​Ventilation Grilles
I N S I N G A P O R E & A R O U N D
Ventilation Blocks
 180 Joo Chiat PlaceVentilation Block Above Front Doors |  Tembling RoadVentilation Block Wall of Semi-Deacthed Private House Garden |  42 Frankel AvenueVentilation Block above windows |
|---|---|---|
 Jonker StreetMalacca Concrete Ventilation Blocks Above Main Front Door Lateral Symmetry |  Residential AreaIn the vicinity of Jonker Walk Malacca Material: Concrete Ventilation Blocks Wall or building structure Lateral Symmetry |
Excerpts from
Casting Architecture
Ventilation Blocks | Florian Schatz
''If one peruses postwar architectural and trade journals in Singapore, one might also note the conspicuous absence of advertisements for such (ventilation) blocks. At a time when industrial products were imported into british Malaya and mass produced, and where industrialization was earmarked in many towns , a new range of architectural products became available on the market.
The hollow block on the other hand, had been manufactured by local suppliers of construction materials from molds and largely by hand. At many construction sites, the builders would cast the blocks needed for respective projects themselves. This may explain the absence from media reportage, but also the large proliferation and the variety of patterns and forms that could be surveyed from buildings.''
- Dr Lai Chee Kien, p. 25, Ventilation Blocks and their use in SouthEast Asia
My Own Response:
From this, we can make a qualified guess that the ventilation grilles likewise faced the same fate as these ventilation blocks – the lack of advertisement coupled with the reliance on local suppliers who largely constructed by hand.
This qualifed guess was later validated through my interview with a former mild steel grille maker, Mr Lau Kim Huat.