SINGAPORE – Paragon mall in Orchard Road is now home to the largest chocolate art installation in Singapore.

The feat was made official in the mall’s atrium, where a representative from the Singapore Book of Records certified the Blooming Imagination chocolate display for its record-breaking scale on April 8.

Designed by local chocolatier and chef-artist Janice Wong, the installation, standing at 2.4m-tall and spanning 18 sq m, is composed of three tunnels fashioned from 800kg of chocolate.

Every surface of these tunnels – from the walls to the ceiling – is clad in chocolate and studded with an array of vibrant, multi-shaped cocoa flowers.

The central tunnel, inspired by origami, features a hanging garden crafted from more than 500 suspended chocolate pieces.

The second tunnel evokes a gentle rainfall of chocolate petals. The third showcases chef Wong’s signature lollipops mounted on its ceiling, almost like a forest floor of mushrooms.

A team of 10, including Ms Wong, 43, took about 10 days to create the individual panels and decorations. These were then assembled on-site over two days, in time for the launch on April 9.

The greatest challenge, Ms Wong told The Straits Times, was ensuring the tunnel’s structural integrity for its multi-week run – it will remain open to the public till May 3 when it will be dismantled.

“We’ve already seen some kids running around. It’s great to see people enjoying it, but we will keep an eye on things to make sure it all holds up,” she said.

Visitors can walk through the tunnels any time during the mall’s opening hours, from 10am to 10pm daily. 

Chocolate lovers can actually pluck and eat bon bons off the installation during the Chocolate Indulgence tasting sessions.

These bon bons will be placed in selected portions of the tunnels and replaced for each session. Th...