Tan Beng Kiang

Tan Beng Kiang

Fellow

I believe empathy is the seed for a good designer. As an educator, I hope to groom students to become socially conscious, compassionate change makers with empathy, to create a better world.

Biodata

TAN Beng Kiang is Associate Professor and former Deputy Head at the Department of Architecture, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore. She is an academic, award-winning educator and designer. As a registered architect, she has rich experience in both the public and private sectors prior to joining NUS. She served as a council member of the Singapore Institute of Architects and currently sits on various technical and advisory committees. As a strong advocate of participatory community design, she teaches community-centric design modules and leads students in service learning projects in Singapore and Southeast Asia. Her teaching and research interests are in Participatory Community Design and Planning, Design for Aging, Socially and Environmentally Sustainable Housing and Learning Environments. She is an active conference speaker and reviewer. Her publications are in journals, books and conference proceedings including the Higher Education Campus Conference. She holds a Doctorate of Design (Harvard University), Master of Architecture (UCLA) and Bachelor of Architecture Honours (NUS).

Being a part of the Teaching Academy…

I am honoured to be inducted into the Teaching Academy and look forward to learning from fellow members. I am excited to share my experience in modules and project work involving community engagement, stakeholder collaboration and contribute to better the learning experience of NUS students.

Teaching Awards / Accolades

  • SDE Teaching Excellence Award (2011 to 2016)
  • Pacific Rim Award for Excellence in Public Interest Design (2018)
  • Exhibition of Ah Ma Drink Stall project at Design for the Common Good Exhibition, USA (2022)
  • Exhibition of student projects “Building Lives Through Design” at Archifest (2020)
  • Exhibition of Smile Village projects at Pacific Rim and SEED Awards, Singapore (2018)
  • Exhibition of Rail Corridor student project at Architecture Biennale 2016, Venice, Italy (2016)
  • HDB Quality Partners Award for research project (2014)