0:02

Singapore stories with Eugene

0:04

Low. He

0:13

got into architecture school with

0:15

his photography skills.

0:17

All my friends showed up with fantastic

0:20

sketches and drawings and stuff.

0:22

I didn't turned up with a series

0:24

of photographs of buildings and

0:27

so interestingly it was my photography

0:29

that got me into art school instead of

0:31

drawings. But what the, what

0:33

the professors did tell me was that

0:35

they could at least identify passion

0:38

for architecture. They saw the

0:40

eye that I had in terms of the aesthetics

0:42

and how I had perhaps photographed

0:44

or distilled the buildings into the photographs.

0:47

And so their parting words as I

0:49

left the interview was so

0:51

practice your sketching up.

0:56

And though engineering was his first

0:59

choice, architecture turned out to be his

1:01

destiny. And today Melvyn

1:03

Tan is the newly elected president

1:05

of the Singapore Institute of Architects

1:07

62nd council and founding

1:09

partner of Lord architects

1:13

era was born in was when we played

1:15

marbles at any

1:17

sand patch we could find where

1:20

toys came in the form of

1:24

um soccer ball,

1:26

maybe spiders found on leaves nearby.

1:28

So that's the era I grew

1:30

up in. In fact, I also remember

1:33

we used to play with erasers right on

1:36

on the classroom table. Used to try

1:38

to flip them over each other's erases

1:40

and try to win each other's erases of them.

1:43

I

1:44

spent a fortune I think on

1:46

buying and you

1:48

lost you. We needed to buy more to play right?

1:50

So it was like kind of gambling

1:52

way. But then the school,

1:54

the school kind of stationary shop.

1:56

What do they call those? The

1:59

bookshop right was the favorite haunt during

2:01

recess? We would go there and check out the new

2:03

stuff.

2:04

Yeah. And you try to find that were

2:06

rare ones. Right. Prayer flags

2:08

and things like that.

2:09

So that was, that was the time that we grew up in.

2:11

Um even before that my parents

2:14

were telling me when I was young, they used to be

2:16

the man who would cycle

2:18

by the road and

2:20

but I really don't remember that very much.

2:23

And what we're, I mean, besides those

2:25

things, what what kind of

2:27

uh did you have any other sorts of

2:30

parts pastimes? I mean, what kind of a child

2:32

were you?

2:34

Well, we all like to think that we were the

2:36

good kid, but no,

2:38

I think I was the kind of

2:40

child who would prioritize

2:42

play over studies.

2:44

Um I remember

2:47

days after school were usually spent

2:49

in the estate cycling around,

2:52

running around playing all kinds of games

2:54

until my dad got home in

2:56

the evening and shout

2:58

from the living room, call me

3:00

in for dinner. But

3:03

yeah, I think at that time, well

3:05

those studies probably important, maybe

3:08

not as emphasized so much as

3:10

it is today. So I think we

3:12

had a lot of fun. No pressure

3:14

from your parents.

3:15

Well, I

3:17

had a sister who did very well, so

3:21

maybe they, yeah,

3:24

maybe they did. I

3:26

think they gave me space. Maybe

3:29

they were a bit more lenient

3:32

with the boy because you know, boys tend

3:34

to be more playful until

3:36

they grow up hopefully. So maybe

3:38

that's what I had enjoyed in my childhood.

3:40

Sure, true. And

3:43

what were your parents

3:43

like? Well,

3:45

um, my mom

3:48

was a music teacher. She played, she

3:50

teaches the piano. And so

3:52

growing up there was always

3:54

classical music being played because she was

3:57

always teaching one of the

3:59

students. So that's what I grew up

4:01

with listening to the piano ringing

4:03

in the house. My

4:06

dad, um, ran

4:08

a american

4:10

company that was based in Singapore for mining

4:13

and safety equipment. So, um,

4:15

his job was,

4:17

well, mostly office bound and so

4:19

he was the typical breadwinner who

4:22

I would see only in the evenings and weekends.

4:25

Um, he was also the disciplinarian

4:27

in the home. So

4:29

if I didn't do too well in my studies,

4:31

I would be afraid to see him at the end of the

4:33

day.

4:34

Okay.

4:36

And did any of your mom's like

4:38

musical skills were about from you, did she?

4:42

Uh, I encourage

4:44

you to play the piano.

4:46

Yeah, definitely. So this is the

4:48

interesting story because

4:50

I grew up listening to

4:52

piano being played all the time

4:55

when it came around to my

4:57

turn to, to ask

4:59

to be played. When she asked me to play

5:01

an instrument. I actually

5:03

thought twice about it. I

5:05

actually thought, hey, everybody in

5:07

the world plays the piano. Right. So

5:09

why should I? So I told

5:12

her, no, no, I don't want to play the piano can

5:14

do something else. So, she gave

5:16

me some options. I eventually took

5:18

up the violin for a short while.

5:20

Uh, the violence is

5:22

not the most pleasant instrument

5:25

to listen to. When it's played by a novice.

5:28

It's screechy. Uh,

5:30

if you don't get it right, it can sound

5:32

quite terrible. So I tortured

5:35

my family for a while, I

5:37

did violin until grade three. And then

5:39

I stopped and I

5:42

only later on in my

5:44

teens did I pick up the acoustic guitar

5:47

And in my 20's I

5:49

picked up the bass and so now

5:51

I do play the bass in

5:53

the church band as well as lead

5:55

worship. So I enjoy singing as well. So yes,

5:58

I think.

5:59

Okay, but still no piano,

6:02

still no piano. But so actually

6:04

I

6:05

tried to pick it up.

6:06

Now, I regret not taking up piano

6:09

because I realized if I played the piano,

6:11

I think I could communicate with my band a lot better.

6:13

Right. But anyway, we make our choices

6:16

and we live by them.

6:17

Okay. But still being able

6:19

to play, you know, one or two instruments,

6:22

you know better than not

6:24

at all. Right. So you play the

6:27

bass and you sing. So that's great. What about

6:29

the area on the environment, you

6:31

grew up in here? You grew up in the east. Right.

6:34

Or was it? Well,

6:35

I would say. Um, I mean, I was

6:37

born, well, most of my family and

6:39

where I was born, we were living in the east.

6:42

Um but as early as about when

6:44

I was four or five, we moved to

6:47

the Newton area, which

6:49

was near where I went to school. So

6:51

I would say my childhood was around

6:54

the area

6:56

where school was

6:57

Okay. Right, nice

6:59

place. So, I mean, what are your memories of

7:01

being you know, growing up in that area?

7:03

Was it mainly just what you mentioned earlier playing

7:06

or whether specific places

7:08

that you loved hanging out in?

7:10

Remember used to flood all

7:12

the time when it rained heavily. So,

7:15

I remember there was a time when

7:18

we had to, well school, we

7:20

were in school and had poured quite heavily

7:22

and the roads around school

7:24

ended up being flooded. And

7:27

the father, my friend's

7:29

father had come to school to pick us up.

7:31

My friends being the ones all staying in the same

7:33

estate as me. And so we got

7:35

to kind of trash through

7:38

the flooded roads and walk

7:40

home. And that was fun

7:44

Today. Singapore story belongs to Melvin

7:46

Tan who is the newly elected president

7:48

of the Singapore Institute of Architects,

7:50

62nd Council and founding partner of

7:52

Lord Architects and despite

7:55

his hectic schedule, he continues to indulge

7:57

in photography and in church,

7:59

sings and plays the guitar

8:01

and I'm sure you must have surmised by now.

8:04

Melvin has a wonderful voice,

8:06

both singing and

8:07

speaking,

8:12

come close can

8:15

compare, you're

8:18

all living. Mhm

8:34

have

8:34

tasted and seen

8:40

when

8:41

my heart becomes free.

8:45

Amen

8:50

Melbourne Singapore story continues in just a

8:52

while. I'm Eugene Loh for Singapore

8:54

stories on C. N A 938

9:07

Singapore stories with Eugene

9:09

Low as

9:17

a kid. His father always made it

9:19

a point for him to make his case for

9:21

anything. He wanted

9:22

to be able to put up an idea

9:25

to be able to deliver it or even

9:27

convince the people in the room what

9:29

you're thinking. It's is invaluable

9:32

and in fact, somebody quoted a

9:35

poem to me recently and he said

9:37

that architects are the

9:39

only ones in the room that can lead

9:41

us into the unknown with a vision

9:43

and I was like, oh, that sounds

9:46

quite beautiful,

9:48

very poetic indeed. And

9:50

the ability to make

9:52

your case is definitely

9:54

a skill that every kid

9:56

should learn to master. In

9:58

2017, he was elected

10:00

or selected rather by the urban

10:03

redevelopment redevelopment authority

10:05

as a notable young architect under

10:07

the 20 under 45 exhibition

10:09

and publication. He's also the newly

10:11

elected President of the Singapore Institute

10:13

of Architects and founding partner

10:15

of Lord Architects Today Singapore

10:17

story belongs to Melvin

10:21

was also remembered for not sure

10:23

whether I remember there used to be an A.

10:25

And W. S. Perch over

10:28

the canal along.

10:30

Okay,

10:30

so if you drive down road,

10:33

you see this open canal that runs all the

10:35

way through outside Sgs

10:37

etcetera. Right. Um At

10:39

that time when I was young, it used

10:41

to be slapped over and there was an nws

10:44

almost like a drive through a

10:46

nws that was perched over the

10:48

canal and you could just drive into that

10:50

area, hop into nws

10:52

by your coney dog, etcetera, eat

10:55

it there or drive, I'll drive off and it's almost

10:57

like you're american diner kind of feeling, you know,

10:59

now that I think about it.

11:01

Yes, I mean, I can see it in my mind.

11:03

So it was like a, like a bridge almost.

11:05

Yeah, it was so that

11:07

was really memorable, very

11:09

memorable kind of experience. What

11:12

a pity they got rid of it.

11:13

Hopefully they can bring it back

11:14

in time. I think

11:15

that'd be quite nice. You

11:18

could make a case for it. We'll

11:19

try maybe.

11:21

Okay, so what was some of the earliest influences?

11:24

I know you're involved in church a lot. What

11:26

else? Well

11:28

influence, depends

11:30

in what area. Right. So maybe

11:33

uh in in terms of

11:35

my profession, when I

11:37

was young, I was always into drawing,

11:39

how I was influenced,

11:41

I really can't remember. But I would say

11:44

drawing came quite naturally to me, I

11:46

started doodling

11:48

and when I was young I

11:50

always dreamed of keeping or having a dog.

11:53

Right, I mean, how many kids don't.

11:56

So, but the interesting thing is I

11:58

actually wanted to have a german shepherd.

12:00

It's not quite

12:02

your fluffy, cute little dog, it's

12:04

the working breed. And

12:07

so I ended up drawing and learning to draw

12:09

dogs. One of my aunties actually

12:11

gave me a book aptly titled How

12:14

to draw dogs. So I picked it up,

12:16

went through the motion and then realized oh

12:18

this is how you do it. So that became one of the

12:20

starting points in terms of my sketching

12:23

and of course that went on with a few

12:25

other things and sketching became part of my

12:27

part of me um

12:30

in terms of influences in life,

12:32

I would still attribute to a

12:34

lot to my parents. Um

12:37

My dad had

12:39

a degree and at that time maybe not

12:41

so common, so he

12:43

was always very clear minded and very

12:45

logical person and I've learned a lot in

12:48

terms of how to put things together

12:50

to make a case. A case

12:52

in point was when I was young

12:54

um again talking about

12:56

memories and nostalgia at

12:58

next to parkway parade used to be

13:00

building where Metro used

13:03

to be located. Um

13:05

Metro used to be located on the second floor and

13:07

as you walk up the stairs from the street you'll

13:09

be presented with this glass case. And when those

13:12

glass cases were displayed a series of

13:14

walkie talkies of course walkie

13:16

talkie is a fun toy to play with when you're young,

13:18

right? Um But they're very

13:20

expensive at that time, I can't remember how

13:22

much it was maybe 50 $60. Um

13:25

but at that time it was considered very expensive.

13:27

So every time you walk up there I would look at

13:29

it and I'll try to convince my father why

13:32

I should get why I should be, why

13:34

should be bought for me. Um

13:36

and that went on for quite some time. I used

13:38

to always be thinking of new reasons to convince

13:41

him, but eventually I managed to

13:43

do so and that was really one

13:45

of the points where it kind of reminded

13:48

me that I really need to be able to put together

13:50

a case if I want something or

13:52

be able to put the case through

13:54

to deliver or to achieve something

13:56

else. So one of my influences

13:59

for sure. Yeah, my my dad,

14:01

um, how,

14:02

how you still have the skill turned out to

14:04

be extremely um, in

14:06

my work in my profession as an

14:08

architect. It's all about selling the idea,

14:11

isn't it? Um, yeah,

14:13

I mean persuasive skills, being

14:15

able to convince people to your

14:17

case

14:17

definitely and to be able

14:19

to put up an idea

14:21

to be able to deliver it or even

14:24

convince the people in the room

14:26

what you're thinking, it's

14:28

is invaluable and in fact

14:30

somebody quoted a poem

14:32

to me recently and he said that

14:34

architects are the only ones

14:36

in the room that can lead us

14:39

into the unknown with the vision.

14:41

I was like, oh, that sounds

14:43

quite beautiful.

14:45

Yes, poetic.

14:47

Really? Yeah. Okay. And

14:50

so you learn that early, early on

14:52

was just a great skill for any kid to

14:54

learn. I think wonderful, wonderful tip

14:57

and sketching. Did you ever

14:59

stop sketching? Always sketching all the when

15:01

you started from dogs and I didn't

15:03

evolve and continue

15:05

evolving. Yeah, eventually I started

15:07

drawing buildings. Um

15:09

but it wasn't

15:11

sketching that got me into art school.

15:14

So maybe I'll talk a little bit about that. Um

15:16

when I was about 12 I

15:18

picked up photography

15:21

for some strange reason I found

15:23

it appealing. And so um

15:26

my granduncle at that time

15:28

was, well, he had some

15:30

kids and some cameras which were

15:32

a bit old and he said he gifted

15:34

it to me, he gifted me a set of his

15:36

cameras which was like an SLR with some lenses

15:39

and a flash unit. And I was 12. So

15:41

picture a 12 year old kid running around with a

15:43

professional looking camera trying

15:46

to take photographs at some

15:48

church event. Eventually, I mean over the

15:50

time we shoot film eventually out of 30

15:52

36 shots in that roll of

15:54

film, maybe 10 came out alright.

15:57

Um, but that was the start. And

15:59

throughout my school years

16:02

I was very much into photography,

16:04

whether it's 35 medium

16:06

format large format film. And

16:09

in the end I ended up also leading

16:11

the photography society in both my secondary

16:14

school and J. C. As well.

16:19

And oddly enough, his photography

16:21

skills would turn out to be

16:24

extremely useful indeed for getting into

16:27

architecture school

16:29

more on how that happened. That's coming

16:31

up here on Singapore stories today.

16:34

Singapore story belongs to Melvin Tan who

16:36

is the newly elected president

16:38

of the Singapore Institute of Architects,

16:41

62nd council

16:43

and founding partner of Lord Architects

16:46

and Melvin's Singapore story continues

16:48

after the news in about five minutes. I'm

16:50

Eugene Low for Singapore stories on

16:53

C N A 938 Singapore

17:16

stories with Eugene Low, He

17:26

is the newly elected president of the

17:28

Singapore Institute of Architects 67

17:32

or rather 62nd Council,

17:34

I think the profession is a noble

17:36

one. In fact, some say is probably

17:38

the second oldest profession in history

17:41

and what we do goes beyond

17:43

just designing buildings. In

17:45

fact, the work of architects is

17:47

quite wide ranging. We actually

17:49

not just create the vision, we

17:51

also also manage the various

17:54

disciplines that come alongside with us.

17:56

We are there to collaborate

17:58

and manage the collaboration, bring

18:01

people and align them together and

18:03

our visions towards the final product

18:05

and architecture is a space where

18:07

all of us experience every

18:10

day, whether it's our homes, our offices

18:12

or the spaces that we play in.

18:14

It's all been envisioned

18:16

by an architect.

18:21

He's also founding part of Lord

18:23

Architects. One of their biggest projects

18:25

is the phillips a pack center in completed

18:28

in 2016 Today, Singapore

18:30

story belongs to Melvin Town

18:32

when I finally got to the interview

18:35

for architecture school, all

18:37

my friends showed up with their fantastic

18:39

sketches and drawings and stuff.

18:42

I didn't turned up with a series

18:44

of photographs of buildings

18:46

and so interest it was

18:48

my photography that got me into art school

18:50

instead of drawings. But

18:53

what the what the professors did tell me

18:55

was that they could at least identify

18:58

passion for architecture. They

19:00

saw the eye that I had in terms

19:02

of the aesthetics and how I had

19:05

perhaps photographed or distilled the buildings

19:07

into the photographs. And so their parting

19:10

words as I left the interview

19:12

was. So practice your sketching

19:14

up.

19:15

Okay.

19:17

Yeah having having the I I suppose it

19:19

is probably one of the more important things.

19:21

But then how did how did you get into

19:24

architecture in the first place?

19:26

So I interestingly

19:28

another story was I never actually

19:31

thought much about architecture throughout

19:34

primary school secondary school

19:36

or J. C. And so

19:39

when I got into the army and

19:41

we usually apply for our courses just

19:43

as we enter into army. So I remember I was

19:45

in basic military school at that

19:47

time and the due

19:49

date for the entrance submissions

19:52

was the next day. And I was

19:54

on the pay phone in my camp talking to

19:56

my dad and asking him what do you

19:58

think what should I consider doing? And

20:01

of course all that at that time

20:03

would really kind of mention the

20:05

standard professions right? Doctor

20:08

lawyer. Engineer. Architect

20:11

wasn't one of those common

20:13

professions that was named at

20:16

that time. So then I looked

20:18

down the prospectus

20:20

and I asked my dad so what's architecture about? He

20:22

told me, oh buildings get to draw

20:24

and design. He says maybe you should consider that

20:27

since you like art. That's what he said. I

20:30

thought about it was almost convinced.

20:32

So I put architecture as a second choice,

20:34

not the first. In fact I put engineering

20:36

as the first two weeks time or

20:39

a bit down the road. I was called in for

20:41

the aptitude test. So all of us

20:43

went again to our school needs to do two things.

20:45

One is an aptitude test and one is an

20:47

interview. So I turn up at the

20:49

aptitude test having come straight from

20:52

my camp. You know we get we get

20:54

time off, we get to go for this aptitude

20:56

test I arrived and

20:58

there are lots of my fellow friends who are

21:00

they're all getting ready for the test

21:02

and it seems like all of them have

21:04

they bring their you know they have

21:06

their pencils and

21:09

equipment and stuff and I was like

21:11

hey why you also do you

21:13

bring so many things? Just come for the Tesla

21:15

And then a friend of mine tells me um

21:17

but Melvin you know that we're supposed

21:19

to bring these things right? Like why? And it

21:21

shows me on the back of the letter actually

21:24

list all the things I was supposed to bring. So

21:26

I was the only one there who

21:28

wasn't prepared for the test. So

21:31

I walked into the into the examination

21:34

room or the test room and I told them

21:36

later, I'm sorry, I kind of missed all these things

21:38

out. Right? He says, okay, don't worry, just

21:40

sit down, we'll get these things to you. So

21:43

I did the test and, and

21:45

as I mentioned just now, I was called into

21:47

the interview subsequently

21:49

and with those photographs of architecture,

21:52

I was accepted into the school. So that's

21:54

that's the journey how I actually

21:56

ended up in architecture school.

21:58

And I was, I must say that

22:01

I'm very glad architecture chose me

22:03

because I don't think I'll be

22:05

that suited for the engineering field.

22:07

So yeah, that's the journey

22:09

and it turned out

22:12

pretty smooth sailing for

22:14

you. It did, in fact,

22:16

when I got into art school, um

22:18

first year, first year ended up

22:20

being relatively smooth

22:22

for me. I ended up doing quite

22:25

well in, in first year when a lot of

22:27

it was um all of us trying to feel

22:29

our way around keywords, like concept

22:31

party diagrams, interpretation

22:34

of space etcetera. So

22:37

yeah, I think the school turned out relatively

22:39

smooth and I think

22:41

it matches my, maybe

22:43

my character and my my

22:46

thinking.

22:46

Okay, so it's a wonderful coincidence

22:49

that it worked out very well for

22:51

you actually. So education

22:53

good. What about the reality?

22:56

You know, when you went to graduate and went into

22:58

the workforce, what was it like?

23:00

We're their challenges?

23:01

Well actually, if I can just backtrack a bit

23:04

to art school, it was challenging

23:06

at that time as well. So I did mention that

23:08

first year was quite positive.

23:10

I managed to score a few a's. But

23:13

then the first project in year

23:15

two, I was faced with

23:17

some how I struggled through that project

23:20

and then I'm getting a D for that project.

23:22

And it's like, I mean if my friends

23:24

are listening to this, they'll be like, oh Melvin got

23:26

a D right?

23:31

Yeah,

23:32

in a way. But I think I saw

23:34

it as a way to kind of like boost myself.

23:37

I I realized that year

23:39

one was probably easier because maybe I had

23:41

a head start in terms of the thinking and maturity.

23:43

But at the end of the day it was down

23:45

to hard work and the the

23:48

quest to actually work hard on

23:50

what you're trying to do. Um So that d

23:52

maybe I see it as a springboard.

23:55

Um it helped me to kind of

23:57

put things in perspective and realize

23:59

where I needed to be

24:04

today. Singapore story belongs to Melvin

24:07

Tan, who is the newly elected President

24:09

of the Singapore Institute of Architects,

24:11

62nd Council and founding partner

24:13

of Lord Architects. Melvin.

24:16

Singapore story continues in just a

24:18

minute or two. I'm Eugene

24:20

look for Singapore stories on C N A

24:22

938. Singapore

24:41

stories with Eugene low, despite

24:51

architecture being his second choice

24:54

for study, he took

24:56

to it like a duck to water near

24:58

four where

25:00

the programmatic brief was to design

25:02

an intervention within Holland

25:05

village. Ah And

25:07

my tutor had been asked me to see

25:09

whether I could take on an alternative mode

25:12

of the project instead of actually designing

25:14

a building, perhaps I

25:16

could formulate a way of seeing

25:19

and experiencing Holland Village. So

25:21

I combined my photography interests

25:23

with a series of

25:26

kind of guidelines on how people walk through

25:28

spaces. And I came up with a kind

25:30

of a typology of our

25:32

methodology of how to experience

25:34

space and inner city.

25:39

In 2017 he was selected by

25:41

the urban redevelopment authority as a notable

25:43

young architect under the 20 under

25:45

45 exhibition and publication.

25:48

He's also the newly elected president

25:50

of the Singapore Institute of Architects,

25:52

62nd council and founding partner

25:54

of Lord Architects. Today's

25:57

Singapore story belongs to Melvin Tan.

25:59

So, my project ended up being a

26:01

board of just pictures and words and

26:03

I got a big turnout from friends all around,

26:06

they were all there to kind of figure out

26:08

how come Melvin can do a project

26:11

without designing architecture. But

26:15

anyway, suffice to say we had a very vivid

26:17

and lively discussion, but

26:20

that went, that went well my way at the

26:22

end. So I think with

26:25

ups and downs just gotta push

26:27

through sometimes. So that was the experience

26:29

that I had in school. Okay,

26:31

I mean,

26:32

but that was certainly unconventional, right? I mean with

26:34

that still in in your I mean your

26:36

books, obviously, yes, but in in

26:38

the sector or Circle of Architecture.

26:40

When you when you don't

26:43

design a building, you are designing a space

26:45

or an experience. Is it is it still

26:48

counted that does it still fall under

26:50

architecture

26:51

actually? Today, a lot

26:53

of firms, architecture firms are also branching

26:56

out into design thinking into

26:58

place making. And so

27:01

the discipline of design

27:03

has, has opened

27:05

up a lot of avenues and possibilities.

27:07

If you look at it now, I think

27:09

it would still come under design thinking

27:12

and it would still be proposing design

27:15

for the better of the

27:17

public space and for public use. So

27:19

yes, I would still say it's worthy.

27:21

Yeah,

27:22

So it's it's expanded a bit more.

27:24

The definition of architecture, not necessarily

27:27

a building. Right? It can be

27:29

infrastructure, I suppose

27:31

in a way, you're right. Yes.

27:33

Okay. And

27:35

tell me more about your professional life then.

27:38

And uh at

27:40

what point did you decide to

27:42

start Lord Architects?

27:45

I graduated in 2002

27:48

and I well, let

27:50

me backtrack when I was in year four.

27:53

So in architecture school we do three years for

27:55

bachelors and then we do a year

27:57

out, which is about 10 months of work

27:59

experience. And then we head back to school

28:01

for two years to complete our masters

28:04

in architecture. So during my year

28:06

out, I worked with a company

28:08

called Charles land and Partners where

28:10

my current group of

28:12

fellow founders of Lord Architects

28:14

were from all of us were from that

28:16

firm and I worked with my senior

28:18

partner, joseph lau during

28:20

my year out, had a good time. We

28:23

did some interesting work together and

28:25

then I went back to school right for two years to do

28:27

my Master's fast forward

28:29

to. Just before I had my final exams

28:31

in school, I got a call from joseph and he says,

28:34

hey, I want to come and join us. I said, well I

28:36

haven't quite graduated yet. In fact, I haven't

28:38

gone through my final cred, he says, never mind,

28:40

we just got a project and

28:42

if you are happy to come join us, you can come

28:44

anytime. So I said, okay,

28:47

sure, thanks for the offer. And

28:49

I eventually joined the day

28:51

after my crate, which was my final

28:53

presentation. I didn't take any break

28:55

and I just hopped straight into a job immediately

28:57

after to handle a

28:59

condominium that the company had

29:02

recently won. That was in 2002.

29:05

Shortly after that, in 2004

29:08

Joseph together with

29:11

two other partners. So there are four of us uh

29:13

came out and formed Lord

29:15

architects and it was formed

29:18

in later part of 2004,

29:20

roughly about the same time. My first daughter

29:22

was born. So that was quite an eventful and

29:25

positively eventful year for me

29:27

where we started Lord architects and

29:29

had my first child.

29:31

So how do you think you've evolved as an architect

29:33

Over the years,

29:35

I had the privilege to start lord from a

29:37

very early age at about 29 years

29:39

old. And of course I was

29:41

young at that time. The beauty of

29:43

being involved in Lord was

29:45

that I was able to develop and contribute

29:48

to our philosophy, our design

29:50

philosophy, our company philosophies

29:53

throughout my life in my career.

29:55

So instead of going into

29:58

a company where there was already a fixed culture,

30:00

actually had a chance to grow its culture

30:03

and develop its culture all along

30:05

the way. So I find

30:07

that a unique experience. Um

30:09

we are where we are today because

30:11

of all the partners and

30:13

therefore partners and now we have two more

30:16

so six of us total. But

30:18

everyone brings to the table something different.

30:20

So what I've learned over time is that

30:23

we need to tap on everyone's

30:25

um strengths cover

30:27

each other's weaknesses so

30:29

that as a unit we are as strong as

30:31

we can

30:31

be. And

30:33

what

30:34

is I mean, do you

30:35

have an approach

30:36

like philosophy towards your

30:39

architecture and

30:41

what is it like these days

30:44

at Lord Architects, we always try

30:46

to look at new projects with a fresh

30:48

pair of eyes. Some people may

30:50

remark that if you look across

30:52

our portfolio, there isn't like a

30:54

fixed style, there isn't a fixed

30:57

language. Design language that we

30:59

use and different projects

31:01

will always have a different approach. And why do we do

31:03

that? We do that because we feel that

31:05

a design language or

31:08

style needs to suit the user

31:10

needs to suit the client needs

31:12

to suit the brief needs to suit the site as well.

31:15

And so not one design

31:17

fits everything. So our philosophy

31:19

has always been to constantly

31:21

be exploratory in our approach.

31:23

We are open to research.

31:26

We're open to exploring. We're

31:28

open to asking ourselves questions

31:30

until we are able to dovetail into

31:32

one design. That finally happens. So

31:35

our culture and our philosophy really is

31:37

about being open to possibilities

31:39

rather than just having a solution

31:41

up front too early in

31:44

the process.

31:45

Okay, so you don't have like sort

31:47

of in a way, a focus area,

31:49

specialty

31:51

so formally, formally

31:53

and maybe um, stylistically.

31:55

No, but one thing that does

31:57

run through all of our projects

32:00

is a sense of community

32:02

and and our focus is

32:04

always on people and the users

32:06

in the building. So we have a

32:08

tagline and Lord and it goes something

32:10

like this. It says Lord architects creating

32:13

joyful space and how

32:15

we came about that. Or why did we come upon that

32:17

was because we felt that it was

32:19

extremely important that both

32:22

in the design process and

32:24

in the people who used the buildings,

32:26

there needs to be a sense of joy and

32:29

hopefully we're creating space that people

32:31

can experience moments of joy in.

32:33

So the focus shifts towards the

32:35

inhabitants, people who use the space

32:38

and instead of just a good looking

32:40

building. Mm

32:42

Nice. Yeah. So it's again

32:44

more about the experience.

32:46

Yes, more

32:47

about the space in relation to the

32:50

people rather than the structure itself,

32:52

correct?

32:54

And you're the newly appointed president

32:56

of the Singapore Institute of

32:58

Architects. Um

33:01

Apparently

33:03

very one of the younger

33:05

ones,

33:06

I

33:09

am not one of the I won't

33:11

say I'm one of the younger ones, maybe. Yes.

33:13

In a way I've got a classmate who was

33:15

president too

33:17

past president to two runs

33:20

away or 22 cycles before

33:22

me, so he will probably be the youngest

33:24

president, but

33:26

maybe I'm gifted with a bit of a younger

33:29

look. So people tend to think that

33:31

I'm not the younger president of

33:33

S. A. Okay,

33:34

so tell us more about the disappointment.

33:37

I mean, how

33:39

do you feel, you know personally about

33:41

it and what do you hope to do

33:44

in your tenure as President?

33:46

S. I

33:47

so I'm very excited about the

33:49

office of presidency in S.

33:51

I because I think the

33:53

profession is a noble one.

33:55

In fact some say is probably the second

33:58

oldest profession in history and

34:00

what we do goes beyond

34:02

just designing buildings.

34:04

In fact, the work of architects is

34:07

quite wide ranging. We actually

34:09

um not just create the vision,

34:11

as mentioned earlier in terms of the

34:14

architecture, we also manage

34:16

the various disciplines that come alongside

34:18

with us. We are there to

34:21

collaborate and manage the collaboration,

34:24

bring people and align them together

34:26

and our visions towards the final product.

34:29

An architecture is a space where

34:31

all of us experience every

34:34

day whether it's our homes or

34:36

offices or the spaces that we

34:38

play in. It's all been

34:40

envisioned by an architect And

34:43

so we feel that there's a need to

34:45

raise the level of awareness of architecture.

34:47

Um I heard that in

34:50

Finland or in Sweden the

34:52

Children in early childhood

34:54

or early education are exposed

34:56

to design and architecture and

34:58

my vision is that in Singapore, everyone

35:01

is made aware a lot earlier

35:03

in their lives about design what good

35:05

design is. And so there

35:07

will be a greater appreciation for

35:10

the beauty and the spaces that architects

35:12

and designers bring about into

35:14

our city. My hope for

35:17

architecture and my hope and

35:19

what I want to do with SIA is really

35:21

to be able to live the industry. We're

35:23

all struggling this industry and many

35:25

other industries with talent attraction,

35:27

talent retention And talent development

35:30

and I think public awareness

35:32

and a general appreciation will go

35:34

a long way to make architecture

35:37

and the built environment something more

35:39

attractive for the younger generation.

35:41

And this is very important

35:43

because Singapore has many grand

35:45

plans for the future. You probably

35:47

have heard of the Green Plan 2030,

35:50

you might have heard about the

35:52

plan to convert cars to EV

35:54

by 2040 ah

35:56

and net zero by zero and

35:59

carbon neutral by 2050

36:01

and these are all grand plans that will need

36:03

the consultants and the architects and the built environment

36:06

to deliver. And so we see

36:08

that as the future and we believe

36:11

that s I a can helped

36:13

attract more into the industry

36:16

to make those plans or

36:18

rather to help those plans be realized

36:20

in the long run

36:25

today. Singapore story belongs to Melvin

36:27

Tan, the newly elected president of the Singapore

36:30

Institute of Architects, 62nd

36:32

Council and founding partner of Lord

36:34

Architects. If

36:38

you have a story to share or know someone who

36:40

does email me some details, Eugene

36:42

at media cop dot com dot SG. You can also

36:44

listen to past episodes anytime you like

36:46

using the me listen app or

36:49

me listen dot S G

36:51

I'm Eugene low for Singapore stories

36:53

on c n a 938.