A multisensory showcase at the Venice Biennale’s Singapore Pavilion uses dining to spotlight the city-state’s architectural evolution and global ambitions
Step into the Singapore Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale, and you’ll find yourself at a familiar yet surreal scene: a dining table — but not for food.
Monumental in scale yet ethereal in form, a 12m-long resin-reinforced cloth (a design feat in itself) takes the shape of a rectangular table, balanced on spindly metal legs that make it appear to float.
The table’s main dishes are a literal architectural feast: models of seven Singapore projects, including award-winning Pinnacle@Duxton, Marina Bay and Changi Airport.
This year’s Biennale, which runs until Nov 23, alternates with its arguably more well-known art counterpart each year. It features 65 countries and 750 participants reflecting on the theme “Intelligens: Natural. Artificial. Collective”, exploring architecture’s role amid climate change, shifting populations and artificial intelligence (AI).
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The Singapore Pavilion tells the story of the nation’s architecture through dining
In response, Singapore has employed its beloved national pastime — dining — as a creative framework. The result is a multisensory showcase that serves up the country’s architectural highlights like a series of courses, each revealing a facet of its multicultural society.
“The idea was to explore how, in such a small country, we can still set a table where everyone has a seat, where diverse needs are accommodated and where interaction and fulfilment can happen,” says Jason Lim, co-founder of Yume Architects and part of the curatorial team for the exhibition. “The dining table became the perfect metaphor to convey all these ideas.”
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Tasting the city
Dining plates are set around the table; one quickly realises these function as screens, on which AI-generated videos of Singapore’s unique dining culture — interspersed with demonstrations of the urban design process — are projected.
Adding to the tablescape are bite-sized, AI-designed 3D-printed models of kueh-inspired architectural forms, which fuse building structures with traditional treats, such as kueh lapis with the Golden Mile Complex and huat kueh with the ArtScience Museum.
AI-designed 3D printed models fuse building structures with traditional kueh
Overhead, mirrored disc light chandeliers are embedded with sensors that respond to visitors’ movements, prompting shifts in lighting, projection and atmosphere.
And on the periphery of the table are six Neural Monobloc Black chairs, a nod to the injection-moulded plastic chairs found in almost every hawker centre and kopitiam in Singapore. Made with recycled teak, instead of the disposable plastic of the originals, these chairs have been reimagined with AI to create abstract shapes, their otherworldly forms adding a dream-like touch to a commonplace scene.
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On the periphery of the table are six Neural Monoblac Black chairs
The chairs and kueh-architecture hybrids are the work of Dr Immanuel Koh, co-curator and assistant professor at the Singapore University of Technology and Design. As an architect and researcher, Koh is particularly interested in using machine learning to augment, and not replace, creative practice.
“To be able to showcase my work at a platform like the Venice Biennale is deeply meaningful,” says Koh. “It is an opportunity to show how artificial intelligence can be used as a tool for expanding the boundaries of human imagination and innovation by blending culture, computation and craft.”
His contributions show how Singapore’s designers are embracing emerging technologies to reimagine design in culturally relevant ways.
It is also a subtle rebuttal to Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas’ description of Singapore as a tabula rasa (Latin for “blank slate”). The curators flipped the phrase to Rasa Tabula — Malay for taste, Latin for table.
A beacon to the world
Through their presentation of Singapore, the curators aim to show an international audience how Singapore’s distinctive melting pot identity has been shaped by decades of movement, exchange, and reinvention, all through the lens of meticulous urban planning.
“Because of Singapore’s geographical position, the world comes to Singapore,” notes Professor Khoo Peng Beng, co-curator for the Singapore Pavilion and head of the Architecture and Sustainable Design Pillar at Singapore University of Technology and Design.
“We are small, but layered with influence upon influence, creating a kind of superdiversity that is, in itself, extremely intelligent. And when you have a system that organises that diversity, you can fast-track development.”
The curatorial team comprises (left) Jason Lim, Khoo Peng Beng, Immanuel Koh and Sam Conrad Joyce
As Singapore marks its 60th birthday, the Singapore Pavilion’s shared table feels especially resonant. What began as a tightly managed project has grown into a dense yet dynamic, efficient yet expressive city-state. The Singapore Pavilion serves as both a mirror and a megaphone, reflecting the nation’s unique architectural trajectory while amplifying its relevance on the world stage, particularly in these troubled times of multiple global conflicts.
“In just 60 years, we have gone from low literacy rates, low life expectancy and low GDP per capita, to becoming one of the world’s top nations on those very same indicators,” says Prof Khoo, who is also the architect behind Pinnacle@Duxton. “It’s because our density and diversity, once seen as limitations, have become sources of innovation and creative problem-solving.”
Pinnacle@Duxton shows how high-density housing can remain liveable and dignified, with sky gardens and elevated walkways encouraging openness and community.
Another featured project, CapitaSpring, incorporates greenery throughout its mixed-use spaces, which range from offices to a rooftop farm. The vertical garden in the financial district exemplifies Singapore’s vision of transitioning to a biophilic city.
At the same time, the country’s planning tools and urban strategies, such as interfaith dialogues, openness to learning across cultures, and even the design of HDB precincts — each a microcosm of the larger whole — have allowed different groups of people to retain their identities while complementing one another.
International visitors to the Singapore Pavilion have responded with curiosity, surprise and even awe
Piquing interest
International visitors have responded with curiosity, surprise and even awe. Docent Simona Nigli says many are struck by the ambition behind Singapore’s urban planning, especially its public housing.
“They are amazed it is public housing,” she shares. “It really challenges their assumptions about what that term means.”
There is also strong interest in how Singapore integrates greenery, technology and liveability into its cityscape. Projects like CapitaSpring and the Punggol Digital
District exemplify this. The latter, Singapore’s first smart district, has sparked discussions among visitors curious about the evolution of smart cities.
Dining plates double up as screens to show Singapore's dining culture and urban design process
For others, the multisensory dining-table format itself sparks reflection, as it draws parallels between cultural rituals and city-making in a way that feels approachable, even to those who may not know much about Singapore.
Says Nigli: “Visitors are happy to step into an intimate space that feels like a private house, and the kueh-building figures spark conversations about local food and also the projects on display.”
These are exactly the reactions the curators have hoped to inspire through their exhibition.
“There is a natural sense of community and kinship that develops around a table,” says Prof Khoo. “That is the invitation we want to extend — to see Singapore as a table of plenty, where ideas, innovations and new designs can emerge. We believe this environment has the potential to spark solutions that will shape the next 60 years and beyond.”
