BA. Arch Programme Brochure (2021-2022) by NUS Department of Architecture

D E S IG N R E S E A R C H S T U DIO S E Q U E N C E M ARCH I & II

M ARCH

AY 21—2 2

D E S IG N R E S E A R C H S T U DIO S E Q U E N C E M ARCH I & II

Picture credit: Erik G. L’Heureux

MASTER OF A RC HITEC T U RE PROGRAMME AY 21 - 22 M ARCH I & II Department of Architecture School of Design & Environment

MASTER OF A RC HITEC TU RE PROGRAMME AY 21 - 22 M ARCH I & II Department of Architecture School of Design & Environment

C O N T E N TS

Picture credit: Ong Chan Hao

H E A D’S M E S S A G E 4

M A S T E R O F A R C H I T EC T U R E P R O G R A M M E DIR EC T O R’S M E S S A G E 5

M A R C H P R O G R A M M E O V E R V IE W 6

SIN G L E D EG R E E M A R C H I 8 C O N C U R R E N T D EG R E E M A R C H I T R A C K I 9 C O N C U R R E N T D EG R E E M A R C H I T R A C K II 10 C O N C U R R E N T D EG R E E M A R C H I T R A C K III 11 M A R C H SIN G L E & C O N C U R R E N T D EG R E E 13 M A R C H I & II S E M E S T E R I D E SIG N S T U DIO L E A D E R S 15

M A R C H I S E M E S T E R II D E SIG N S T U DIO L E A D E R S 16

O P T IO N S D E SIG N R E S E A R C H S T U DIO: S E M E S T E R 1 18

O P T IO N S D E SIG N R E S E A R C H S T U DIO: S E M E S T E R 2 24

C O R E G R A D U L AT E L E V E L M O D U L E S 27 G R A D U AT E L E V E L E L EC T I V E S 2 8 A R C H I T EC T U R E IN T E R N S H IP P R O G R A M M E (A IP) 32 M A R C H II 35

M A R C H II D E SIG N R E S E A R C H T H E SIS 36

M A R C H II D E SIG N T H E SIS FA C U LT Y A D V IS O R S 3 8

M A R C H II D E SIG N T H E SIS O F F E R IN G S 4 0

R E S E A R C H C LU S T E R S 4 8 D E SIG N S T U DIO R E V IE W C A L E N D A R 5 0

E V E N T S & G U E S T L EC T U R E S 52

V ISI T IN G P R O F E S S O R S & M A R C H E X T E R N A L R E V IE W E R S 5 4 C O N TA C T 5 6

H E A D’S M E S S A G E

M A STER O F A RC HITEC T U RE P R O G R A M M E DI R E C T O R’S M E S S A G E

I am delighted to welcome you, either as new or returning

As we begin this education journey with you, we have

The NUS Master of Architecture (M Arch) programme

The strategic objective of the M Arch programme

students, to NUS Department of Architecture (DOA). With

worked to achieve better clarity in our studio direction

is Asia’s leading design and research course for

is to prepare students for a professional career in

the pandemic still raging, this new Academic Year (AY)

and pedagogy. Our programmes focus on design, which

architecture. Our concurrent two-year professional

architecture amid a rapidly changing global context,

will continue to be disruptive and a great challenge to us

we see as evidence-based problem solving skills that

degree programme cultivates a comprehensive and

and to equip them with knowledge and experiences

all. Renovations of SDE3 are still on-going, and hopefully

has the potential to transcend the confines of everyday

deep understanding of Asia’s and the equatorial region’s

developed from within Singapore and through regional

we will be able to move back to SDE3 towards the end of

experience. The required modules in our programmes

design opportunities and challenges. Students acquire

and international perspectives. Facilitated by a team of

AY2021/22. In the meantime, our studios will continue

open doors to different domains of knowledge, which

knowledge as designers, intellectuals and citizens

world-class academics and practitioners, the M Arch

to be scattered with hot desking arrangements. I hope

in turn inform design decisions. The elective modules

who can then go on to shape and influence the built

programme focuses on research-driven thinking and

we can persevere and adapt to the studio condition with

further expand and enrich students’ knowledge in their

environment.

methods through six research clusters: Research by

COVID-19 safety guidelines and measures. Regardless of

chosen topics of interest. By creating and navigating

the disruption, we at DOA, pledge to do our best to deliver

a path through the entire curriculum, you will then be

The M Arch design studio is supported by a rigorous and

an excellent learning experience for you, as you journey

empowered to pursue your own aspirations and interests in

expansive curriculum of graduate-level electives and

with us through the year. The pandemic has led us to

architecture.

core professional modules. Conducted over a duration of

The programme allows students to expand design

four semesters, through the Design Option Studios and

intelligence and creative practice research at an

question a number of the essential values at the heart of

Design, History, Theory and Criticism, Technologies, Urbanism, Landscape Studies, and Design Education.

how we operate in society, such as gatherings, community,

The values that we champion in our programmes relate

the graduate level design thesis, this curriculum trains

advanced level, and to further discourse within the

work and living patterns, nature, technology, and digital

both to architectural and spatial form, and pertain to

students to think critically and materially; and to produce

discipline of architecture. A series of seminars,

capacity. These values are, and should be, expressed in

current social conditions, environmental responsibility,

independent work of individuality, rigour, and vision.

symposiums, guest lectures, internship opportunities,

spatial terms, which you shall explore this year.

well-being and health, urban liveability, memory and

exchange, and field research work, complement this

identity, and relationship with nature. At this moment,

Directing their own learning experience, M Arch I

AY2021/22 also marks the beginning of a common

these issues are particularly relevant, poignant and ripe

students embark on a selection of options studios and

curriculum structure for the undergraduate degree,

for reflection, research, re-affirmation, and redefinition.

aligned electives. During their second semester of

With this, our graduates are poised to become design

designed for the School of Design and Environment

A number of design studios planned for the new academic

M Arch II, students concentrate on independent and

leaders for Asia, and for the world.

and Faculty of Engineering. This new approach

year are addressing these issues directly, and we await

individual design thesis, covering a wide variety of

to undergraduate education aims to focus on

with anticipation the innovative answers and outcomes

disciplines as well as cross-cultural dimensions. Core

interdisciplinary learning and allows students to craft

that they will generate.

professional and technical modules will support the

E R I K G. L’H E U R E U X

student’s advanced learning.

Dean’s Chair Associate Professor, Vice Dean

multiple pathways in their education and future careers. Architecture education has often been interdisciplinary;

We are turning the coming year’s challenges into

however, the new curriculum will usher in a structural

opportunities for robust spatial responses to future

approach to undergraduate education to prepare you for

conditions. However, we are also mindful of the mental

a fast-changing world in the future. You will be exposed

challenges the coming year might bring to your studies.

to fundamental modules that will offer exposure in

We care about your well-being and we are open to meet

professional skills, values, methodology and pedagogy in

and help you, should you face stressful situations during

design and engineering. In the upper years, you will also be

your studies. I invite you to come talk with me and we can

able to pick up some minors or a second major, which will

face the issues together. I am confident that we will rise

enhance your career resilience. While the new curriculum

above our challenges and work to create design solutions

is applicable to first year students, we will also take the

that will address pertinent issues of importance for

opportunity to assess our curriculum, and make changes

current and future communities. My colleagues and I,

to the structure and learning outcomes of different

look forward to working together with you, and bringing

modules.

our passion, creativity and intelligence together with

advanced design programme.

Master of Architecture Programme Director

yours, in this education journey. I wish you an exciting and rewarding new academic year.

H O P U AY P E N G Professor and Head of Department

M A RC H PR O G R A M M E OV ERVIE W

Picture credit: Lee Man Rou, Natasha

M ARCH SIN G LE & CO N C U RREN T D EG REE

O P T IO N S D E S IG N R E S E A R C H S T U DIO + A D VA N C E D A R C H I T E C T U R E S T U DIO

Learning Objectives:

SEMESTER 1 (M ARCH I & II STUDENTS)

To understand and critically demonstrate creative

M A R C H I & II S E M E S T E R 1 D E S IG N S T U DIO L E A D E R S:

practice research methods in a studio context. To understand and take a critical position on methods

AR5801 OPTIONS DESIGN RESEARCH STUDIO 1

of creative practice research and their resulting

Modular Credits: 8

outcomes, and the impact of these on the formation of architecture.

AR5805 ADVANCED ARCHITECTURE STUDIO

To understand and take a critical position on the

(VERTICAL EXPERIENCE)

translation of creative practice research outcomes

Modular Credits: 8

into architectural approaches, techniques, and strategies or tactics.

SEMESTER 2 (M ARCH I STUDENTS)

To understand creative practice research as a

AR5802 OPTIONS DESIGN RESEARCH STUDIO 2

fundamental component of architecture and to

Modular Credits: 8

explore its future trajectories. 5.

To design with creative practice research and its

This three semester design module sequence establishes

conceptual tools, and to be able to use such research

the foundation for Masters level creative practice design

to make ethical judgments in architecture.

research in architecture. It provides the students with

To utilise advanced representational techniques in

an opportunity to select from a variety of studio topics;

both digital and analogue mediums to communicate

thereby allowing them to choose the themes aligned with

research, iteration, and design techniques in

their individual interests and intellectual drives—while

architecture.

creating synergy with their studio leader. Framing design

to probe architectural approaches to design.

develop a high level of competency in creative practice research, leading to architectural outcomes, which are

To utilise advanced analogue and digital tools in the exercise of making.

in turn, aligned to the faculty’s expertise and interests. Students are expected to demonstrate a high degree of

To utilise advanced digital data, visualisations, contemporary simulations in 2D, 3D, and 4D mediums

as a creative practice, the objective of the module is to

To communicate creative practice ideas in concise

proficiency in creative practice research, design thinking,

and considered verbal, written, and performative

representation and communication. This module demands

presentations utilising a wide range of mediums.

that students not only deploy creative practice research methods; but also translate research outcomes into

Measurable Outcomes:

actionable strategies in architecture.

Provide an innovative and rigorous design concept in a studio context.

Advanced architectural thinking and clear practice-

discourse are expected, alongside mature

Clear individual focus for design research and making process within the studio context.

representational techniques that communicate ideas through non verbal and verbal mediums.

Provide a clear design research method and approach to the act of design, based on an aim of the studio.

based research methodologies applied to architectural

Coherence of design research, making process and

AR5801 OPTIONS DESIGN RESEARCH STUDIO 1 LEADERS: Cheah Kok Ming Vice Dean (Academic), Associate Professor; B Arch, BA Arch Studies (National University of Singapore); Registered Architect, Singapore Simone Chung Assistant Professor; PhD, M Phil (University of Cambridge), MSc (University College London), AA Dip, BSc (University College London); ARB, RIBA Part 3, Registered Architect, UK Florian Heinzelmann Associate Professor in Practice; PhD (Eindhoven University of Technology), M Arch (Berlage Institute), Dipl-Ing (Munich University of Applied Sciences); Registered Architect, the Netherlands Richard Ho Professor in Practice; B Arch (National University of Singapore); MSIA, Registered Architect, Singapore Patrick Janssen (Co-teaching with Rudi Stouffs) Associate Professor; PhD (Hong Kong Polytechnic University), MSc (Cog Sci Int Comp) (Westminster University), AA Dip Nikhil Joshi Senior Lecturer; PhD (National University of Singapore), M Arch Conservation Studies (University of York), B Arch (University of Pune) Khoo Peng Beng Adjunct Associate Professor; B Arch (National University of Singapore); RIBA, MSIA, Registered Architect, Singapore Victoria Jane Marshall Visiting Senior Fellow; PhD (National University of Singapore), MLA, Cert Urban Design (University of Pennsylvania), BLA (University of New South Wales), AAG Ali Reda B Arch, BSc Arch (University of Sydney)

AR5805 ADVANCED ARCHITECTURE STUDIO LEADERS: Hans Brouwer Adjunct Associate Professor; B Arch (University of Southern California); MSIA, Registered Architect, Singapore Fung John Chye Associate Professor in Practice; B Arch (National University of Singapore); Registered Architect, Singapore Raymond Hoe M Arch, BA Arch Studies (National University of Singapore); RIBA, MSIA, ASEAN, APEC, Registered Architect, Singapore Gaurang Khemka M Arch (University of California, Berkeley), B Arch (Sushant School of Art and Architecture); MSIA, IIA, AIA, LEED AP, Registered Architect, Singapore Jimenez Lai Visiting Professor, (Cornell University); M Arch, BA Arch Studies (University of Toronto) Constance Lau Senior Lecturer, (University of Westminster, London); PhD (University College London), AA GradDip, B Arch (National University of Singapore); FHEA, ARB, Registered Architect, UK Joseph Lim Associate Professor; PhD (Heriot-Watt University), MSc (University of Strathclyde), B Arch (National University of Singapore); MSIA, Registered Architect, Singapore Ong Ker-Shing Associate Professor in Practice, BA Arch Programme Director; M Arch, MLA (Harvard University); MSIA, Registered Architect and SILA, Registered Landscape Architect, Singapore Tsuto Sakamoto Associate Professor, M Arch Associate Programme Director; MSc (Columbia University), M Eng (Waseda University), B Eng (Tokyo University of Science)

design outcome. 5.

Produce robust architectural representations with rigour and graduate level expertise in 2D, 3D, and 4D mediums.

Communicate the design and its contribution to knowledge through verbal, written and physical mediums and artefacts.

Rudi Stouffs (Co-teaching with Patrick Janssen) Dean’s Chair Associate Professor; PhD, MSc (Arch Comp Design) (Carnegie Mellon University), MSc (ArchEng), Ir-Arch (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) Tan Beng Kiang Associate Professor; DDes (Harvard University), M Arch (University of California, Los Angeles), B Arch (National University of Singapore); MSIA, Registered Architect, Singapore Teh Joo Heng Adjunct Associate Professor; SMArchS (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), B Arch (National University of Singapore); MSIA, Registered Architect, Singapore

David Schafer M.F.A (Cranbrook Academy of Art), B Arch (University of Arizona); FAIA, NCARB Naoko Takenouchi (Co-teaching with Marc Webb) BA Interior Architecture (Nottingham Trent University), BA Arch (Tokyo Kasei University) Teo Yee Chin M Arch (Harvard University), BA Arch Studies (National University of Singapore); MSIA, Registered Architect, Singapore Marc Webb (Co-teaching with Naoko Takenouchi) M Arch (Bartlett School of Architecture UCL), BA Arch (Manchester Polytechnic); ARB, Registered Architect UK

M ARCH I SEMESTER 2 D E S IG N S T U DIO L E A D E R S: AR5802 OPTIONS DESIGN RESEARCH STUDIO 2 LEADERS: François Blanciak Associate Professor; PhD, M Arch (University of Tokyo), DPLG (École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Grenoble); Registered Architect, France

Erik G. L’Heureux Dean’s Chair Associate Professor, Vice Dean, M Arch Programme Director; M Arch (Princeton University), BA Arch (Washington University in St. Louis); FAIA, LEED AP BD+C, NCARB, Registered Architect, USA (New York and Rhode Island)

Lilian Chee Associate Professor; PhD, MSc Arch History (University College London), B Arch, BA Arch Studies (National University of Singapore)

CJ Lim Professor of Architecture and Urbanism (The Bartlett, University College London); PhD (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology)

Cho Im Sik Associate Professor; PhD (The Graduate School of Seoul National University, Korea), M Arch (The Berlage Institute, Rotterdam, The Netherlands), B Sc (Seoul National University)

Shinya Okuda Associate Professor; M Eng, B Eng (Kyoto Institute of Technology); Registered Architect, Japan and the Netherlands

* Subject To Confirmation/ COVID-19 Restrictions Chatpong Chuenrudeemol M Arch (Harvard University), BA Arch (University of California, Berkeley) Hsin-Ming Fung * Ong Siew May Visiting Professor (National University of Singapore), Professor (Southern California Institute of Architecture); FAIA Thomas Kong Associate Professor; M Arch (Cranbrook Academy of Art), B Arch (National University of Singapore); Assoc. AIA, Registered Architect, Singapore

Picture credit: Terence Chek Wei Jie

O P T IO N S D E S IG N R E S E A R C H S T U DIO: S E M E S T E R 1 S T U DIO D E S C R I P T IO N S (A R 5 8 01) ARCHITECTURE AS A PEDAGOGY Tutor: Cheah Kok Ming Almost 20 years ago, Peter Elliot’s Water Recycling Plant in the Melbourne Zoo is a small scale infrastructure but occupies a prime spot between animal enclosures. Recently a controversial waste management project, the Amager Resource Centre was conceived by Bjarke Ingels as a mammoth incinerator plant with an integrated ski slope as its roof. Vastly different in scale comparison, but the common thread linking the two architecture is the idea that buildings can complement its purpose to promote desirable ideas for gaining public advocacy and adoption. “Architecture as Pedagogy” is the framework for the studio to explore meaningful form and programme relationship in a place for Adventure Education.

ARCHITECTURE AS MEDIA Tutor: Simone Chung Assisted by: Mary Ann Ng Media, as defined by Hertz and Parikka (2015, 146), “is approached through the concrete artifacts, design solutions, and various technological layers that range from hardware to software processes, each of which in its own way participates in the circulation of time and memory.” The materiality of media, from a deep-time perspective, exposes an extensive matrix implicating the geopolitics of labour, expansionist capitalism, and irreversible environmental damage not only from planetary excavations and energy production but also the long-tail effects of toxic waste. The studio’s ambition is to go deep, in the sense that deep time media is adopted as the ontological framing to interrogate relationalities critically (following Guattari, 2000), with incisive deep dives performed on socio-technical processes coloured by political ethics. Honing a deep-seated awareness not only makes us more responsive architects but responsible practitioners as well.

TROPICAL MARKETPLACES IN BANDUNG, INDONESIA Tutor: Florian Heinzelmann The majority of people in Indonesia buy their groceries via local markets (pasar tradisional). Despite management issues resulting in desolate maintenance, sub-par logistics and low hygienic standards, Indonesian markets are vibrant multi-programmatic spaces fulfilling a larger role in society. Due to all problems and the recent surge of COVID-19 in Indonesia, markets need to be fundamentally rethought while keeping the spirit and remain financially attractive for the less affluent. The design-research will look into several aspects like social interaction, community, urban integration, delivery chain, on-site logistics, but also resilient solutions like passive climatic design strategies enabled by an overarching ‘programmatically thick roof’ serving the collective.

HILL WITH A VIEW – THE KEPPEL GOLF CLUB Tutor: Richard Ho It has been announced that the lease for two of the 23 golf courses in Singapore will not be renewed when they expire in 2021; and the land will be returned to the Singapore Land Authority. The Keppel Golf Club being one of them. It’s high time, that we, as a nation re-examine our priorities especially when so much land has been set aside for the recreation of so few, not to mention that golf courses are perhaps the most detrimental to the biodiversity of our natural environment and not sustainable in the long run for a city-state that purportedly has a shortage of land. But what will happen to these two golf courses?

CONSTRUCTIVE CONSERVATION: DESIGNING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR THE PAST Tutor: Nikhil Joshi The rapid transformations experienced by many contemporary Asian societies have radically challenged their built environments’ cultural integrity and cohesion. Several historical buildings and neighbourhoods are erased in the name of ‘development’ (read ‘economic benefits’). It consequently disinfects the place of its identity and leaves it bland and out-of-date after a while. Wilke argues that “a sense of continuity does not have to stop new ideas —just the opposite. The deeper the root, the greater the range of nutrients”. In this vein, this studio advocates critical thinking and understanding of place/ building, change, and stewardship as part of continuing evolution. Applying conservation principles to assess the scope for a new intervention, students will strategise and deliver innovative ways to actively manage change to our historical urban landscape by protecting and adapting historical buildings/places to achieve a balance ensuring that their significant cultural values are reinforced rather than diminished by change.

WARM DATA, TRANSCONTEXTUALITY AND NOT KNOWING: FUTURE SINGAPORE Tutor: Khoo Peng Beng Instead of putting ourselves in a place of knowing, we start by putting ourselves in a state of not knowing so that we can be more open to exploring possibilities arising from the interactions of the multiple contexts affecting any issue. The idea of transcontextuality is that there are multiple different contexts that are interconnected and interdependent behind any single question, issue or thing we look at. Warm data (Bateson) is transcontextual information about the interrelationships that integrate a complex system. The studio will create an alternate Singapore in the future using the Paya Lebar Air Base site with individual projects collectively forming as a whole. Students will explore multimedia presentations— both analog and digital; moving from abstraction to concretisation.

SAMPLING SINGAPORE: ENACTING CARTOGRAPHIC PRACTICE Tutor: Victoria Jane Marshall

ENVISIONING THE NEW NORMAL OF LIVING WITH ENDEMIC COVID-19 Tutor: Tan Beng Kiang

Mapping is a design tool, and maps are ‘things’ that inform architectural outcomes. In this studio, students will learn how architects and landscape architects have engaged cartography to both analyse and project change. The studio is framed by a three-kilometre diameter sampling strategy, based on the 110 Community Clubs of Singapore. We will ask, what if the Club’s governance was substantively empowered to support design? The collective outcome of the studio is premised on the notion that a multiplicity of map knowledge can open up space for architectural outcomes that are unimaginable within existing cultures of governance and official representational tropes.

The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has upended our daily lives and posed social, economic, and environmental challenges. A high percentage of the population continue to work from home; and for students, a blended ‘learning from home’ system will become the new norm in Singapore. Social life is affected by social group size limits that fluctuates with each phase of pandemic measures. As we move to the next stage of living with the COVID-19 endemic, what is the implication on the design of our future living space and neighbourhood? The studio will envisage a design that can respond in a resilient way to changing circumstances due to the pandemic.

BTTV; “BACK TO THE VILLAGE” Tutor: Ali Reda This studio acknowledges that the Urban Fabric will not and cannot continue to function in the same way as it did prior COVID-19. So where to, from here, is the question that will be addressed. People living in cities do not intrinsically know what living in a village means. They cannot fully empathise or understand the charms of village life. To the villagers the world over however, “God made the country and man-made the city”. Whilst Singapore started as a collection of charming villages, it is now a first world sophisticated and busy city. The older generations here often speak about the 乡村, Kampung, the Village. They reminisce about people living in villages who led simple, peaceful, healthy and happy lives. As such, there needs to be a review of how we look at the urban fabric, the way it is designed. It must be people-centric, super sustainable, its form, its function, and a mega mix of programmes. The new, multi-purpose city; where people live, work, play, shop, and entertain, must reflect this, and encompass the new “Circular Economy”; the economies of the villages of yesteryear!

TERRAIN VAGUE: NEW TRANSFORMATION POSSIBILITIES Tutor: Teh Joo Heng A shift in usage patterns is being anticipated in the city, supported by hybrid land use, car-lite policies,— with COVID-19 accelerating the state of flux. This transformation allows for the reclamation of land from roads, carparks, and other public infrastructures. A new possibility is emerging within the city that comes with the recalibration of usage for existing buildings and leftover land. The studio is to speculate what the BRAS BASAH BUGIS AREA will be like, when this transformation takes its full effect.

URBAN SPACES OF ONE-NORTH: COMPUTATIONAL ANALYSIS AND RULE-BASED DESIGN Tutor: Rudi Stouffs (Co-teaching with Patrick Janssen) Through data collection and computational analysis, the urban spaces of Greater One-North are assessed from various viewpoints, including accessibility, integration, visibility, human comfort and other requirements. Shortcomings may be countered through design and planning; with design actions expressed in the form of design rules that apply to the existing situation, in order to achieve a preferable outcome. Reflecting on the desired objectives of cohesion, vibrancy and liveability; design rules formulate these into actions and operations. Embedding both conditions and parameters for application, design rules operate on the data at hand, and express geometric and semantic transformations. Design rules support computation and the exploration of alternative design outcomes. This studio builds upon last year’s studio, while shifting the focus of attention in terms of both territory and objective.

A D VA N C E D A R C H I T E C T U R E S T U DIO: S E M E S T E R 1 S T U DIO D E S C R I P T IO N S (A R 5 8 0 5 ) UBIQUITOUS GREENING Tutor: Hans Brouwer This studio will explore the now-accepted paradigm that our urban environments and our building typologies can be reconciled with an aggressive introduction of planting. We will be exploring greening strategies at both the urban and architectural levels. A mini-masterplan will be created as a group effort, with each student going onto developing a building within that context. The studio will examine the gamut of architectural enquiry from the theoretical right down to the practical. The intended outcome is not to create an utopian future worldview, but to develop an aggressively real possible outcome for our habitats and cities.

FUN PALACE 5.0 Tutor: Raymond Hoe

CITIZENS WITH NO PLACES Tutor: Jimenez Lai

DIRTY ARCHITECTS Tutor: Ong Ker-Shing

“Technology is the Answer, BUT What Was the Question?” (Cedric Price, 1979)

The unhoused population permeates the urban fabric of Downtown Los Angeles, and there are no clear options to help improve this plight. It begs the question: what can architects do to help? There will be a very specific social, political, and aesthetic agenda within the studio. Additionally, we will be telling stories: No Place—an etymological root to the word “utopia”—is not an ideal place. Instead, it is a lens from which a type of journalism can be conducted, and a platform for thoughtexperiments. We will work within No Place for people with no places, and propose possible future scenarios.

This studio embraces forms of dirtiness as a matter of urgent public necessity. Our public health crisis of inflammatory diseases seems due, ironically, to the eradication of dirt from our everyday lives. We will explore reversals of the values of modern architecture’s resilient cleanliness, aiming for strategic and designed “impurities”. Solutions will expand upon historical modes of interaction between buildings and types of “dirt”—from pre-modern practices, to modern ventilation systems, to domestic animals, and other vectors. These will attempt to restore, in part, a type and degree of organic waste in the spaces, surfaces, and systems of the building, to create an architecture, as hospitable at the microbiotic scale, as it is at the human one.

The evolution of machines, AI and hyper-scale cloud computing has challenged the conventional wisdom of current technology-led developments such as real estate, typology, resilience, and economic sustainability. Industry 4.0 will be disrupted by 5.0 technology. Technology-led retail mixed-use developments will face fresh challenges and stress-tested to ‘re-invent’ user-experiences for consumer generations of Alpha and K. It is imperative for the present-day retail-led, mixed-use typology to evolve in the world of virtual reality, gaming, data, algorithms, pattern recognition, machine-learning, automation, advanced manufacturing with innovative spatial and programmatic concepts of the near future 2030 . The studio will investigate Cedric Price’s concept of flexibility and his experimental cybernetic narratives of impermanence , fun and leisure in “FUN PALACE” as catalysts and critical theoretical frameworks. This forms the basis to re-programme and re-purpose an existing urban retail development in Orchard Road, Singapore; to be transformed via a strategic urban design intervention into an experiential 5.0 mixed-use programmatic landscape. Studio and project site discussions will also be coordinated with notable external industry sector experts to stir further research and probe issues in the realm of both human-centric and technology-centric interfaces for both group and individual design vehicles.

LEFTOVER SPACES AND DETRITUS Tutor: Gaurang Khemka Our cities produce leftover and interstitial spaces. Spaces under flyovers, disused rail lines, and other unclaimed leftover and negative fragments are some examples. We humans, generate copious volumes of material waste, some of which are incinerated, some goes into landfills, some finds its way to the oceans, while some ends up in these unused leftover fragments of the city. Can architecture intervene at this juncture of waste? This studio shall explore crafting alternate typologies, materials and construction methodologies for a reduce/ reuse/recycle future for the Singapore cityscape.

SITE, SCIENCE-FICTION AND SUPERTREES, ‘BUILD BACK BETTER’ Tutor: Constance Lau A new blueprint for a city that is continuously in process requires the formulation of innovative design strategies that amplify these qualities. The users’ participatory processes and new ideas of mapping individual experiences are considered through the Situationist International’s notions of psychogeography where the theory of the dérive, détournements, and plaques tournantes, are employed to generate alternative approaches to document overlooked aspects. These transient, process-driven and shifting ideas of use and site, create new readings and meanings that will further Singapore’s stance as a garden city, and futuristic reputation for botanical constructs like climate altering domes and Supertrees. Utopian references ranging from colonial ambitions for ‘planting the world’ to Metabolist ideas of artificial land, megastructures, and nature will be used to ‘Build Back Better’, and generate visionary, ecological, and inclusive design proposals, conceived to embrace ensuing climate, economic, and social uncertainties.

POST-SPORTS ASSEMBLAGE Tutor: Tsuto Sakamoto Why must the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics 2021 be held despite a State of Emergency under COVID-19 pandemic? The symbolic festival, insistently placed in terms of space and time, triggers questions on global capitalism, nationalism, and a substitution of historical memory. Under this critical perspective, the studio will investigate the event and its history—circumstances of the unrealised games in 1940, and the first games in 1964; while scrutinising the possible transformation of the sports event and training process—their space, scale, and operation—by using recent and future intelligent technologies and a pervasive media network. Based on the investigation and placing the projects in Tokyo where the 2021 games will be conducted—the studio ultimately aims to propose alternative forms of sports activities and events that are surrounded and integrated with a variety of non-human objects and living beings in urban and natural contexts.

FUTURE TODs Tutor: Joseph Lim

SITUATION TENSE AND READY FOR ACTION Tutor: David Schafer

Although Peter Calthorpe coined The Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) as a concept in ‘The New American Metropolis’ in 1993, Shaofei Niu, et. al. (2019) argued its existence in the 1971 URA Concept Plan; connecting new towns and the downtown district with urban nodes at MRT stations where compact and mixed-use neighbourhoods incorporated a public central space at a transit station. The planning of a TOD for urban vibrancy is now investigated in the context of a pandemic. How will ventilation, density, and distancing redefine commuting, and the physical form and spaces of a TOD? Students will learn from international consultants—AEDAS, SAA, LTA and URA, in a cross-disciplinary design research studio developing individual Masters projects.

Take a deep breath and look around you. How can you design your way out of this? What is within arm’s reach? What is within a day’s walk? How deep are you willing to go? The goal isn’t simply to survive but to thrive… Assess your situation. Center yourself. Test your boundaries. Make shelter, make light. Together we will look at strategies for constructive, forward momentum from a diverse range of sources (alchemy, adhocism, improv, jugaard, preppers, #EDC, #ISRU). We will explore our immediate context(s) and condition(s) by contemplating the dualities of working collaboratively in isolation, working intimately but remotely, working precisely within a space of uncertainty, and fundamentally, we will make; improvising without compromising.

Picture credit: Tay Chi Fan Keith Picture credit: Ahmad Nazaruddin Bin Abdul Rahim

DOWN TO EARTH : THE NEW PEASANTRY Tutor: Teo Yee Chin

FORAGING FOR DESIGN Tutor: Marc Webb (Co-teaching with Naoko Takenouchi)

When we think of farming in Singapore today, two diverging trajectories come to mind. The first is a ground-up interest to “grow your own”, as hobbies, lifestyle choices or community initiatives—on backyards, remnant plots, or HDB corridors. The second is a state-led mission to increase local food production, with an aim to reach 30% self-sufficiency by 2030. A key thrust of this is the high productivity redevelopment of Lim Chu Kang to a high technology agri-food cluster. Is the future of agriculture an industrial abstraction, or can it still connect people to the land? This studio will look for alternatives, hacking a trail between ecology and technology, spiritual enrichment and physical sustenance, community, and national security.

FORAGING is a culinary concept that uses local wild ingredients as a way to reduce the carbon footprint, encourage sustainability, and evoke a sense of place. We would like to take this idea further and expand the concept of FORAGING to include the architectural and interior concepts for a new dining space. In an increasingly homogenised world, there is a stronger desire for people to seek more local experiences rooted in their communities, together with an increased awareness of sustainability as both a consumer, and in the built environment. With easy delivery and better transport networks, a central location is no longer a requisite for a successful restaurant. With this in mind, our focus will be in the North East of Singapore—around Sungai Kadut and Kranji, where nature and industry exist side-by-side in a combined area of manufacturing and small-scale farming. We will look to create a hybrid of these two contrasting elements using the concept of FORAGING, that will combine both sustainable ingredients to support the restaurant and the physical elements of the space where local fabrication and foraged materials can be combined.

O P T IO N S D E S IG N R E S E A R C H S T U DIO: S E M E S T E R 2 S T U DIO D E S C R I P T IO N S (A R 5 8 02) PROGRAMMATIC SCULPTURE Tutor: François Blanciak The Programmatic Sculpture studio will focus on one pure geometric form as a basis for design investigation. This form will be a large cube with fixed dimensions, located on a given site in Singapore. Following a thorough analysis of the site in its greater context, students will be asked to determine their own programme. The design work will then consist of adapting the original form of the cube to its given site and chosen purpose. This process can be referred to as an act of programmatic sculpture, involving the erosion of the initial form with the projected programme.

DOMESTIC CAPITAL: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDIO Tutor: Lilian Chee Assisted by: Phua Yi Xuan, Anthea, Tan Yi-Ern Samuel & Wong Zi Hao Work is moving home. Buildings that previously distinguished productive (paid) from reproductive (domestic/care) labour are being rendered obsolete; sacrosanct boundaries between private and public realms are made ambiguous. While this phenomenon is not new, its historical insignificance arises from architecture’s tendencies to divide these realms, minimising a territorial intersection with multiple social-cultural-economicalethical-political repercussions. This is to say, the home|work phenomenon remains to be conjectured. The studio will enact a series of counter-situations—practices, objects, temporalities, scales, programmes, sites—which challenge the conceptions, forms and experiences of “work from home”. We will engage in the production and curation of architectural artefacts (drawings, paintings, field sketches, photographs, models, and other objects), with the aim of delineating emerging domestic sites of labour by projective means—i.e. the descriptive, the imaginative, and the speculative. An accompanying seminar component Workaround (see p.30) combines ground design research with historical and theoretical material. This studio-seminar will be run as part of Foundations of Home-Based Work: A Singapore Study; funded by the Social Science Research Thematic Grant.

EMERGING CIVIC URBANISMS: DESIGNING FOR SOCIAL IMPACT Tutor: Cho Im Sik

THE ART-ARCHITECTURE NEXUS: NEW CONVERGENCES AND INTERSECTIONS Tutor: Thomas Kong

The studio will explore integrative and hybrid urban models that cultivate genuine socially and ecologically sustainable lifestyles. Innovative approaches will be investigated to facilitate timely, flexible and contextsensitive urban interventions. This is to encourage a shift from centralised, top-down approaches; to more decentralised, bottom-up processes. From singular and static design solutions, to dynamic and pluralistic design processes, which can be instrumental for reconceptualising urban space design, for the hybrid and high-density environments of today and tomorrow. Diverse hybrid social spaces that encourage individual and collective creativity and allow for continual transformation and adaptation will be explored.

There are myriad ways the art-architecture nexus is expressed. It includes material experimentation, use of media, techniques of making and documenting, critical and social practice, writing manifestos, design of cultural institutions, and participating in biennales as curators; to name a few prevailing examples. The spaces for learning, making, viewing, and presenting art and architecture are also less clearly bounded. Art schools now offer professional architecture programmes. Artists have occupied public spaces with their installations while art galleries and museums commission architects to build temporary structures.

S.E.A BASTARDS STUDIO Tutor: Chatpong Chuenrudeemol S.E.A. Bastards, or Southeast Asian Bastards, are homegrown architectural concoctions and strategies created by everyday people to solve everyday problems. Bastards are live street typologies, not frozen vernacular artefacts from the past. They may include beautiful shacks in a city slum, illegal pop-up vendors, a secret love motel…even a wonderful make-shift bench on the sidewalk. Most view Bastards as eyesores to the city, lacking in any serious design pedigree. However, it can be argued that they are the most authentic and inventive examples of Southeast Asian architecture despite their unrefined appearance. The recognition and understanding of S.E.A. Bastards is key to creating urbanistically responsive, ecologically-informed, and culturallyauthentic architectural vocabularies for Southeast Asia. In the S.E.A. Bastard studio, you will discover, survey, and document an existing Bastard, either in Singapore or in your hometown. You will then “grow” wonderful new Bastards from these originals.

This studio will examine the art-architecture nexus as a place-bound practice with an attention to material, time, body, phenomenon, perception, and visceral experience. The broader context of a world undergoing a profound socio-cultural, political, ecological and technological transition will frame the material and spatial speculations. The studio is ideal for students seeking a deeper theoretical understanding of the art-architecture nexus; and who enjoy material experimentation, drawing, and making at different scales.

HOT AIR: THE DRAMATIC ATMOSPHERES OF THE EQUATORIAL CITY Tutor: Erik G. L’Heureux The equatorial city’s relationship to climate and atmosphere has become an increasingly complex interface in relation to climate change, population growth, and contamination. Against this background, this studio will research the atmospheric mediums of “hot air” situated in urban Southeast Asia. Three features will guide the work: saturated urbanisms, thick envelopes, and aggregated roofs that modulate and filter the “hot air” of the equatorial city. As the equatorial city evolves from the granular, porous, and informal, to a more formal, conditioned, and hygienic metropolis, it is being transformed with large-scale capital, global aspirations and imported technological systems, often to its longterm environmental detriment. The design research will focus on modes of architectural construction in the region, and the tension between these and the precedent of mid-20th century tropical modernism of the 1930s to the 1980s. The dramatics of heated air, aggregation, scale, vegetation, humidity, heat, rain, and hygiene, and the numerous contagions that compound an atmosphere of “hot air”, will drive the studio’s design and representational research efforts for the semester.

ARCHITECTURAL NARRATIVES OF IDIOSYNCRASY Tutor: CJ Lim There is always a space of empathy cultivated from the acceptance of idiosyncrasy. Whether by bold gestures or by subtle attrition, our love affair of the city and its architecture is constantly re-written to build a fundamentally different idea of society. At different times and places, we break down hierarchies to empower the oppressed, the ignored, or the disenfranchised by embracing equality in expression, diversity, and identity. This studio encourages students to explore the critical thinking and the poetics of unconventional architecture and resilient urban design that address the idiosyncratic narratives of humanity and climate.

SKY TIMBER™ - TROPICAL RENEWABLE ARCHITECTURE Tutor: Shinya Okuda The year-round high intensity sunlight experienced by tropical plantations, allows trees and crops to grow a few times faster than the ones in temperate climates. One of the strongest motivations to review timber plantations nowadays, is that it is a renewable resource and effective carbon sink, which is the true game changer of the global warming era. However, its architectural application in the tropics faces challenges of constant high-humidity, harsh weathering and fierce termite attacks. SkyTimber™ is a professional design research studio, aiming to create symbiosis between nature and the built environment, providing microclimate, fresh oxygen, comfort, and amenity for humanity, leading to unique sustainable tropical aesthetics in architecture.

C O R E G R A D U AT E L E V E L M O D U L E S

Picture credit: Haozhuo Yang

AR5601 URBAN DESIGN THEORY AND PRAXIS Modular Credits: 4

AR5423 ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICE Modular Credits: 4

This module will provide a comprehensive and indepth examination of the theories, methodologies and praxis of urban design. It will introduce ideas that are instrumental in establishing the foundations of urban design, examine rationales and strategies for creating vital and lively urban spaces, and explore key issues and the myriad challenges facing urban design both today and in the future. In particular, this module will view urban design from a place-making perspective—ranging from physical to social, tangible to intangible, and global to local—with a primary focus on topics such as urban form, density, diversity, identity, public space, community, and sustainability.

This module will provide students with foundational knowledge and understanding required to enter architectural practice, and will give students an overview of the key aspects of running an architectural firm. It will introduce students to office management and to using a system to help to manage information, processes, and risk, to ensure consistent project delivery. Lectures and assignments will be designed to simulate the running of a project, demonstrating what needs to be considered from beginning to end. The lecture notes and slides provided will be intended not only for academic learning but also for students to use as a guide and resource when they enter practice.

AR5321 ADVANCED ARCHITECTURAL INTEGRATION Modular Credits: 4

AR5221 CONTEMPORARY THEORIES Modular Credits: 4

The module will offer learning experiences in multidisciplinary collaboration and problem-solving between architects and engineers, to prepare students for contemporary architectural practice. Students will look at case studies that will provide an overview of the foundations for interdisciplinary collaboration. A series of lectures on advanced architectural technologies will also illustrate how multidisciplinary collaboration can produce innovative architecture. Students will then draw up group proposals for innovative integrated building systems aimed at achieving optimisation, performance, and aesthetic goals, in collaboration with lecturers and consultants who are architects and engineers.

This module aims to expose architecture students to an array of intellectual ideas and theoretical positions by drawing from an expanded field of discourse that includes architecture, urban studies, design, and the humanities. This broad focus acknowledges the unique nature of architectural education, the manifold forces that shape the design of a building, and the role an architect plays in society. The lecture and assignments will be based around nine topics: atmosphere, interior, representation, capital, agency, security, networks, infrastructure, and the Anthropocene.

Picture credit: Emma Lau Si Ying

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 Chen Yu Simone Chung Naomi Hanakata Lau Siu Kit, Eddie Shinya Okuda Tsuto Sakamoto Swinal Samant Rudi Stouffs Tan Beng Kiang Wong Yunn Chii SEMESTER 2 FACULTY OFFERING Erieta Attali Filip Biljecki François Blanciak Lilian Chee Chen Yu Cho Im Sik Ruzica Bozovic Stamenovic

SPECIAL SEMESTER OFFERING François Blanciak Tham Wai Hon & Tan Yi-Ern Samuel

SEMESTER 1 AR5952C URBAN AND RURAL REGENERATION IN ASIA Tutor: Chen Yu This multi-disciplinary module explores several topics on urban and rural regeneration in Asia. It aims to provoke critical thinking of sustainable planning and design in Asia. We will elaborate on theories and principles of this study area through examining selected regeneration projects from historical, social, economic, and environmental perspectives. On-site lectures and seminars will enable the students to experience and understand challenges with regeneration practices in the context of Asia. AR5951B MIS: MOVING SPACE IMAGE 2.0 Tutor: Simone Chung New media and technology are so ubiquitous in our everyday and professional lives that they have become integral to space planning, design, artistic production, and spatial experience, as tools and conduits for visual representation and crafting virtual worlds. Moving images possess the capacity to reveal how space is; and can be differently organised and experienced, whilst profilmic mapping techniques—when properly employed—allow us to unpack embedded spatial and socio-cultural information shaping the lived environment to reveal certain inherent biases governing the logic of spatial configuration. This revised and expanded course, introduces themes shared by architecture, urban studies, and moving image media, situating them in the wider discourse of the last century that have shaped the visual discipline and consequently, depictions and experience of architecture and the city. The thematically organised seminars chart the evolution of moving image technology (celluloid, cinema, screen-based media installations, media architecture, virtual backlots) to demonstrate its contribution to architectural knowledge, urban research, and industry transformations. AR5952B DESIGNING WITH ENERGY. LOCAL RENEWABLES AS KEY FACTORS IN URBAN PLANNING Tutor: Naomi 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, the implication on planning decisions; and students will produce alternative planning scenarios, based on optimal energy sourcing.

AR5953E ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS Tutor: Lau Siu Kit, Eddie Architectural acoustics describes the art and science of interactions between people and sounds in indoor and outdoor spaces. Students are introduced to the fundamental knowledge and skills on: (1) principles of sound generation, propagation, and reception; and (2) properties of materials for sound absorption, reflection, and transmission. In addition, we will examine the characteristics of sound: What makes the sound in buildings and urban areas? How can sound influence the way people perceive the space? With this in mind, this module will be directed toward design criteria, model simulation, and prediction of acoustics performance. AR5953C INTRODUCTION TO MASS TIMBER ARCHITECTURE Tutor: Shinya Okuda Mass Timber Architecture is rapidly evolving globally, as it is made of renewable resources and enables carbon sink in a building form. However, usage of natural and organic materials in a contemporary built environment requires a whole set of different design approaches from common industrial materials, such as steel or concrete. The elective provides an introductory, highly-interdisciplinary overview of the Mass Timber Architecture, across forestry, manufacturing, structures, architectonics, built environment and carbon sink. It aims to set theoretical and technical frameworks to design Mass Timber Architecture, with its emerging prospect in Southeast Asia. AR5951A ARCHITECTURAL IDEAS FROM EXPANDED FIELD Tutor: Tsuto Sakamoto Experiencing two outstanding phenomena: an environmental crisis and 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 nonhuman 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 ideas or anthropocentrism suggested in these phenomena provides us an opportunity to re-examine the discipline of architecture that has been closely tied with anthropocentrism since the Renaissance period. Exploring theoretical discussions on the issue developed in interdisciplinary fields, and searching for a possibility to bring such discussions into the architectural discourse, the course aims to develop an alternative architectural idea, design approach, and critical thinking.

AR5953A MIND THE GAPS: CRITIQUING URBAN SPACES IN THE CONTEXT OF HIGH DENSITY VERTICAL ENVIRONMENTS Tutor: Swinal Samant In the context of urban intensification, this module engages students in supervised research on specific urban spaces within Singapore, that function as nuclei for people, programmes and facilities based on their spatial, visual and functional characteristics. More specifically, it seeks to explore and understand the myriad challenges and possibilities presented by our transit-oriented environments and the urban spaces that they encompass and those that envelope them, i.e. spaces within, between and around. AR5953B SHAPE COMPUTATION Tutor: Rudi Stouffs Parametric/associative modelling has received much attention. There are obvious benefits of modelling a family of design alternatives instead of just a single design. However, developing a parametric model requires a prior understanding of its outcome, in order to be able to identify the desired parameters and associations. In this module, we will look closely at the alternative approach of rulebased modelling, using graphically-defined shape rules. We will explore the advantages and disadvantages of this rule-based approach in an application to design, within the Rhino/Grasshopper environment. AR5952A PARTICIPATORY COMMUNITY DESIGN Tutor: Tan Beng Kiang This module introduces concepts and practices in participatory planning and design at the community scale. Major topics include brief history of participation (global and Singapore), why participation is needed, benefits and problems, methods in participatory community design, and case studies. Students are expected to participate in real world projects to apply the methods and to do community engagement on a few weekends (subject to change, due to pandemic safety measurement measures). Only students who are in Singapore can take this module. AR5951C ARCHITECTURAL AESTHETICS, OVERVIEW & ISSUES Tutor: Wong Yunn Chii A reading course, supported by seminar activities, enables students to trace lines of discourses on architectural aesthetics. An important consideration is an attempt to delineate a distinctive Asian variety(ies) of aesthetics, and discussion of their relevance in the contemporary milieu. Their propositions will be assessed alongside contemporary discussions in mass and popular cultures.

SEM ESTER 2* AR5957K BUILDING IMAGES: URBAN ANATOMY Tutor: Erieta Attali Architectural photography primarily deals with the relationship between artifacts and their environments, or the dipole of building and landscape. Cities represent a special case in this model of thought. Urban landscapes have their own seasons, circadian rhythms and sociopolitical ecosystems. From historical centres and high-density commercial developments, to suburban sprawls and post-industrial brownfields, urban landscapes enmesh past, present, and future. The intention during this photographic exploration will be to capture this fusion of different elements of Singapore, and convert it into a new cityscape through visual exploration.

AR5955I ARCHITECTURE AND DIAGRAMS Tutor: François Blanciak

AR5957L LANDSCAPE INTO ARCHITECTURE: THE INVERSION OF CONTENT AND CONTEXT IN ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHY Tutor: Erieta Attali Photography of buildings and landscapes exists in a synergistic relationship with architectural history, theory and design: these all build a framework for the analysis and communication of architecture, within the context of a larger culture. Apart from this parallel relationship, there also exists a more direct and reciprocal connection between photography, theory and the design process. This connection lies in the fact that a photographic understanding of architectural works in relation to their environment essentially amounts to an act of translation: one that builds a visual language for the expression of architectural ideas. In line with this, this photography course will aim to cultivate a context-aware visual perception on the part of the architectural photographer and the architect.

Work is moving home. Though “working from home” dominates our present, this phenomenon occupies a tenuous position in architectural discourse/design: there is uncertainty in its future, and obscurity in its past. Set within a larger experimental options studio, Domestic Capital (see p.24), this graduate design seminar will introduce historical and theoretical concepts of capital, labour, agency and space, through a discourse of making and representation. Its syllabus will span from the 19th century modern to the contemporary present. Students will be equipped with methodologies to discuss, think and act around emerging issues about the displacement of work into multiple spaces. Students can expect to produce written work alongside visual and physical material, in drawings, films, models, and more. Students will conduct fieldwork and archival research; they will be asked to map networks and speculate opportunities. This studio-seminar will be run as part of Foundations of Home-Based Work: A Singapore Study, funded by the Social Science Research Thematic Grant.

AR5953G INTRODUCTION TO DATA SCIENCE Tutor: Filip Biljecki This module will introduce data science and programming in R. It is composed of lectures and computer lab sessions, providing hands-on state-of-the-art tools, datasets, and methods to manipulate, analyse, and visualise data. The module focuses on urban problems, but it is taught in a sufficiently generic manner so the knowledge can be transferable to other domains.

*Module codes stipulated are Subjected to Change.

S P ECI A L S E M E S T E R **

This elective aims to provide students with an overview of various techniques of production and theories that relate to architectural diagrams. Its objectives are: to learn how to analyse buildings from a diagrammatic point of view, to acquire knowledge of the history and theory of diagrams in architecture, and to develop skills to generate urban and architectural diagrams directly related to design studio projects. AR5955G WORKAROUND: AN EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN SEMINAR Tutor: Lilian Chee Assisted by: Tan Yi-Ern Samuel

AR5952I 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. With focuses on overseas Chinese architecture and settlement built in Southeast Asia and South China during the late 19th and early 20th century, this module 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.

AR5952J COMMUNITY DESIGN AND PARTICIPATORY PLANNING Tutor: Cho Im Sik

AR5955F LITHOMIMESIS: DESIGNING (WITH) STONES Tutor: François Blanciak

The module will provide a comprehensive examination of the theories, methods and praxis of community design and participatory planning. We will explore the evolution of the concept of community and its importance as the base of social sustainability and discuss the social dimension of sustainability in an urban context. While analysing approaches, principles, methods of community design and participatory planning and their applications in real-world situations, there will also be comparative analysis of different contexts and drivers for community design and participatory planning in global and Asian cities.

This module investigates how the irregular form of stones has been—and can be—used in architectural design. Considering the recurrent fascination of architects, with building designs that look like stones, the module proposes to examine the theory that has underpinned such a mimetic approach. It also looks at how novel scanning technologies can be used to create accurate computer models of existing mineral samples, which can be used for building design. Run as an intensive elective, the module is split between a discussion-based seminar with focused readings, and a design component that involves a building project.

AR5952H HUMAN ECOLOGY - SPACE & HEALTH; SPECIAL: DISCUSSING THE SENSORIAL Tutor: Ruzica Bozovic Stamenovic

AR5955D SINGAPO - REDISCOVERS ITSELF (PART 1) Tutor: Tham Wai Hon & Tan Yi-Ern Samuel

This module is a critical enquiry into the role of sensorial apparatus in processes connecting space to physical, psychological and social well-being. In the “flipped model” teaching environment, where the lecture slides are available ahead of weekly dialogues, we are debating the issues from the standpoint of sensory-driven perception. Discussions will cover topics in history-theory (culture/ context related to the evolution of healthful design, aging); holistic approaches to sensorial design (transgression from healthy to healing); and pragmatic topics and methods (universal design and investigative practices).

Denied travel for the past year due to COVID-19 restrictions, Singaporeans have been channeling their pent-up wanderlust into exploring all parts of their island. A riff on the Singapore Tourism Board’s SingapoRediscovers campaign to promote local tourism, and utilising Debord’s theories and techniques of the dérive, students will roam, reflect, and film our island based on the themes of public housing, income gaps, tourism, public transport, and parks. Students will report back on their psychogeographic explorations in the form of a short documentary film inspired by the cinematography of films like In Time to Come by Tan Pin Pin and Lei Yuan Bin’s 03-Flats.

Students are expected to deliver small-scale design exercises and short essays, reflecting the ability for analytical design enquiry.

AR5955E SINGAPO - REDISCOVERS ITSELF (PART 2) Tutor: Tham Wai Hon & Tan Yi-Ern Samuel This elective will build upon the work of SingapoRediscovers (Part 1) and uses ideas of psychogeographic mapping as a method to gather personal narratives and perspectives about urban space—based on the themes of public housing, income gaps, tourism, public transport, and parks. Students will produce a cartographic artefact that maps themes explored in their short films. These artefacts complement the short films and allow for new interpretations of the urban landscape of Singapore.

**Modules were offered in AY2020-21.

A RC HITEC T U RE IN TER NS HIP P R O G R A M M E (A I P) NUS DOA’s Architecture Internship Programme is an essential practical component that complements students’ architectural education in the classroom. Under this internship programme, M Arch I students undergo 6-month work attachments at firms or organisations in the fields of architecture, design, infrastructure and urban planning. This provides students with valuable exposure to a range of professional experiences and skills which cannot be taught in a traditional university setting. It also allows them to observe practitioners at work, see how classroom learning translates to the workplace, and experience the rhythms, ebbs and flows of life on a job in architecture and its related fields. Finally, the internship also helps the student progress in his or her maturity and understanding of the industry, in preparation for entry to the M Arch II programme.

L I S T O F PA R T N E R F I R M S & O R G A N I S AT IO N S: 103 EAST Architects A D Lab AECOM Singapore Aedas AGA Architects AKDA Architects aKTa-rchitects APDS Architects ARCHEDEN Architects ARC Studio Architecture + Urbanism architects 61 Architects Team 3 AWP Architects CENDES+TENarchitects & Planners Consortium 168 Architects CPG Consultants DP Architects East 9 Architects & Planners ECO-ID Architects Ernesto Bedmar Architects EZRA Architects FARM Architects FDAT Architects Formwerkz Architects Freight Architects Goy Architects Hassell Design (Singapore) HCF and Associates Housing & Development Board HYLA Architects IX Architects Jay Chiu Architects & Associates JTC Corporation K2LD Architects Kaizen Architecture Kerry Hill Architects Kite Studio Architecture Klan Architects Kyoob Architects KYX Architects LAUD Architects Lekker Architects Liu & Wo Architects M&Y Design Architects

M.A.N Architects Meta Architecture Ming Architects MKPL Architects MODE Architects MORROW Architects & Planners ONG&ONG Group Paper Plane Architects Park + Associates PI Architects PROVOLK Architects Quaters Architects RichardHo Architects RSP Architects Planners & Engineers RT+Q Architects S A Chua Architects SAA Architects SCDA Architects Shing Design Atelier SOLID Architects Studio Hatch Studio Lapis Conservation Studio Milou Singapore Studio Wills + Architects Studiogoto Surbana Jurong Consultants Swan & Maclaren Architects Swing Architects TA.LE Architects Teh Joo Heng Architects The Architects Circle Tierra Design Studio Timur Designs TOPOS Architects Twosquarefeet Design Studio Type0 Architects W Architects WASAA Architects & Associates White Matter Design Studio WOHA Architects WY-TO Zarch Collaboratives ZIVY Architects

Picture credit: Tyler Lim

Picture credit: Phua Yi Xuan, Anthea

M A R C H II

D E S IG N R E S E A R C H T H E S I S AR5806 ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN RESEARCH REPORT

Learning Objectives:

AR5807 1 SEMESTER ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN THESIS

Learning Objectives:

(SEMESTER 1)

To understand and critically manifest creative

(SEMESTER 2)

practice research methods in a directed research

Modular Credits: 20

Modular Credits: 4

To understand and critically manifest creative practice research methods in an individually directed

programme.

thesis milieu.

To formulate a thesis statement, abstract and

The Master of Architecture design thesis will span across

report with images— A4 hardcopy and PDF compendium—

approach, understood as a design question and line

one semester establishing the final design criteria for

practice research methods, outcomes, and evidence;

that would capture research, design, and presentation

of inquiry.

achieving the degree of Master of Architecture. Students

and to illustrate the impacts of the modes of research

The Architectural Design Research Report is a 4000-word

To understand and take a critical position on creative

will be able to select from a variety of thesis advisors,

should build and elaborate on a body of evidence through

practice research methods, outcomes, and evidence

and either align their theses with their advisors’ research

creative practice research, using writing, images, and

and to illustrate the impacts of the modes of research

interests and expertise, or pursue their own self-directed

diagrams. The report will then synthesise these design

on the formation of an architectural proposition

thesis themes.

through written and graphic analysis.

The two modules dealing with the design research thesis

To identify, position and relate individual creative

have been put together to allow students to develop a high

descriptions, theoretical writing and other written

practice research to a community of practice and

level of competence in creative practice design research;

strategies, alongside graphic, photographic, and visual

position precedents.

this competence would then lead to architectural

translation of creative practice research outcomes into architectural approaches, techniques, and

materials on the student’s design research. This report

research efforts into a full-length design research compendium that complements evidence with textural

To position individual research in the larger domain

outcomes in a wide range of topics.

students to develop a rigorous method and deep-dive

of architecture and to communicate how creative

Building on the (AR5806) Architectural Design Research

focus in a specific area of design research. Students will

practice research advances the discipline including a

Report, the Architectural Design Thesis will drive the

be required to mount a body of evidence to demonstrate

bibliography.

students to take a critical position of their research and

materials. Its fundamental purpose will be to enable

on the formation of an architectural proposition. 3.

To identify, position and relate individual creative practice research to a community of practice.

To position individual research in the larger domain of architecture and to communicate how creative practice research advances the discipline.

To understand and take a critical position on

strategies or tactics. 6.

To design with creative practice research and conceptual tools, and to be able to make informed

To understand and take a critical position on how

hypothesis, where the progression of the exploration

of architecture through creative practice which is to

might the translation of creative practice research

throughout the semester will lead to the manifestation of

be evidenced in the design thesis. Students will also be

outcomes occur into architectural approaches,

an architectural proposition.

(i.e. digital and analogue media) to communicate

expected to exercise high-level competence in creative

techniques, strategies and tactics.

Students are encouraged to extend the research

research, design iterations, and design techniques in

To understand creative practice research methods

programme from Semester 1 through to Semester 2,

and conceptual design tools, and to be able to make

translating and transforming a research topic and

informed ethical judgments in architecture.

hypothesis into design outcomes.

contemporary simulations in 2D, 3D, and 4D mediums

To understand advanced representational techniques

Deliverables include all necessary drawings, models,

to research architectural approaches to design.

1. Title of Research

(i.e. digital and analogue media) to communicate

photos, films that represent the research and Expansion

2. Research Abstract (300 words)

research, design iterations, and design techniques in

of Thesis prep report as an A4 Portrait document,

3. Research Approach

architecture.

illustrating and describing the research outcomes in

To understand advanced digital data, visualisations

Semester 2.

that their research has translational potential in the field

practice research, design thinking, representation and

communication. The following should be included in the report:

4. Research Context and Community of Practice

5. Research Outputs

contemporary simulations in 2D, 3D, and 4D mediums

6. Contribution to Knowledge

to research architectural approaches in a research programme.

7. Annotated Bibliography and Review of Literature, Works, and References

10. To communicate creative practice research in

Provide evidence for a clear research programme and

and considered verbal, written, and performative presentations, utilising a wide range of mediums. Measurable Outcomes: 1.

Provide an innovative and rigorous design concept in response to a formulated thesis statement. Provide a clear design research method and approach to the act of design.

approach. 2.

To utilise advanced analogue and digital tools in making.

Measurable Outcomes: 1.

To utilise advanced digital data, visualisations,

10. To communicate creative practice ideas in concise

9. Self-Disclosure of Research

To utilise advanced representational techniques

architecture. 8.

concise and considered written and visual mediums.

8. Image/Resource Index 10. Ethics Approval as necessary

ethical judgments in architecture. 7.

Produce robust architectural representations with rigour and graduate level expertise in 2 D, 3 D, and 4 D

Provide evidence of a clear design thesis argument in

mediums.

written and representational tools.

Produce analogue and digital models.

Present an understandable design methodology.

Communicate the thesis and its contribution to

Describe the existing field of design knowledge and

knowledge through verbal, written and physical

propose how the thesis will add to the existing field.

mediums and artefacts.

Present and analyse the proposed community of practice.

Represent a convincing design thesis proposal through written and visual mediums in a 4000-word A4 document.

M A R C H II D E S IG N T H E S I S FA C U LT Y D E S IG N T H E S I S A D V I S O R S: François Blanciak Associate Professor; PhD, M Arch (University of Tokyo), DPLG (École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Grenoble); Registered Architect, France Hans Brouwer Adjunct Associate Professor; B Arch (University of Southern California); MSIA, Registered Architect, Singapore Cheah Kok Ming Vice Dean (Academic),Associate Professor; B Arch, BA Arch Studies (National University of Singapore); Registered Architect, Singapore (14.07.21) Lilian Chee Associate Professor; PhD, MSc Arch History (University College London), B Arch, BA Arch Studies (National University of Singapore) Cho Im Sik Associate Professor; PhD (The Graduate School of Seoul National University, Korea), M Arch (The Berlage Institute, Rotterdam, The Netherlands), B Sc (Seoul National University) Simone Chung Assistant Professor; PhD, M Phil (University of Cambridge), MSc (University College London), AA Dip, BSc (University College London); ARB, RIBA Part 3, Registered Architect, UK Fung John Chye Associate Professor in Practice; B Arch (National University of Singapore); Registered Architect, Singapore Florian Heinzelmann Associate Professor in Practice; PhD (Eindhoven University of Technology), M Arch (Berlage Institute), Dipl-Ing (Munich University of Applied Sciences); Registered Architect, the Netherlands Ho Puay Peng Professor, Head of Department; PhD (University of London), M Arch, Dip Arch (University of Edinburgh); RIBA

Picture credit: Tan Yi-Ern Samuel

Richard Ho Professor in Practice; B Arch (National University of Singapore); MSIA, Registered Architect, Singapore Ho Weng Hin Adjunct Senior Lecturer; Dip Specialists in Restauro dei Monumenti (Université de Genève), M Arch, BA Arch Studies (National University of Singapore) Patrick Janssen Associate Professor; PhD (Hong Kong Polytechnic University), MSc (Cog Sci Int Comp) (Westminister University), AA Dip Khoo Peng Beng Adjunct Associate Professor; B Arch (National University of Singapore); RIBA, MSIA, Registered Architect, Singapore Nirmal Kishnani Associate Professor, MSc ISD Programme Director; PhD (Curtin University of Technology), MSc (Env Psych) (University of Surrey), BA Arch (National University of Singapore) Thomas Kong Associate Professor; M Arch (Cranbrook Academy of Art), B Arch (National University of Singapore); Assoc. AIA, Registered Architect, Singapore Erik G. L’Heureux Dean’s Chair Associate Professor, Vice Dean, M Arch Programme Director; M Arch (Princeton University), BA Arch (Washington University in St. Louis); FAIA, LEED AP BD+C, NCARB, Registered Architect, USA (New York and Rhode Island) Joseph Lim Associate Professor; PhD (Heriot-Watt University), MSc (University of Strathclyde), B Arch (National University of Singapore); MSIA, Registered Architect, Singapore

Victoria Jane Marshall Visiting Senior Fellow; PhD (National University of Singapore), MLA, Cert Urban Design (University of Pennsylvania), BLA (University of New South Wales), AAG

Rudi Stouffs Dean’s Chair Associate Professor; PhD, MSc (Arch Comp Design) (Carnegie Mellon University), MSc (ArchEng), Ir-Arch (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

Neo Sei Hwa Adjunct Associate Professor; B Arch (National University of Singapore), BA Arch Studies (National University of Singapore); MSIA, Registered Architect, Singapore

Tan Beng Kiang Associate Professor; DDes (Harvard University), M Arch (University of California, Los Angeles), B Arch (National University of Singapore); MSIA, Registered Architect, Singapore

Shinya Okuda Associate Professor; M Eng, B Eng (Kyoto Institute of Technology); Registered Architect, Japan and the Netherlands

Teh Joo Heng Adjunct Associate Professor; SMArchS (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), B Arch (National University of Singapore); MSIA, Registered Architect, Singapore

Ong Ker-Shing Associate Professor in Practice, BA Arch Programme Director; M Arch, MLA (Harvard University); MSIA, Registered Architect and SILA, Registered Landscape Architect, Singapore

Tiah Nan Chyuan Adjunct Assistant Professor; AA Dip, BA Arch (National University of Singapore); MSIA, Registered Architect, Singapore

Tsuto Sakamoto Associate Professor, M Arch Associate Programme Director; MSc (Columbia University), M Eng (Waseda University), B Eng (Tokyo University of Science)

Johannes Widodo Associate Professor; PhD (University of Tokyo), M Arch Eng (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven), Ir (Parahyangan Catholic University); IAI

Swinal Samant Senior Lecturer; PhD and PGCHE (The University of Nottingham), M Arch (The University of Sheffield), Dip Arch (Institute of Environmental Design)

Wong Chong Thai, Bobby Adjunct Associate Professor; Dip Arch (Aberdeen), MDesS (Harvard); MSIA, Registered Architect Singapore

Peter Sim Adjunct Assistant Professor; B Arch, BA Arch (National University of Singapore); ARB, Registered Architect, UK

Wu Yen Yen Adjunct Assistant Professor; M Arch (Columbia University), BA Arch Studies (National University of Singapore); Green Mark AP, MSIA, Registered Architect, Singapore

Ruzica Bozovic Stamenovic Associate Professor, Deputy Head (Administration and Finance); ScD, MSc (University of Belgrade, Serbia), Spec Arch, Dip Eng Arch (University of Belgrade, Serbia); Registered Architect, Serbia

Yuan Chao Assistant Professor (Presidential Young Professor); PhD Architecture (Chinese University of Hong Kong), MIT Kaufman Teaching Certificate (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Zhang Ye Assistant Professor; PhD (University of Cambridge), M Arch, B Arch (Tsinghua University)

Picture credit: Yap Tze Ling Valarie

M A R C H II D E S IG N R E S E A R C H TH ESIS O FFERIN GS Picture credit: Yee Chenxin, Jonathan

FORM Tutor: François Blanciak What should a significant architectural project look like? How can it come into existence within the ecological context of architecture, and a strained economy of attention? In light of current debates on what is— fundamentally—a building, this thesis topic will focus broadly on the issue of form in architecture—a notion so contentious that it is often presented as necessarily “following” particular variables. What these are, and why they surface at specific moments in history, will be investigated, with a particular emphasis on the study of precedents in order to envision architectural outputs that transcend solutionism. IN PURSUIT OF OPTIMISM Tutor: Hans Brouwer Today’s outlook seems to be obsessed with the pessimistic. Our co-dependence on the media has inadvertently drawn us into its worldview and modus operandi: to chase the disaster in order to capture eyeballs (tragedy sells). If we remove ourselves from the ‘here’, ‘now’ and ‘terrifying future’, and look at our journey as a species, we see that we have always been masters of adaptation and change. Homo sapiens’ success lies in our ability to take adversity and use it as an agent of designed change. It is this insatiable positivism and curiosity that has led us on this amazing journey to where we are today.

Picture credit: Zeno Lee Pei Rong

REMOTE PRACTICES: A MINOR ARCHITECTURE AND ITS DISTANT ARCHIVES Tutor: Lilian Chee Assisted by: Wong Zi Hao Remote Practices is concerned with disciplinary boundaries, seen in architecture’s acts of improvising and transposing; the (mis)alignments intrinsic to its distance from the built environment it conceives, and its “promiscuous mix of the real and the abstract.” This studio will further accentuate such distance and dissonance by concerning itself with architecture’s peripheral subjects. It argues for the necessity of a “minor architecture”, founded along the seams of the discipline. Located in tropical Southeast Asia, the studio engages the region’s uncategorised subjects: mythic environments, shapeshifting practices, and/or its often anecdotal knowledge. Students will select one peripheral phenomenon found in S.E.A’s climatic peculiarities of health and environment, post/trans/colonial histories, the rural-urban transition, traditions in the aftermath of modernisation, etc. They are to co-locate themselves in a corresponding archive, a distant site which embeds expert knowledge of their chosen periphery. The studio’s outcomes—“architecture [that] makes its appearance other than architecture” —will further define the boundaries and forms of a “minor architecture”. EMERGING CIVIC URBANISMS: DESIGNING FOR SOCIAL IMPACT Tutor: Cho Im Sik

The post-pandemic outlook which we now confront, does not need to be one of gloom and doom. Yes, we are confronted with a multitude of deeply concerning problems. From the global issues of climate change, food scarcity and inequity, to the personal ones of identity, screen addiction and social media dependence. This studio is interested in taking these challenges as opportunities to envisage design changes inspired by an undaunting positive belief, that architecture is up to the task to foresee futures that not only address the underlying problems but can go beyond them to create futures that are better in every way.

With rising awareness of the impacts of environmental degradation and growing polarisation, various forms of civic urbanisms are emerging as an alternative to the growth-oriented and market-driven urban development. This implies an awakened desire for a new paradigm based on more sustainable ways of life, which contributed to a greater emphasis on wellbeing, social inclusion, environmental consciousness, and active participation of citizens in decision-making. By critically reflecting upon the conventional ways we perceive, plan, and build our cities; the studio will rigorously question established norms, conceptions, and systems—to inspire new visions of urbanism designed for long term social impact.

ANTIFRAGILE FRAMING Tutor: Cheah Kok Ming

ARCHITECTURE’S BACK LOOP Tutor: Simone Chung

When dining-in restrictions hit Chicago-based Dimo’s Pizza shop during the pandemic, they reinvented themselves by deploying some of their ovens and manpower to produce plastic shields for health-care protection. The transformed business thrived for Dimo despite the adversity and constraints. Nassim Taleb describes “antifragility” as an attribute beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same but the “antifragile” gets better. The studio provides an “antifragile” framework to look at crises, problems or threats for thinking about alternative architectural possibilities. For Dimo’s Pizza, it raises the question of how architecture would change to reconcile the production of pizzas and plastic shields.

Based on ecologist C.S. Holling’s theory, the back loop is the stage in the Anthropocene cycle where hitherto established structures come apart, and individual entities or small groups interact across divides to create something fundamentally original. What undergirds back loop innovation is a spirit of experimentation that is not mutually exclusive to humans or nature. Wakefield (2020, 98) states, “Deciding on one’s own terms where to go from here, can everywhere be a matter of taking infrastructure, architecture, and design in one’s own hands and wielding them as the powers they in fact are”. A recalibration of mindset is essential as we depart from outmoded and limiting ways of thinking and operating in the front loop. The “biopolitics” that Foucault (1997) speaks of cannot be forcefully administered on one level alone. Rather, it invites softer and more plural forms of intervention technologies that stitch together knowledge, practice and design.

F.U.N.3 | INFLEXION POINT Tutor: Fung John Chye Fifty years ago, Buckminster Fuller pre-empted the challenges to human civilisations which are now impending. In Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth, he posits the criticality of managing the planet’s finite resources sustainably through a systems view for regenerative living. “Spaceship Earth” is at an inflexion point as cities face the convergence of existential threats—climate crisis, ageing populations, resource scarcity, pandemic, and technological disruptions. Third in the series on Future Urban Neighbourhoods, this studio will explore urban planning and architecture that mitigate the immense problems to invent viable Anthropocene futures through scenarios of sustainable human communities, urban environments, and deep technologies in 2050 and beyond. ADAPTIVE TROPICAL BUILDINGS UNDER LARGE SPAN ROOFS Tutor: Florian Heinzelmann The roof—or atap—is an essential element in vernacular architecture, but also in contemporary buildings such as mall atriums, hawker centers, and many others. The interior of large roof structures does not get sufficient daylight and ventilation via vertical facades. The roof surface itself has to manage both. This must be negotiated between solar heat gains versus visual and other requirements. Daylight availability and direction are variables, and apertures therefore need to react by either changing their geometry or material properties. Students are invited to research, simulate, design, and prototype functioning adaptive daylight systems; including other passive climatic strategies for a building typology at a tropical location of their choice. CITY - CULTURE – CONSERVATION Tutor: Ho Puay Peng This thesis offering will look at the social and cultural contexts behind design initiatives. How might a design project form a locus for symbolism, cultural representation, or the expression of identity? In exploring answers to this, students will embark on a journey of uncovering the meaning behind conceptions of society, community, and cultural manifestation. Observation and critical discourse will be essential to the process; these will be applied to questioning students’ views of individual or national identity. Along the way, the juxtaposition of time and space in architectural production would not only be a key factor examined in this journey, but may also be a product of the journey itself. This thesis offering would also complement a research interest in the areas of heritage conservation, adaptive reuse, and intervention in historical buildings and neighbourhoods.

HILL WITH A VIEW – THE KEPPEL GOLF CLUB Tutor: Richard Ho

HOLON STUDIO Tutor: Khoo Peng Beng

HOT AIR: ATMOSPHERE AND THE EQUATORIAL CITY Tutor: Erik G. L’Heureux

COASTAL CONSUMPTIONS – LIVES & LIVELIHOODS Tutor: Neo Sei Hwa

It has been announced that the lease for two of the 23 golf courses in Singapore will not be renewed when they expire in 2021 and the land will be returned to the Singapore Land Authority. The Keppel Golf Club being one of them. It’s high time that we as a nation re-examine our priorities, especially when so much land has been set aside for the recreation of so few, not to mention that golf courses are perhaps the most detrimental to the biodiversity of our natural environment and not sustainable in the long run for a city-state that purportedly has a shortage of land. But what will happen to these two golf courses?

This thesis offering is concerned with examining the concept of the holon and holoarchy in architecture. It starts with the student as the basic unit of the holon—building up the complexity of the system through integrative processes. Students will explore how simple system nests within larger systems, creating a holoarchy. Unlike the traditional hierarchy, a holoarchy does not have a defined top and a defined bottom, but is open-ended and bidirectional. Architecture, therefore, is seen as a complex system comprising autonomous wholes that exist within a larger system. Students will be free to explore this conceptual framework and its implications in any context pertaining to a future Singapore.

The equatorial city’s relationship to climate and its territory has become an increasing imperative in the face of global warming and rapid population growth. Against this background, this thesis offering will research the atmosphere of “hot and wet” architecture in dense cities on the equator. The research will focus on modes of atmospheric calibration and representation overlooked by traditional techniques in drawing and photography. Humidity, temperature, breeze, sound, heat and rain—the mediums that produce a hot and wet environment—will be considered to expand students’ visual and design capabilities. Films, photography, sound, and simulation techniques will be mined to develop novel modes of seeing and experiencing atmosphere; these ideas can then be incorporated into architectural design.

Water covers more than 70% of earth’s surface, most of which is ocean. Surrounded by water, humans inevitably develop intense relationships with the ocean. The ocean supplies moisture to the environment and produces oxygen, regulates the climate, influences the weather, acts as a major carbon sink, supports huge biodiversity, carries more than 80% of all global trade, and is a vital source of protein to feed the world. Closer to shore, humans build extensive coastal habitats and commune with the ocean in countless ways. Yet, it is suffering from pollution, climate change, over-exploitation, and acidification of the ocean—much of which is contributed by human activities. Once considered too vast to fail, our oceans now seem in dire need of rescue. Driven by climatic factors, the ocean is also increasingly hostile with rising sea levels and growing coastal abrasions. Less organised coastal cities that are unable to engineer costly barriers and diversions are experiencing devastating consequences of being strangled by pollution and smothered by the ocean at the same time. With more than a billion people living along low-lying coastal regions, mostly in Asia, the need to address immediate local plights are just as important as any distant global climate fights. Large proportion of these populations have traditionally relied on the ocean for sustenance; but must now either endure the degradation of living environments, or abandon their homes and businesses altogether; some losing lives, many losing livelihoods.

FUTURES FOR OUR MODERN PAST Tutor: Ho Weng Hin Faced with mounting redevelopment pressures, postindependence modernist structures and landscapes in Singapore are at a watershed moment. Today, imageable heroic modern megastructures such as the Golden Mile Complex and People’s Park Complex, built barely four decades ago are threatened with obliteration, through their impending en-bloc sales. On the other hand, following estate intensification programmes, what used to be a substantial and varied building stock of modernist housing heritage—such as the pioneering Queenstown Estate—has been severely depleted. The studio proposes that this paradigm is increasingly environmentally and socially unsustainable, causing ruptures in social, cultural, and urban accretion indispensable to a vibrant, liveable city. Rather than seeing conservation as opposition to progress and intensification, it explores rehabilitation and adaptive reuse as an alternative mode of urban regeneration; one that layers on rather than a demolishand rebuild approach. Under the guidance by a practicing conservation specialist, the studio will adopt a rigorous researchbased approach to inform conservation design strategies for a site of the student’s choice, during the Thesis Preparation stage. Students will gain new skills and tools for ‘deep reading’ into heritage landscapes, structures, and artefacts that will inform a robust conservation/ intervention framework to guide the Thesis Design stage. THE MEDIUM IS THE WEB Tutor: Patrick Janssen For this studio, the medium is the message (Marshall McLuhan, 1964), and the medium is the web application. For your final thesis, you are required to develop an architectural proposition in the form of an interactive web application. People on the web should be able to engage in a two-way interaction with your architectural proposition. For your web application, you can focus on any topic you like, as long as it has a clear and direct relevance to a discourse on architecture.

FORM FOLLOWS SYSTEM Tutor: Nirmal Kishnani We tell ourselves we seek a different paradigm. Then we go about looking for it with the very tools and mindsets that created the problem in the first place. This thesis brief does not promise answers; it asks questions. We will be led by two. First, how do we reconnect the built with the natural? Second (emerging from the first), how to design systems? Here, the very meaning of good is called into question. Is good design a beautiful thing or a profound abstraction? Maybe neither. Maybe it is an act of engagement; many systems—human-made and natural—create positive reciprocity within a wider system-of-systems. Is this architecture with a capital ‘A’? Let’s find out. TEN MODEST SUGGESTIONS FOR A NEW ATHENS CHARTER (IN SINGAPORE) Tutor: Thomas Kong “Every intervention has to be reversible, incomplete, elastic, because what is definitive is dangerous.” (Andrea Branzi, 2010). In 2010, Italian architect Andrea Branzi envisioned a future city in Ten Modest Suggestions For a New Athens Charter. In the list, the first six points provided a view of the city as an entity of different possibilities as a hightech favela, a personal computer every 20sm, place for cosmic hospitality, an air-conditioned full space, genetic laboratory and a living plankton. Point 7 points to the research models of weak urbanisation. While the last three points explore the realisations of faded and crossable borders, reversible and light infrastructures, and great transformations through micro-projects. Branzi advanced a vision that is beyond a collection of architectural objects, and proposed continuous territories of porous boundaries that are incomplete, spontaneous, relational, and enmeshed in networks, flows and exchanges of different systems, ranging from social, ecological, economic, and information. He approached urban projects as a critique and reflection of the conditions and crises of contemporary cities. Similarly, the thesis studio is an invitation for critical discourse and spatial speculation beyond the narrow relation between means and ends. Proposals that take on one or a combination of the ten modest suggestions by Branzi are welcome. Theoretical ideas, deep research, fearless material, and spatial experimentation will drive the thesis project, leading to novel propositions at the architectural and urban scale.

This thesis offering will expand on its parallel module in M Arch I while furthering site and representational research outside of Singapore, to the rest of Southeast Asia. Each student will develop a robust and considered design thesis emerging out of discourses on equatorial architecture, so as to extend and produce new knowledge for architecture calibrated to the hot and wet climate of the region. NEW TYPES Tutor: Joseph Lim The sustainability of incumbent forms of retail, production, education, recuperation, and recreation is in question with future pandemics. Your thesis rethinks ways of doing business and living instead of limiting occupancies and contact numbers. What sectional and floor plan configurations for space can withstand changing social distancing requirements and continue business operations? What new cluster advantages and economies of scale can we imagine with new programme mixes that were not previously planned for? Can a cloud kitchen be integrated with restaurants, cafes or food centers? Can a quarantine allow your vacation to begin without incarceration? Can seating reconfigurations radicalise worship, lecture, and cinema spaces? Students will learn from international consultants from AEDAS, SAA, LTA and URA to develop a cross-disciplinary design thesis. HUMANS, NON-HUMANS, AND NON-HUMAN AGENCIES Tutor: Victoria Jane Marshall The focus of this thesis offering is on the intersection of creative-practice research and periurban, built landscapes that are shaped from dense, intergenerational interactions between humans, non-humans and their diverse agencies in Monsoon Asia. Such areas are often problematised as not much more than ‘becoming urban’, yet they are better thought of as a certain ‘kind of urban’. The term “non-human agencies” is used in a broad way, encompassing institutions with their official documents and reports, infrastructural and architectural legacies, as well as the forceful agencies of heat, humidity, wind, water, vegetative decay and growth, and the life of animals. Drawing from a situated, urban political ecology approach, each thesis will start with everyday practices, be attuned to discerning diffuse forms of power, and open the way for a politics of change based on spatial practices of incrementalism.

The studio will examine how we search for a new balance, displace or coexist with nature, prioritise economy or environment and/or how relevant are climate agendas in discussions of lives and livelihoods. The practical ambition is to explore a coastal area in neighbouring West Java, Indonesia. Humans used to coexist with the ocean , but are now fighting for survival after losing most of their homes and much of their livelihoods in a futile struggle against environmental pollution and coastal abrasion. NATURE UNFOLD Tutor: Shinya Okuda Contemporary social issues are often complex and intertwined to include financial and environmental issues, which require holistic design approaches across materials, built forms, programmes, and performance. Advanced architectonics designs are to sublime them into innovative multi-dimensional architectural solutions by leveraging essential game-changing phenomena, such as carbon sequestration, and construct them into sophisticated functional advanced architectural compositions and unique sustainable aesthetics. Embracing the power of architecture, the Nature Unfold thesis studio envisions to reveal various symbiotic future relationships including nature and urbanism in Southeast Asia and beyond.

Picture credit: Zulkarnain Mohd Zin

Picture credit: Goi Yong Chern

DIRT, FORM, PERFORMANCE Tutor: Ong Ker-Shing

REIMAGINING THE VERTICAL CITY Tutor: Swinal Samant

From early modernity, architecture, through its envelope, plumbing, air-conditioning, weather-tightness and relationship to the ground, has increasingly separated people from the dirty— from natural processes, organic waste, and germs. Human interferences in natural systems have created fractured links, fragmented systems and energies—a multi-scalar context for new alignments and interactions. In this studio, we will explore reversals of the values of modern architecture’s resilient cleanliness, aiming for strategic and designed “failures”. We will explore how new typologies, languages, and material systems may restore or invent new modes of architectural production that combine the architect’s intentions with the input of non-human collaborators; these shift from biome to micro-biome, between building, body and public.

The vertical redistribution of multi-speed transportation presents novel opportunities for reimagining the highdensity city and transit-oriented developments. In this context, layered public and green space networks could become continuous structures that organise and redefine hybrid, urban settings through transformative conditions of intersections between nature-mobility-infrastructurebuildings for a renewed engagement with the high-density urban form.

ASSEMBLAGE Tutor: Tsuto Sakamoto This thesis studio focuses on an assemblage of things and living beings including animals, plants, and humans. Experiencing disasters, pollution and pandemics, and being immersed in the environment where intelligent technology and pervasive networks enforce a certain lifestyle, behaviour and response; we have come to realise that a variety of non-human entities have as many expressions as humans. Scrutinising these, the studio speculates that alternative environment and architecture consequentially emerges from various assemblages of non-humans and humans that are co-functioning and symbiotic. Although they might be seen as troubles and disturbances from a human perspective, they suggest ways humans can negotiate and coexist with others.

A new taxonomy of layered public spaces and multifarious architectural interventions will aid a more seamless transition from the horizontal to the vertical city. It is speculated that this may lead to a paradigm shift for cities and urban habitation, one where urban life is increasingly stratified and energised, and the ground plane is no longer the most familiar datum and is returned to nature and biodiversity. Collaborations with industry experts in various disciplines will be explored in this studio: Structures, Construction and Building Services (Peter Ayers – Managing Director, Aurecon Asia), Vertical Transportation and MultiModal Transit Integration (Fanny Lalau – Major Projects Director, KONE, Asia Pacific), Smart Building Design and Services (Stuart Mackay – Technical Director, Ramboll) and Environmental Performance, Natural Ventilation, Super Low Energy Building Design (Sripragas Nadaraja – Associate, Web Earth). Students will also be encouraged to submit their designs for the Evolo Competition.

POSSIBLE WORLDS: AN ARCHITECTURE OF SIMULTANEOUS TEMPORALITIES Tutor: Peter Sim The 1960’s collective, Archigram, mixed technologicallyinspired ideas, a new liberalism, and humour, to produce some of the most influential works of architecture. They propositioned architecture not just as space, material, and form; but as a projective medium to imagining possible ways of living, and of critiquing convention and traditional conceptions of the city, and the boundaries of architecture. Their imaginings ranged from flippant and whimsical personal wearables to vast megacities. They did much absurd, yet profoundly provocative and influential work. That was 50 years ago. Architecture has grown up and moved on. But where has it gone and has anything important been left behind? If the cultural revolution, the space race, and British provincial humour combined together to create Archigram’s pulsating visions, what is the age that we live in? Reimagining a post-pandemic world is understandably a pressing matter. However, the present milieu is rich in contradictions, complexity, and pressing problems: the age of the internet, the drone, the robot, facial recognition, social media, cyber hacking, urban farming, global warming, space X, the mars rover, Trump, Brexit, Airbnb, uber, veganism, hipsters, tiny homes, co-living/ working, electric cars, self-driving cars, floating farms, shrinking ice caps, wind generated power, plastic in fish, liposuction, reality tv, kpop, etc etc etc… We ask: What can architecture become? This studio is interested in architectural propositions which are not only about the future, but can intimate simultaneously an architecture which encapsulates the dreams, desires and narratives of past-present-future.

ABOVE & BELOW – ALTERNATIVE URBAN NARRATIVES Tutor: Ruzica Bozovic Stamenovic As Singapore’s “City in Nature” paradigm reaches its limits, the possibility for formation and coexistence of alternative urban narratives emerges. The Park Connector network is one, but could we envision others? In this Thesis Studio, we are examining alternatives to the current urban “ground zero”, by developing new urban layers along vertical axes in both directions, above and/or below. The hypothesis as stepping stones to strategy development, should refer to the current urban context. From there, however, the new autochthonous urban narratives should develop according to the original and inherent set of rules. This hypothetical framework needs to be constructed upon data from real geo-political, economic, social and cultural world trends that might radically affect Singapore in the future. Main objective is to demonstrate how design could interpret the values of an unorthodox critical urban narrative to support survival, well-being and how cities and its people will thrive in the future. DATA / PROCESS / EXPLORATION Tutor: Rudi Stouffs Computational design processes are largely data-driven, and the elaboration of the process can be considered more important than any single outcome, instead, aiming at the exploration of alternative outcomes. Such exploration serves as a means to achieve better-informed designs. Whether adopting computational methods or exploring alternatives by hand, the objective is to systematically explore a design aspect, issue or component, so as to gain a better understanding of the choices and implications thereof. The act of considering performance as a guiding design principle defines the architectural object, not by what it is or how it appears; but instead by what it does or how it performs—by its capability to affect, transform, and serve a given function. Identifying both the parameters and boundaries of the exploration, defines the design space under consideration, guiding the exploration toward the desired performance.

Picture credit: Annabelle Lim

AGILITY AND ADAPTABILITY - THE NEW NORMAL OF LIVING WITH ENDEMIC COVID-19 Tutor: Tan Beng Kiang The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has upended our daily lives and posed social, economic, and environmental challenges. It has affected how we live, work, learn, and play; and disproportionately so for the vulnerable communities. As we move to the next stage of living with COVID-19 endemic and anticipate the inevitable next pandemic, there is a need to rethink architecture and urban design solutions for the new normal. Any thesis proposals that falls into this theme are welcome.

Picture credit: Loo Quan Le

ASIAN MODERN HERITAGE IN THE CONTEXT OF CHANGE: CONSERVATION FOR SUSTAINABILITY Tutor: Johannes Widodo

Modern Asia has not developed in a vacuum but has evolved through sustained interactions with the West, which has had a constant presence in our collective consciousness. Asia is a dynamic source of our identities. Industrialisation, urbanisation, westernisation, colonisation, decolonisation, and nation-building-these phenomena have variously defined Asian modernism. Asian modern heritage is manifested in the myriad forms of architecture. Conservation is a process of managing change and permanence that is directly related to ecological sustainability and cultural authenticity. In 2012, TERRAIN VAGUE: NEW TRANSFORMATION POSSIBILITIES the UN released 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Tutor: Teh Joo Heng as a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for the world by 2030. The conservation design A shift in usage patterns is being anticipated in the city, thesis deals with the adaptive reuse of modern heritage supported by hybrid land use, car-lite policies, and with in the Asian context with a new well-integrated function, COVID-19 accelerating the state of flux. This transformation while maintaining cultural authenticity, architectural allows for the reclamation of land from roads, carparks, and integrity, economic viability, social inclusivity, and other public infrastructures. A new possibility is emerging historical continuity. within the city that comes with the recalibration of usage for existing buildings and leftover land. MAKING CONNECTIONS The studio is to speculate what the existing city will be like Tutor: Wong Chong Thai, Bobby when this transformation takes its full effect. Students will select areas of interest within the city/city fringe to The thesis offering examines architecture as a postulate the possibilities. matrix of pathways, networks and connections, both existing and emerging. Architecture is often about making connections; it is in making connections that ISLAND PEOPLE significations occur. These are moments where thoughts Tutor: Tiah Nan Chyuan or actions are virtualised or actualised. Like a throw of the dice; diverging and converging forces collide, Across different cultures and time, the island condition producing singularities. At that point, the old is refreshed, has been described historically and mythically as the or morphed into new emergence. For Nietzsche, this experience of an outpost that is defended, surrounded, emergence represented the way to truth. We will examine contained, isolated, quarantined or hidden. The inherent architecture through this lens, putting aside notions of vulnerability and siege mentality of islands imbue their pre-existing cultural values or preconceived perfect inhabitants with both a deep awareness of their identity, absolutes, and look instead at the production of sense their self and their relationship with the surrounding prior to language, codes or identities. externalities.

ALTERNATE HISTORIES, PERIPHERAL ASSOCIATIONS Tutor: Wu Yen Yen

ARCHITECTURE OF THE SHARING CULTURE Tutor: Zhang Ye

A sharing culture offers a sustainable and equitable way of living together in an increasingly fragile urban world. In sharing culture, individuals participate in sustained practices of togetherness characterised by the co-creation, This studio offers a space for architecture-esque counter- co-management, co-ownership, and co-consumption anthropocentric germination. Materialist ontologist Manuel of resources. Crucial to this sharing process, is the recognition of architectural spaces as both a shareable De Landa suggests that geology, biology, economies, asset, and an enabler for more effective sharing activities. linguistics and culture, steered the growth of cities. This thesis offering will explore the important question Mario Carpo suggests that form generation is afforded by mathematics and science. With computation, a new kind of of how we can design an entire space sharing system to embody the culture of sharing itself, and how we can intelligence that is incongruous even to our logical minds harness architectural design to facilitate the continuous is upon us. Beginning from outside of architecture, we production of new socio-spatial relations and new modes of will find our way back in, piecing together self-motivated gathering and interaction in sharing activities. theses, for physical expressions in environments where they thrive unseen. Architecture is rarely predicated on discourses and ideologies. Instead, it reacts to other metaphysical, natural and societal constructs.

CLIMATE SENSITIVE DESIGN; LIVABLE AND SUSTAINABLE CITIES Tutor: Yuan Chao With the rapid urbanisation and climate change, the key challenge in front of architects is clear: it is difficult to achieve a balancing act between unstoppable human desire for development and the finite environmental carrying capacity of cities. This design studio engages students to explore ways to conduct climate-sensitive design to create buildings that are more human centralised and environmentally responsible. The studio emphasises the impact of environmental analysis on design. The knowledge delivered in this studio allows students not only to develop climate sensitive design concepts and ideas, but also to practice the corresponding design strategies and skills.

This thesis will explore the “island condition” through both physical and abstract notions, looking at operative conditions from isolation to protectionism, access and rights, and equality and equity. Non-linear enquiries would be conducted across multiple probes, to unravel deep mindsets that define the unique behaviour of “islands” and their people. The hope is that these insights will suggest alternative strategies to engage geopolitical issues related to collective identity, shared responsibility and ownership over contested territories, and space and time.

R E S E A R C H C L U S T E R S: A N A SIA RESE A RC H FO C US At DOA, our advanced research delves into critical issues of architecture today and tomorrow. In particular, we anticipate and observe new demands and novel forms of buildings, cities, environments, and nature that are emerging throughout Asia and the equatorial region. DOA research clusters coalesce creative practice, technology, urbanism, landscape, preservation, and the specific expertise of our faculty members into a productive synergy and alignment between teaching and research. The following six clusters drive the M Arch I Design Research Studio Options sequence, the M Arch II Design Thesis and the graduate level elective offering across our Master of Architecture programme.

RESEARCH BY DESIGN The Research by Design (RxD) cluster develops translational research approaches through creative practice. It emphasises the impor tance of rigorously engaging critical and creative practice in making, writing, and thinking in architecture. RxD strives for innovation and influence in the built environment through its research outcomes. To date, a number of these outcomes have won awards and made considerable impact. RxD focuses on design in Asia and around the equator, and on research into contemporar y concerns as well as the identification of speculative future directions. Members work in a range of design modes from sole authorships to collaborative and interdisciplinar y configurations. As a group, RxD leverages its combined creative exper tise, teaching within design studios and graduate elective modules. Research outcomes include leading buildings, texts, exhibitions, installations, films, drawings, photographs, and object-making, alongside design monographs, edited volumes, and research papers. RxD ’s commitment towards integrative and translational creative practices empowers design research with intellectual and critical bearings, for a discipline in transformation. Erik G. L’Heureux (Cluster Leader) Lilian Chee (Cluster Co-leader) Joseph Lim Shinya Okuda Ong Ker-Shing Cheah Kok Ming (Minor) Ruzica Bozovic Stamenovic (Minor) Tan Beng Kiang (Minor)

(Minor) indicates a secondar y membership

HISTORY, THEORY AND CRITICISM The Histor y, Theor y and Criticism cluster develops critical capacities to examine questions of built environmental production and consumption within the historical and contemporar y milieu. Taking architecture and urbanism in Asia as a primar y focus, members work in interdisciplinar y and transnational modes. Our members conduct research into a wide range of topics against the context of colonial/postcolonial and modern/postmodern Asian contexts, teaching these with the aim of encouraging historical literacy and consciousness in students, to enable them to understand how the present is historically sedimented. Besides teaching, members also publish widely and in diverse forms, organise and par ticipate in major conferences and workshops, curate key exhibitions, and advise both governmental and non-governmental organisations in related fields around the world. Chang Jiat Hwee (Cluster Leader) François Blanciak Simone Chung Ho Puay Peng Nikhil Joshi Tsuto Sakamoto Johannes Widodo Wong Yunn Chii Alex Young II Seo Lilian Chee (Minor) Thomas Kong (Minor) Erik G. L’Heureux (Minor) Lee Kah Wee (Minor)

TECHNOLOGIES The Technologies cluster investigates environmentally per formative or sustainable building forms and systems, and generative-evaluative processes for designing liveable environments. It employs traditional and emerging technologies that contribute to a new understanding of the human ecosystem, and emerging computational methods and techniques for discovering the relationships between form and per formance. Members investigate the relationship between human and natural landscapes, at ever y scale, from the building component scale to the urban scale. Special emphasis is placed on the examination of high-density Asian cities, and on application of design and building technologies in a tropical context. Rudi Stouffs (Cluster Leader) Filip Biljecki Patrick Janssen Nirmal Kishnani Lam Khee Poh Lau Siu Kit, Eddie Swinal Samant Yuan Chao Joseph Lim (Minor) Shinya Okuda (Minor) Zhang Ye (Minor)

URBANISM The Urbanism cluster aims to contribute towards development of sustainable resilient models and innovative advanced urban strategies to cope with various environmental, social, economic and technological challenges facing Asian cities today and in the future. The star ting point for this research is a comprehensive understanding of the complexity and distinctive characters of emerging urbanism in the region. Against this backdrop, members investigate emergent urban design issues related to community and par ticipation; conser vation and regeneration; ageing and healthcare; well-being and built form; modelling and big data; and resilience and informality. These issues are examined from multiple perspectives and through both inter-disciplinar y and transdisciplinar y collaborations, in order to question conventional norms and conceptions and establish new visions for a progressive and human-centric sustainable urban future. Ruzica Bozovic Stamenovic (Cluster Leader) Cho Im Sik Fung John Chye Heng Chye Kiang Naomi Hanakata Tan Beng Kiang Zdravko Trivic Zhang Ye Lee Kah Wee (Minor) Johannes Widodo (Minor)

LANDSCAPE STUDIES The Landscape Studies cluster under takes research to generate new knowledge of landscapes as socio-ecological systems, and promotes the use of knowledge in governance systems and landscape design to improve the well-being of humans and enhance the ecological integrity of the environment. The geographic focus is primarily high-density urban regions in Asia; however members of the cluster also work in the transitional zones within the rural-urban continuum, where urban regions are expanding at a rapid rate and encroaching into rural landscapes. The overall research approach is both interdisciplinar y and transdisciplinar y. The cluster looks not only at advancing theoretical concepts and knowledge, but also applying the knowledge in practice and public policy, to shape the environment. Areas of research span a wide spectrum of the socioecological dimensions of landscape: from landscape science and landscape management, to design research and sociobehavioural studies. Tan Puay Yok (Cluster Leader) Jessica Cook Kenya Endo Hwang Yun Hye Lin Sheng Wei Tan Chun Liang Dorothy Tang

DESIGN EDUCATION Design education occupies a unique place in the realm of professional education in a university. Located at the intersection of and traversing across different fields and disciplines, it has a long, illustrious, and at times, difficult histor y over the years. Questions and debates have erupted over purpose and pedagogy. Positions were staked, experimental pedagogies introduced, and new paradigms emerged that left impor tant marks in the evolution of design education through the years. The research cluster provides faculty from architecture, landscape architecture, and architectural conser vation with a platform and a forum to advance discourse, research, scholarship, and best practices on design education. It is an invitation to collaborate, share, nur ture and build a community of design educators through lectures, workshops, seminars, conferences, publications, and exhibitions. Thomas Kong (Cluster Leader) Cheah Kok Ming Lau Siu Kit, Eddie Nikhil Joshi Zhang Ye François Blanciak (Minor) Tsuto Sakamoto (Minor) Tan Beng Kiang (Minor)

D E S IG N S T U DIO R E V I E W C A L E N D A R: SEMESTER 1

WEEK

D AT E

ACTIVITIES Options Studio Q&A Session (Mon)

SEMESTER 2

WEEK

D AT E

ACTIVITIES

10—14 Jan 2022

M Arch II: Thesis Primary Review (Tue)

17—21 Jan 2022

24—28 Jan 2022

31 Jan—4 Feb 2022

7—11 Feb 2022

BA Arch Year 2: Interim Review 1 (Mon) BA Arch Year 3: Interim Review 1 (Wed) BA Arch Year 1: Interim Review 1 (Thu)

14—18 Feb 2022

M Arch II: Thesis Interim Review (Tue) M Arch I: Interim Review (Thu)

Orientation

2—7 Aug 2021

Instructional Period

9—13 Aug 2021

16—20 Aug 2021

23—27 Aug 2021

30 Aug—3 Sep 2021

6—10 Sep 2021

13—17 Sep 2021

Recess Week

18—26 Sep 2021

Recess Week

19—27 Feb 2022

Instructional Period

27 Sep—2 Oct 2021

Instructional Period

28 Feb—5 Mar 2022

4—8 Oct 2021

7—11 Mar 2022

11—15 Oct 2021

14—18 Mar 2022

18—22 Oct 2021

21—25 Mar 2022

25—29 Oct 2021

28 Mar—1 Apr 2022

1— 5 Nov 2021

Thesis Research Report Submission (Fri)

4—8 Apr 2022

8—12 Nov 2021

BA Arch Year 1: Final Review (Wed) BA Arch Year 2: Final Review (Thu) BA Arch Year 3: Final Review (Fri)

11—15 Apr 2022

BA Arch Year 1: Final Review (Wed) BA Arch Year 2: Final Review (Thu) BA Arch Year 3: Final Review (Fri)

Reading Week

13—19 Nov 2021

Options Studio Final Review Grp A (Fri) Options Studio Final Review Grp B (Sat)

Reading Week

16—22 Apr 2022

M Arch I: Final Review (Fri) M Arch II: Final Review (Sat)

Examination (2 weeks)

20 Nov—4 Dec 2021

Examination (2 weeks)

23 Apr—7 May 2022

Vacation (5 weeks)

5 Dec 2020—9 Jan 2022

Vacation (12 weeks)

8 May 2022—31 Jul 2022

Instructional Period

BA Arch Year 1: Intra - Unit Exhibition/ Pin-Up (Thu)

BA Arch Year 2: Interim Review 1 (Mon) BA Arch Year 3: Interim Review 1 (Wed) BA Arch Year 1: Intra - Unit Exhibition/ Pin-Up (Thu)

Options Studio Interim Review Grp A (Tue) Options Studio Interim Review Grp B (Thu) BA Arch Year 1: Interim Review (Thu)

BA Arch Year 2: Interim Review 2 (Mon) BA Arch Year 3: Interim Review 2 (Wed) BA Arch Year 1: Intra - Unit Exhibition/ Pin-Up (Thu)

BA Arch Year 1: Intra - Unit Exhibition/ Pin-Up (Thu)

BA Arch Year 2: Interim Review 2 (Mon) BA Arch Year 3: Interim Review 2 (Wed) BA Arch Year 1: Interim Review 2 (Thu)

E V EN TS & G U EST LEC T U RES Over the course of each academic year, DOA organises and curates a series of events throughout the Academic Year which include: guest lectures, symposiums and professional learning community events.

G U EST LEC T U RES: DESIGN PEDAGOGY SERIES: Enhancing feedback for Students’ Learning: An evaluation of feedback methods used with the Design Studio Speaker: Dr. Charlie Smith

The Events and Guest Lectures for AY2020/21 included:

Devices: The Poetic Narratives of Climate Speaker: CJ Lim

E V EN TS:

Teaching Design Fundamental as a Case of Special Form of Academic Research Speaker: Gu Daqing

RESEARCH BY DESIGN: PROMISE, ANXIETY AND INSECURITY IN ACADEMIA SYMPOSIUM

CONSTRUE AND CONSTRUCT SERIES:

RMIT Architecture Research in an Eco-system with Practice Speaker: Martyn Hook

Construe and Construct VI: South America

‘Speculation’ Speaker: CJ Lim

Grass + Batz: Chile Speaker: Diego Grass

This Will Kill That Speaker: Lesley Lokko

Carla Juacaba Studio: Brazil Speaker: Carla Juacaba

Limits of Design Speaker: J. Meejin Yoon

Ecuador Speaker: Daniel Moreno Flores + Marie Combette

No Key for the Glass Mountain Speaker: Andrew Bernheimer

Laboratorio De Arquitectura: Paraguay Speaker: Javier Corvalan

City of Ladies Speaker: Penelope Haralambidou

TISSAGE CELLULAIRE STUDIO SERIES:

Devious Topographies: Navigating Tensions and Opportunities Between Practice and Research Speaker: John Hong

Elevational Façade Development: A Function of Design Rather Than Styling Speaker: Kevin Mark Low

Building It While Flying It Speaker: Chris Knapp

South Asian Human Rights Document Center Speaker: Madhav Raman

Markets for Design Research Speaker: Jonathan Massey

New Bricks, Tai Kwun Arts Center Speaker: Gianpaolo Mancuso

Two Cases Speaker: Li Xiaodong

DESIGN EDUCATION LECTURE SERIES:

The Architecture of Hybridity Speaker: Nicholas de Monchaux

Design Education in Uncertain Times (1); Strategies, Risks & Opportunities Series:

Originality, Significance, Rigour, and the Potential for Impact Speaker: Eric H. Schuldenfrei

Design Strategies for the Future Speakers: Cindy Coleman & Alice Davis

‘quit lit’ and the design academic Speaker: Naomi Stead

Green Studio for Uncertain Times Speaker: Dr. Alison Kwok

Hopscotch: Practice within the Academic Ecosystem Speaker: Heather Woofter

The Power of Project-Based Learning Speaker: Dr. Kristin Wobbe

REMOTE PRACTICES: ARCHITECTURE IN PROXIMITY SYMPOSIUM

RESEARCH BY DESIGN LECTURE SERIES: THINKING THROUGH IMAGE

Toward a Political Ecology of Architecture Speaker: Joan Ockman

Conceptual Models of Space | Time Speaker: Dr. Federico Ruberto

Horizons of Distance in Global Architectural Practices Speaker: Paul Emmons

Signal. Image. Architecture.: A Conversation with John May Speakers: Dr. John May with Dr. Joshua Comaroff

Selvedges: Some Distances and Proximities in Situating Practices Speaker: Jane Rendell

Material Matters Speaker: Galen Pardee

An Emotional Critique of Remote Practices Speaker: Philip Ursprung

IN D EPEN D EN T LEC T U RES:

Architectural Education in the First Person: Propinquity, Professionalism, and Personalism Speaker: Naomi Stead

Pandemic Issues: Rethinking the Future: Speakers: Prof. Tan Chorh Chuan, Prof. Kishore Mahbubani, Hwang Yu-Ning

Drawing Narratives, Architectural Storytelling Speaker: CJ Lim

Smartcities, Resilient Landscapes Speaker: CJ Lim Architecture With Performance Speaker: Wolfgang Kessling

VISITIN G PRO FESS O RS & M A R C H E X T E R N A L R E V I E W E R S

Visiting Professors (For AY21/22)

Picture credit: Ong Chan Hao

CJ Lim Professor of Architecture & Urbanism, The Bartlett, University College London Hsin-Ming Fung Professor, Southern California Institute of Architecture

External Reviewers Over the course of each academic year, DOA also invites leading international practitioners and experts in the field to serve as external reviewers. The M Arch external reviewers for AY 2020/21 included: Kelley Cheng Creative Director, The Press Room Yap Lay Bee Group Director, Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore Marc Brossa Assistant Professor of Architecture, University of Seoul Jason Carlow Associate Professor, American University of Sharjah

Picture credit: Ian Mun

Picture credit: Lee Lip Jiang

Picture credit: Sim Wen Wei

Chan Soo Khian Professor in Practice, National University of Singapore Founding Principal & Director, SCDA Architects Eva Castro Professor of Practice, Singapore University of Technology and Design Founding Partner, Plasma Studio David J. Calkins Regional Managing Principal, Gensler, Asia Pacific and Middle East Region Mok Wei Wei Professor in Practice, National University of Singapore Managing Director, W Architects Pte Ltd

C O N TA C T S National University of Singapore Department of Architecture NUS School of Design and Environment 8 Architecture Drive SDE4, #04-03 Singapore 117356 Tel: +65 6516 8736 www.sde.nus.edu.sg/arch Instagram: NUS Department of Architecture | @aki.nus DOA 2021 Showcase | @archival_2021 Facebook: www.facebook.com/nus.aki For more information on our programmes and on the DOA in general, please feel free to get in touch with the following persons: Teaching Trainee M Arch I & M Arch II Contact: Felyncia Ng Email: ng.felyncia@u.nus.edu Bachelor of Arts in Architecture Master of Architecture Master of Urban Planning Contact: Wendy Tan Email: wendytan@nus.edu.sg DID: +65 65167737 Bachelor of Landscape Architecture Master of Landscape Architecture Master of Science in Integrated Sustainable Design Master of Arts in Urban Design Contact: Jonathan Leong Email: akijlw@nus.edu.sg DID: +65 65163454 Other Higher Degrees by Research Contact: Liu Jia Email: sdelj@nus.edu.sg DID: +65 65163558 Department Updates & Other General Enquiries Contact: Ires Cheng Email: akisec@nus.edu.sg

BA. Arch Programme Brochure (2021-2022)

Articles inside

ARCHITECTURE INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME (AIP

CORE GRADULATE LEVEL MODULES

M ARCH SINGLE & CONCURRENT DEGREE

M ARCH I SEMESTER II DESIGN STUDIO LEADERS

M ARCH PROGRAMME OVERVIEW

OPTIONS DESIGN RESEARCH STUDIO: SEMESTER 1

OPTIONS DESIGN RESEARCH STUDIO: SEMESTER 2

MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE PROGRAMME DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

M ARCH I & II SEMESTER I DESIGN STUDIO LEADERS

CONCURRENT DEGREE M ARCH I TRACK III