Invitation to

Heritage and Sustainable Urbanism: Case Studies from France, Singapore and the Region

5-7 May 2016, Singapore

Organised by:

Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC) The Embassy of France in Singapore

Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore (URA)

Supported by: National Heritage Board

Synopsis France has been fostering the policy to protect its national urban heritage since the beginning of the 19th century. They have shared knowledge and implemented demonstration projects in the 1980s and 1990s which has led to one of South-East Asia’s earliest and largest urban conservation programme in 1989. In Singapore, urban conservation efforts have contributed significantly to the quality and identity of the living environment, and conserved buildings have become an integral part of the urban landscape since conservation efforts started in the 1970s. Today, France continues to contribute expertise in the area of urban and heritage planning in the South-East Asian region and their approaches to restoring buildings as well as the use of heritage urban areas have evolved in tandem with the growing awareness for sustainability. Similarly, Singapore has continued to expand its conservation programme, which now covers over 7000 buildings in over 100 areas and this city-state has been used as one model to demonstrate the value of heritage urban environments in a modernizing city. This Symposium brings together conservation pioneers from France and Singapore, as well as current practitioners in the Region, to share their experiences in:

Implementing policies and managing approaches towards the protection, restoration and reuse of heritage buildings;

how heritage buildings play a crucial part in integrated urban planning and inclusive civic life; and

the sustainability lessons from heritage buildings and urban ensembles for now and the future.

Guest Speaker

Mr Didier REPELLIN (France) Chief Architect and Inspector General of Historic Monuments, French Republic

Key Speakers

Ms CHOU Mei (Singapore) Group Director, Conservation and Urban Design, Urban Redevelopment Authority

Mr HO Weng Hin (Singapore) Partner, Studio Lapis

Dr IMRAN bin Tajudeen (Singapore) Assistant Professor at the Department of Architecture, National University of Singapore

Ms KHOO Salma Nasution (Malaysia) Vice President and Immediate Past President, Penang Heritage Trust

Mrs KOH-LIM Wen Gin (Singapore) Former Chief Planner and Deputy Chief Executive, Urban Redevelopment Authority

Mrs Pamelia LEE (Singapore) Senior Tourism Consultant , Singapore Tourism Board

Mr Alfred PETER (France) Landscape Architect and Urban Planner

Dr Jason POMEROY (UK/Singapore) Founding Principal, Pomeroy Studio

Dr YEO Kang Shua (Singapore) Assistant Professor of Architectural History, Theory and Criticism, Singapore University of Technology and Design

Moderators

Mr Kelvin K.E. ANG

Director, Conservation Management, Urban Redevelopment Authority

Prof Lily KONG Provost and Lee Kong Chian Chair Professor of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University

(Please refer to Annex A for biographies of the speakers and moderators)

Programme Outline:

Date/Time Theme

5 May 2016 Thursday (PM) URA Centre 2pm to 6pm

Mr Didier REPELLIN ‘Overview and Current Trends in Policy, Protection and Restoration Approaches in France’

Dr YEO Kang Shua ‘Restoration and Sustaining Values – Similarities and Differences between the East and the West’

Mr HO Weng Hin ‘Restoration and Reuse – Case Studies of Singapore and the Region’

Ms CHOU Mei ‘Making Urban Heritage Accessible – 30 years of Evolution in Singapore’

6 May 2016 Friday (PM) URA Centre 2pm to 6pm

Mr Alfred PETER ‘Urban Heritage as Part of a Creative and Inclusive Urban Environment’

Dr IMRAN bin Tajudeen ‘Urban Heritage as a Source of History for Diverse Societies’

KHOO Salma Nasution ‘George Town World Heritage Site: Sustaining History, Heritage and Folkways’

Dr Jason POMEROY ‘Traditional Buildings and Urbanism – Lessons for Today and the Future’

7 May 2016 Saturday (AM) National Museum 9.30am to 1.30pm

Mr Didier REPELLIN ‘Lessons and Pointers for the Future in Heritage Preservation in France, Singapore and the Region’

Q&A moderated by Mr Kelvin K.E. Ang

Mrs KOH-LIM Wen Gin and Mrs Pamelia LEE ‘The Singapore Conservation Story, Lessons from the Past, its Current State and Prospects for the Future’

Panel discussion moderated by Dr Lily KONG

7 May 2016 (PM) 3.00pm to 5.30pm 6.00 pm to 8.00pm

Site Visits (Pre-registration required) 1: The Civic District of Empress Place and the Padang 2: Cathedral of the Good Shepherd 3: Kampong Glam Historic District

The proceedings will be conducted in English.

Site Visits: Special guided site visits to recently completed heritage restoration and planning projects will also be arranged, including the Empress Place Precinct (Including the Asian Civilisations Museum, Victoria Theatre & Memorial Hall, National Gallery and The Old Parliament House) and the Kampong Glam Historic District. Target Audience: The symposium will be of interest and relevance to Architects, Building Conservators, Civil Engineers, Planners, Public officials and Policy makers, Heritage and Cultural NGOs and Activists, Academics and Researchers. Registration and Costs: The symposium is FREE. Places for the symposium will be limited to 180 participants on a first-come-first-served basis. All site visits are limited to 30 participants on a first-come-first-served basis. Participants can register for any or for all 3 sessions and site visits on line as follows:

Symposium Session 1: 5 May

Register Here

Symposium Session 2: 6 May

Register Here

Keynote Public Lecture: 7 May

Register Here

Site Visit 1: The Civic District of Empress Place and the Padang

Register Here

Site Visit 2: Cathedral of the Good Shepherd Register Here

Site Visit 3: Kampong Glam Historic District Register Here

Continuing Professional Development: CPD points are currently being obtained from the Board of Architects, Professional Engineers Board and the Singapore Institute of Landscape Architects.

Venues: 5 & 6 May 2016 Urban Redevelopment Authority Centre Function Hall 45 Maxwell Road Singapore 160056 7 May 2016 National Museum Singapore Gallery Theatre 93 Stamford Road Singapore 178897 For more queries on registration, please email to: Ms Amanda NGIAM at: URA_Cons_Portal@ura.gov.sg

Annex A

Brief Biographies of Speakers:

Date/Time Speakers and Theme

5 May 2016 Thursday (PM) URA Centre 2pm to 6pm

Mr Didier REPELLIN

‘Overview and Current Trends in Policy, Protection and Restoration Approaches in France’

Mr Didier REPELLIN Chief Architect and Inspector General of Historic Monuments, French Republic Didier Repellin is a Chief Architect for Historic Monuments and since 1996 an Inspector General for Historic Monuments in France. He is one of seven consultants to the French Minister of Culture for major and difficult projects. As a preservation international consultant for heritage, he has led many international missions of experts whose severals in South-East Asia's countries : Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, China. In Singapore, since 1986, he has been a consultant for URA (Urban Redevelopment Authority) and STPB (Singapore Tourist Promotion Board). He was one of the early experts brought in to help Singapore’s early efforts to preserve our architectural heritage, working extensively on CHIJMES, particularly in the restoration and reuse of the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus. He also assisted with the conservation of Empress Place Building, and shop houses on Armenian Street. He always works with local contemporary architects, engineers, landscapers and sees heritage as a link between cultures and generations, past and future.

Dr YEO Kang Shua ‘Restoration and Sustaining Values – Similarities and Differences Between the East and the West’

Dr YEO Kang Shua Assistant Professor of Architectural History, Theory and Criticism Hokkien Huay Kuan Endowed Professorship (Architectural Conservation) Architecture and Sustainable Design Singapore University of Technology and Design Dr Yeo has worked on both research and conservation projects in Singapore and has published in both local and international journals on theory of architecture, conservation and history. Dr Yeo also had the privilege of being part of the team on three separate projects that won the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation: Award of Merit for Ngee Ann Kongsi’s Wak Hai Cheng Bio (Yueh Hai Ching Temple) in 2014, Award of Excellence for Singapore Lam Ann Association’s Hong San See Temple Restoration Project in 2010 and the inaugural heritage award Jury Commendation for Innovation for Yuhu Elementary School Project in Lijiang, China in 2005.

Mr HO Weng Hin

‘Restoration and Reuse – Case Studies of Singapore and the Region’

Mr HO Weng Hin Architectural Conservation Specialist Consultant Adjunct Senior Lecturer, NUS Architecture ICOMOS, AAHM Partner, STUDIO LAPIS Ho Weng Hin is Partner at Studio Lapis, an architectural conservation and research-editorial consultancy, and Adjunct Senior Lecturer at his alma mater, NUS Department of Architecture. He received his specialist postgraduate training in architectural conservation at the University of Genoa, Italy. Weng Hin is involved in major projects in Singapore and the region such as the adaptive re-use of former Beach Road Camp and Brittania Club, restoration of Capitol Theatre, and the former Burma Railways Headquarters in Yangon, Myanmar. He is a co-author of Our Modern Past, a groundbreaking volume on Singapore’s modern architectural heritage, and was formerly co-editor of Singapore Architect, the journal of the Singapore Institute of Architects.

Ms CHOU Mei ‘Making Urban Heritage Accessible – 30 Years of Evolution in Singapore’

Ms CHOU Mei Group Director, Conservation and Urban Design Urban Redevelopment Authority Ms Chou has been with URA since 2000 and has been involved in the planning and shaping of Singapore’s city centre. She received her training in Architecture at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London. She has furthered her professional development in recent years locally by spending 2 years in private practice and obtaining her qualification as a professional architect. Her portfolio in recent years has included driving and overseeing various projects in the city centre via the integration of land use, urban design and conservation.

Date/Time Theme

6 May 2016 Friday (PM) URA Centre 2pm to 6pm

Mr Alfred PETER ‘Urban Heritage as Part of a Creative and Inclusive Urban Environment’

Mr Alfred PETER Landscape Architect and Urban Planner Graduated from the ENSP (High National School of Landscaping) in Versailles in 1983, he is one of the most influential landscape architect in France. Alfred PETER has explored and achieved a great deal in areas such as public spaces, mobility and territorial development projects such as reinvention of “Le Mont St-Michel”in Normandy, the urban redevelopment of Grand Montpellier. His commissions are both public and private. His work has always adhered to the ideology of the sustainable city. He has named his studio the"laboratory for creative and festive ecology". Numerous articles published in specialist journals on the theme of the development of public spaces, on infrastructure and landscaping and on territorial development projects. He has been nominated in 2014 for the french “Grand Prix de l’Urbanisme”.

Dr IMRAN bin Tajudeen ‘Urban Heritage as a Source of History for Diverse Societies’

Dr IMRAN bin Tajudeen Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture, National University of Singapore Dr Imran researches vernacular urban heritage in Singapore and Southeast Asia, and its entanglement with colonial and nationalist representational tropes. He also works on historiographical questions in Southeast Asia's Indic and Islamic architecture and the intersection between professional practice and vernacular traditions in the colonial period. He has been active giving public talks on architectural and urban history, and in documentation work, notably as Main Consultant for the historic graves at Jalan Kubor, Kampung Gelam (2014). He was postdoctoral fellow at MIT's Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture (2009-2010) and the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) in Leiden, the Netherlands (2010-2011). His doctoral dissertation on the architecture, urban histories and heritage issues of Southeast Asian cities (National University of Singapore, 2009) won the International Convention of Asia Scholars Book Prize for Best Ph.D., Social Sciences in 2011. In 2015 he was awarded Most Promising New Civil Society Advocate by the Singapore Advocacy Awards.

Ms KHOO Salma Nasution ‘George Town World Heritage Site: Sustaining History, Heritage and Folkways’

Ms KHOO Salma Nasution Vice President and Immediate Past President, Penang Heritage Trust Ms Khoo Salma Nasution has been involved in Penang Heritage Trust since 1989, as Honorary Secretary, President and now Vice-President. She runs a publishing business, Areca Books, and a visitor attraction, the Sun Yat Sen Museum, both in the core zone of the George Town World Heritage Site. She has written several books, pioneering the cultural interpretation and mapping of the historic city.

Prof Jason POMEROY ‘Traditional Buildings and Urbanism – Lessons for Today and the Future’

Prof Jason POMEROY Founding Principal, Pomeroy Studio Prof Jason Pomeroy is an award-winning architect, academic, author and TV personality at the forefront of the sustainable built environment agenda. He graduated with Bachelor and Post-Graduate degrees from the Canterbury School of Architecture; received his Master’s degree from Cambridge University, and his PhD from the University of Westminster. He is the Founding Principal of Singapore - based sustainable urbanism, architecture, design and research firm Pomeroy Studio, and the author of ‘The Skycourt and Skygarden: Greening the Urban Habitat’ (2014) and ‘Idea House: Future Tropical Living Today’ (2011). He is also a special professor at the University of Nottingham and the Universita IUAV di Venezia. Jason also promotes the role and importance of architecture in society through his two television series on Singapore’s Channel NewsAsia, ‘City Re:Design’ and ‘City Time Traveller’.

Date/Time Theme

7 May 2016 Saturday (AM) National Museum 9.30am to 1.30pm

Mr Didier REPELLIN, ‘Lessons and Pointers for the Future in Heritage Preservation in France, Singapore and the Region’

Mr Kelvin K.E. ANG Moderator

Mr Kelvin K.E. ANG

Director, Conservation Management, Urban Redevelopment Authority Mr Ang was trained in architecture in the UK and has over a decade of experience on heritage and conservation matters in the URA. He was part of the Master Plan review in the early 2000s where a second phase of conservation gazette was carried out to protect local identity and examples of early Modernism in Singapore, such as those seen along Balestier Road, Syed Alwi Road and Hong Kong Street. Mr Ang was also the conservation consultant for the restoration of the NUS Baba House at 157 Neil Road. Since returning from his Masters in Sustainable Heritage, University College London, his portfolio has shifted towards education, enforcement and overseeing the place management of Kampong Glam Historic District.

Mrs KOH-LIM Wen Gin ‘The Singapore Conservation Story, Lessons from the Past, its Current State and Prospects for the Future’

Mrs KOH-LIM Wen Gin Former Chief Planner and Deputy Chief Executive, Urban Redevelopment Authority Mrs Koh has played a key role in shaping Singapore’s cityscape through her 34-year career with the URA, being involved in a variety of high quality landmark developments and spearheaded the nation’s building conservation programme covering more than 6,800 heritage buildings. For her achievements, Mrs Koh was presented the Meritorious Service Medal in 2009, the Public Administration Medal (Gold) in 2002 and the Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 1986.

Mrs Pamelia LEE ‘The Singapore Conservation Story, Lessons from the Past, its Current State and Prospects for the Future’

Mrs Pamelia LEE Senior Tourism Consultant, Singapore Tourism Board Mrs Lee has contributed 35 years to the Singapore Tourism Board, helming various senior positions and achieved numerous outstanding awards and recognition for her work in heritage conservation, urban development, tourism and environmental protection. She also served on the Board of Directors of the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore and the National Heritage Board.

Prof Lily KONG Moderator

Prof Lily KONG Provost and Lee Kong Chian Chair Professor of Social Sciences Singapore Management University Professor Lily Kong is Provost and Lee Kong Chian Chair Professor of Social Sciences at the Singapore Management University. Professor Kong is widely known for her research on religion, cultural policy and creative economy, urban heritage and conservation, and national identity. She is on editorial boards of international journals in her field, and is frequently invited as keynote speaker to conferences in her domain. An award-winning researcher and teacher, Professor Kong is also a member of Singapore’s Public Service Commission, and also serves on many local boards and committees, as well as internationally.

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