Brown Bag Fridays - October Series
Time: 12PM onwards[Updated on 9 November 2023]|
3 November 2023 |
Insights and takeaways - Visiting Prof Herbert Dreiseitl and Bettina Dreiseitl
Herbert Dreiseitl is an urban designer, landscape architect, water artist, interdisciplinary planner and Professor in Praxis. His focus is on creating Liveable Cities and Urban Landscapes around the world with a special hallmark on the inspiring and innovative use of water. Internationally renowned, Herbert has realized groundbreaking contemporary projects in the fields of climate resiliency, stormwater management, urban planning and landscape architecture like Berlin Potsdamer Platz with Renzo Piano, Tanner Springs Park in Portland, USA and the Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park in Singapore. He has founded Atelier Dreiseitl in 1980 now RSD, Ramboll Studio Dreiseitl and developed the “Liveable Cities Lab”.
Today, Herbert is an independent consultant for many cities and initiatives around the globe. His work integrates regenerative processes, demonstrating a portfolio of site-responsive interventions of community based urban planning and environmental sensitive engineering. Through a collaborative network, as Harvard GSD Loeb Fellow and regular Visiting Professor at NUS, Herbert and his wife Bettina created Dreiseitl Consulting and are currently giving workshops and advice to many initiatives and cities to improve their projects with resiliency and regenerative frame conditions.
Bettina hails from a background in Landscape Ecology (Master's degree) and focuses on consulting cities and regions for future-oriented development and how to meet the needs of the residents. She is an expert in public and stakeholder involvement with a focus on environmental issues, landscape, and urban planning, as well as water-related topics such as water diplomacy. She also possesses 2 decades worth of experience in landscape planning and looking at how life quality and urban standards of living can be improved while being very sensitive to the genius loci and cultural circumstances and traditions.
17 November 2023 | Part I
Sharing by Professor Veera (Professor, Dept of Biological Sciences)
Prof Veera is course leader for Topics in Cities, together with Prof Dreiseitl. He has a wealth of experience, working on various projects and across the globe. Immediately after graduation, Veera worked at the oldest orchid garden, Mandai Orchid Garden, Singapore, before moving to Seychelles to work there. He came back to Singapore to landscape most of the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari as the Assistant Curator of Horticulture. A stint in two of the largest private sector landscape companies followed, for a period of 7 years. He then created the landscapes at Changi Airport as the Curator of Horticulture before joining the National Parks Board (NParks) as an Assistant Director.
Few years ago, Veera founded Greenology which specialises in design and build, Vertical Greening, Roof Greening, Rain Gardens and Bioswales. He has developed the Greenology Vertical Greenery (GVG), a Made in Singapore brand, sustainable vertical urban greening solution, that is extensively used locally and abroad including in Australia, Indonesia, Europe, Japan and India. The GVG system is also the only Greenwall system in Singapore and probably the only fire-rated system in the world. He is also developing Vertical Aquaponics and Vertical Urban Farming systems in small spaces to address food security issues in cities. Greenology has also developed its proprietary LED Plant Grow Lights for this purpose.
In academia, Veera has also lectured for the Master’s degree course in Landscape Architecture, the Institute of Engineers (IES), and PUB’s ABC Waterways Certification programme. He continues to offer consultancy services to zoos, eco parks, night safaris, botanic gardens and urban farms.
An intergenerational approach for resilient and liveable cities - how do we foster an environment which encourages intergenerational connections, where multi-generations may thrive which would lead to stronger ties. The sharing would provide a context on intergenerational approach focusing on developments in Singapore for further discussion. Could we harness the power of stronger intergenerational communities to encourage initiatives and interventions that can improve the liveability of our city? Perhaps, lesser people would fall through the cracks and exist within the interstitials of our city, which would also strengthen our social compact and allow for better planning and governance.
17 November 2023 | Part I
Dynamic Socio-Ecological Model for Place Attachment in the Context of Displacement. by Ms. Nirit Rivka Ellenbogen (PhD candidate, Dept of Architecture; Supervisor, Dr Zdravko Trivic)
Sharing by Professor Veera (Professor, Dept of Biological Sciences)
Place attachment is typically described as the emotional bond people form with specific places, which develops over time. Typically, it is perceived as a static, change-resistant phenomenon and as obstacle for human mobility.
However, does place attachment change in the context of increased mobility? Such as the case of repeated displacement in Singapore, from the Kampong Clearance to Selective En-bloc Scheme (SERS) and the expected Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme (VERS)? How do communities respond and adapt to such change? How to capture dynamic changes in place attachment, spatially and over time? How to ensure communities’ resilience and sustainable bonds with places?
In response, Nirit’s PhD thesis aims to propose a conceptual model to examine the dynamic production and reproduction of place attachment in the context of disruption with displacement as extreme case of change, while emphasizing the role of place and time. The study examines place attachment among Tanglin Halt community affected by repeated SERS projects.
This presentation will share briefly the method and initial findings of ongoing 2020-2023-longitudinal fieldwork and why a longitudinal study is needed. Initial findings indicate the complexity of the displacement as lived experience, the dynamic reproduction of place attachment, and the residents’ strategies to cope with the change. Potential implications in informing contributors to smoother displacement processes, will be discussed.
Nirit Rivka Ellenbogen grew up in Israel, and has lived in Singapore, in two periods, for more than 25 years. Nirit is an Architect (Technion, Institute of Technology, Israel, 1991), a former senior lecturer at Nanyang Polytechnic, School of Design (Singapore, 2010-2019), and currently a PhD student at National University of Singapore, College of Design and Engineering, Department of Architecture. Her research focus is on Place Attachment among Singapore Public Housing Communities in the context of Urban Regeneration/Redevelopment processes.
24 November 2023 |
Sharing on high-resolution modelling and simulation by Assoc Adjunct Prof Poh Hee Joo (Dept of the Built Environment, and Principal Scientist/Domain Specialist (Built Environment) at A*STAR Institute of High Performance Computing)
Dr Poh Hee Joo is Principal Scientist/Domain Specialist (Built Environment) at A*STAR Institute of High Performance Computing and is the pioneer adjunct lecturer for BCA Green Mark Professional course module for CFD Modelling for Natural Ventilated Buildings. He has over 20 years of work experience in CFD research and consultancy jobs mainly focusing on Urban Physics; Environmental Health and Safety; and Building Performance and Sustainability. In 2014, he was nominated by the Ministry of National Development (MND) to be honoured as a World Cities Summit Young Leader in recognition of his contribution to the field of urban liveability and sustainability in Singapore. He has been invited as regular speaker at various agency events such as BCA International Green Building Conference (IGBC), MND Urban Sustainability R&D Congress and NEA Distinguished Speakers Forum to promote research focus on Urban Environmental Modelling and Sustainable Cities in Singapore.