Podcast Episode

Public Housing & Raising A Child in Singapore (feat. Shanty) | S3E4

Always wondered what an Architects does for public housing projects? Hear from Shanty, my colleague from Surbana Jurong in this episode.

May 4, 2024

In this episode, Shanty and I discuss the following:
- Her work in public housing projects at Surbana Jurong (SJ)
- Challenges faced at the start of her career at SJ and how she overcame them - The importance of having a mentor in your office
- Her views on the increasing complexities of public housing projects in Singapore
- Her views on the implementation of sky gardens in a public housing block (some people love it some people don't)
- Things that Shanty did not expect residents in public housing blocks in Singapore think about
- Why most Architects do not like to design linkways across a junction and only from the development to the nearest bus stop
- What Shanty feels are soft skills that an Architect needs to have
- Her experiences of working on competitions during COVID - How Shanty juggles her work and personal committments
- "Maybe I should find a hobby!"
- The importance of communication and understanding with your kids when you are a working Architect
- "Architects should be more _______."
- "Residents in Singapore should be less _______."
- "Shanty's secret skill is ________."
- Her aspirations for the upcoming years.
- The differences of public housing design in Singapore vs Indonesia
- Her thesis during her masters in Bartlett.
- Whether she is keen on working together on an architecture project with her architect husband.
- Any advice she has for fresh architecture graduates and young architects.
- Her view on the most underated skill an Architects needs to have.

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ABOUT SHANTY

Graduated from Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia, Shanty took up the challenge to work in Singapore to broaden her knowledge about architecture. It continued by taking up a degree in urban design from Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London. Currently, she holds a position as Principal Architect at Surbana Jurong Pte. Ltd with 15 years of experience, mainly focusing on designing holistic public housing development in Singapore. She participated in a collaborative R&D initiative in 2014, reimagining and projecting the concept of vertical living in cities for the year 2050, which gave her the opportunity to join a business visit to Tokyo, Japan. During the visit, together with the team, she presented the proposal to the students and lecturer of architecture department at University of Tokyo as well as to the architects and management level of Nihon Sekkei. The initiative was eventually published during World Architecture Festival 2015 with the title Project 2050. In 2021, She was invited as a speaker to share about public housing to architecture students of Calvin Institute of Technology, Jakarta and subsequently being invited as speaker at events held by Indonesian Institute of Architects (IAI) , the likeness of Singapore Institute of Architects (SIA).

About the show

Architecture Siol! is a podcast from Gabriel Chek featuring Stories, Issues, Opportunities, Learnings within Architecture.

Tune in as Gabriel chats with fellow architects, designers and students to discover more about them and their ‘badass’ work in the architectural industry in Singapore and beyond.

siol - Singaporean slang (Singlish). Commonly used at the end of a sentence to emphasize the 'badass' qualities of someone/something.

If you would like to join me as a podcast guest, feel free to contact me.

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