Blueprint of a Shophouse reimagines the technical language of architecture as a public artwork. The mural takes the most literal tool of the discipline, the sectional drawing, and projects it at a 1:1 scale. What is usually confined to paper becomes a full-scale slice of a shophouse, transforming a technical diagram into a lived-in scene that blurs the boundary between drawing and dwelling.

The work celebrates the spatial richness of the shophouse typology by illustrating a cross-section that layers past, present, and speculative futures. Within its frames, viewers encounter vignettes of Joo Chiat’s history: plantations that once defined the landscape, bustling kopitiams, and domestic interiors that speak of everyday life. Alongside these familiar memories, imagined futures unfold, such as vertical farms embedded within heritage walls, hinting at the adaptability and resilience of this architectural form.

Beyond nostalgia, the mural is an homage to the anatomy of the shophouse. Its layered construction, porous thresholds, and capacity for reinvention are laid bare for all to see. At the same time, the work offers the public an introduction to how architects represent space. What is often seen as an abstract or inaccessible drawing becomes a legible and playful composition, inviting passers-by to step into the mindset of the designer.

Blueprint of a Shophouse is both educational and whimsical: a mural that reveals while it entertains. Viewers are encouraged to trace the many stories embedded within, from communal gatherings to quiet domestic moments, from heritage memories to speculative futures. It is a visual journey into the enduring life of the shophouse, and an invitation to reimagine the spaces we inhabit every day.