The TAS Lounge Project was conceived as a Vertical Design Studio involving students of 1st, 2nd and 4th years. The objective of the vertical design studios was to introduce a ‘master’ – ‘apprentice’ learning relationships between junior and senior students and create better bonding among them.

While these were good intentions, the studios were not that effective due mainly to a lack of coordination among students left to themselves. Nevertheless, this was a great experience but sadly, this Vertical Studio was not re-enacted during the subsequent years. Much could have been learnt through collaborative projects involving students of all years.

For this week long project, the brief was to design a lounge for the architecture students as well as review the internal layout of the studios for a more efficient use of space, power sockets and projectors. Each group consisted of roughly 12 students, 4 from each year.

My contribution on this project includes the conceptualization, the process as well as the modeling stages. At the end of the week a Jury consisting of the NUS architectural professors evaluated each scheme and the best one was chosen for implementation.

Credits are due to the 14 students of verticalstudio.groupfour.2005

The objective of this trip was to bring the new batch of architecture students out of their comfort zone. The 3 day travel & sketching around Bangkok is an unforgettable experience. While the buildings and temples visited were grandiose, one cannot help but notice the dichotomy that exists between urban & rural life at the fringes of the city.

To me, Bangkok is the typical Asian city where chaos reigns and growth is according to needs. That is what gives Asian cities their authentic vibrancy, character and life. This is exactly what Singapore lost on its path to modernization… the ability to generate authentic experiences.