People

Prof. Puay-Peng Ho

Curator
Professor Puay-peng HO is currently Head of Department of Architecture, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore. Prior to joining NUS, Ho was Professor of Architecture and served as Director of School of Architecture and University Dean of Students at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He was conservation consultant, architect and adviser to some 100 conservation projects in Hong Kong, such as PMQ, Haw Par Villa and New Campus for Chicago University Booth School. Currently, Professor Ho is appointed as a Patron of International Dunhuang Project, British Library.

Simone Shu-Yeng Chung

Curator

Simone Shu-Yeng CHUNG is Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture, National University of Singapore. She holds a Ph.D. in Architecture from University of Cambridge and practiced as an architect in London. A former Rome Scholar in Architecture and Japan Foundation Asian Center Fellow, she is also a 2020 CCA Research Fellow. Recently, she co-edited, with Mike Douglass, The Hard State, Soft City of Singapore (2020, Amsterdam University Press).

Thomas K. Kong

Curator
Thomas K. KONG is an architect and associate professor in the Department of Architecture, National University of Singapore. He holds a Master of Architecture (Distinction) from Cranbrook Academy of Art, U.S.A and a Bachelor of Architecture (Honours) from the National University of Singapore.  Working at the intersection of art and architecture, he is the principal investigator for a National Heritage Board research grant that examines curating and archiving as a social practice.

Tomohisa Miyauchi

Curator

Tomohisa MIYAUCHI is an architect and educator. He is a Professor of Practice at IE School of Architecture and Design, Spain. He received his Bachelor of Architecture (Distinction) from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in 2000 and a Master of Architecture II from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University (GSD) in 2004. He is a registered architect in Japan and the US. Tomohisa also represented Singapore as a curator for the Pavilion of Singapore at the International Architecture Exhibition, Venice Biennale (La Biennale di Venezia) in 2016 and 2018.

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Sarah Mineko Ichioka

Curator

Sarah M. ICHIOKA, Hon FRIBA, leads Desire Lines, a strategic consultancy for environmental, cultural and social-impact organisations and initiatives. She has been recognised as a World Cities Summit Young Leader, one of the Global Public Interest Design 100, and a British Council / Clore Foundation Cultural Leadership International Fellow. Previous roles include Director of The Architecture Foundation (UK), Co-Director of the London Festival of Architecture, and positions with the LSE Cities Programme, La Biennale di Venezia, Tate Modern, and Singapore’s National Parks Board. She has advised cultural initiatives such as the European Prize for Urban Public Space, the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, and Triennale di Milano. She is also the co-author, with Michael Pawlyn, of Flourish: Design Paradigms for Our Planetary Emergency (Triarchy Press, 2021).

Joella Qingyi Kiu

Curatorial Assistant

Joella Qingyi KIU is an art historian, researcher and curator based in Singapore. Her research interests include the material and visual cultures of Central and East Asia. She has curated multiple exhibitions, including The Deepest Blue (2018, DISINI Festival), Noruz: Feasting in Spring (2017, Calouste Gulbenkian Museum) and Eid al-Fitr: Breaking the Fast (2017, Calouste Gulbenkian Museum). She holds an MA in History of Art from the Courtauld Institute of Art (Distinction), and a BA in History of Art from the University of York (Distinction). She was also a Finalist for the 2019 IMPART Awards (Curator).

Shireen Marican

Curatorial Assistant
Shireen MARICAN  is an arts manager and researcher motivated to advance the engagement of arts and culture with critical global issues. She graduated with an MA in Museum Studies and Curatorial Practice from Nanyang Technological University and works with Singaporean arts organisations, artists and creatives to design programmes centred around social issues and strategies that engage with art, culture and heritage. Shireen also lectures in professional practice and exhibition management in LASALLE College of the Arts and was the recipient of the pilot Platform Projects Curatorial Award Singapore in 2020.
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Mary Ann NG

Curatorial Assistant

Mary Ann NG graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture and a Master of Architecture degree from the National University of Singapore in 2018. Both researcher and designer, her interests stem from observations of the contemporary individual, their subsequent emergent lifestyles, online and offline social practices and new cognitive behaviours within the spatial context. She is most recently research assistant under a research project Deciphering the Spatial Rhetorics of the Millennial Nomad (2019-ongoing).

Lay Bee Yap

Co-Commissioner
Group Director, Architecture & Urban Design, Urban Redevelopment Authority

Lay Bee is an urban designer and registered architect who leads a multi-disciplinary team of architects and planners in the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), the national land use planning and conservation authority of Singapore.

She and her team develop structure plans, urban design plans, and formulates strategies, policies and programmes to realize the planning agenda to make Singapore a sustainable, attractive and vibrant global city. She has experience in public-private partnerships, having worked closely with other Ministries, government and private sector agencies in Singapore to implement key projects. Lay Bee also oversees and carries out policy reviews, and organise public programmes to promote architectural and urban design excellence for Singapore.

Mark Wee

Co-Commissioner
Executive Director, DesignSingapore Council

In leading the DesignSingapore Council (Dsg), Mark is responsible for driving and implementing national policies on design, from driving the use of design for innovation in the economy to overseeing the national pipeline for design talent, and ensuring the health of the design industries.

A respected designer, Mark is a design thinking pioneer responsible for creating important experiences for the public and private sector. Mark is passionate about how good design is key to shaping more desirable products, services, and places for people and a lovable Singapore.

An award-winning architect himself, Mark represented Singapore at the 2008 La Biennale di Venezia.

Urban Redevelopment Authority

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is Singapore’s land use planning and conservation agency. Our mission is ‘to make Singapore a great city to live, work and play’. We strive to create an endearing home and a vibrant city through long-term planning and innovation, in partnership with the community.

URA’s multi-faceted role includes being the main government land sales agent. We attract and channel private capital investments to develop sites that support planning, economic and social objectives. We also partner the community to enliven our public spaces to create a car-lite, people-friendly and liveable city for all to enjoy. In shaping a distinctive city, URA also promotes architecture and urban design excellence.

Visit www.ura.gov.sg for more information.

DesignSingapore Council

DesignSingapore Council’s (Dsg) vision is for Singapore to be an innovation-driven economy and a loveable city through design by 2025. As the national agency that promotes design, our mission is to develop the design sector, help Singapore use design for innovation and growth, and make life better in this UNESCO Creative City of Design. The Dsg is a subsidiary of the Singapore Economic Development Board. 

Visit www.designsingapore.org for more information.