Betcha didn’t know the Esplanade could not only look like durian but smell and taste like the King of Fruits too. Of course, we’re not talking about the actual structure, but the re-creation of the iconic local attraction at Singapore’s (and Asia’s) inaugural Great Architectural Bake-Off on Saturday. Hosted by global architectural firm WATG here, the contest is inspired by popular reality series The Great British Bake Off.
Held in partnership with this year’s Archifest, the international event has seen some of the world’s most famous buildings rise out of simple ingredients like butter, sugar, and flour. On our shores, some of the best design firms in Singapore duked it out in the kitchen to craft global icons entirely out of cake.
Fittingly, the team from DP Architects emerged victorious with their winning cake model of Esplanade, one of the most familiar buildings in the country to any Singaporean. One of Esplanade’s spiky domes was made out of a four-layer durian (of course) and buttercream cake, while the other was created with Milo.
In second place was WATG with a replica of Crowne Plaza Haitang Bay, aka “The Boat”, in Hainan Island, China.
And the tastiest building was awarded to CPG Consultants for their sugary creation of Gardens by the Bay, which was made of bandung and mango.
Lookin’ good indeed.
Other entries this year included property advisory firm Cistri’s take on Esplanade Concert Hall, architecture firm Gensler’s 1m-tall Shanghai Tower, interior design company Ministry of Design’s Pearl Bank apartments, and award-winning condo The Interlace by the Urban Redevelopment Authority.
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