Structure, Sanitation, and Surveillance: Iron Markets in Late 19th Century Singapore

ABSTRACT From 1873 to 1915, the Singapore Municipal Commission (SMC) constructed five markets in the town area, all built with iron as their main structural material. This paper focuses on the construction of two such markets, namely Clyde Terrace Market and Telok Ayer Market, two early iron markets constructed in 1873 and 1894 respectively. Municipal markets were important sites not only to sell produce and fresh meats. They also fulfilled important representational objectives as sites of governance and health control in a colonial city. My paper posits iron as essential in performing this semiotic role. Iron, and other industrial building materials such as glazed tiles, were believed to be resistant to diseases just as they could withstand fire and water. It offered an alternative to masonry and timber in curbing the spread of miasma and germs through building materials and structural improvements. It will examine three aspects instrumental to the transplantation of the western market model in an Asian context. First, establishing a link between the environment and the decision to adopt iron and its engineering technology and knowledge; second, analysing how the epistemological shift from miasma to germ theory impacted architecture; and third, evaluating the influence of sanitary specialists as key proponents shaping the urban environment.