AIA Intl Singapore - Embed: A Journey in Embracing Culture in Sustainable and Wellness Design
Event Description
This talk explores embracing cultural appreciation as an aspirational goal in sustainable and wellness design. It reviews an approach to identify and embed cultural determinants to guide a broad range of designs across different communities. These “embeds” are measured against the Clients’ view of values. Through a visual presentation, this sharing aims to highlight a journey that at times can be both frustrating and enriching.
Speaker
Yew Kee Cheong, AIA, MSIA, Vice President, AIA International, Founding Principal, 2B Architects
Moderator: Segene Park, AIA, AIA Japan Chapter Representative, AIA International
CES: 1 LU/HSW for AIA Members
Yew Kee Cheong is an architect with more than 26 years of professional experience as an architect with passion in sustainable design and biophilic design. He is the Vice President for AIA International, having previously served as its Treasurer. As an AIA International Director, Yew Kee led the organization of the successful AIA IR 2018 Conference in Singapore.
He received his Master of Science in Sustainable Design from University of Nottingham, UK and Master of Architecture from University of Texas in Austin, USA. He worked in reputable firms in USA, Mexico and Singapore with projects over eight countries. Projects include master planning, residential, commercial mixed developments, cultural museums and experience in hospitality resorts and SG ABC water management design (WSUD equivalent).
Yew Kee is a licensed architect in Texas and in Singapore. He is Founding Principal of 2B ARCHITECTS and a Council Member of Singapore Institute of Architects, where is chair for Design Competition, co-chair for Design Think-Tank, and founding chair for Sustainability committee. Other key leaderships include member of SG Building and Construction Authority GreenMark Advisory, chair for taskforce Finishes in SG Green Building Council, and vice-chair for Committee on Green Sustainability of ARCASIA. Yew Kee also mentor students in university, speaks in public forum and acts as juror for design awards.
In 2013, Yew Kee received the Singapore Ministry of National Development Medallion for Distinguished Service.
Moderator: Segene Park is a Board Member of AIA International and chair of 2022 AIA International Spring Conference; AIA Japan Immediate Past President, Chair of Honorary Fellow Council, Strategic & Accreditation Committee, and Design Awards.
He was born in Seoul, Korea in 1973. He served the Defense Security Agency (DSA) Korea as a chief’s private assistant from 1998 to 2001, where he received the 2001 Excellence of Duty Award. After he was discharged from the DSA, he gained a bachelor's degree in architecture at University of Illinois at Chicago.
Segene joined the Annex 5 in Epstein as a project designer in 2003. The Annex 5 was Epstein's in-house architectural design studio dedicated to providing an architecturally sensitive clientele with a socially focused sense of design. His creativity and punctuality contributed to the team success; his designs brought the numerous awards and were published in Architectural Record, New York Times Online Edition, AIA Magazine, and other publications.
In 2007 he joined Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (SOM), Chicago, a global architectural, urban planning and engineering firm. His work extended to overseas projects on diverse scales. One of the remarkable works was his 354m-tower in Russia; it was exhibited in Venice Biennale in 2008 and introduced as a new form of Russian modern architecture of that time.
After marriage and relocation to Tokyo, Japan his interest in design further expanded into urban planning. He entered the department of Urban Design and Planning in Nikken Sekkei, Japan’s biggest and global design firm of around 3,000 employees, in 2015. There soon he started to lead Nikken’s urban planning team, continuing to win three major international architecture/masterplan competitions. Those projects were also published in ArchDaily and other major publications in Russia. In 2020 his team was again awarded with the Urban Awards for Best Comfort Class Complex for another architecture/urban planning project in Moscow.
So far, he has been involved with different kinds of worldwide projects on all scales: architectural designs for residential building, office, hotel, museum, convention center, high-rise building, super tall building, and sustainable building, landscape design and urban planning. In addition, Segene became a president of AIA Japan (AIAJ) in 2021 after serving over four years with AIAJ as a board member, secretary, and vice-president. He has been a member of the Cliff Dwellers (CD) in Chicago since 2005 and served as the CD Arts Foundation committee member in 2008 – 2012. The CD Arts Foundation’s mission is to support the arts by providing arts-oriented organizations and individuals with grants, by helping present performances at the Club, and by sponsoring an annual music competition. He was also a member of the Chicago Architectural Club in 2006 and the Lions Club International, Seoul, Korea in 1995.
Recently Segene was featured as one of the key speakers for United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, and the panelist for YLG Forum during ULI Asia Pacific Summit.
