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National University of Singapore, School of Design & Environment

Department of Architecture AY2013 -14

COMMUNITY & HOUSING DESIGN SECTION

This section is defined by interests in the user-centric needs and seeks creative reconciliation between

the individual and community. It explores techniques to realize convivial and resilient communities and

theoretically underpinned by participatory design methods, post-occupancy studies, concepts of open

society, qualitative and quantitative approaches. Its focus is on the socio-cultural issues of resilient

communities, aging, active design, healthcare and human factors. Research areas include Aging, ActiveDesign, Community Bonding, Sustainable Urban Living, Environment & Behaviour studies and Urban

regeneration.

FACULTY

Architecture

Dr. Chen Yu

Adjunct Prof. Fung John Chye

Dr. Lai Chee Kien

Assoc Prof Tse Swee Ling

Dr. Cho Im Sik

Dr. Tan Beng Kiang (Leader)

Adjunct Prof. Tay Kheng Soon (Co-Leader)

Dr. Lilian Chee

Assoc Prof Wong Yunn Chii

Dr. Emi Kiyota (visiting)

Dr. Ruzica Bozovic Stamenovic (visiting)

ASSOCIATED FACULTY(Urban Design)

Low Boon Liang

Jurgen Rosemann


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All Year 3 & Year 4 students in the Community & Housing Design Section are required to attend this

one-week workshop

2013(schedule subject to change)

Mon 12 Aug

11am to 12 Introduction to Design Section & History of public housing and flat designs (TBK) @LR42612- 1pm Orientation talk on the Global Situation (TKS)@LR4211pm - 3pm Lunch followed by travel to the Field Visit site3pm 6pm Field Visit to HDB housing estate with community programmes (guided by NVPC volunteers &

NUS non aki volunteers )

Tues 13 Aug11am 12 noon Morphology (TKS)12 noon 1pm Aesthetics (TKS)1pm to 2pm Lunch break2pm to 3pm Climate adaption to density in Singapore Housing & learning from vernacular examples (LCK)3pm to 4pm Skyland is our Future (TCS)

4pm to 5pm Politics of space in public housing: challenges of social integration (Sociologist Prof. Ho ChongKong)*5pm to 6pm Discussion

* 40 minutes talk, 20 mins Q&A

Wed 14 Aug11am to 11.30am Ezio Manzini & other videos11.30 am to 12.30pm Empowering community through Block Pooling (Moh Hong Menghttp://www.blockpooling.sg)12.30 1.30pm Lunch1.30pm to 6pm Hands on workshop prep work

Thurs 15 Aug9am to 6pm Hands on workshop (Morphology exercises)

Fri 16 Aug9am to 1pm Review of workshop work2pm to 6pm Reflections and Discussion

TBK : Tan Beng Kiang

TKS: Tay Kheng Soon

LCK: Lai Chee Kien

TCS: Tan Cheng Siong

Thurs 22 Aug 2pm to 6pm & Fri 9am to 1pm (For year 4s and selected MArch students)Lecture and workshop byTris Kee, DirectorCommunity Project WorkshopFaculty of ArchitectureThe University of Hong KongTopic: Community Planning Framework, Principles, Methods & Scenarios


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National University of Singapore

DEPARTMENT of ARCHITECTURE

Academic Year 2013-2014

Module AR4102

Studio Master: Assistant Prof Dr Cho Im Sik

Rethinking Public Housing and Community

Architectural Strategies for New Community Bonding

1. BACKGROUNDWith HDB estates being the place where 80% of Singapores population live their daily lives, develop social

relationships and where shared values develop, it is important to rethink the role of public housing and its built

environment in facilitating, encouraging and deepening community bonding. This is more so given the fast

changing social environment of a better informed and more vocal young population, a larger proportion of

older residents and increasing social diversity.

A review of the literature and academic studies has shown that planning and urban design of the built

environment can have an effect on social interaction and bonding. While social interaction and bonding are

influenced by a number of social/cultural factors, space is the medium/container in which those actions may

take place and public spaces can be designed to provide a positive social setting to facilitate active resident

interaction. Certain spatial organizations could encourage/stimulate social interaction while others

discourage it. Spatial properties such as scale/proportion and design can be the determining factors. Function

can be another important factor, as well as amenities that are assigned to such spaces. For example, in some

cities, connecting pathways and improving walkability to facilities have been shown to facilitate social

encounters and interaction. However, such overseas experience may not be applicable to the Singapore context,

and similar studies have not been done here.

It would therefore be timely and meaningful to conduct a study to investigate the success or otherwise of

HDBs planning and design efforts from a community bonding perspective. This will enhance our understanding

of the conditions that are conducive for community interaction and positive encounters amongst residents and

visitors in the public realm. Design principles that are crucial to facilitate positive encounters and active

interaction could be distilled from the study for application in new housing precincts or those undergoing

upgrading.

This project is part of a two-year research collaboration project between National University of Singapore (NUS)

and the Housing and Development Board (HDB): Study on Impact of the Built Envi ronment on Community

Bonding (Principal Investigator: Dr Cho Im Sik, Co-Principal Investigator: Dr Tan Beng Kiang, Collaborator: Dr

Malone-Lee Lai Choo, Prof Heng Chye Kiang, Consultant: Urban Sociologist Assoc. Prof Ho Kong Chong,

Research Fellow: Dr Devisari Tunas, Research Assistant: Mizah Rahman)

2. OBJECTIVESThis project entails a proposal to conduct a study to examine the influence and impact that the built

environment of HDBs public housinghas on community bonding. The study aims:

(a) To gain better understanding of relationship between community bonding and the built environmentby reviewing established indicators where available, and also to develop new indicators if necessary;

(b) To evaluate HDBs efforts in planning and design with respect to community bonding:(i) Investigate existing planning and design standards and guidelines to evaluate the types

of spaces that could contribute to community bonding;(ii) Study the actual usage and activities that residents are interested to determine thespaces required by residents;


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(c) Distil design principles that would enhance social interaction in common spaces:(i) Document best practices and distil design guidelines that could facilitate community

activities and enhance social interaction at common spaces;

(ii) Evaluate and propose planning and design guidelines to support future planning ofHDB towns and estates.

3. SCOPE OF WORK

The scope of work involves four phases:

Phase 1 - INTRODUCTION OF TOOLKIT

A) Methodology of Site observation (Community Asset) & Framework for Design Attributes

B) Mass Survey Results

C) Report of Past SemestersStudents Work (AY2012-2013, Sem 1 & Sem 2)

D) Selected Literatures for reading

E) Timeline and Goals

Design Studios

Aug 2013 Sept 2013 Oct 2013 Nov 2013

Introduction

of Toolkit

&

Fieldwork

Fieldwork &

Analysis of Community

Bonding

Design Prototypes

Brainstorming:

1) What indicates community bonding in public housing?What do we understand by Community Bonding?

2) Setting Indicators for Community Bonding3) Post a question:

What are the problems and challenges for community bonding in Singapore?

What are the current problems of community and neighbourhood design?

Phase 2 - FIELD WORK

A) Introduction of 6 sites (Density, population, demographics, housing type)

B) Site Observation and Mappings, Visual AidsComparing 6 sites

[Focus of Research]

1. Recreational and Leisure Spaces

(Playgrounds / fitness corners / hard courts, green and open spaces, precinct pavilions),

2. Commercial Spaces(Neighbourhood Centres / Retail shops, Markets / supermarkets / dry markets, Hawker centres /

coffee shops)

3. Transitory and Residual Spaces

(Linkways / pedestrian facilities, Drop-off porches / pergolas, Seats, Void deck, Common corridor,

Lift lobby)

4. Social Communal Facilities

(Elderly facilities, child care, education centre, community centre)

Phase 3 - ANALYSIS OF COMMUNITY BONDING

Analysis of current situation (6 sites) by using the proposed framework


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Phase 4 - DESIGN PROTOTYPES

From the understanding of the conditions that are conducive for community interaction and design

principles that are crucial to facilitate positive encounters amongst residents and visitors in the public

realm, which are distilled from the studies in the previous semesters and phases, in this Phase 4, these

findings will be applied in the given housing precincts to propose alternative visions of community

space model that promote better community bonding. New prototypes will be proposed by re-

designing and re-planning the communal spaces in the housing precincts using the design principles

and guidelines extracted from the previous studies to enhance social interactions and sense of

community.

Brainstorming:

Explain concepts of Space to Grow and Social Innovation

What is space to grow?

Why is re-programming typologies of public space in HDB crucial?

Introduce Recommendations:

SPACE TO GROW & SOCIAL INNOVATION = PLACE, PEOPLE, PROCESS

Space to grow and social innovation are two important elements of the concept of social sustainability:for a new community to be successful and sustainable, PLACE public space, housing block and

amenitiesPEOPLE and PROCESS have to be able to adapt over time. Many aspects of social life that

make communities flourish cannot be planned in advance.

COMMUNITY

BONDING

Social

Interaction

Community

Participation

Sense of

Community

Neighbourhood and

Place attachment

SOCIAL INNOVATION

SPACE TO GROW

SOCIAL

SUSTAINABILITY


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National University of Singapore, School of Design & Environment

Department of Architecture

AR4101 Design 7 AY2013/2014 Semester 1

INTEGRATED & RESILIENT COMMUNITIES

Studio master: Dr. Tan Beng Kiang, DDes (Harvard), MArch II (UCLA), BArch Hons (NUS)

Over 80% of Singapores population live in public housing and close to 90% of these own their flats.

Singapore has seen a big transformation from slum housing in the 1960s to the present landscape of

satellite housing estates with its mix of public & private facilities, educational, recreational and private

commercial facilities. While the hardware of the built environment has evolved and improved over the

years, the software of community and building relationships faces great challenges. Many factors such

as increasing population, immigration, greying population, better education and thus higher expectationsare testing the notion of community. The built form and planning of public housing has changed

incrementally in the last 50 years but fundamental design principles remain. It is time to re-examine the

status quo:

Has the planning and built form constrain the development of community?

What kind of built form will facilitate the development of community?

Is our housing form designed for economic resilience and empowering of people? E.g. In time of a

financial crisis, does the built form have the flexibility to convert housing to small enterprises for

livelihood?

How to develop an architecture that is participative?

How can older people be integrated as full and productive members of their respective communities?

This studio will examine the topic of integrated and resilient communities through the concept of

Collaborative Services creating resource sharing community that suits diverse needs and lifestyles. And

in the process empower the people to take charge of their environment. What kind of built form and

facilities are required to support this concept? What kind of organization structure and processes need to

be in place? Already, a local entrepreneur has started a website, Block Pooling, of similar idea. The

studios approach is people centric. We will study a public housing estate/precinct, map its assets and

needs through interviews and observations and hopefully through workshops with residents. The

deliverable is a masterplan (hardware & software) in the first half of the semester and architectural

design in the second half. Results of the studio may be submitted for the International Competition

Integrated Communities: A Society for All Ages organized by the International Council for Caring

Communities (www.international-iccc.org).

Some References:

Eizo Manzini Collaborative Services Social Innovation and Design for Sustainability

Richard Sennett The Architecture of Cooperation (video)

Block Pooling - http://www.blockpooling.sg/

Past Community Design projects

MacPherson 21stCentury Estate

Smile Village in Phnom Penh

Community Building & Enchanted Farm for Gawad Kalinga Philippines

Rail Ides: Visions for the Rail Corridor


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1

BA(Arch)AR4101

Semester1,AY2013/14

Tutor:TanChengSiong,ZhangJi

SkylandWith

aprojected

population

of

6.5

to

6.9

million

by

2030,

Singapore

is

facing

tremendous

challenges

toaccommodate thegrowthofurbanpopulationandprovideabetterurbanenvironment for live,

work, play and commuting, and for all ages.A primary concern regarding these challenges is the

expansionandefficientuseofour limited landresources,towhichvariousplanningstrategieshave

beenproposed.However,one shouldquestion the continuous consumptionof land resources in

our traditional planning methodologies. Skyland, artificial lands created up in the sky and

concentrated inkeynodeareas tobeownedby the citizens, isproposedasa revolutionaryvision,

perhapsthelastfrontierforthefutureSingapore,acityinthegarden,andothercompactcitiesinthe

regionwithincreasingurbanpopulationandhigherlifeaspirations.

TheideaofSkylandisthreefoldwhichmaygeneratenewurbanismandarchitecture:

1) Skyland is a master plan for integrated land use. There are limitations inherent in theapproaches to expand the reservoir of land resources through outward coastal reclamation,

inwardplot

floor

space

densification,

and

downward

underground

development.

Besides,

premature demolishment of young building for land is wasteful and detrimental to our

environment. Skyland isproposed to createandamalgamate various landusesvertically, thus

avoiding thedisintegration and fragmentationofurban lifeas a resultofhorizontal functional

landusezoningcurrentlyappliedwhichkeepsgobblinguplandresources.

2) Skyland is an architecture that rejuvenates. Skyland is composed of frame and infill: theformerwillbefundedandbuiltbythegovernmentastheoverallstructuretoprovidelandinthe

sky,anditwillbecreatedaroundtransportationhubandsomedevelopmentareaswithelegant

andsophisticatedarchitecturalmanifestation;whereasthelatteristobedevelopedbypeopleor

other parties according to their own needs and requirements. Skyland is architecture as

infrastructure that adapts to an aging population, thus continuously selfrejuvenating and

remainingrelevanttothechangingneedsofthesociety.

3) Skyland is a construction by people. In response to the shoebox dwelling model of whichidentical flats sandwiched in between similar flats that have low flexibility to cope with the

housingdemandsemerging in theprocess of life, Skylandenables the customizationofhome

according to residents evolving life expectations, needs, and preferences. This implies the

developmentofneweconomicand industrialopportunitiescatering to thenewwaysofhome

buildingthatpromotelightweight,prefabricatedandgreentechnologies.

TheSkylandconcepthasidentifiedthefollowingbenefits:

1. CreatingLandinthesky,increasingourcountryslandbank;

2. Promoteanewarchitecturethatrejuvenates;

3. Spawnanewconstructionindustrythatislessreliantonmanuallabour;

4. Toeventuallyrecovercurrentlanduseforotheruses;and

5.Topreventhighunderground rail infrastructure construction costby integratingmass transit

networkwithSkylandaboveground.

Thisstudio

is

set

to

seek

architectural

design

solutions

to

reflect

the

above

mentioned

benefits

of

Skyland.

ProgramThe studiowill be conducted by integrating topicbased research investigation and contextbased

designexplorationinamutuallysupportingway.


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Based on understanding of the momentum and vision of the Skyland concept, the students will

implementitaroundselectedHDBnewtowncentersortransportationhubsusinghypotheticalurban

scenariosforthenearfutureofSingapore,suchasyear2030,asreferences.

Intheprocess,thestudentswillalsobeguidedtoconductresearchonrelevanttopicstoaddressthe

challenges implied in the implementation of the Skyland concept that will contribute to the

explorationofarchitecturaldesignsolutions.

DeliverablesThe students will work as a group to establish the urban design framework and quantitative

parameters to address the vision andbenefitsof the Skyland concept for the given sitebasedon

islandwideandtownlevelofanalyses.Onindividuallevel,thestudentswillidentifywithinthesitea

specificSkylandcomponentorhousingtypologytodevelopdetailedarchitecturaldesign.

EvaluationStudents will be evaluated at both the group and individual levels based on the quality of their

contributionstoanddedicationinbothcomponents.

InitialReadingsNationalPopulationandTalentDivision,MinistryofNationalDevelopment(2013)ThePopulation

WhitePaper ASustainablePopulationforADynamicSingapore,retrievedfrom

http://population.sg/

MinistryofNationalDevelopment(2013)LandUsePlantoSupportSingaporesFuturePopulation A

HighQualityLivingEnvironmentforAllSingaporeans,retrievedfrom

http://www.mnd.gov.sg/landuseplan/

TheOpenBuildingconcept:

http://www.habraken.org/index.html

http://openbuilding.org/ob/concepts.html


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MR TAN CHENG SIONG

Born 1937

Principal, ChairmanArchurban Architects Planners, Singapore

Archurban Projects Consultancy (Shenzhen) Pte Ltd , ChinaMr. Tan Cheng Siong, architect and founder of the Archurban Group, fervently leadshis team to perform the duties and responsibilities of professional architects, especiallyin the areas of urban planning, architectural design and architectural development. Heholds a Diploma in Architecture (1964) and M.A. Urban Planning (1972), and foundedArchynamics Architects in 1967, and Archurban Architects Planners in 1974. He also

leads an active practice in China.

The iconic Pearlbank at Outram Park, the ground-breaking, 38-storey privateresidential apartments, designed and built in the late 1960s, the tallest in Asia thenand widely considered to be a national icon today, and the condominium at PandanValley, emerged as models meant to replace landed properties, and are remarkablefor their time.

He became active in Singapore Institute of Architects work since late 70s and rose tobe elected Vice President in 1984 to 1986. Many public institutions and agencyactivities invited him to sit in committees, join seminars, and deliver papers.

In 1991, he was appointed team leader for the Jurong East Development Guide Plan;

in 1997, he was also appointed team leader for the Pasir Ris 21 Development GuidePlan for the Ministry of National Development in Singapore.

Serving as an advisor to the Planning Committee of Shenzhen since 1986, heintroduced to China the concept of condominium housing in the mid-90s andcontinues to design pioneering landmarks in Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Shanghai,Sanya, Beijing and other cities there. Through him, China has learnt much fromSingapores experience in housing and property development, and for this they havehonoured him the title, Father of Luxury Housing.

An Adjunct Professor at the School of Architecture, National University of Singaporefrom 1997-99, he was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award, in 1999 and, in April2009, was conferred Fellow (Life) member of the Singapore Institute of Architects. He

regularly sits in as Jury member for various design competitions in Singapore andChina. In Dec 2012, he earned the nations highest accolades as the Designer of theYear at the President Design Award. In May 2013, Mr. Tan was awarded the SIAGold Medal, the institute's highest accolade at the recent 50th Anniversary GalaDinner.

Now 76 years of age and he is still passionately pursuing new ideas.

25 July 2013


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DrZHANGJiDr Zhang Ji is a Research Fellow in the Centre for Sustainable Asian Cities in the School of Design

and Environment in the National University of Singapore.

He is currently involved in studies on sustainability of the built environment and in research

projects investigating the relationship between density, urban form and environmental

performance in highdensity urban context through computational simulation and perceptionsurvey in areas such as daylight availability, solar access, view, outdoor air movement, etc. The

objectives are to develop rigorous and efficient methodology and technologies to facilitate

performance optimization oriented design exploration, and provide scientific advices to enable

balanced and informed decisionmaking in the urban planning and architectural design

processes.

He holds a PhD degree in Architecture from the National University of Singapore. His PhD

dissertation, focused on the key concept of place attachment, was an investigation of the positive

emotional bonding between HDB residents and their nearby neighborhood parks from an

environmental psychology perspective, as well as the implications of place attachment to open

space planning and design in high density public housing context.

He also holds a professional Masters degree in Architecture from the South China University of

Technology, and he has been actively involved in a variety of architectural design and urbandesign projects and international competitions.


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1

TAY KHENG SOONS PROPOSED 2013, YEAR 4 SEM 1 STUDION WITHIN THE

COMMUNITY AND HOUSING CLUSTER

18/7/13

PREAMBLE:

Everyone can see that the World is experiencing crises at many interrelated levels

and architecture no different. Business and thinking as usual in architecture is

becoming obsolete. Design is no longer to be seen as merely the aestheticising of

buildings as objects of pleasure but have now to be seen as vehicles and contexts

for the transformation of values in social relations, cultural change and human

emancipation.

The interaction of the triple forces consisting of marketization, social protection and

emancipation are in dynamic flux. Accordingly, there is a crisis of confidence in all

institutions as the World system falters. The seeming benefits of Globalisation, the

Neo-Conservative doctrine of the free Market are no longer sacrosanct. Thelegitimacy of governments are eroding. Governments traditional roles in social

protection is increasingly contrasted against the tandem arrangement it has with

foreign investors, monopolistic state enterprises and government linked corporations

and big international corporations.

All these phenomena are visible to a more informed public through the formal and

informal information media. Better that such information be experienced through

direct experience rather than through second-hand sources reliable or unreliable as

the case may be. It is this context that challenges architecture: how to design

environments that inform and which teach social values of compassion, conviviality

and community. Indeed, this is now the new role of architecture to be the vector for

the creation and sustaining of healthy social and economic relations. Style and

formalism are our tools to serve humanity not to delude it.

The program for this semester is to take an existing HDB estate and see how to

increase its social, educational, cultural and economic functioning such as to

engender a much more intelligent society, not through exhortation and social

engineering but through the enrichment of experience while enacting the routines of

everyday life; going to school, shopping, recreation, involvement is civic activity,

enrichment through the arts etc.

The key idea thus necessities the reconceptualisation of a human settlement an

HDB Estate as a high functioning organism from its current form conceived as an

efficient mechanism only. It is important here to note that as with all high functioning

organisms our housing estates should also have an extensive central and peripheral

nervous system. This system can be a fish-bone structure of nerves that connects

the entire organism providing it with the necessary signal density and diversity that


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enables the organism to be conscious, responsive and reactive to all internal and

external stimuli.

This is what Singapore needs as it moves forward to an uncertain world in flux.

Survivability is a function of intelligence and human character.

THE PROGRAM:

Choose an existing HDB Housing estate and insert a central system and peripheral

nervous systems.

Analyze and quantify the facilities needed to serve the everyday routines of the

community in a better way.

Consider how existing can be integrated into the new CNS and PNS system

including how some of these may have to be modified, relocated and reconfigured.

Also consider how some existing facilities may be reused after having been

relocated and reconfigured.

Consider the introduction of new facilities normally located in the CBD and in central

shopping and employment locations.

Consider new building forms of community centres, clinics, shops, offices, schools,

artist studios, entertainment, SME startups, retirement homes, markets, vegetable

farms, special needs housing etc can be accommodated along the CNS and PNSs.

Propose how these facilities may be distributed along the CNS and PNSs so as to

create synergy and interconnected flow that an interesting, empowering and

energizing community culture may arise.

Propose how electric buggies, pedestrians, bicycles, wheel chairs, roller blades and

skate boards etc can provide easy access without conflict with cars, vans, m/cycles

and trucks.

Explore A new architectural aesthetic that is capable of change through addition,

subtraction and thematic modification and which is participatory, coherent and

consistent, exciting and very beautiful.

THE EXPECTED OUTCOME:

Students will jointly do the research in quantifying and understanding the qualitative

aspects and character of the estate. They will then determine the alignment of the

CNS and PNSs together to ensure that every residential unit is not further that a 10

minute walk away from the nervous system. Students will then define and design

each building type along the nervous system in consistent with the overall

connectivity of the nervous system...


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THE EVALUATION:

Students will be given a grade for participating in the research and overall master

plan based on the tutors observation of the extent of their contribution to the group

effort.

The main grading will be on the design quality of each students own design work.The evaluation will consider the innovation of an aesthetic that allows for community

participation, is capable of coherent change and is evocative of a new imagination of

a new society in the making. Resolution of functional and technical aspects is

expected within a masterful verbal and 3D presentation of the design ideas.


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Updated 16 July 20101

TAY KHENG SOON, PRINCIPAL PARTNER, AKITEK TENGGARA

SINGAPORE / MALAYSIA

Tay Kheng Soon has been a professional architect since 1964. He was chairman of

Singapore Planning and Urban Research Group (SPUR) in 1970, an independent

group examining the urban environment, active in proposing innovative solutions tourban living. He was President of the Singapore Institute of Architects from 1991 - 1993.

Tay is currently practising as sole proprietor of his own firm. His abiding concern is

sustainable urbanisation and the evolution of a proper design process factoring in

human dimensions within the Asian context. His scope of thinking and design compasses

politics, education, economics, the environment, culture and modernisation. His enduring

concern is in engendering modernity though integrating human motivation, planning and

space design in a design language that is firmly based on the local reality of climate,

vegetation and life.

Increasingly his concern is with education. Most Singaporean children are brought upwith a left-brain bias, their right brains are underdeveloped. He thus advocates that

Kampong experience is vital to help restore a balance. That is why he is actively involved

in setting up Kampong Temasekfor families and their children; a charitable project.

Tay is currently Adjunct Professor of Architecture at the National University of

Singapore. In 2003, he was elected a Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science

(WAAS), a global community of intellectuals dedicated to considering, " the social

consequences and policy implications of knowledge." Tay is also a member of the

World Ekistics Society, (WES) which focuses on the study of human settlements.

Educationally, his concern is with the learning of architectural design aesthetics throughintegrating personality development to environmental ethics. Thus, he elected to teach in

the 1styear of the NUS architecture Program in 2003. He also runs Kem-Eco, an Eco-

education forest-camp in nearby Johore, Malaysia for schools and corporate groups.

His public contributions have been as Chairman of the Task Force for the Long-term

Development of the Singapore National Museum, Chairman of the Committee on

Heritage for the Singapore Advisory Council on Culture and the Arts.He was also

Founding Chairman of The Substation, a cutting-edge-ground-up arts centre in

Singapore. His civic activities include membership of the Advisory Panel of the

Government Parliamentary Committee on National Development and a member of the

advisory panel of the Singapore Institute of Policy Studies. He has been appointed in1997 Adjunct Professor of Architecture at RMIT of Australia. He is Adjunct Professor at

National University of Singapore.

His seminal paper on Rubanisation was published in November 2008 in the policy

journal, Global Asia and it led to his invitation to Indonesia and Sri Lanka where he is

in discussion with the authorities there to implement Rubanisation in these two respective

countries. Indonesias ministry of disadvantaged regions has adopted rural urbanisation


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Updated 16 July 20102

based on Tays ideas on 7th

december 2009. Thua Thien Hue has also adopted

Rubanisation as part of the tourism master plan Tay is comissioned to develop.

In 2010, Tay was awarded the highest honour by the Singapore Institute of Architects

its Gold Medal for life-long contribution to architecture and to the profession. In

2009 he was conferred the Passive Low Energy Architecture (PLEA) international

award.

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