designFUTURE Conference 2022

Now in its fourth edition, designFUTURE Conference 2022 convenes thought leaders to discuss issues and major design trends – Green, Well and Tech – that will define the future of our cities. Held on 2nd December 2022 at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), the conference will be an afternoon of unique insights and engaging discussions on:

• the intersections and synergies between sustainability and wellbeing
• what it may take to create green and low-carbon cities
• the necessary multidisciplinary urban responses for a resilient future, and
• the role of innovation and technology in shaping our future urbanscape.

Each a renowned expert of their respective domain, our distinguished speakers will deep dive into the themes of Green-Well-Tech and how the Built Environment can evolve to better meet the complex and compounding climate and humanitarian needs of today. Meet the speakers and moderator of this year’s designFUTURE Conference: 

Dr Emi Kiyota an Associate Professor at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and College of Design and Engineering at NUS and the Director (Program) of the Health District @ Queenstown. She is an environmental gerontologist with over 20 years of experience in designing and implementing person-centred care in long-term care facilities and hospitals globally. She contributes to international initiatives focused on improving the built environment for long-term care and aging services. She is the founder of Ibasho, dedicated to co-create socially integrated, sustainable communities that value their elders. Her current focus is on creating socially integrated and resilient cities where elders are engaged and able to actively participate in their communities.

Bjorn Low is a practicing urban farmer and a social changemaker. He is an Ashoka fellow, a young leader of the World Cities Summit and the co-founder of Edible Garden City, an urban farming social enterprise. Bjorn’s practice and research focuses on identifying the value that urban agriculture brings to the communities of highly dense and food import dependent cities such as Singapore. He has a keen interest on social ecology and how the rapidly aging population present a new opportunity for urban care farms to play a bigger role in the rejuvenation of cities.

Ar Seah Chee Huang is the CEO of DP Architects. He is a firm believer in purpose-driven architecture that synergises economic, environmental and social dynamics, to bring positive impact and delight to everyday life. His design pursuits include Singapore Sports Hub, Our Tampines Hub, Bukit Canberra and Punggol Regional Sports Centre – all pioneering models of integrated community, sports and lifestyle hubs in Singapore. His project, GoodLife! Makan, received the President’s Design Award 2020 for its progressive approach to senior care. An advocate of the architecture profession, Chee Huang led the fraternity as President of Singapore Institute of Architects from 2018 to 2020, to drive sustainable design, ethical and enterprising practices grounded in innovative and social causes. He partakes in the larger discourse of the built environment in design advisory panels and committees for various agencies and institutions.

Dr Bige Tunçer is an Associate Professor at the Architecture and Sustainable Design Pillar of Singapore University of Technology and Design, where she founded the Informed Design Lab. The lab’s research focuses on big-data-informed urban design and planning. She leads and participates in various large multidisciplinary research projects in evidence-informed design, IoT and big data. She was an assistant professor at TU Delft, a visiting professor at ETH Zurich and University of Pavia, and a visiting scholar at MIT. At SUTD, she leads and teaches Capstone, where student groups from various engineering directions and architecture work together on industry-defined and funded design projects.