22.9.09

I Tried

22 September 2009


Dear members of the External Review Panel,

I am Darryl Sim, the graduate representative from the Department of Architecture. Thank you for meeting my peers and I last Wednesday, it truly was an honour.

I wish to reiterate the points I made and hope that they will be received not as criticism but as opportunities to capitalise upon. In spite of the fact that I will graduate and depart from NUS come May next year, I am deeply concerned about the generations after me if nothing is done to improve the existing infrastructure.

The department is currently plagued by space constraints. With gradually increasing cohort sizes over the years (from approx. 90 first year students in 2005 to 160 in 2009) and the introduction of industrial design and landscape architecture, studio space has been gradually curtailed over the years with more students being forced to work from home. This diaspora jeopardises the quality of design research and the creative basis of an architecture school.

Furthermore, the studio is not synonymous with a seminar room and is as vital to an architecture student as a laboratory is to a chemist. We spend many hours in it and are greatly affected by the quality of its environment. The current infrastructure, by design, is heavily reliant on air conditioning and artificial lighting. As much as we would like to, it is impossible to switch off the air conditioning and work comfortably - the building is too deep in plan and natural ventilation is not an option when staff offices surround the perimeter of the building.

The contrast between my feedback and those of my colleagues from the engineering and business faculties was an interesting demonstration of how the department has slipped under the university administration's radar. It is curious that in light of the business school's plenty, a new building, slated for completion this year, was bestowed upon it back in 2007. Likewise, Law, Medicine, Dentistry and Music have either received or are in the process of receiving new infrastructural upgrades. With the upcoming second school of architecture in the fourth university endowed with better facilities, inaction to remedy the problems at the department could prove disadvantageous.

On behalf of the present and future students of the Department of Architecture at NUS, I would greatly appreciate it if you could include these thoughts in your final report to the university. Thank you for your time and the opportunity to present my feedback.


Regards,
Darryl Sim
Master of Architecture, Class of 2010
Department of Architecture


References:
The business school's new flagship building:
http://bschool.nus.edu.sg/AboutUs/NewMochtarRiadyBuilding.aspx


The Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music:
http://music.nus.edu.sg/04_facilities.html

Proposals for the new school of dentistry and medicine:
http://www.nuhs.edu.sg/campus_works.html


Opening of the Bukit Timah Campus, new home of the Law Faculty and the LKY School of Public Policy: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/286981/1/.html

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It's the first time I'm writing a letter to a Lord. I got a real shocker when I googled his profile after the meeting.

Now to sit, wait and pray.