‘As a child, I always enjoyed taking things apart and putting them together again, just to get to know all the inner workings and parts,’ says Gabrielle Liew. ‘Architecture is the same, being able to micro-analyse the workings of everything under the sun and put them together again in an unexpected way.’
The Singaporean recently graduated from her MArch course at the country’s National University with a highly praised final project that investigates global food production. ‘Despite urban agriculture being a widely discussed topic, I wanted to deconstruct it and twist it to create an extreme example of how we could achieve not just food self-sufficiency but also climate positivity for a country,’ she says.
Gabrielle Liew. Dream collaborators: Kengo Kuma; SANAA
Looking at the agricultural economy as both a victim of climate change as well as a culprit, Liew explores urban and architectural forms for a new infrastructure and system. Her design proposals span the micro and macro scale, using Singapore as a testbed for a model for global food production. ‘The climate-positive model not only tackles climate change and food security issues but also urban connectivity, land scarcity and quality of life,’ explains Liew.
The graduate feels passionate about social and environmental issues and believes that being involved in architecture gives her ‘a voice’ to make a difference. Liew is now working at the Singapore HQ of architecture studio Raglan Squire & Partners, and is looking forward to learning more about the daily life of working in the field.
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