architecture in singapore displays a range of influences and styles from different places and periods. this includes vernacular malay houses as well as colonial civic and commercial architecture in european neoclassical, gothic, palladian and renaissance styles.

iwan baan is a dutch architectural photographer. he has challenged a long-standing tradition of depicting buildings as isolated and static by representing people in architecture and showing the building's environment. iwan baan has photographed buildings by many of the world's most prominent architecture firms, including OMA, toyo ito, and SANAA.

in singapore, büro ole scheeren has completed a pair of sculptural towers designed to ‘knit together a previously disparate part of the city’. named ‘DUO’, the project comprises a diverse mix of functions articulated around a 24-hour public plaza. carved to create a seriesintegrates living, working, and retail with public gardens, cultural installations, and a diverse urban context. the two towers contain the project’s main functional elements: one tower accommodates 660 residences, while the other contains corporate offices and a five-star hotel operated by andaz. the structures dematerialize as they reach the ground, opening out into a public landscape where a sequence of gardens and walkways weave around vibrant commercial spaces.

the plaza, which is open 24 hours a day, comprises a series of gardens and landscaped leisure zones which are linked to the rest of the city through multiple connections above and below ground. vehicles reach the towers by a series of dedicated ramps, allowing the plaza to serve as a fully pedestrianized space. meanwhile, high above the city on the