Wild [life] Nomad Bootcamp Toby Fong's Graduation Thesis Takes Top Honours in the 11th edition of Archiprix International

We are pleased to announce that our alumnus Toby Fong’s thesis, titled “Wild [life] Nomad Bootcamp_A Back-to-Basics Bootcamp for the Age of the Amateur,” from the M Arch 2021 class, has been selected as one of the six winners by the jury from a pool of 359 graduation projects submitted for the 11th edition of the Archiprix International competition.

The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the vulnerabilities of global supply chains. With the immobilization of workforces worldwide and restricted international borders, essential imports such as food, medicine, and daily necessities have faced severe disruptions. As a result, import-dependent Singapore finds itself in a precarious position, relying on limited stockpiles and seeking alternative food sources.

In response to this challenge, the “Wild [life] Nomad Bootcamp” presents a solution for Singapore’s import dependency. By rewilding Singapore and fostering self-sufficiency, it offers a way to address ongoing crises. This thesis advocates for the establishment of a Back-to-Basics Bootcamp as an intermediary zone between the north-west region and the city. Located in Northwest Singapore, this area represents the last remaining space where traditional farmlands and wild jungle intersect. Here, people and programs maintain a close relationship with the wilderness, drawing on indigenous, generational, and endangered knowledge of non-urban living to cultivate food and maintain productive lands. Singapore’s rewilding suggests production security as a shared responsibility between companies, the state and the individual.

Jury commendation: ”The project shows architecture as a process of transition and speculates on what this transition process could look like. With the suggestion of rewilding for food production security as a shared responsibility, the project conveys un-learning and re-learning with processual, indigenous, generational and endangered knowledge, mediating between urban and rural life as a reciprocal plant-architecture relationship.”

Archiprix International presents the best graduation projects selected by all universities worldwide in the fields of architecture, urban design and/or landscape architecture. This graduation work presents a wealth of ideas for a broad range of contemporary and future challenges.