Urban Innovations in the City
16 February 2017
3.45pm – 5.30pm. Registration from 3.30pm, seated by 3.45pm
MND Function Room
Resources
Lecture Poster (PDF: 1.3MB)
Lecture Report (PDF: 314KB)
Lecture Transcript (PDF: 368KB)
Lecture Video & Photos
Synopsis
Innovation is not only a driver of the future economy but a means to achieving a vibrant and liveable city. In this session, Mr Richard Hassell will share more about Kampung Admiralty, Singapore’s first integrated public development that brings together a mix of public facilities and services under one roof, as well as Skyville@Dawson, an iconic public housing development; while Prof Thomas Schroepfer will cover ‘The Future of Us’ Pavilion at Gardens by the Bay, an innovative climate-responsive structure which reinvents the experience of a public space in the tropics.
Lecture Report
The game-changing potential of 21st century approaches to architecture and urban design was underlined at
a CLC lecture by WOHA co-founder Richard Hassell and Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD)
professor Thomas Schroepfer.
Glimpses of how a city can be made more sustainable, liveable and self sufficient were shown through the lens
of innovative projects such as WOHA’s SkyVille housing project, the multi-use Kampung Admiralty and SUTD’s
adaptable exhibition pavilion utilising parametric design.
To fully tap into this potential and pioneer urban innovation in Singapore however, different approaches to
governance and regulations may need to be formulated.
“There are a lot of exciting urban design
possibilities in the interweaving of sustainable
infrastructure through our environment,”
said Hassell. “Going beyond architecture and
into urban planning, sustainability issues are
much more efficient (when dealt with) at a
national level.
“Singapore already has one of the most
integrated public sectors in the world. We
could evolve even further by considering that
by putting things together, you can achieve a
whole that is more than the sum of its parts.
“Every (government) agency has their own Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), but agencies can identify
common (social and community goals) and embrace them even if they are outside their individual KPIs. That’s
a real challenge because a lot of our thinking and organisation and systems are set up as 20th century-style
production lines, where components are separated and optimised on their own.”
Hassell pointed to Kampung Admiralty, currently being constructed, to show how different community uses
can be brought together, enhancing each function. For example, shared social spaces between eldercare and
childcare facilities help both communities interact and bring about a better quality of life for both.
Professor Schroepfer spoke about innovations including algorithmic and parametric-based design methods
opening up realms of possibilities in architecture and urban design.
He detailed how SUTD’s winning entry for a community space
in Dhoby Ghaut Green was later adapted into a pavilion housing
exhibition domes for the Future of Us exhibition.
“Why we could (translate the original design into a different
context and size) so fast was because the project, from the
get-go, was driven by a computational parametric model that
allows you to change the parameters. The whole structure would
essentially magically adjust to the different conditions that it sits
in,” said Schroepfer.
“The design, prefabrication and construction efficiency, effectiveness and accuracy that we were able to
achieve testifies to the great potential of advanced computational design for architecture. I think this allows
for whole new paradigms of exploration, not only to achieve innovative aesthetics and environmental
responses, but also resource efficiency and precision.”
This report first appeared in the
Mar 2017 Better Cities newsletter.
About the Speakers
SPEAKER
Mr Richard Hassell
Co-Founding Director,
WOHA
Richard Hassell is the co-Founding Director of WOHA, an internationally-acclaimed architectural
practice based in Singapore. He graduated from the University of Western Australia in 1989, and was
awarded a Master of Architecture degree from RMIT University, Melbourne, in 2002. He has lectured
at universities around the world, and served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Technology
Sydney, and the University of Western Australia.
SPEAKER
Prof Thomas Schroepfer
Professor and Associate Head of Pillar
Singapore University of Technology and Design
As an Architecture and Sustainable Design professor and author, Professor Schroepfer’s work
investigates the increasingly complex relationship between design and technology in architecture.
His research and design projects relate to advances in environmental strategies, structure and form,
performance and energy, computer simulation and modelling, digital fabrication and building
processes. He previously held visiting professorships at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology and National University of Singapore.
MODERATOR
Mr Michael Koh
Michael was previously the Head of Projects and Design at SC Global, a property developer in
Singapore, overseeing both overseas and in-country development projects. Prior to SC Global,
Michael has 25 years of experience in the public service including 7 years as CEO of the National
Heritage Board and 4 years concurrently as CEO of the National Art Gallery. He was also the
former Director of Urban Planning & Design at the Urban Redevelopment Authority where he
spearheaded the planning and urban design of the new mixed use Downtown at Marina Bay,
revitalisation of Orchard Road as a shopping street and creation of an arts and entertainment
district at Bras Basah Bugis.