Raffles City Celebrates 40 Years With Story of Its Origins
Raffles City is celebrating 40 years as a Singapore landmark with a four-part series retracing its journey. The first instalment focuses on the bold idea that started it all: creating a city within a city in the heart of Singapore.
Long before the complex became part of Singapore's skyline, the vision reimagined how people would work, shop, gather and connect. The development brought together retail, office, hotel and convention spaces under one roof, setting a template for integrated developments in Singapore.
The anniversary series draws on archival material from the National Archives of Singapore, an image of architect I.M. Pei by Victor Orlewicz courtesy of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, and photographs from the Lai Ah Eng Collection courtesy of ISEAS Library at ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute. Raffles City was designed by I.M. Pei, one of the most celebrated architects of the 20th century.
This is the first of four stories, with more moments from the Raffles City journey to follow. The series will continue to document key milestones in the development's four-decade history.