This study is a condensed view of the work produced by the 4th year students who participated in the 13 week Sustainable Design Studio hosted by Singapore University of Technology and Design.

The studio “New Sustainable Housing Mass” proposes to explore and experiment, in a complete design project, the new typologies and structures dedicated to life in dense tropical conditions. Observation and modelling being the key words that structure the different stages of this studio.

During the semester, students were invited to challenge and elaborate new types of high density sustainable housing projects in the dynamic district of Bedok New Town in Singapore. Close to an MRT station and an important intersection of green paths, this undeveloped urban plot provides all the necessary complexity and visibility to allow the development of an interesting and unique sustainable housing project.

In a playful and abstract approach, each exercise composing the studio aimed to raise various concerns and to open multiple possibilities of answers for new types of green housing masses.

The studio took the students through 4 main exercises, essentially based on the study and analysis of the building mass and void through model-making and supported by analytical sketches, diagrams and graphics.

In a preliminary phase, students were sent to the site of their project; this essential stage has permitted them to take a step directly into the context of their future work, helping them to better understand the advantages and constraints they will be facing along the semester and also highlighting the environmental and social particularities at stake in their project.