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In addition to SILA’s 6th Student Design Awards, SILA launched the Landscape Architects Future (LA Future) initiative and the SILA-NTUC Masterclass Series to nurture budding landscape architects
Representing the landscape architectural professionals in Singapore, the Singapore Institute of Landscape Architects (SILA) is grooming the future of the profession early on through social and hands-on engagements beyond the classroom setting, and cultivating in the young a culture of giving back to the community as well as the profession. To further develop these young talents, SILA is taking a holistic approach to help them grow in terms of creativity and technicalities.
6TH SILA STUDENT DESIGN AWARDS (SDA)
To celebrate creativity and the works of future landscape architects, SILA hosted its 6th Student Design Awards (SDA) this evening, which was held in conjunction with Archifest 2016.
This year, SILA received 77 student entries from countries like Australia, Hong Kong, USA, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, Thailand, India, Taiwan and Singapore. 46 were from local and international universities while 31 were from local polytechnics. After two rounds of judging, 29 entries were awarded the Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Merit prizes across four categories – Best Design Showcase, Planting Design, Outstanding Graphic Presentation, and Outstanding Contextual Analysis and Investigations. For more information on the awardees, please refer to Annex A.
“Tonight, is not only the celebration of the students’ achievements, but also a platform to connect the professional body with the educational institutions and the students of landscape architecture. With the ground up movement of LA Future, I believe it will help empower young landscape architects to learn, network and contribute early in their career paths”, commented Mr Ronnie Tan, President of SILA.
LAUNCH OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS FUTURE (LA FUTURE)
To groom the future of the profession early on, SILA kickstarted the Landscape Architects Future (LA Future) initiative. Officially launched by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) Secretary-General, Mr Chan Chun Sing, at the 6th SILA SDA, LA Future is a ground-up community comprising SILA graduates and student members. The initiative aims to help educate, provide networking opportunities, contribute to and raise awareness about the profession and help with the professional development of landscape architects.
Helmed by student representatives from Temasek Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and National University of Singapore as well as practicing graduate landscape architects, LA Future will enable students and young landscape architects to connect with experienced practitioners. This will help budding talents expand their network and increase their wealth of knowledge regarding the profession.
In addition, the community also hopes to raise awareness about landscape architects amongst prospective employers and the public. To do so, the community will organise a variety of events including networking sessions, award presentations and social gatherings to reach out to the larger community.
LA Future will also play their part to support the professional development of landscape architects. Via SILA, landscape architects can get accredited through the Landscape Architects Accreditation Programme. Futuremore, they can also attend trainings courses and masterclasses to help them upskill and remain ahead of the latest industry trends.
LAUNCH OF SILA-NTUC MASTERCLASS SERIES
One such training initiative is the SILA-NTUC Masterclass Series. In line with LA Future, SILA is partnering NTUC U Associate and NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) to launch a series of Masterclasses. Jointly organised by the three parties, the quarterly SILA-NTUC Masterclass will benefit students, graduates, accredited landscape architects, affiliate members, vendors and architects from the landscape profession.
SILA-NTUC Masterclasses will complement the existing professional development programmes and meet the specific needs of the profession. Some of the topics that will be covered include biodiversity and conservation through landscape architecture design; Building Information Modelling (BIM) for landscape architects; application of disruptive geospatial technologies (use of drones); and the Active, Beautiful, and Clean (ABC) Waters Programme launched by the Public Utilities Board. The first Masterclass of the series will commence in the first quarter of 2017.
Mr Vivek Kumar, Director of NTUC U Associate said, “As a niche profession, we want to help landscape architects gain valuable cross-sectoral knowledge and skillsets by leveraging the U Associate ecosystem. We hope that through the partnership with U Associate, we can help strengthen their development and networking opportunities not only within the landscape architecture but also with the built environment industry.”
Mr Ronnie Tan, President of SILA added, “SILA’s partnership with U Associate will enable the Institute to leverage U Associate’s strong network and suite of programmes to grow the professional body, specifically in enhancing our learning and development initiatives.”
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