Biopolis Arts Program



The Biopolis Arts Program, initiated by the one-north Development Group (oDG) of JTC Corporation, was launched on the 14th May 2002, with the intention of incorporating the Arts into the design of Biopolis.

As part of the Arts Program, students from three local art and design schools, namely: LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and Temasek Polytechnic Design School, were invited to submit their artistic designs of the buildings and structures in Biopolis. According to Dr Chng Nai Wee, one of the panel of adjudicators, these entries were judged according the following criteria: “First, how well they relate to the master plan of the architecture of Biopolis itself; second, how they support and power the culture of innovation and third, the employment of scientific concept in the design.”

The main intention of the Arts Program, in the words of Dr Chng, is to “use Art to bring out and distinguish each and every building, such that different artistic representations provide various perspectives and provocation of the mind.” Indeed, one of the unique designs that can be seen at Biopolis is a painting done by Dr Chng himself, that comes together only when different panels of the painting are brought together. The painting, done on transparent panels, allows one to view it from both the back and the front. When the panels are separated leaving a space in between each of them, a 3-d effect is created.

The Biopolis Arts Program, as Dr Chng puts it, serves to “reinforce the culture of Biopolis, to present it as a place for innovation, for demonstrating new ideas.”