Page 64 - Scholarship Guide Feb 2019

62 HE YUTIAN

“I am currently One of my favourite shows while growing up was a Anthropology. During another summer, eager to learn
about the regional differences in building techniques
cartoon titled “Ten Thousand Whys.” I looked forward
also working with to each episode’s unravelling of a question on top- and to get my hands dirty with construction work, I
various agencies ics ranging from the humanities to the sciences, and worked on typhoon-resilient building construction in
gleefully counted down to my mastery of the world’s
The Philippines. There, I discovered the boundless
and stakeholders knowledge once I hit the 10,000th episode. Though versatility of the coconut tree as a building material.

With an arsenal of cross-cultural and interdisci-
my childhood daydream of omniscience was quickly
on several street shattered when my parents gently informed me that plinary experiences in the built environment, I was
enhancement there were more than 10,000 whys on this planet ready to return to Singapore to begin my journey in
urban design with URA. In my present role, I oversee
(and only 446 episodes in the show), I continued to
projects, including be fascinated by multiple disciplines throughout my the planning of Museum Planning Area, which is the
schooling years. I enjoyed drawing, sculpting, read-
historic heart of the city centre. It’s home to numer-
pedestrianisation ing and writing as much as I loved to analyse systems, ous arts and heritage institutions, as well as the urban
green lung that is Fort Canning Park. I conduct simu-
recognise patterns and partake in hands-on projects.
and sidewalk This naturally led to my desire to study Architecture, lations of building form and massing as part of an iter-
widening, in a broad-based yet specialised course where I could ative design process, to test different parameters for
explore all of those interests.
developments that can encourage vibrant additions
In identifying a suitable potential career, I looked
order to create for organisations that work on a wide range of pro- to the city scape while maintaining contextuality and
sensitivity to the surroundings.
a more inviting fessional fields and provide opportunities for inter- As part of a wider planning intent to stitch to-
streetscape with disciplinary discourse. The Urban Redevelopment gether parts of our city into a larger arts, cultural and
heritage district, I am currently also working with
Authority (URA), Singapore’s land use planning and
public spaces conservation authority, was an intuitive fit. I hence various agencies and stakeholders on several street
took on a URA Overseas Undergraduate Scholarship
enhancement projects, including pedestrianisation
that everyone to study Architecture, with a double major in Visual and sidewalk widening, in order to create a more in-
viting streetscape with public spaces that everyone
Art and a minor in Anthropology, at Rice University in
can enjoy.” Houston, Texas. can enjoy.
2 3

My six years at Rice University were formative
and endowed me with a diverse array of experiences.
In the School of Architecture, I experimented with
prototypical designs focused on meeting the press-
ing needs of a changing world. I used expandable
buildings, disassembled historic sites, and portable
fabric architecture, in a variety of contexts from Hou-
ston to Rosario to Paris. The work at URA is varied, stimulating and satis-
Outside of the architecture studio, I sculpted with fying. As an organisation that has an overview of the
fire, paper, emergency blankets and a panoply of un- myriad forces that come together to shape a city, we
expected materials to create thought-provoking art in- are in a unique position of being able to identify syner-
He Yutian stallations peppered across the campus. A marriage gistic opportunities for collaboration and blur bound-
URA Scholarship
of my interests in anthropology and design led me to aries beyond the confines of field-specific discourse.
Age: 26 interview insect biologists on the subject of ant colo- It allows us to kick-start imaginative conversations
nies to derive insights on how underground spaces about how Singapore could be like in the future.
Attained: for humans could be reimagined.
Bachelor of Arts in In my free time, I also sought out interdisciplinary
Architecture and Visual Art, adventures. One of which was to work with civil engi-
Minor in Anthropology
Bachelor of Architecture neers to design and build a model of an earthquake-
resistant high-rise building that could survive shake 1 A site-specific art installation at the student-run
Now: table simulations of 9.1-magnitude earthquakes at Matchbox Gallery in Houston, Texas. He Yutian
Architect, Urban Design the annual Seismic Design Competition. on the extreme left.
(Central Area, North), Urban With URA scholarship’s support for summer
Redevelopment Authority 2 En route to the office with fellow colleagues
school programmes, I attended Semester At Sea’s during one of URA’s Cycle-To-Work days.
From: Summer Voyage, where I spent two months aboard
Rice University a ship that sailed and docked in the Mediterranean, 3 Preparing the foundation for a typhoon-resilient
(Houston, Texas) doing global comparative studies in Architecture and building in Tacloban City, The Philippines.