The urban housing landscape of Singapore provides the inspiration for the collction. The HDB story began with it taking over from its predecessor, the Singapore Improvement Trust. Persevering through challenges, HDB has since established public housing in Singapore as a benchmark of excellence. In 1960, there was a housing crisis in Singapore. Many people were living in unhygienic slums and crowded squatter settlements. Only 9% of Singaporeans lived in government flats, while others yearned for a place to call home. The Housing & Development Board was thus set up in 1960, tasked to solve Singapore’s housing crisis. In less than 3 years, it had built 21,000 flats; 2 years later, that number was 54,000. Within a brief span of 10 years, HDB built a sufficient number of flats for Singaporeans and resolved the housing crisis. Today, in 2025, HDB flats number now have more than a million HDB flats spread across 24 towns as it drifts across the entire island to bring each homeowner a sense of security and self-agency for a quality of life.