A celebration of lives through photographs of 100 HDB homes
(Photo: Tomohisa Miyauchi via YouTube)
A Japanese couple and a senior lecturer spent three years capturing images of more than 100 HDB flats, before compiling them in a photo book called “HDB: Homes of Singapore”.
The couple, Singapore permanent residents Eitaro Ogawa, 42, and Tamae Iwasaki, 43, together with Tomohisa Miyauchi, who lectures at the National University of Singapore’s department of architecture, aim to showcase the diverse and unique HDB homes in the country through the book.
The idea was conceived in 2013 when the couple was looking for a HDB flat, after their semi-detached house near Seletar Airport was acquired for a redevelopment project.
The couple became interested in HDB flats after visiting their friends’ homes, through which they discovered the diverse characters of each flat, depending on the owner’s unique personality.
Soon after, the couple grew inspired to embark on a three-year endeavour to photograph HDB flats and compile them in a photo book. They also settled on a four-room flat in Bukit Panjang.
The inexperienced couple roped in Miyauchi, who has experience in publishing books on architecture and urban planning, to help photograph and make the photo book a reality.
The trio were able to gain access to the HDB homes thanks to the help of mutual friends. On other occasions, they were lucky enough to have strangers welcome them into their homes.
During these house visits, Miyauchi would focus on taking photographs while the couple would interview the owners.
Last year, some of their photographs were showcased at an installation at the Singapore Pavilion as part of the prestigious 15th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice.
The trio plans to publish 2,000 copies of the book by next year by raising US$38,000 (SGD$51,737) through crowdfunding site Indiegogo.
