PEOPLE

Principal

Born and raised in Singapore, Yong Ter's passion for architecture was discovered during his university years at the School of Architecture, National University of Singapore. Upon graduation, he sought apprenticeship with Mr. Tang Guan Bee for several years, before starting his practice, CHANG Architects, at the turn of this millennium.

In his early years of practice, he was one of the 20 architects to be selected by the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore to showcase the works of young and emerging architects in Singapore. It was published in 20 Under 45: A Selection of Works by Under-45 Singapore-registered architects.

In recent years, the practice has received several architectural awards. These include: The Singapore Institute of Architects Design Awards, Best Project Below $1Million Construction Cost, the President's Design Award, and Gold Medal for the Architects Regional Council of Asia (ARCASIA) Architecture Awards.

Yong Ter believes that architectural design is a work from the mind and heart. While rationality and logic could fulfill functional briefs and achieve pragmatic efficiencies, an intuitive, poetic, almost non-designed approach unlimits the limitations of rationalities, which resonates with the soul. Therefore, part of the design process also includes unlearning and forgetting, and self-discoveries of the basics/origin.