Kent Neo
Email: kneo556@aucklanduni.ac.nz
Lecturer, NAFA-Huddersfield University BA/MA programmes , 2006 – 2011
B. Arch (NUS), M. Arch (University of Adelaide), Postgraduate Dip in Higher Education (NTU)
Born in 1971, Kent K.W. Neo has been practicing as an architect since late 1990′s after graduating with a Bachelor of Architecture from the National University of Singapore. The early years of Kent’s working experience mainly focused on commercial residential design in Singapore and China, having won awards for the Singapore Chinese Swimming Club Recreational Wing and Far Eastern Bible College competition design.
In 2003, Kent took a sabbatical break from his position of senior architect to pursue a Master’s degree in Architectural Design, specialising in digital media at the University of Adelaide. He began experimenting on a series of digital improvisations on Toko Shinoda’s calligraphic grammars. Thereafter, he began to develop a non-Euclidean design language for urban objects based on calligraphic metaphors.
With the execution of ‘Softstroke Series’ in 2004, Kent documented his entire research on designing non-standard forms in digital media in a paper entitled ‘AARI–Analysis, Abstraction, Re-Invention and Integration’. With his proposal of a new design methodology in Non-Standard Architectures, Kent was invited to present his findings at the prestigious DCC conference at MIT in 2004. Based on the AARI methodology, ‘Strokehouse_01′ was completed in 2004. The design was based on a liveable house conceived in a continuous digital brush stroke.
Kent graduated with a Master of Architecture (Digital Media) in 2004 with high distinctions from the University of Adelaide, an institution that has produced a distinguished alumni of Singaporean architects comprising of the late president of Singapore Mr Ong Teng Cheong and urban planner Mr Liu Tai Ker. Upon his return to Singapore, he continued working on the ‘Softstroke Series’ whilst practicing as a design and visualization architect with Singapore’s visionary architect Mr Tay Kheng Soon from Akitek Tenggara. Kent joint Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts shortly after his first solo exhibition on digital art and architecture in September 2005. From 2006 to 2011, Kent was a full-time lecturer at Nanyang of Academy of Fine Arts lecturing on Singapore’s Design Scene, Visualisation and Design Methodologies for diploma, BA and MA courses in interior design.
Kent is currently on a study leave from NAFA pursuing a PhD research in digital architecture theory with the University of Auckland. The theoretical research on digital design methodology is envisaged to culminate into an exhibition of contemporary urban artefacts set in the digital-age in 2014.
Tutoring Statistics for 2010/2011:
Diploma elective: Singapore Arts Scene (Design history of Singapore 1819 – 2011) - 180 students
Diploma elective: 3D Max for design - 20 students
Diploma elective: Rhino for furniture design - 20 students
Bachelor of Arts (Interior design) - 32 students
Master of Arts (Spatial design) - 2 students
Links:
Online gallery of Calligraphic Architecture
Research on Chinese Historical Architecture in Singapore
Research Interests:
Migrant Chinese heritage and identity in Singapore
Metholodogies in digital art and architecture
Database of emergent materials for the built-environment in the tropical regions
Digital Architecture: a metaphoric approach (current PhD research in University of Auckland)
Architectural projects pre-2005
see http://dstroke.org/html/004.htm
Exhibitions & projects post -2005
1st solo exhibition – 2005, ‘Strokecity_2005′, Monsoonasia gallery, Singapore
Particle animation for stage effects – 2007, ‘Ice Nymph’, Esplanade, In collaboration with Lim Fei Shen
Joint exhibition – 2008, Asian Arts Festival, ‘Digital Tao Series’, Asian International Arts Festival, Hualian Unversity, Taiwan
Stage design, detailing & furniture styling – 2008. ‘New Asian Imaginations’, NAFA symposium
