mesh, which inevitably surround each construction site in neat order». I find that this choice corresponds to an effective and significant method of showing the urban landscape. In fact, it is a widespread and neutral choice that allows us to observe different situations, buildings, architecture, and vegetation. The series renders the character of the transformations well and also a certain glorifying vision. However, what appears to be quite evident in your photographs showing a city in progress is certain anonymity. Some buildings may have been built in Austria if it were not for vegetation. That is Singapore as a sans-frontier city for the rampant global capitalism, which seems to become immune to any deviation from the main script, is assuming more and more that homologated face that we already recognize in many other cities of the world. I wonder what identity is reflected in these "normalized" spaces, where there is no glimpse of a past, and of tradition. Paradoxically, and this is the brilliant intuition of this work, it is precisely those orange cones that best explain the city. Almost as if they represented the distinctive label, the so-called local brand.

RS: 80% of Singaporeans live in public housing constructed by the Housing Development Board (HDB), so the architectural landscape tends to be quite uniform in appearance. Apart from the city center Singapore is dominated by rows upon rows of rectangular apartment blocks in pastel colors. I often wonder how this uniformity in our surrounding shapes the way people think and dream. At first, when I arrived in Singapore, I was drawn to the shapes and colors of the HDB architecture. But after a while I got bored and I wanted to try a different, possibly less one-dimensional approach. Or one that would combine my reading on Singapore with the urban landscape I encountered on my long walks. That's when I came up with “Aspects of Control", which is a reflection on Singapore's society through the ubiquitous use of bright orange safety cones, barricades, danger signs and plastic mesh. I find it intriguing how this assortment of traffic control measures directs people in their ways; there never being any doubt which way to turn, nor which line not to cross. 

© Ralph Steinegger from the series 'Aspects of Control' 

Finally in "Aspects of nature" the assumption of domination and control of the land is expressed through a technical gesture of fictitious reproduction of nature, a real simulacrum that is also intentionally childish and playful. An urban bush that seems to have been built with Lego bricks. This too reveals a singular side of the city planning, where nothing escapes chance, everything is carefully and meticulously managed. Do these apparently useless, fake or decorative elements respond to voluntary behaviors or to a clear order?

RS: What we see in these images are noise barriers surrounding public sector construction sites, such as subway lines and major road arteries. They are custom-built and arranged in such a way as to mitigate the effects of noise and visual pollution. Their "green" design makes sense, if one considers that Singapore has long profiled itself as a garden city and quite successfully put in place a branding strategy to this effect. The government continues to undertake extensive greening measures to ensure the beautification of the city and is building attention grabbing flagship architecture such as Gardens by the Bay, with its two air-conditioned bio domes and several huge "super trees", or the newly finished Jewel, a natural themed retail complex with the world's largest indoor waterfall. Singapore officials have probably best understood that the quest to build a "livable" or a "green city" is fast becoming a new urban fixation. What I find interesting is that the more tenuous our connection with nature has become, the more nature is commodified, designed and managed not for ecological authenticity, but for aesthetic characteristics and serving social goals and human well-being. 

© Ralph Steinegger from the series 'Aspects of Nature'

 © Ralph Steinegger from the series 'Aspects of Nature'

© Ralph Steinegger from the series 'Aspects of Nature'

You are originally from Switzerland, a country where things are known to work well. Now you have lived for a while in the city of Singapore which reflects a quest for order, planning and control. There seems to be no room for error neither improvisation. Both countries are known to be poles of finance, of non-border capitalism. From your point of view, is there is a downside to this golden medal? 

RS: I have been working and traveling abroad for many years now, in places that could not be more different from each other. As much as I feel drawn to and inspired by the urban landscapes of the fast-growing mega cities in the developing world, with their irresistible mix of growth, decay, contrasts, and things slightly out of place, I have the greatest respect and admiration for countries with governments that are accountable to the people and put in place sound policies for the common good. Singapore and Switzerland have achieved similar levels of success through different approaches to governance. Both are relatively small and have no choice but to carve out niches for themselves and trade with the rest of the world if they want to prosper. There is a downside to almost everything. To me one might be that we have become too reliant on rules and regulations to solve any problem arising in the public sphere.

© Ralph Steinegger from the series 'Aspects of Nature'

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Ralph Steinegger
'The Hidden Poetry Side of Cities' (Interview Archive Urbanautica, November 2018)
Book 'The City With Many Names' by Ralph Steinegger, Urbanautica Institute, 2018