Pearl Bank Apartments

“There are always a few rabble-rousers who start the whole game and, in the end, it may not be the best solution. (Then) those people who have been enjoying their large homes cannot enjoy another one (while) the value or surplus of the land is being siphoned off by developers.”

— TAN CHENG SIONG

Another one bites the dust, I was devastated to hear the news as I fondly recall having considered it my first option as a home owner. Pearl Bank Apartments on Pearl’s Hill is an architectural marvel, it is evidently also one of the most iconic examples of Brutalist architecture in Singapore designed by veteran architect Tan Cheng Siong. Now the iconic property has been sold to developer CapitaLand for a whooping S$728 million, the casualty of another en bloc fever. Rice Media published a substantial feature story of the en-bloc situation on the property, and I do agree the property has not aged well.

Ironically, I did an artwork piece for an exhibition 11 years ago contemplating on the property’s demise in the near future, and this sounds prophetic now.

That’s why we simply cannot have nice things in this day and age. A tragic Valentine’s Day.
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