Tiong Bahru Art Deco

Block fifty-five at Tiong Bahru is the only housing block in the estate shaped like a horseshoe. Built in nineteen thirty-six by the Singapore Improvement Trust, its curved wings enclose a central courtyard that once held a communal air…

Tiong Bahru Market stands out with its low-slung, cream-colored concrete facade and the geometric, open-air structure of its roof. Built in nineteen fifty-one, it replaced a cramped collection of illegal street stalls that choked the…

The curved, streamlined facade of Block eighty-one on Tiong Poh Road defines the Streamline Moderne style of the nineteen thirties. Architects from the Singapore Improvement Trust built this block to house residents displaced by urban…

Block seventy-eight, Moh Guan Terrace, curves in a sharp, elegant arc that mirrors the bend of the street itself. Completed in nineteen thirty-nine by the Singapore Improvement Trust, this building represents a departure from the crowded…

The low, curved block tucked beneath the residential apartments has a reinforced concrete ceiling thicker than the floors above. This is the Tiong Bahru air raid shelter, built in nineteen thirty-nine. When the Japanese air raids began,…

The weathered, jade-green metal shutters and the faded signboard of Hua Bee Restaurant stand apart from the polished storefronts nearby. Since the nineteen forties, this space served as a humble noodle stall for the neighborhood. Its…

Cat Socrates features a hand-painted wooden sign dangling above a narrow, arched doorway, tucked into the ground floor of a pre-war shophouse. Inside, shelves hold Japanese stationery, locally designed prints, and an resident cat named…