Past Programme
ASEAN Field School
The Future of 'Modern' Past: Heritage Conservation in Southeast Asia Urban Settings
The National University of Singapore (NUS) – Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Field School, held in Singapore from 19-25 September 2022, was organized by the Department of Architecture (DOA), NUS, and supported by the ASEAN Cultural Fund and the Ministry of Culture, Community, and Youth (Singapore). The NUS-ASEAN Field School aimed to enhance practical skills and knowledge on conserving and managing twentieth-century buildings, grow professional networks, and encourage partnerships amongst participants of different backgrounds and nationalities through experiential learning.
The NUS-ASEAN Field School brought together eighteen representatives from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The field school itinerary featured interactive site visits and informal site lectures on many of Singapore’s modern sites. The list included the Gallop Extension at Botanic Gardens, Golden Mile Complex, National Gallery Singapore, St. James Power Station, Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, and The Grandstand (Old Bukit Timah Turf Club). These sessions led by architectural historian Dr. Wong Yunn Chii, veteran architect Tay Kheng Soon, conservation specialist Mr. Ho Weng Hin of Studio Lapis, and Dr. Nikhil Joshi of DOA (Director of the Field School) took participants through the socio-political and historical context which had driven the inception and design of these buildings and their significance amongst Singapore’s built landscape. Most importantly, they highlighted the challenges and steps in conserving and managing these historic sites.
In addition to the site visits, the participants also attended a series of lectures by renowned individuals in their field designed to provide them with a working knowledge of the background of the current state of and challenges facing conservation, especially concerning the twentieth-century buildings within Southeast Asia’s context. Architects Chan Hui Min and David Liauw of DP Architects, Dr. Malone-Lee Lai Choo of NUS Institute of Real Estate & Urban Studies, and Dr. Hossein Rezai-Jorabi of Web Structures were among the many guest speakers to have presented. Key topics included policies on incentivizing architectural conservation, considerations towards the economics of heritage conservation alongside the building’s historical, architectural, and socio-cultural legacy, and, most crucially, highlighting the push for sustainability in an age of continuous disruptions due to climate change. Overall, participants at the field school had the opportunity to reflect upon the state of conservation within their own country’s context and to learn from different disciplines to strengthen their capacity to conserve in the future.
The main event of the NUS-ASEAN Field School focused on examining the twentieth-century buildings against the larger global context, not just within a single nation. Guided by Dr. Jeff Cody of the Getty Conservation Institute, participants were introduced to the Twentieth-Century Historic Thematic Framework (GCI, 2021). This tool uses ten succinct themes to assess and define history to promote broad thinking about twentieth-century buildings and sites. As part of the field school’s closing event, presentations were held on the principal social, technological, political, and economic drivers of twentieth-century buildings representing the themes per GCI’s Thematic Framework. The participants also had their hand in narrating their findings in a Statement of Significance for each modern building. Overall, the participants were challenged to engage in different ways of thinking and considering what constitutes ‘modern’ heritage and how to sustain it for the present and future generations.
NUS-ASEAN Field School was a valuable experience for all. With the creation of dynamic knowledge exchange and peer learning amongst diverse groups of participants, it is hopeful that the impact of this field school will go far in the trajectories of the participants’ contributions to heritage conservation in the future.
