I. M. Pei designed the Raffles City in downtown Singapore, completed in 1986. It has two hotels, an office tower, shopping mall, and convention center. Several expansions and renovations have taken place. The tower has 42 floors for 35,000m2 of area, and the mall has 27,600m2 area. Raffles City has expanded into Beijing and Shanghai. UNStudio unveiled a design for Hangzhou.
The complex’s subtle shift from cylindrical to rectangular has become a trademark for Raffles City. Aluminum panels and anodized exterior skins give a permanent and clean appearance. It is a standard of Modernism by a top architect of this era.
(amsfrank – flickr/creative commons license)
(Swami Stream– flickr/creative commons license)
(jmac1963– flickr/creative commons license)
