From the Curiosity Chronicles writer Paul Bennett: "I’m sitting in one right now writing this, so it seems to make sense that today we take a look at an Asian architectural curiosity, the shophouse. A shophouse is a vernacular architectural building type that is commonly seen in many parts of urban Southeast Asia. Typically, shophouses consist of shops on the ground floor which open up to a public arcade or 'five-foot way', and which have residential accommodation upstairs. The shophouses would abut each other to form rows with regular facade, fire walls and adherence to street alignment. A key development was the Raffles Ordinances (1822) for Singapore which stipulated that: 'all houses constructed of brick or tiles have a common type of front each having an arcade of a certain depth, open to all sides as a continuous and open passage on each side of the street'. What Of It? We’re very proud of our shophouse here at IDEO in Singapore: it has architectural integrity and feels like a great human scale for a small office. I am curious about the origins of architectural vernacular, the use and reuse of buildings, the inherent value of creating homes that businesses work inside, as opposed to offices filled with workers." Full post here.