MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE COMPILATION OF SELECTED WORKS
MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE
IMAGE CREDIT: MUN QIN JIE IAN
MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE INTRODUCTION The NUS Master of Architecture programme is Asia’s leading design and research course for architecture. Our concurrent two-year professional degree programme cultivates a comprehensive and deep understanding of Asia and the equatorial region’s design opportunities and challenges. Students acquire knowledge as designers, intellectuals and citizens who can then go on to shape and influence the built environment. The M.Arch design studio is supported by a rigorous and expansive curriculum of graduate level electives and core professional modules. Conducted over a duration of four semesters, through the M.Arch I Design Option Studios and the graduate level design thesis, this curriculum trains students to think critically and materially, and to produce independent work of individuality, rigour, and vision. Directing their own learning experience, M.Arch I students embark on a selection of options studios and aligned electives. During their second thesis year, students concentrate on independent and individual design trajectories, covering a wide variety of disciplines as well as cross-cultural dimensions. Core professional and technical modules support the student’s advanced learning. The strategic objective of the M.Arch programme is to prepare students for a professional career in architecture amid a rapidly changing global context, and to equip them with experiences developed from within Singapore and through regional and international perspectives. Facilitated by a world-class team of academics and practitioners, the M Arch programme focuses on research-driven thinking and methods through five research clusters: Research by Design; History, Theory and Criticism; Technologies; Urbanism; and Landscape Studies. The programme allows students to expand design intelligence and creative practice research at an advanced level, and to further discourse within the discipline of architecture. A series of seminars, symposiums, guest lectures, internship opportunities, exchange and field research complement this advanced design programme. With this, our graduates are poised to become design leaders for Asia, and for the world. M.ARCH Programme Director Erik G. L’Heureux FAIA LEED BD+C Vice Dean, School of Design and Environment Dean’s Chair Associate Professor
RETURN OF THE AMPHIBIOUS 屿: CONSERVATION BY RESTORATION STUDENT: GARY KWEK RONG FU ADVISOR: DR. JOHANNES WIDODO
Return of the Amphibious 屿: Conservation by Restoration Name: Gary Kwek Rong Fu Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Johannes Widodo Cluster: Conservation and Heritage 屿 (yu) is a borrowed Chinese geographical term (also seen in Zheng He’s Mao Kun map), that refers to a specific typology of island, which has no counterpart in the English language. It not only speaks of terrain that disappears at high tide and temporarily emerges at low tide, but also the cultural activities and spiritual fascination Man has projected onto this phenomenon of impermanence. The Malay Archipelago contains many of such small fragments and islets whose ‘amphibious’ quality as an island has been lost through reclamation and gentrification which accompanied the arrival of western ‘modernity’. The thesis is sited at the southern islands of Singapore, which lost a large part of its vernacular culture after the 1970s reclamation and relocation of islanders and serves as the motivation behind the exploration of ‘屿’.
The architecture thesis speculates a conservation of the amphibious through restoration. The focus are as follows: 1. Restoring the amphibious quality of reclaimed land through rising sea level 2. Restoring the gentrified past islanders to return to the newly built neo-vernacular village 3. Restoring the vernacular context of the Kusu pilgrimage The architectural intervention is the building of a neo-vernacular village where people can continue to define what is ‘vernacular’ and reconnect with our amphibious heritage, a critical identity of our forefathers. Through craft and constructing the village, they will be able to understand the spirituality that was projected from the terrain.
TOTEM: AN EVOLUTION OF SPECTATORSHIP & PLAY STUDENT: LOH TZE YANG GLENN ADVISOR: A/P DR. JOSEPH LIM
Totem: An Evolution of Spectatorship & Play Name: Loh Tze Yang Glenn Thesis Supervisor: A/P Dr. Joseph Lim Site: Hudson Yards, New York City, USA Project Cluster: Speculative Environments
The days of video games being played in computer rooms are over. Rapid growth in competitive gaming has brought these virtual contests to real, heart-racing episodes held in front of deeply passionate live crowds. Prize pools reach tens of millions of dollars, not only making them comparable to more “traditional” global sporting events, but also representing a new sporting dream.
While this growing phenomenon presents an opportunity for media industries to expand, architecture of spaces are beginning to be built, its biggest annual events still tend to be held in retrofitted profession based spectatorship.
Sited in New York City, Totem represents a new standard in the future of game spaces. The project dem stadia typology serves as a convergence of industry agents – creators, publishers, gamers, spectators a its distinct focus on screen and projection technology, the new hub illuminates the way forward in our i The Totem Towers:
A reimagination of the Esports Stadium, the Totem Towers represent not only a novel way to consume allocation, allowing for multiple smaller scale events to occur. Through stacking, seating capacity is als
f the Esports facility is only just starting to respond. Consequently, although more purpose-built Esports nal sporting venues. However, these facilities are not designed to respond to the new nature of screen-
monstrates the creation of an urban event that draws upon the escapism of “Play”. The novel large-scale and the general masses – in the celebration of the Making, Playing, Watching and Living of games. With increasingly digitalized society.
e gaming, but also immersive screen-based experiences. Its modular nature allows for efficient seating so intensified while the small building footprint frees up the ground floor for the public podium.
“Beta Test” Podium:
One of the distinctions of game development is the importance of “testing”. From internal “Alpha” tes As such, the podium block incorporates the smaller scale Totem Pods to facilitate solo and group “Bet spill over that is required to facilitate high spectator numbers.
sting to external public “Beta” reviews, these processes are critical to debugging and game polishing. ta Testing”. These play test spaces generate the Urban Event by activating the large arena ground floor
Boutique Capsule Hotel:
The Hotel is broken down into the basic unit of a room. Each capsule room has 2 main full-height windo screen-immersion zones. The cores house hologram projectors that transform the central void into a “H Permanent Temporary Exhibit that warps around an anchor interactive virtual arcade space.
As singular entities, each capsule unit serves its occupants within; but is part of a larger collective a transforming the facade into a giant screen. Because the visibility of the hybrid window is user-controlle
ows that double as projection screens. Like the “Beta Test” pods, the 3 room sizes all contain their own Hologram Atrium”, populating the space with larger than life projections. Sitting below the block is the
as a whole. The external facing window/screen hybrid gives the capsule a pixel-like nature, in effect ed, the resultant “image” is organic in nature. The facade becomes liminal – a canvas of internal activity.
THE ETHEREAL CITY OF PINK STUDENT: MUN QIN JIE IAN ADVISOR: A/P DR. LILIAN CHEE
The Ethereal City of Pink Name: Mun Qin Jie Ian Thesis Supervisor: A/P Dr Lilian Chee Teaching Assistant: Wong Zihao Site: Sua Salt Pans, Sowa District, Botswana, Africa Project Cluster: Atmosphere and Agency
Context: In 1993, the American Natural Soda Ash Corporation fabricated a rumour that soda ash produced by Botswana Ash (Botash) in the Sowa mining district was impure due to the pink colouration of its salt brines. Subsequent predatory pricing tactics and soda ash dumping in the Republic of South Africa further threatened the soda ash market. These factors negatively impacted the economy of Botswana and the ecology of the Sua salt pans. Following the decline of the Botswana salt market, Botswana ash was forced to intensively mine to increase its yield and sustain its workers’ livelihood.
Abstract: The thesis is built around a speculative ecological landscape which celebrates the denigrated shade of pink. It is created in an environment of salt, sorghum, algae and flamingoes – ecological agents which now sustain the pink archipelago within which this proposal emerges. The Ethereal City revives native Batswana myths, fables and folklores in its practices. It capitalises on the shades of pink in the seasonal variations of dry and wet so that these natural and ecological constructs become embedded into an architectural narrative and experience. The pink city regards tourism not just as an alternative source of revenue but also to project a global image about the way colour is perceived in the larger context of Africa. The proposed infrastructure — the Pink Suns, the Rainmakers, and the Pink Springs — draw upon the mix of traditional myths and contemporary science to cultivate pink in the brines, sky, and salt plains. Together with the Botswana choir, the Pink Suns — the foci of algae farms — harness energy as the choir sings in celebration of a coloured identity.
Algae growth is scientifically proven to be enhanced by song. Planted in the sorghum fields, the totem-like Rainmakers, each with a rainwater reservoir, sustain the crops. In return, the sorghum stems adorn the rainmaker to filter rain collected for the next season. With the coming of rain, the Batswana locals recreate the Pink Spring of salt springs and salt huts (with the help of their Rain God). Visitors to the Sua salt pans, experience this ephemeral and fragile landscape in the transient architecture of the salt huts, which slowly dissolve into the earth and are cyclically reconstructed. Framed against the backdrop of flamingoes — whose feathers are coloured pink when they feed on the brines of the algae — the city bursts to life each season in a different shade, accompanied by specific seasonal events, atmospheres, textures and architectures. Antithetical to the overdetermined effects of mass industrialisation, this thesis imagines an architecture, a landscape and a future that returns to culture and landscape, that is both constructed and organic. Pink is a shorthand for a Batswana identity, and its architecture speaks of deference, independence, return and renewal.
POST-INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY: THE SANCTUARY STUDENT: JOANNE TIAW ZUO ENG ADVISOR: HO WENG HIN
Post-Industrial Ecology : The Sanctuary Name: Joanne Tiaw Zuo Eng Thesis Supervisor: Mr Ho Weng Hin Site: Lynas, Gebeng Industrial Estate, Kuantan, Malaysia Project Cluster: Conservation Kuantan is highly regarded as one of Malaysia’s most significant biodiverse coastlines, yet it is also one of its most contaminated. Over the last decade of industrial occupation, the topography of this fragile environment has radically transformed. Kuantan Port, shipyards and water-bound infrastructure now define a highly modified and dilapidating shoreline.
The ongoing saga of people power against the state-backed corporate power shed light on the world’s largest rare earth extraction plant – Lynas. In what way might the delicate ecosystem of the Gebeng’s low-lying swamp be renewed amidst an extent landscape of post-industrial degradation? Tapping into the established tourism platform, this thesis centres around a reconceived rehabilitation of post-industrial ecology through the means of eco-tourism in different phases. The speculative proposal challenges conventional approaches towards brownfield clean-up in developing countries after the cease of operation – uncontrolled, huge stinking dump sites without seeing an end to the global exploitation. As a response to the industrial exploitation, the project re-imagines an inhabitable landscape centering around the powerless.
FRONTLINES | (BACKALLEYWAYS) STUDENT: VANESSA KHOO HUI EN ADVISOR: DR. SWINAL SAMANT
Frontlines | (Backalleyways) by Vanessa Khoo Name: Vanessa Khoo Hui En Thesis Supervisor: Dr Swinal Samant Site: Lor 13/15 Geylang, Singapore Project Cluster: Speculative Environments In 2020, the COVID-19 Pandemic has brought to focus and highlighted the vulnerability and repercussions of Singapore’s overall segregation and condensation of our migrant workers to the margins of the city. Bearing this in mind, the heart of this thesis first begun from the aspiration towards building a future nation that embraces and celebrates the efforts and presence of our migrant workers who stand at the frontlines of our economy. The project removes the majoritarian lens that dominates the migrant housing landscape and reimagines a new inclusive and adaptable housing typology, one that bridges and brings together the complexities and varying synergies of both our migrant and local community within our neighbourhoods.
Through the readapting of Walter Segal’s self-built principals and detailing, the new tenancy aims to provide a comfortable density/ratio of private living to shared commons for the migrant workers through two new co-living models: the family unit; the communal co-living model. The new township typology forms a hierarchy of shared commons with varying levels of flexibility in layout and configuration, returning the autonomy of space back to the migrant tenants and building the social capital amongst its residents who work together to design and create their own home.
The project situates itself within the Geylang district, which exists as a heterotopia of space with its unique character of both of vice and vitality and is home to a large community of migrant workers who have nestled into the rows of shophouses within the neighbourhood. With the temporal affair of nightly pop-up market stalls selling cuisines and grocery catering specially to the migrant culture, internet cafes and local migrant NGOs, the Geylang neighbourhood provides for daily and recreational needs of the migrant community. Utilizing and preserving the distinctive street frontages and character of the Geylang neighbourhood, the programmatic layout and zoning of the site forms three key anchors that frame the central township, by activating the different street networks and fronts.
Tenancy Model One | Communal Co-living The first tenancy model consists of an open and communal co-living model with a large ratio of shared commons. The tenancy model is divided into two clusters across the main spine and further divided into two sub clusters. This self-built system is especially suitable for a community well equipped with the relevant building skillsets and demographics, enabling personalization and greater control of their own homes and a maximum efficiency of a fixed living space to fit a varying of the number of tenants.
Tenancy Model Two | The Family Unit The second tenancy model is a shared co-living apartment between 10-15 residents. The open plan layout of each unit features a series of fixed utility spaces; and a flexible ratio of private bedrooms to shared commons based on different parti-wall configurations. The family unit creates an intimate and close community as residents share their domestic space in small groups. The tenancy model is arranged by stacking 3 different module configurations vertically around a common courtyard creating shared communal spaces across units.
BREEDING RESILIENCE: THRIVING IN ORANGE AIR STUDENT: VIANY SUTISNA ADVISOR: A/P TSUTO SAKAMOTO
Breeding Resilience: Thriving in Orange Air Name: Viany Sutisna Thesis Supervisor: A/P Tsuto Sakamoto Site: Desa Gohong, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia Project Cluster: Speculative Environments The thesis begins with the issue of the haze due to the peatland fires in Central Kalimantan and the issue of breathing, where the invisible, formless, life – giving element, has been corrupted and threatens our wellbeing. At PSI levels of 2900, the air turns orange due to Rayleigh scattering.
The haze as a hyperobject is overwhelming. It is unquantifiable, uncapturable and seemingly infinite, as a substance that resembles a size much smaller than dust but is “massively distributed in time and space relative to humans.” The thesis proposes that this attitude of “adhoc” and “village engineering” is a much more adaptive and effective mechanism in dealing with the hyperobject haze, and closer to an understanding of ecology itself, as in the writings of Timothy Morton, as compared to anthropocentrically-scaled, heroic constructs of science, economics and politics that merely distance the issue at hand.
As per the animistic beliefs and culture of the indigenous peoples in Central Kalimantan, the architecture itself is moulded through references in folk art and religious rituals. An Oxygen Shrine provides oxygen during the haze period through partnership with the algae, chlorella vulgaris, used in bio-regenerative life support systems (BLSS) in space exploration. The Watchtower rewets peatlands in prevention of fire, drawing water from the existing deep well network. Indigenous rituals become re-adopted as a result of critical environmental conditions, for survival. Algae – based Breathing Aid Prototypes Site visit revealed that while city dwellers were privileged to have Oxygen Houses and Mobile Oxygen Vans for oxygen treatment, villagers situated 4-5km away from the city were forced to innovate their own survival mechanisms through the creation of breathing aids made out of plastic bottles, aquarium pumps and a face mask. In an attempt to increase their oxygen production, several algae-based prototypes were developed.
The Oxygen Shrine During the non – haze period, the Oxygen Shrine lies quietly on the riverside in hibernation, only awakening during specific rituals and village activities. During the haze period, however, the Oxygen Shrine, becomes a place of refuge for those seeking fresh oxygen to breathe, utilizing the algae system. Its form echoes indigenous motifs and animistic beliefs. The Oxygen Shrine is both a place of ritual and refuge for spiritual and physical survival.
WEAVING THE COMPLEX STUDENT: WANG CHANGREN ADVISOR: RUDI STOUFFS
Weaving the Complex Name: Wang Changren Thesis Supervisor: Prof.Rudi Stouffs Site: BaiShiZhou Village,ShenZhen, China Project Cluster: Performative Design Struggling to survive, that is the current state of Chinese urban villages. These urban sprawls prospered during China’s most rapid urbanization process in the late 20th century, mainly due to the ambiguous landownership in China’s shifting from planned economy to market economy.
Although the urban canyons result in undesirable living conditions, street market reeks of fishy odor, we can still see the opposite, in a metropolis where land comes at a premium, the high density nature of urban villages turned them into low-rent housing enclaves which allow people with various backgrounds to reside and earn their living. Majority of them are migrant workers, we also see students, self-employed and poor families. All these people together with urban village’s unique sense of place and the metropolis backdrop shaped an utopian ideal that is impossible to be replicated. But now the municipalities reckon these urban villages’ land as fertile grounds for private speculations.
Known as “first station for shenzhen migrant workers”, BaiShiZhou occupied a considerable proportion of the downtown area. More than 150,000 people were living within this 7.3 square kilometres large labyrinth. Though the village was demolished for future development, the design still would like to propose an alternative future for this urban sprawl. We tried to seek for balances between preservation of urban fabric and tabla-rasa planning mode, high population density and better living condition. Hopefully to realize its commercial potential while maintaining its positive tole as a low-rent housing enclave. The design process could be summarized into two stages. To maintain the urban fabric while upgrade the living quality ,a straightforward way is partial demolition, so in sem1, we tried to work out an evolutionary algorithm to establish iterative simulation driven methodologies for generating bottom-up urban regeneration strategies. A Palimpsest was cleared out for further design. In sem2, a piece of urban fabric was selected as a testbed for the further detailed design,
which could eventually be implemented to the whole urban village. The design results could be listed as follows: 1. Capsule units added on remaining structures as a compensation of the area lost. 2. Insert pencil towers as an acupuncture therapy to counter the community’s lack of focusing nodes in a repetitive urban fabric. 3. DIY community centers that could utilize the site’s commercial potential while reshaping the disadvantaged community. The increasing of buildings’ height also urges us to excavates the sites potential to grow vertically within a three dimensional circulation network. Hence the communal tower inserted also stands as a transportation hub, receiving and delivering residents through the elevated walkway.
CHAMPIONING FUKUSHIMA STUDENT: WILLIAM TIN WAI LEUNG ADVISOR: DR. ZHANG YE
Championing Fukushima by William Tin Name: William Tin Wai Leung Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Zhang Ye Site: Hirono-cho, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan Project Cluster: Urban Commons The nuclear fallout at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant caused by the triple disasters in March 2011 still haunts and affected many parties till this day. The daily lives of victims are disrupted, lost their homes, jobs, communities and their way of life. The aim of the thesis is by utilising the event of the marathon games during the Olympics, Tokyo 2020 as an opportunity to rejuvenate and aid the towns affected by addressing the lingering stigma of the radiation fallout. This is done so by empowering the current remnants of the residents in Hirono-cho and attract back the previously dispersed evacuees, and return their lives back to normalcy, pre-disaster. The masterplan is generally carried out in 3 phrases: primarily, the current situation of the site, secondly, during the Marathon games and lastly, Post-Olympics games which will potentially lead to a new Olympic legacy.
This thesis portrays the re-imagination of how traditional marathons could be conducted on an urban scale and transformed into an unique landscape. And as bananas are consumed as a main source of energy during the games, an agricultural opportunity presents itself, forming a widespread network of infrastructures to supplement the consumption of bananas. One of the key factors impeding the lives of the residents back to normalcy is the lack of economically sustainable agriculture that could aid the economy of the town. As mentioned earlier, by tapping on the opportunity of the mega event, this presents the town to capitalize on a new agricultural product, Bananas. Bananas are considered the most consumed fruits in Japan but without any local production of them, Japan will always face the issue of food security with that particular fruit. Furthermore, an existing urgent issue pertaining to the fruit is the impending demise of the banana most consumed variety, the Cavandish. A fungal strain of disaster, namely the TR4, is fast spreading and damaging most of the countries depending on the Mono-cultural food crop. This is due to the traditional agricultural method of harvesting bananas, which the disease spread easily through soil. New agricultural method are in the midst of research and this thesis also provides insights on how it affects the architectural planning of the production of bananas.
Node 1 – New agritecture in farming bananas is inspired by the biomimicry of a banana stem cross-sec
Node 2 – Contain similar DNA to the greenhouses but its core holds a large water reservoir that is m purification that address the stigma of water contamination from nuclear radiation
Node 3 – The cross junction of the marathon route, serving as an exhibitional tower for audiences/ tourist and then pumped with ethylene gases that enhances the fruits’ ripening speed, and then exported to th
ction, and its radial configuration serves as the most efficient typology for the growth.
mainly used to wash the banana batches from the harvest. Bananas peels also acts as agent for water
ts, the outer frames are rotable that efficiently transports the processed harvest into shipping containers he shipping port.
Node 4 – This proposed shipping port is paramount to the masterplan as Hirono’s future production o existing waste sewage plant, the old and new programs have some synergy within the system – the was as the cold storage of the reefer containers of 13°C.
Node 5 – As Autonomous Vehicles (Avs) are going to be introduced as the primary mode of transpor composting exhibition that collects food waste such as banana peels from the consumption of the tou
Node 6 – The final node of the master plan, but also a new train station market that tapped on the exis the train tracks, also introducing a town market to harmonize the community by providing a congregatio to other nodes through the cable car on the top level.
of bananas could be supplementary to the rest of Japan as local produce. Additionally, using the town ste sludge could be recycled as fertilizers and the energy produced from the steam could also be utilised
rt within the masterplan, the hub also serves as a terminal for the AVs, a cable car station and a food urists and athletes during the games, and convert the energy into electrical charging for the Avs.
sting sole train station in the town and the main concept is to also allow better pedestrians flow across on node. The station is also the welcoming platform to tourists and audiences alike, and they can travel
POETICS OF EMPTINESS: REDEFINING THE 21ST CENTURY ALUN-ALUN IN SEMARANG
STUDENT: SITI NUR FARAH BINTE SHEIKH ISMAIL ADVISOR: A/P ERIK L’HEUREUX
Poetics of Emptiness: Redefining the 21st Century Alun-Alun in Semarang
The alun-alun is a large open space that is located in front of a royal palace with two peculiar looking tre means protection, from the royal leaders to his people. Traditionally, the commoners will sit under the h this has made the space into a symbol of power for the royals. The constant state of emptiness of the
When the Dutch colonialised Java in the 1800s, the alun-alun was replicated in other cities such as Se centre. Today, it is called Simpang Lima, which is the site that I have chosen for my design.
My thesis is a proposal for an alternative form of the alun-alun that is modified and situated in Simpang during my site visit. Even though the 21st Century has seen major growth and changes across the Ind Javanese city. And since the idea of emptiness itself is actually a strong concept that is rooted in the Ind that shows simplicity and deep respect for the context of the site. It seeks to alter the symbolism that d
ees positioned in the middle of the square. The canopy of the trees is said to resemble an umbrella which hot sun, before meeting the leaders in the palace. But on most days, the alun-alun will remain empty and alun-alun further emphasises the power the royals have over the space.
emarang. However, in 1969, the alun-alun was moved away from the colonial town towards a new city
Lima. My design concept was derived from the state of emptiness of the alun-alun that I had observed donesian archipelago, the alun-alun still remains as one of the most prominent historical element in any donesian culture, my architecture intends to represent it in a different light and in a metaphorical manner draws people away due to fear and intimidation, to a symbol that actually draws people closer to it.
中 : AN ARCHITECTURE OF IMMENSITY STUDENT: GOH TECK KUANG CLIFFORD ADVISOR: A/P BOBBY WONG
The thesis speculates the changing role of cultural institutions in today’s increasingly flattened, mediatized network society. Through a study of works by esteemed Chinese artists Cao Fei, Cai Guo-Qiang , Huang Yong Ping, Ai Weiwei and more, the thesis postulates that Chinese art, media and cultural products are defined by the common characteristic of ‘immensity’; of large scale productions that span across time and space. Referencing the Koolhasian notion of Bigness, where the scale of the architecture alone embodies an ideological programme, the thesis speculates how cultural spaces like art galleries and performance theatres may change in the near future to accommodate novel cultural formats. It proposes a series of underground and street level spaces along Middle Road as part of the speculated expansion of the China Cultural Centre in Singapore.
PLAY! A GUIDE TO ARCHITECTURE FOR RESILIENCE STUDENT: TAN XIN YUAN ADVISOR: AR. TIAH NAN CHYUAN
PLAY! A Guide to Architecture for Resilience by Tan Xin Yuan Name: Tan Xin Yuan Thesis Supervisor: Ar Tiah Nan Chyuan Site: Tanglin Halt, Singapore Project Cluster: Speculative Environments Reference Link: xinyuantan.com/play
The Singaporean game of life models Freudian theory – the objective of the game is to earn titles through fame, happiness, money, recognition. The first player to achieve or exceed this success formula is the winner of the game. The Singaporean life timeline and one’s enduring identity– or the lack thereof – involves the loss of the id, (read: innate passions and desires) through habits of compliance to social construct as one grows older. Conversely, the ego and superego, which are the other 2 concepts of the tripartite composition of I, focuses on societal means of success, and are transient, gone when one retires and when one’s predecessors move out of the house. The remainder – an empty nest, a hollow shell, a loss of socially ‘prestigious’ titles, and a stark loss of identity.
This thesis posits that the housing landscape holds the pivotal role as the spatial and physical construc calls upon the MND and HDB, which shapes 70% of a child’s development, to fulfil its role of shaping a in the everyday neighbourhood, creating a vehicle that is reactionary to the longevity and permanence o identities based on permanent qualities like resilience, independence, self-awareness, empathy – value
he guidebook comes coupled with 20 examples of deconstructing formal ‘play spaces’ into everyday T the everyday, regardless of place or age. The resultant hyper-neighbourhood consist of a plethora of o areas – a step into the solution for lasting memories, individual and communal titles; a rootedness to the superego; and a more meaningful, lasting and fulfilling game of life.
ct in shaping a Singaporean’s core identity, through the retention of one’s id throughout one’s lifetime. It a future resilient generation. It distills the various title classifications and memories that can be created of one’s identity. Ultimately, it appends a PLAY! guide to creating housing spaces that build meaningful es beyond the traditional pedagogy of what a school can teach.
y banal items along journeys, which are practical and simple to be implemented. They bring meaning to opportunities of 4 varying spatial types – secret passages, centre stages, hideaways and out-of-bound e self and to the community, and towards a generation of resilient characters; a wholesome id, ego, and
RETURN OF THE AMPHIBIOUS 屿: CONSERVATION BY RESTORATION STUDENT: GARY KWEK RONG FU ADVISOR: DR. JOHANNES WIDODO
Happy Ending: Holy Men in Sin City
Border, as shared between two separate nations, can exist in various forms depending on the geograph and the mass. However, the border plays many roles where it controls geopolitical issues from not only closely linked to culture and history. This is especially relevant in the regions of Southeast Asia (SEA) tha of Thailand-Malaysia, specifically between Rantau Panjang in Kelantan (Malaysia) and the infamous see With only a river separating between Rantau Panjang and Golok without any forms of physical barrier and citizenship and identity but were also brought up under opposite political and cultural backgrounds. Th security and sovereignty in a familiar yet foreign context to the natives within this borderland; express ending.
hical conditions in which it sits. It is an agreed representation of land ownership by both the government the national scale but also internal problems at the regional level for those who live within borderlands; at has undergone waves of colonization and oppression for centuries. This thesis sits on the borderlands edy town of Sungai Golok (Thailand). d active monitoring, the border is practically open to citizens from both sides who not only hold different his thesis hence challenges the roles and limitations of architecture within chaos, order, religion, culture, sed by infusing contradicting elements into one single architecture. Canceling contradictions. Happy
THE GOLDEN GREEN:
A JOURNEY ON THE LAND OF THE DEEP-ROOTED
STUDENT: LUH ASTRID MAYADINTA ADVISOR: ERIK G. L’HEUREUX
The enthusiasm of Teak as exotic hardwood implanted by the colony in the 1600s has created a mislea up sensitivity towards its enormous forest resources and the intrusion of modernism that affect the met with different qualities to be harvested for a more specific use. Back to the 1600s the Dutch found a immediately and it becomes more valuable than spices, the main reason for colonization in Java. Furth everyday banal material.
The thesis aspires to have a series of details as theoretical concern in architecture and to deal with thi medium Javanese cities that carries a deep historical value in this ever changing political climate. More in which way to help the practice of architecture in the growing urban settlement.
ading appreciation towards the value of material production in Blora. Being on the equator has brought thods of architecture in hot and wet climates. Different age of trees will produce different sizes of trees stretch of forest populated with more than 40 years old teak trees (Perhutani 2019). The allure starts her research and technology has been implemented to translate the fantasy of luxurious timber into an
is “new gold” as a product of capitalism to offer Teak as a choice of construction material in small to importantly, the investigation aims to position Teak and its craftsmanship in this context to understand
CITY AS ECOSYSTEMS, ARCHITECTURE AS SCAFFOLD STUDENT: CHEN TING YAN, CANDICE ADVISOR: A/P FUNG JOHN CHYE
Cities are often perceived as harsh man-made environments that are antithetical to nature and her abun ecosystems but rather cities are amenable to natural ecosystems. Underpinning this hypothesis is the a through bottom-up activities and ownership of our future urban-scape. Climate-induced changes are p disempower the fostering of social resilience and; the city and its functions that dominate the natural e
City as Ecosystem, Architecture as Scaffold advances on a new paradigm for homeostasis living in the fu and sustaining natural ecosystems though biophilic design that empowers the fostering of stewardship
The Emergent, The Canopy, The Undergrowth, The Estuaries and The Coral Lagoon illustrates the key d the regeneration of ecosystems and empowerment of social-urban resilience.
ndant biodiversities. The thesis challenges the commonly held notion that the city is opposed to natural anticipation of climate change induced increases in environmental stewardship roles by the community predominantly a resultant of; urbanisation from intense human activities, top-down national policies that ecosystems that led to irreversible damage.
uture urban neighbourhoods of Singapore, where architecture integrates as a scaffolding for generating p within the community to achieve social and urban resilience towards climate change.
design strategies of; homeostasis living, biophilic design and the empowerment of stewardship roles for
PROJECT METAMORPHOSIS STUDENT: FAWWAZ AZHAR ADVISOR: A/P FUNG JOHN CHYE
Project Metamorphosis Thesis Supervisor: A/P Fung John Chye Site: Tanjong Pagar Port, Singapore Website: www.wazworks.net/
Neighbourhoods which contains our multicultural ethnicities and community resilience will be affected disrupts the way we work, live and play. The 3 industrial revolutions from the mid-18th century to pre patterns. While we are on the verge of the 4th revolution of cyber physical systems, climate change is climate mitigation interventions has provided a platform and vehicle for the amalgamation of a future re
Project Metamorphosis translates the necessity of a seawater mitigation system into a coastal self-s Tanjong Pagar Port site.
d when climate change alters our environment and when technology of the fourth industrial revolution esent has influenced the jobs sector which in turn affects our living accommodations and commuting s also threatening our way of life here in Singapore. The revolution for high-tech infrastructure and the eady and sustainable Coastal City neighbourhood typology which is Project Metamorphosis.
sustaining neighbourhood typology which thrives on a mobile and connected lifestyle far beyond the
CARTOGRAPHIC ARCHITECTURE: SPECIFIC INTERVENTIONS THAT PROJECT THE RURAL REVENGE OF ULU PAPAR IN 50 YEARS
STUDENT: AMANDA MO SHUEN YEA ADVISOR: ERIK G. L’HEUREUX
Cartographic Architecture: Specific Interventions that project the Rural Revenge of Ulu Papar in 50 years My Thesis began from a personal question of how and when Architects should act when the site presented hosts predominantly untouched landscapes and lacks Architecture. In a site where there is little to no architecture, should we, as Architects, still approach the site with an analysis that is similar to how we would in an urban or even suburban site? Focused around the Papar River in Sabah, East Malaysia, my Thesis explores the representations of such a rural site to realize the silent Ecology of what occurs above and underground. It repositions the surrounding topography, buildings, and inhabitants around the Papar river as the main axis. This is the silent architecture of the Papar river and serves as a lens that allows me to design specific architectural interventions that projects a path in the Ecology of the river that benefits the environment and hence, the indigenous population. These interventions exist on two intersecting planes – the Aesthetics of representation, and the
Architectural product. I look at how representation and aesthetics affect our perception of a site and how it can be dissected and redesigned to serve as a lens, guiding how an Architect traverses the Ecology of the site in relation to its themes. On the flipside of the coin, the Architectural product manifests these concepts into realisable construction details, Architecture and programmes. These together act as seeding points and examples for the growth of Ulu Papar for the next 50 years. The Resort is introduced into Kampung Kigandang as it hosts white water rafting activities, while the Sawmill is introduced into Kampung Tabilong, an influential indigenous village which focuses on plantations and agriculture. these interventions houses specific programmes and systems that embed and capitalize on the unique way of life of the Indigenous population and their mindfulness of Ecology. These interventions give them more economic leverage, and act as seeding points for a growth of Ulu Papar that will not render them invisible.
40 TREES AND THEIR ARCHITECTURE STUDENT: LEE SI EN SARAH ADVISOR: DR. LILIAN CHEE
Tree planting in Singapore is a political impetus. The national narrative of the Garden City has turned the metonyms in our landscape, tied to people, stories and sites that offer alternative narratives and histo challenges current perceptions of tree planting beyond mere beautification to become a commentary o
The thesis is an architectural compendium constructed around forty specific trees in Singapore. It perf the trees and its surroundings, bringing them to the foreground. The compendium of architecture – from to experience and discover the significance, quirks and characteristics of specific trees. In doing so, t relationship to trees in the landscape.
e tree into an aestheticized object that instantly appears in our parks and gardens. But trees are cultural ories of Singapore. Drawing on the work of artist Robert Zhao, “Singapore, Very Old Tree”, the thesis on the nation’s cultural memory and complex relationship with trees.
forms as an island wide museum of trees that uncovers and speculates latent spatial relations between m botanical research centers to towers to infrastructures – will engage the trees differently, allowing us the thesis raises questions and observations about the trees which have been forgotten, renewing our
LOST IN TRANSIT: A TALE OF TWO CITIES STUDENT: HONG HOW JIN JOSIE ADVISOR: OSCAR CARRACEDO
RELIGIOUS HETEROTOPIA:
A CRITIQUE ON THE RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE OF SINGAPORE
STUDENT: GABRIEL PNG ADVISOR: A/P BOBBY WONG
The religious landscape in Singapore is a difficult terrain to navigate. The tenuous relationship between the three different entities present in the Singapore context lends to this difficulty, namely: State, Society and Religion. At the surface, the apparent harmony amongst these different entities seem benign, and the effort and orchestration involved in the management of this fine balance are often times taken for granted. What is hidden behind this amicable facade is a State-established mechanism called the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act. The thesis postulates that the state of the relationships between the different religious groups can be further fostered beyond just the superficial line-threading of OB-markers, and move towards and expand on overlapping consensus and shared values in these overlapping communities. This project also critiques the existing State mechanisms that form the framework in which these relationships play out. The design explores religious motifs and elements that can be utilised to form a subtle backdrop
onto which these issues may be addressed. Furthermore, the project also envisions a scenario whereby corporate religious worship can move beyond the confines of perimeter walls and become entry-points to greater dialogue and discussion. The nature of religion to conceal and reveal is a poignant aspect that this project attempts to capture. The elusiveness of the divine is met with the categorical nature of the State.
DEEP SEA PURGATORY STUDENT: CHRISTOPHER WIJATNO ADVISOR: A/P DR. JOSEPH LIM AWARDS: WORLD ARCHITECTURE FESTIVAL 2017 ARCHITECTURE DRAWING PRIZE (DIGITAL)
ANTICIPATORY ARCHIPELAGOS STUDENT: SHAUNICE TEN XIANG LING ADVISOR: DR. LILLIAN CHEE
In the physical systems of territorial expansion in Singapore, land is seen as a geomorphic entity that is endlessly shaped to achieve our nationalistic vision – essentially one that always pursues the bigger, greater and better. In the face of land scarcity, the government’s pursuit of more land has become a norm. Land has been reclaimed, commoditised, engineered and manipulated to feed a value system where land is productive for skyscrapers and seas for entrepot trade – a system which results in waste, pollution and a de-valued ecology. As such, Singapore has now become an island that has lost its islandness. In contrast to this self-centered value of land, this thesis projects Singapore as an altruistic nation which will begin to aid in the restoration of ecology by reducing pollution and re-valuing nature.
The thesis reimagines a restored archipelago where lands and waters are clean and productive in a new value system that shifts away from current systems of cities and trade. It will seek to demonstrate the other valuations of land through an enduring fabrication of new lands which will grow and evolve into a sanctuary for nature and individuals seeking refuge from mainland. THe islands will eventually evolve into a marine research and nature park which encapsulates a rich biodiversity, and have interim programmes such as communal farming, aqua-culture and low cost temporary housing for transiting immigrants and marine researchers – a land use which speaks of a different kind of productivity, economy, and value – one that is perhaps more rehabilitative and remedial.
SYNERGIZED HACTORY STUDENT: ONG HUI SIAN ADVISOR: CHEAH KOK MING
THE JUNGLE OF EDEN STUDENT: JOEL TAY GUANG HUA ADVISOR: ERIK L’HEURUEX
Beauty over Clementi Road by Joel Tay Overgrown with magenta Bougainvillea Creepingover the planter boxes into its underbelly, onto the edges of the pathway And down its structures all the way till it kisses the ground. Like long black hair flowing down the sides of her face. With strands of hair across her lips and flowers in her hair She is absolutely gorgeous Most walk over her, trample on her, and drive by under her long legs Without ever giving her a second glance. But do not be mistaken! Even though she’s a master at fading into the shadows, The bridge across Clementi Road is an absolute beauty. Just standing a few feet away is a tall modern block, With her smooth long legs planted on a bed of soil, But she is absolutely bald. in fact, she’s toxic! Wherever she sets foot on is bald as well.
CREATIVE NOMAD STUDENT: HAEMAL NAIR ADVISOR: TAN TECK KIAM
GARDENS BY THE TRACK STUDENT: HO PHAM TRI ANH ADVISOR: DR. JOSEPH LIM
What if an MRT station was conceived as a Tropical Garden? Could we create an experience equivalent to Gardens by the Bay at one-third its plot ratio and without the air-conditioning expenses of ticketed public space? Then the experience of tropical flora in naturally ventilated atria becomes part of daily commuting. Glare is diminished by creepers filtering light into space, which transforms LTA interiors into a giant NPB shed. The spaces are strategically designed as destination hubs fed by commuter traffic.
The proposal explores neighbourhood urban vibrancy where the Singapore International Flower Show and Hort Park activities can be brought to a public transport node adjacent to open green. This eliminates the car parking and carbon emitting activities of traffic generating landmarks
BADABING BADABOOM
THE POLITICS OF CONDITIONED AIR IN A GOLDRUSH BOOMTOWN
STUDENT: JASON TAN ADVISOR: ERIK L’HEUREUX AWARDS: 2017 HUNTER DOUGLAS ARCHIPRIX AWARD
The legitimization of small-scale gold-mining in Ghana is initiated by the Chinese government through a the initiative attempts to bury the ravages of exploitation, for which the Chinese themselves are curren African relations in Ghana are seemingly resolved as China ceases to illegally mine gold, and the Chines functions as a Gold Exchange and a Gold Miners Union, but not without an inevitable touch of illegitim serve their immigrant population. These restaurants and casinos are inefficiently overloaded with air co and union offices. The conditioned air leaks again into the informal market space and is finally exhaus pressure which runs the entire system. Rhetorically, the politics of conditioned air serves as a metaphor
Erik L’Heureux: By mining mid-century equatorial architecture, this thesis looks back to move forward, proposition engages in the contemporary and complex realities of government sanctioned resource e and China today.
philanthropic gesture of developing the goldrush boomtown of Dunkwa. Though charitable on surface, ntly responsible (after taking up the baton of oppression that the European empires left behind). Sinose commission a Gold House that eliminates corruption and empowers the miners. The building officially macy by the opportunistic neo-colonials. The Chinese insert hidden spaces within the Gold House that onditioning, which is orchestrated to leak and cascade into the legitimate spaces of the gold exchange sted through the chimney, where the array of condensers that channels their hot air creates a negative r for China’s presence in Ghana, as well as the rest of Africa.
repositiong the aspirations of modernism at the end of colonialism in Hot and Wet Africa. The design extraction, knowledge transfer, economic classifications, and infrastructural ambitions between Ghana
THE CONDITIONED ENVIRONMENTS OF EQUALITY STUDENT: CHENG YU-QI LYNN ADVISOR: TSUTO SAKAMOTO
INTANGIBLES FOR REGENERATIVE CONSERVATION STUDENT: DEBBIE PRADINATA SIM ADVISOR: CHO IM SIK
RHOUSING FOR EVERYONE ELSE STUDENT: FREDERICK LOW YIT LEONG ADVISOR: DR TAN BENG KIANG
Traditionally,the goal of the home is to create the possibility of peaceful cohabitation. In many instance takes the form of domestic family life. This prompts many to read the city as an amalgamation of nucle
Contextually, housing in Singapore has been the exclusive embodiment of one type of human associati legitimise certain relationships, the politically engendered housing narrative of the city-state has inhibited
This project is not pitted against the nuclear family, but suggests that the proliferation of choice and var stigmatisation of nontraditional family types by reflecting the diverse needs of the population, and keep remain the dominant model for a long time to come, it is and should be just one, among many, possible
es, the home is enforced as the basic living unit of society. As such, the subject of the house naturally ear family units.
ion: the nuclear family. Given that all societies define home and families in ways that institutionalise and d other forms of association based on values such as solidarity, collaboration and shared responsibility.
riety in the housing stock could pave the way for much needed socio-economic progress; curtailing the ping up with demographic changes. The project enforces the idea that while the nuclear family unit shall e associations; that there should be housing options for everyone else.
MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE COMPILATION OF SELECTED WORKS
IMAGE CREDIT: GABRIEL PNG