[[ARCHITECTURE]] [[Buildings and [[Structures]]]] [[Cities]] [[Singapore]] [[Special]] [[Urbanism]] [[Works]] [[lim]] [[w]] [[wiki-architecture]] [[william]] # William S. W. Lim William Lim Siew Wai (Chinese: 林少偉; 19 July 1932 – 6 January 2023), commonly known as William S. W. Lim, was a Singaporean architect and conservationist. Some of his noted designs included the Tanglin Shopping Centre (1972), the People's Park Complex (1973), and the Golden Mile Complex (1973), all in Singapore. Lim wrote and lectured on a wide range of subjects relating to architecture, urbanism, and culture in Asia as well as on current issues relating to the postmodern, glocality, and social justice. He was the author of Asian Alterity: With Special Reference to Architecture and Urbanism through The Lens of Cultural Studies (2008), as well as editor of Asian Design Culture (2009) and co-editor of Non West Modernist Past (2011). Early life and education Lim was born on 19 July 1932 in British Hong Kong. His father was Richard Lim Chuan Hoe, a lawyer and deputy speaker during David Marshall's government. He graduated from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London in 1955, and continued his graduate studies at Harvard University's Department of City and Regional Planning in the United States in the late 1950s. He had briefly worked for a year in London at their County Council. After completing his studies at Harvard University, being a Fulbright Fellow, Lim returned to Singapore in 1957. In Singapore, he did his apprenticeship under James Ferrie. He told The Straits Times in 1997 that he never set out to be an architect, instead being a "process of elimination" as he "didn't want to become a lawyer, priest, teacher or doctor." Career In 1960, he founded the architecture firm Malayan Architects Co-Partnership (MAC) alongside Chan Voon Fee and Lim Chong Keat. The three of them knew each other after meeting at a seminar in the United Kingdom, and decided to form a firm together when they returned to Malaya. They decided against using the names of partners for their firm's name, instead choosing a group name after being inspired by The Architects Collaborative. In the early days of MAC, they were unable to get any jobs and designed furniture. One of the notable projects MAC did was in 1962, when they won a S$3,000 (US$980) prize after submitting a winning design of the to-be-built Trade Union House (present-day Singapore Conference Hall). The design was praised by law minister K. M. Byrne, and the Trade Union House was constructed at a cost of S$4 million. Other competitions they participated in included the Shopping Centre for Ipoh Municipality in 1960, University Malaya Great Hall and Administration Buildings in 1962, and the Negeri Sembilan State Mosque in 1963; they won first prize for the latter. In 1965, he was a founding member of the Singapore Planning and Urban Research Group (SPUR), alongside architects Tay Kheng Soon, Chee Soon Wah, Koh Seow Chuan, and Edward Wong. He served as its first chairman from 1966 to 1968. SPUR was known as an "independent think-tank" and frequently commented on issues with Singapore's urban planning from the 1960s to 1970s. In 1971, he attended the Second South Pacific Seminar in Fiji, where he presented a paper focusing on urbanisation and migration; he had previously presented papers at the 1967 Second Afro-Asia [[Housing]] Congress and at a 1970 UNESCO symposium. That same year, Lim founded architecture firm Design Partnership with Tay and Koh, after MAC dissolved due to incompatibility between members. With Design Partnership, Lim designed his most well known buildings, such as the People's Park Complex and Golden Mile Complex. In 1972, Lim was a part of the Design Partnership team who designed the People's Park Complex in Chinatown, which became known for its modern and brutalist architecture. It was constructed over a period of years in the 1970s, spreading over 103,740 square feet (9,638 m2) and costing S$40 million (US$16.41 million). The design for the People's Park Complex was the first to feature a multi-storeyed shopping centre with an atrium, which was subsequently repeated in other designs in Singapore. While designing the People's Park Complex, Lim also designed the Tanglin Shopping Centre, which was developed by S.K. Chee Co. for S$7.5 million (US$3.05 million) and opened in 1972. The following year, Lim designed the Golden Mile Complex with Tay and Gan Eng Oon, and it was completed in 1973. Originally known as the Woh Hup Complex, it was sixteen storeys tall and also incorporated brutalist architecture, further being described as a "vertical city" due to its mixed-use. In 1981, he started his own business. He was a founding member of the Singapore Heritage Society and a co-founder and chairman of Asian Urban Lab and President of the Architectural Association of Asia (AA Asia). He was conferred a Doctor of Architecture Honoris Causa by the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University, Australia, in 2002 and appointed Honorary Professor of LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts (Singapore) in 2005. Lim wrote and lectured on a wide range of subjects relating to architecture, urbanism, and culture in Asia as well as on current issues relating to the postmodern, glocality, and social justice. He was the author of Asian Alterity: With Special Reference to Architecture and Urbanism through The Lens of Cultural Studies (2008), as well as editor of Asian Design Culture (2009) and co-editor of Non West Modernist Past (2011). Personal life Lim was married to Lena Lim. The couple had two children, a son and a daughter. Lim died on 6 January 2023 at home in Holland Road in Singapore at age 90. He had suffered from COVID-19 in late-2022. Works Source(s): 1972 – Tanglin Shopping Centre, Singapore 1973 – People's Park Complex, Singapore 1973 – Golden Mile Complex, Singapore 1987 – Church of Our Saviour (conversion), Singapore 1999 – Marine Parade Community Building, Singapore 2000 – Gallery Hotel, Singapore Books Lim, William Siew Wai (1990). Cities for People : Reflections of a Southeast Asian Architect. Select Books. ISBN 981-00-1742-1. OCLC 851071649. Lim, William Siew Wai (1998). Contemporary [[Vernacular]] : Evoking Traditions in Asian Architecture. Select Books. ISBN 981-00-8370-X. OCLC 38464755. Lim, William Siew Wai (1998). Asian New Urbanism and Other Papers. Select Books. ISBN 981-4022-01-2. OCLC 231854270. Lim, William Siew Wai (2005). Asian Ethical Urbanism : A Radical Postmodern Perspective. World Scientific Pub. ISBN 981-256-313-X. OCLC 123237679. Lim, William Siew Wai (2008). Asian Alterity : With Special Reference to Architecture and Urbanism Through the Lens of Cultural Studies. World Scientific. ISBN 978-981-270-771-0. OCLC 845168576. Lim, William Siew Wai (2012). Incomplete Urbanism: A Critical Urban Strategy for Emerging Economies. World scientific. ISBN 978-981-4383-86-8. OCLC 800905300. Notes References External links William S. W. Lim on Infopedia Media related to William S. W. Lim at Wikimedia Commons