LASALLE College of the Arts: Where incredible architecture and artistic talent meet

26 Nov 2018

Architecture is more than just the assembly of walls. The materials and construction of our daily environment can influence our psychological state.

In Singapore, nowhere is this more positively pronounced than LASALLE College of the Arts.

LASALLE’s unique McNally campus boasts some of the finest architecture on this island nation. Here, function is not sacrificed to form. The McNally Campus was constructed with the aim of providing a creative hotbed for diverse art forms to “coalesce and co-mingle” with the goal of inspiring students.

“With a strategic and central location in Singapore’s cultural district, our award-winning, open campus provides a magnificent space and inspirational setting for study and creative exchange,” said Professor Steve Dixon, President of LASALLE.

It’s easy to see why the McNally Campus has won several international architecture awards and is now a major landmark within the cityscape. Facilities here include a 1,500sq metre contemporary art exhibition and gallery space, the region’s first Theatre and Art Production Workshop and the Ngee Ann Kongsi Library, which houses an extensive specialist arts-related collection of publications in both hard copy and electronic formats.

Over at the Winstedt Campus, ample space and inspiring greenery support studio-based work and research. The comprehensive creative centre is where visual arts students complete their larger in-scale semester projects, aided by state-of-the-art facilities like the fully-equipped Fine Arts and Design Technical Workshops and two computer labs equipped with iMacs.

While many overlook the impact of architectural splendour, here, it cannot be denied. Research has shown that classroom learning environments, from lighting to temperature and classroom technology, positively influence student attitudes and satisfaction.

In short, design takes centre stage at LASALLE, starting from buildings with benefits that extend beyond the aesthetic to the pay-offs evinced in the success that students have achieved.

Eight award-winning schools

LASALLE is at the forefront of the contemporary arts scene in Singapore. Be it performing or visual arts, design or arts management; students and staff from each of its eight schools are shaping the arts scene locally and internationally. These are the highlights and awards they have achieved in recent years:

Source: LASALLE College of the Arts – School of Design Communication

School of Design Communication

Lee Jing Lin (BA(Hons) Design Communication, 2017) was awarded the Wood Pencil award at the 2018 D&AD Awards, reserved for the best in advertising and design from the year, for her art direction on Nike’s Hyper Court campaign.

D&AD has stimulated and celebrated creative excellence in commercial creativity, annually inviting 250 of the world’s greatest creative practitioners to judge the finest work that year. LASALLE students are regularly recognised as the crème de la crème in this annual award and winners are highly sought‐after.

School of Creative Industries

Inch Chua, who studied Arts Management at LASALLE, was one of six recipients of the Singapore Youth Award 2018. The award is the highest youth accolade for community contributions, acknowledging Inch’s mentoring work with aspiring young musicians and her role in the Community Action for the Rehabilitation of Ex-Offenders network, where she helped former offenders get back on their feet through song writing.

Source: LASALLE College of the Arts – School of Creative Industries

Puttnam School of Film & Animation

Boo Junfeng (BA(Hons) Film, 2009) became the youngest creative director for the National Day Parade in 2018 and the first full-time film-maker to take on the role. His psychological prison drama Apprentice was well received at film festivals the world over, winning the top accolade, the Grand Prix (Grand Prize), at the Fribourg International Film Festival last year.

School of Fashion

The honour for Designer of the Year 2017 by Men’s Folio, Singapore’s definitive guide to men’s fashion and culture, went to LASALLE alumnus Yong De Han. The former BA(Hons) Fashion Design & Textiles beat 60 other submissions with his collection Siapa Nama Kayu? (which translates to “What is your name?”), which drew inspiration from the traditional garments of Singapore’s multicultural forefathers.

McNally School of Fine Arts

Hilmi Johandi (MA Fine Arts, Class of 2018) took home Singapore’s Young Artist Award this year, which recognises promising young artists aged 35 years and below in the fields of literary arts, performing arts, visual arts and film. Hilmi’s artistic practice – which have been exhibited nationally and internationally – focuses on interventions that are associated within the domain of framing, fragmentation (deconstruction) and compression (reconstruction).

Source: LASALLE College of the Arts – McNally School of Fine Arts

School of Spatial and Product Design

Wong Yee Lin (BA(Hons) Interior Design) won Gold at the 2017 Asia Young Designer Award for her entry, In Drive-thru Cafe, which lets people with Personal Mobility Devices drive into a cafe to order food, collect it and then exit the space – all without having to leave their mobility devices.

School of Contemporary Music

Reuben Tan (Diploma in Music, 2016) won the Viewer’s Popularity Award at the 2015 Hong Kong Asian-Pop Music Festival Awards. It was the first time a Singaporean had ever won. Reuby, as he’s known, is also popular among fans of the Korean drama SPY, after his song, The Key to Her Heart, featured in an episode.

School of Dance & Theatre

By now, Benjamin Chow (BA(Hons) Acting, 2014) is a well-established theatre actor in Singapore. He made his professional debut as Lim Chin Siong in The LKY Musical, for which he won Best Supporting actor at the Life! Theatre Awards in 2016. He repeated this feat in 2018, winning for his role in Forbidden City: Portrait of an Empress staged by the Singapore Repertory Theatre.

Source: LASALLE College of the Arts – School of Dance & Theatre

Want to study where creativity, freedom, perspective and the arts matter most? Follow in the footsteps of these award-winning artists by joining LASALLE’s Open Day, 18-19 January 2019.

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