A R 59 5 X X G R A D U AT E L E V E L E L E C T I V E S Modular Credits: 4 Graduate level electives are seminal learning experiences for Master of Architecture students. Taught in a seminar format, electives are aligned with research clusters, as well as faculty members’ specific expertise and research efforts, and provide a wide range of contemporary topics to enrich an architect’s education. Deep dives into specific themes allow students to align their personal interests in architecture with graduate-level research, thinking, making and writing.
SEMESTER 1 FACULTY OFFERING Chang Jiat Hwee Chen Yu David Chin Fung John Chye Naomi C. Hanakata Lai Chee Kian Albert Liang Panagiotis Mavros Shinya Okuda Tsuto Sakamoto Darren Soh Ellen Philpott Teo Wong Yunn Chii Yuan Chao Justin Zhuang SEMESTER 2 FACULTY OFFERING François Blanciak Lilian Chee Chen Yu Craig Hodgetts Emi Kiyota Shinya Okuda Ruzica Bozovic Stamenovic Tan Beng Kiang
SEMESTER 1 AR5957D ARCHITECTURE AND THERMAL GOVERNANCE: ENVIRONMENTS AND TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CLIMATE CRISIS Tutor: Chang Jiat Hwee Raising temperatures and the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, particularly heat waves; are compelling us to rethink the relationship between architecture, technology and the thermal environment. Drawing on the latest interdisciplinary scholarship at the intersections between architecture, environmental humanities, and STS (Science, Technology and Society), this module uses the concept of thermal governance to critique the prevailing thermal objectivity that undergirds mainstream understandings of climate, space and society. This module deploys theories and methods such as sociotechnical networks, technopolitics and material agency to analyse multi-scalar thermal phenomena entangled with bodies, interiors, buildings, cities and the planet. AR5958B OVERSEAS CHINESE ARCHITECTURE AND SETTLEMENT Tutor: Chen Yu Studies on overseas Chinese architecture and settlement offer an imperative perspective for understanding the urban and architectural history of Southeast Asia and South China. The cultural exchange across these regions contributed to the hybrid nature of overseas Chinese architecture and the vibrancy of the built environment. This module discusses overseas Chinese architecture and settlements built in Southeast Asia and South China during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It explores their spatial configuration and architectural expression, revolving around several typologies (i.e. temple, clan association, school, shop, house, cemetery, etc.) and their settings in a broader context. AR5958D HEALTHCARE FACILITIES PLANNING AND DESIGN Tutor: David Chin This module teaches the basic design and planning concepts for healthcare facilities. Students will learn about healthcare design through a mix of theory, case studies and facility visits, as well as interaction with clinicians and subject matter experts in the field of healthcare. Each lecture session comprises of three parts: design and planning principles, guest or clinician engagement and lastly a case study or facility visit. AR5958F HUMAN ECOLOGY: AGEING AND THE ENVIRONMENT Tutor: Fung John Chye Rapid population ageing is a global real-world issue, and the urban environment poses many challenges to the older people. This module familiarises students with a critical understanding of the role that the environment plays in impeding or supporting ageing in high-density urban conditions, with a focus on Singapore. It introduces key aspects of ageing and the environment, including functional, psychosocial, urban planning and architectural
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design; as well as considerations for people with dementia. Students will engage in problem-based learning through case studies, neighbourhood studies, environmental behaviours, and exploring potential interventions to enhance the environment for the aged. AR5958A DESIGNING WITH ENERGY. LOCAL RENEWABLES AS KEY FACTORS IN URBAN PLANNING Tutor: Naomi C. Hanakata This module critically investigates the renewable energy transition and the need to explore local energy resources as a key parameter for urban planning practices. It will examine Singapore’s current energy landscape and the potential of local energy production. It will investigate a concrete site to explore the potential of local energy sourcing, and the implication on planning decisions. Students will produce alternative planning scenarios, based on an optimal energy sourcing. AR5957B HISTORIES, THEORIES AND CONTEXTS OF ARCHITECTURE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA Tutor: Lai Chee Kien This module examines the histories, theories and contexts of architecture/ urban design in Southeast Asia over a long duration. AR5955A DESIGN LEARNING EXPERIENCE (DLX) Tutor: Albert Liang Architectural Festivals are events for celebrating design and promoting architectural appreciation. The “Designing Architectural Outreach” examines curatorial concepts, engagement strategies and programme design that shape the experiences of such event. Through comparative case studies of past Architectural Festivals, the elective analyses their respective effectiveness and the factors contributing to their impact on public outreach. A key feature of the module will be the authentic learning experience of conceptualising, planning, designing, implementing and evaluating the impact of an outreach activity in the local Architectural Festival. AR5959C MIXED USE / MIXED USERS Tutor: Panagiotis Mavros Mixed-use building and district typologies are essential for the functioning and also the experience of the city ¬— but mixed-uses also involve mixed users. How do people perceive and navigate in their environment? How do decisions impact the individual and collective experience of the city? In this elective we will engage critically with the mixeduse building typology, conducting observational and computational case-studies in Singapore’s urban fabric to develop an understanding of how different people understand and experience the built environment.
The course will draw its knowledge base and toolkit from current research on cognitive and behavioural science on how people perceive, cognise and act within different types of architectural and urban space. Weekly micro-research will build-up progressively from fieldobservations to computational methods such as Rhino/ Grasshopper, Twinmotion and others; that can be used to forecast and user-experience(s) in space. AR5959B INTRODUCTION TO MASS TIMBER ARCHITECTURE IN THE TROPICS Tutor: Shinya Okuda Mass Timber Architecture is rapidly evolving globally, as it is made of renewable resources and enables to sink carbon in a building form: a true game-changer in the global-warming era. However, its application in the tropics is largely unknown due to climatic and environmental challenges. The elective provides an introductory overview of Mass Timber Architecture; which is highly-interdisciplinary across forestry, manufacturing, structures, architectonics, built environment and carbon sink. It aims to set theoretical and technical frameworks to design Mass Timber Architecture in the tropics, and provide opportunities to interact with timber building experts and/or visit a construction site, etc. AR5957A ARCHITECTURAL IDEAS FROM EXPANDED FIELD Tutor: Tsuto Sakamoto Experiencing two outstanding phenomena: an environmental crisis and a development of intelligent technology; our relationship with things, living beings and environment has significantly changed today. Overwhelming power of natural disasters and pandemics remind us that we are no longer situated at a centre of the world to control and exploit the non-human entities for our subsistence. Today’s intelligent technology and its implementation in our society transformed our consciousness, desire and behaviour instead of us handling such technology as a simple tool. The crisis of human-centric idea or anthropocentrism suggested in these phenomena provides us an opportunity to reexamine the discipline of architecture that has been closely tied with the anthropocentrism since Renaissance period. AR5957E PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE HDB: IMAGING PUBLIC HOUSING IN SINGAPORE Tutor: Darren Soh This module intertwines the concepts of architecture photography and public housing history in Singapore. Students will be taught how photography is integral to architecture and how public housing in Singapore has been represented using photography from the time of HDB’s founding in 1960 up till the present day. Instruction will be carried out with a mix of theories (both in architectural photography and the history of public housing in Singapore) and practical sessions (fieldwork visiting and photographing various HDB estates in Singapore).
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