Courtesy of artist

Situated at Shenton House—soon to be demolished and the last of Shenton Way’s “three sisters”—Sweet Water responds to its iconic brutalist design. The series of sculptures is inspired by the building’s grid-like form and mosaic crown, playfully translating them into a pineapple. Placed at the edge of the rooftop carpark and along street–level planters, their texture mimics the brutalist aesthetic, paying homage to an architectural style prevalent in Singapore in the 1970s and 1980s. 

The work is also a sculptural tribute to the pineapple, an enduring symbol of prosperity in Singapore. Pineapples in the CBD are not a new phenomenon: an 1861 record notes that slices of the fruit were sold at Raffles Place for one cent. Titled after a 1970s headline celebrating a surprising flow of fresh water during early Shenton Way redevelopment, Sweet Water celebrates the enduring symbols and the memory of an ever-changing cityscape.

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