
DTR CA3 JOURNAL
Galleries: Walter Benjamin

Another local ‘Arcade’ example would be Chinatown Point. In the past, Chinatown was lined with shophouses before shopping malls were gradually introduced. Chinatown Point is one of the older shopping malls. It was constructed in the 1990s and opened to public in 1993. When it was first introduced to the public, the shops that were mainly brought in were curio, pawn and jewellery shops. However, the popularity of the shopping mall underwent a steep decline when newer malls were built. To cater to the needs of consumers, the shopping mall then underwent renovations from 2011 to 2012 after it was bought over in 2010. Through this renovation, the total retail floor area increased by 18%. Previously, the mall had two spiralling podiums but one of them is converted into a flat space while the other is converted into a spiralling central atrium which allows shoppers to transcend from the highest level to the first level of the shopping mall. A dome shaped ceiling is also built in the central atrium. For more retail space, the basement carpark is reallocated to higher levels.

According to Walter Benjamin, the arcade “is a city, a world in miniature, in which customers will find everything they need” and the shopping centres in Singapore currently fulfils the requirement in which consumers will be able to find everything that they need in blocks of buildings. From the moment we enter the building, we are sheltered from the outer surroundings such as dust and rain. Going along with the sudden comfort that we feel as we transitioned from unpredictable weather conditions to sheltered buildings with controlled room temperature, we will start to wander around and lose track of time as there are no clocks in there. The shops will then put out their products as displays and we, as consumers will start to do some window-shopping. Eventually, we will end up buying some of the products that were being displayed. It seems to be inevitable that we buy one of the products as these shops are placed strategically from one another. An example would be a shop selling fitness equipment being situated next to an exercise studio where people take classes on how to keep fit. This will encourage the people to buy the exercise equipment from that shop when they head to/leave the exercise studio. In addition, to attract the people to enter the mall, most of the jewellery shops will be found on ground level with lighting, so that they shine and attract the eyes of the people, as if they are calling out to the consumers to buy them or to act as an anchor to direct the consumer’s attention to the other shops. With the long rows of shops placed next to each other side by side, consumers will eventually find themselves lost in one of them.