The insider - Fans at Clarke Quay

You ask. We find out

Q: Why do the big tubular fans in Clarke Quay look like giant, well, you know…?

A: Yes we do. And we’ve been getting that question a lot lately. Peter Sim, a design architect with SMC Alsop, the London-based firm that crafted Clarke Quay, has also heard it several times. ‘I’ve seen that suggestion on the internet, and friends have told me that too,’ he says with a bit of  a laugh. But he assures us there was no intention of  referencing the male form. ‘Originally they were supposed to be clad in fabric,’ he says of  the steel frames that support the umbrellas that shield Clarke Quay from sunshine and rain. ‘The umbrellas look like angel skirts, so we call those structures angels,’ he adds. (Given the shape of  the fans at the bottom, we might call them devils.) Instead, the architects opted to leave the frames uncovered, in order to provide a clear view down the streets.

Organic imagery aside, the whale tails – which Sim says is the more commonly used term – are actually oversized slow-speed fans that pump a cool breeze through Clarke Quay’s corridors. But we’d understand if  you thought the chill was coming from all the over-air-conditioned restaurants that leave their doors hung open.