Transit hubs are typically all about functionality and efficiency. At Jewel, however, people feel encouraged to gather rather than simply pass through. What drove such a paradigm shift in your design?

Safdie Architects (SA): Airports are normally places of stress and anxiety. For the passenger, their concerns are many – making a flight, possible delays, fear of flying, and the inconvenience of inspection; for the working staff, the airport is a place of relentless pressure. When Changi Airport Group decided to build a new hub, it wanted to connect its various terminals and create a facility on the landside that would be accessible to the residents of Singapore, passengers, and the airport working community. We recognised an opportunity to create something new – a compelling and enduring place, one that could become a destination in itself. Symbolically and practically, it is a place where Singapore meets the world, and the world meets Singapore.

For us, the question was: what kind of an environment would be appropriate as an airport hub? We believed it should be a place of calmness and repose, uplifting, full of light, and a place where one connects with nature. All these might sound like the antithesis of the traditional airport environment. However, at some point in the evolution of the design we became convinced that the hub should be a magical garden, a place of calmness and tranquillity. We saw the opportunity of bringing together the intense marketplace, the bazaar-like traditions, wide variety in food and beverage offerings, together with mountain trails, waterfalls, flowerbeds and forests. We wanted to create a timeless place where people would want to return to, over and over again. Not just a one-time ‘wow’ experience, but a destination that becomes part of the fabric of life in Singapore. A magical garden, we believed, would be such a destination.

The project brief included retail, aviation and landscaped spaces and a “great attraction” — which was not defined. How did the team arrive at the idea of a garden with a 40-metre-high indoor waterfall and was it challenging to convince the developers?

SA: We were initially commissioned to develop design by CapitaLand. It would be one of four submissions by developer-architect teams, each of which would come up with a general concept. The brief also requested for a major attraction, one that would become the centrepiece of the complex.

In our workshops with CapitaLand, the notion of a themed experience (dinosaurs were mentioned) similar to Disney or Universal-like attractions were proposed. Entertainment consultants were flown in from the United States, outlining the latest technologies of recent themed offerings. As the architects, we were observers; the programme was the responsibility of the developer. But we resisted being passive observers and in the dialogue that ensued, we questioned the ability for theme parks to meet the overall project objectives. The attraction, we felt, should appeal to all age groups, passengers as well as Singaporeans. It should be one that could be visited frequently, not simply a one-time experience. This essentially ruled out the theme park. Why would a passenger choose to fly through Changi Airport to see a dinosaur park? This was when the idea of a great ‘garden like no other’ emerged. At first there was scepticism, but in time it grew on everyone concerned.

Jewel contains many different and even contradicting environments and ideas – from garden and marketplace to locals and tourists. How did the team balance the different needs in its design?

SA: There is no doubt that co-locating a marketplace with a paradise garden creates a series of tensions. The retail concept incorporates large retailers and supermarkets, together with quaint food and beverage offerings. The garden – in part trails, forests and valleys – also comprises attractions such as the maze, net walks, and children’s play installation. Finding the right balance between the different amenities was one of Jewel’s major design challenges.

As we developed the concept further, the question was raised as to whether the several levels of retail should protrude and have a presence in the garden. Should the shopfronts directly look into the garden, displaying their logos and merchandise? Our position was that the two should cohabit side by side but not mix. The visual presence of retailers in the garden would compromise its serenity. When you are in the retail gallerias, however, you are made aware of the gardens through the canyons where one can catch glimpses of the landscape as well as the hovering trees above. Allowing the restaurants to peek into the garden created terraces for people to enjoy their meals among the trees and waterfall. Similarly, the attractions within the park were integrated into the design so as not to disrupt the overall garden character.

As a retail development with an unusually significant garden attraction, could Jewel hold lessons for the many shopping malls in Singapore and Asia?

SA: Jewel has created a new paradigm – a new kind of public realm for metropolitan cities. Downtown areas have traditionally consisted of streets and piazzas, which are now often displaced by multi-level, standalone malls. Jewel offers a great lesson going forward – that the marketplace, public institutions, parks and gardens can be integrated into a singular development. It can provide not only climate control, but also fresh air, nature and a sense of openness. This coming together of what has been considered polar opposites – shopping and garden – into a singular experience is a hint of what the future holds for the public realm in a high-density city.

Travel has changed dramatically with the COVID-19 pandemic. How is a development like Jewel still relevant?

SA: The year of COVID-19 has distorted our senses and appreciation of possibilities. With airline travel cut down to a trickle and airports being all but abandoned, the question arises as to what is yet to come. People ask: will we continue to work from home and not commute to work? Will we carry on with meetings and conferences on Zoom without the necessity of travelling to destinations? But the pandemic has also demonstrated a hunger for collaborative work, face-to-face interactions and a need to accomplish creative work by physical contact. We believe travel will gradually recover with time as people long to travel, to interact, to partake in community events and to enjoy the face-to-face contact that were all possible before the pandemic. Jewel being a destination in itself will be even more important for Changi Airport and Singapore to draw in tourists again when that recovery happens.