Programme Directors

Wong Mun Summ

Wong Mun Summ is Professor in Practice at the Department of Architecture. He co-founded the Singapore-based architectural practice WOHA in 1994, which has won multiple national and international design awards. Through his practice and publications, Prof Wong articulates a matrix of interconnected human-scaled environments that foster community, enable stewardship of nature, generate biocentric beauty, activate ecosystem services and build resilience. He also contributes to design discourse and policy through advisory roles in Singapore and internationally. He serves on the Nominating Committee of the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize and the Design Advisory Board of Design Singapore Council. He is also a Fellow of the Centre for Liveable Cities in Singapore and the Council on Vertical Urbanism (CVU).

Nirmal Kishnani (Dr)

Nirmal Kishnani is an Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture. In 2011, he set up and launched the MSc ISD programme in response to challenges faced by practitioners. His own work bridges research and practice with policy. He has contributed to major projects in Singapore, including Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, and SDE4 at NUS, Singapore’s first purpose-built net-zero energy building. He has also served on advisory panels in China, Singapore and Vietnam, contributing to policies and guidelines for sustainable design. His publications focus on the repair and regeneration of human-made and natural systems. Dr Kishnani has held several advocacy and editorial positions, including editor-in-chief of the FuturArc magazine, and host/chief editor of Ecogradia, an online platform on sustainable architecture and urbanism.

From left to right: Wong Mun Summ and Nirmal Kishnani

Teaching Staff

Heng Chye Kiang (Dr)

Chye Kiang is Provost’s Chair Professor of Architecture, Deputy Dean at NUS College of Design and Engineering, and Director of the Centre for Sustainable Asian Cities. His research and practice span sustainable urban design, planning and Asian urbanism. He brings to MSc ISD extensive experience connecting research, urban policy and the planning of cities across Asia.

 

Anna Kerr

Anna Kerr is an Associate Professor at the Department of Architecture. An architect and urban strategist, she has over two decades of international practice across Europe and Asia. Her work spans architecture, urban design and large-scale sustainable development, including the award-winning Wuxi Eco City masterplan in China. Her practice connects design with measurable questions of carbon, resources and urban systems.

 

Marianne Amores Dutta

Marianne Amores Dutta is a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Department of Architecture and founder of The Regenesis Project. An architect, master planner and regenerative design practitioner, her work moves across design, policy and implementation. Her experience includes developing industry-wide frameworks and training programmes at Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority, alongside regenerative development and ecosystem restoration initiatives in the Philippines. Through The Regenesis Project, she works with communities and government to translate systems thinking into action at territorial scale.

From left to right: Heng Chye Kiang, Anna Kerr and Marianne Amores Dutta

Adjunct Appointments

Anuj Jain (Dr)

Anuj Jain is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Department of Architecture. He is Director and Principal Ecologist at bioSEA, an ecology and biomimicry design practice in Singapore. His work bridges ecology and the built environment, integrating biodiversity, ecosystem services and nature-inspired strategies into architectural and urban development. Trained in urban ecology, wildlife conservation and biomimicry, Dr Jain brings the perspective of ecology as urban system to MSc ISD.

 

Bjorn Low (Dr)

Bjorn Low is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the Department of Architecture. He is an urban farmer, social entrepreneur and co-founder of Edible Garden City, a Singapore-based social enterprise that has pioneered urban farming as a platform for food production, community building and social inclusion. His practice explores the relationship between food, land and community in dense, import-dependent cities such as Singapore. He is an Ashoka Fellow and Young Leader of the World Cities Summit. To MSc ISD, Dr Low brings the perspective of food as urban system.

From left to right: Anuj Jain and Bjorn Low

Visiting Experts

MSc ISD periodically invites internationally recognised experts in research and/or practice. They expose students to emerging ideas, methods and forms of practice – connecting the programme to a wider discourse globally.

Some past visiting experts:

Chrisna du Plessis (Dr)

Chrisna du Plessis is a Professor of Regenerative Futures at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and a leading scholar of regenerative sustainability. She co-authored Designing for Hope: Pathways to Regenerative Sustainability, a foundational text articulating the transition from reducing environmental harm towards regenerative approaches to design and development.

Herbert Dreiseitl

Herbert Dreiseitl is a landscape architect, urban designer and internationally recognised expert in water-sensitive urbanism. Founder of Dreiseitl Consulting, his work integrates water, landscape and urban infrastructure for more resilient and liveable cities.

Gregers Reimann

Gregers Reimann is Managing Director of IEN Consultants, a pioneering green building consultancy based in Malaysia. An energy engineer, his work bridges architecture and engineering to create low-energy, climate-responsive and biophilic buildings.

Swinal Samant (Dr)

Swinal Samant is an architect, educator and researcher specialising in sustainable architecture and high-density urbanism. A former Co-Programme Director of MSc ISD, her research examines vertical urban spaces, mobility networks and emerging building typologies in dense cities.

Wolfgang Kessling (Dr)

Wolfgang Kessling is an internationally recognised physicist and partner at Transsolar KlimaEngineering. He specialises in climate-responsive design and adaptive comfort, developing environmental strategies for indoor, semi-outdoor and outdoor spaces across diverse climates.

From left to right: Chrisna du Plessis, Herbert Dreiseitl, Gregers Reimann, Swinal Samant and Wolfgang Kessling