The Urban Wilds 7116). Experiencescapes are organized spatially to accommodate senses and embodied
manifestations; they are landscapes saturated with powerful affective markers.
The commodification and exploitation of Singapore’s natural beauty is partly
achieved through the provision of an affective map that can alert tourists—and
remind citizens—of the eco-experiencescapes they can expect to encounter. The
organization of space in Singapore and the emotional and embodied responses
that one should anticipate are foreshadowed on arrival at Changi Airport.
Singapore as a space of eco-culture is prefigured in a series of engagements with
a re-naturalized world at the very boundary of the nation. At Terminal 3, Changi
Airport, in the public spaces that locals can visit and where travellers pass through
customs and passport control, there is a “jungle campsite” where children can
enjoy a staged “Rainforest Adventure” (Figure 5.1). A sign at the site announces
an experiential encounter with nature:
Welcome to the Changi Airport Campsite! We have created the experience of
camping in a rainforest without the need for you to sweat or get muddy! Have
fun exploring and learning about plants in our tropical rainforest. Do look out
for unique plants like the Staghorn Ferns, carnivorous Pitcher Plants and the
Tiger/Pigeon Orchids. We hope you would enjoy your holidays with Changi
Airport’s Rainforest Adventure!Once travellers have gone through customs and security and are actually waiting
to travel, the “naturalization” of an otherwise industrial space continues, in the form
of a Butterfly House. Passengers can commune with nature in a strange heterotopic
world in which they are surrounded by hundreds of colorful butterflies in a
Figure 5.1 Terminal 3, Changi Airport Campsite