Fragments of Time

A culinary journey shaped by time and culture
Raffles Singapore, a historic hotel and cultural landmark, has long served as muse to renowned writers such as Rudyard Kipling and Joseph Conrad. Continuing this legacy, the hotel launched its Writer’s Residency Programme, inviting notable figures to cultivate and share their creative perspectives. In March 2024, following a successful pop-up restaurant at the hotel, 2 Michelin-starred chef André Chiang became the first non-literary guest to be named writer-in-residence. The Taiwan-born, French-trained chef used the opportunity to reimagine what a cookbook could be, documenting his time at Raffles and his culinary philosophy.

Working closely with André and Raffles Singapore, we developed “Fragments of Time”, a multifaceted publication inspired by the past, present, and future of both the hotel and André’s culinary journey. Informed by a line from André’s early manuscript: “The 24-hour lighting at Raffles Singapore is its most magical and priceless feature”, this insight became a structural and visual foundation for the book. We proposed to divide the book in three chapters after pivotal points of the day: dawn, day, and dusk. As readers move through the sections, the hues of the pages shift accordingly, wrapping the publication—and the hotel—in a changing glow. A running header or footer further acts like a timeline, adjusting with each chapter to mark the passage of time and a sense of progression.

In “Fragments of Time”, the first chapter draws on Raffles Singapore’s layered history, with archival photographs and early 20th-century menus inspiring the book’s staggered typographic treatment for pullout quotes. The second chapter subverts traditional cookbook formats, presenting fragmented recipes grouped under four cultural pillars—Chinese wok hei, European terroir, Southeast Asian mélange, and Indian spices—designed to be remixed and interpreted freely.

Interspersed throughout are more markers of time passing, featuring food photography from Edmond Ho and residency photographs by Don Wong, who documented the two weeks of André’s pop-up. The imagery unfolds gradually, from moments of calm preparation and the crescendo of dinner service to the quiet satisfaction of winding down, mirroring the emotional rhythm of a day in the kitchen. The final chapter is a meditative close, where André reflects on instinct, improvisation, and the ethos of his craft, inviting readers to reimagine their own stories, just as Raffles continues to inspire new narratives.