NUS 2nd Architectural Educator Forum – Theme: “ENGAGE”
5 Aug 2016, Friday, 10am to 4.30pm
Venue: LR 423, Level 4, SDE 3, Dept of Architecture, School of Design & Environment, NUS
One of the many challenges of architectural education is about curriculum and content that exceed beyond addressing current needs, to anticipating the imperatives of future. Preparing students to be relevant and be empowered with future-ready abilities require collaborative efforts of the educators with the industry, communities, policy makers; various discipline educators and other stakeholders. “Engage” is the theme for the 2nd Architectural Educator Forum, it examines ideas in which real-life issues and learning opportunities are created from the collaboration between educators and parties outside the academia and across disciplines.
Mr Tan Shao Yen is the Managing Director of CPG Consultants Pte Ltd in which he leads a multi-disciplinary team of architectural, engineering and planning professions. He is the President of the Singapore Board of Architects. He received his BArch(Hons) from NUS and obtained MSc Sustainable Building Design (Distinction) through the BCA- University of Nottingham programme. His talk identifies the key attributes of future-ready architects and discusses these impacts on architectural education.
Dr Nirmal Kishnani is the author of “Greening Asia- Emerging Principles for Sustainable Architecture”. He is an associate professor and is also the Vice Dean of School of Design & Environment, NUS. He currently oversees the development of a new net zero-energy building for the school. His lecture focuses on his MSc ISD studio teaching where he engages the issues of designing for Singapore 2050 and shares insights on use of ‘back-casting’ technique
Dr Milinda Pathiraja is a Sri Lankan architect and a senior lecturer at Moratuwa University. His community library at Ambepussa inspired by his University of Melbourne doctorate thesis won the Holchim Global Silver Award for Sustainable Construction in 2015. He speaks about his ideas towards a more hands-on, collaborative and inter-disciplinary mode of education – bridging the escalating gap between design and construction, academia and practice, and architectural discourse and social realm.
Dr Tan Beng Kiang is an architect with over a decade of experiences designing public building and spaces. She received her doctorate from Harvard GSD and is a Senior Lecturer at NUS. She shares her pedagogical strategies in organizing service learning design studios working with communities in Southeast Asia and in Singapore. This learning process has empowered her students to be enthusiastic design activists.
Ms Hwang Yun Hye is a landscape architect. She received her post-professional MLA from Harvard GSD. She is an assistant professor in NUS, has been teaching landscape design studios, detail design, and research dissertation since 2009. Her design studio focuses on the emerging demands of the Asian equatorial urban context, deforestation management, multifunctional greenery for high dense neighborhood, and design actions for fast growing megacities. She shares with us the pedagogical richness of engaging local context and the framing its critical learning angle.
Mr Teoh Chee Keong received his architectural education from Chung Yuan Christian University, Taiwan. He is an assistant professor teaching in the School of Architecture & Built Environment, UCSI University, Malaysia. Chee Keong reflects on his ‘Kaktao46’ collaborative learning initiative that involved students from Taiwan and Malaysia to convert a timber building into a community amenity at Kuala Sepetang, a remote fishing village in Malaysia.
Programme:
10am : Opening & Introduction
10.15am:Tan Shao Yen, President of Singapore Board of Architects
10.45am: Dr Nirmal Kishnani, Associate Professor, Vice Dean, School of Design & Environment, NUS
11.15am: Dr Milinda Pathiraja, Senior Lecturer, Moratuwa University, Sri Lanka
12.00pm: Panel Discussion 1
12.30pm: Buffet Lunch
2pm: Dr Tan Beng Kiang, Senior Lecturer, Dept of Architecture, NUS
2.30pm: Hwang Yun Hye, Assistant Professor, Dept of Architecture, NUS
3pm: Teoh Chee Keong, Assistant Professor, UCSI University, Malaysia
3.45pm: Panel Discussion 2
4.30pm: Closing