Southeast Asia Building – May-June 2018

Work History of Dr Liu Thai Ker

Company: I.M. Pei

Designation: Architect

Number of years: 1965-1969

Company: Housing and Development Board

Designation: Chief Architect

Number of years: 1969-1979

Designation: Chief Executive Officer

Number of years: 1979-1989

Company: Urban Redevelopment Authority

Designation: Chief Executive Officer

Number of years: 1989-1992

Company: RSP Architects Planners and Engineers

Designation: Director

Number of years: 1992-2017

Company: Morrow Architects & Planners Pte Ltd

Designation: Chairman

Number of years: December 2017 to present

Currently Founding Chairman of Centre of the

advisory board of Centre for Liveable Cities in

Singapore since 2008. The Centre for Liveable

Cities is a knowledge centre created by the

Ministry of National Development and the Ministry

of the Environment and Water Resources in 2008,

to create and share knowledge on liveable and

sustainable cities.

Awards won by Dr Liu Thai Ker

1976 – National Day Award - Public Administration

Medal (Gold)

1985 – National Day Award - Meritorious Service

Medal

2001 – Singapore Institute of Architects Gold

Medal

2002 – LaSalle-SIA College Award for

Distinguished Service to Arts Education

2003 – Federation of Art Societies (Singapore) 10th

Anniversary Gold Medal

2009 – Outstanding Service Award, National

University of Singapore

2014 – Business China Excellence Award,

Singapore

2015 – National Day Award – The Distinguished

Service Order (DUBC)

Golden Jubilee Award, Design Singapore

Council

Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award,

Singapore Institute of Planners

2016 – Ministry of National Development

Dedicated Service Award

“To sum up my philosophy, either

in architecture design or planning,

it is: ‘form follows function follows

fun’. You create environment that

people enjoy – fun. Once you

know what functions you need to

include for people to enjoy, then

you create the form to incorporate

the functions. But unfortunately,

a strong tendency nowadays is

for architects and planners to

subscribe to ‘form follows fashion

follows fame’.”

Interview with Dr Liu Thai Ker ARCHITECT’S CORNER

MAY-JUNE 2018 SEAB 101