Koon Wee

H. Koon Wee is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Faculty Member of the Hong Kong University Advanced Cultural Leadership Program. He served as the former Academic Director of the HKU Shanghai Study Center and Adjunct Professor of the New York University Shanghai Program. He taught previously as a visiting critic and teaching fellow at Pratt Institute and Yale University. At HKU, Koon teaches classes in urbanism, memory and identity, globalisation, and architectural design. As a registered architect and founding principal of art and architecture practice SKEW Collaborative, Koon gained a number of awards and recognitions from the Asia Pacific Design Center, Condé Nast, Architectural Record Magazine (China), ID Magazine, Modern Media Group, Design Singapore Council, National Arts Council, and Lee Foundation. Koon supports government and non-profit bodies in a number of advisory roles, including the Leaders in Urban Governance Program at the Singapore Centre for Liveable Cities, the Haiti International University Center, Orphans International, AA Asia, Asian Urban Lab, and Design Singapore Council.

H. Koon Wee’s research focuses on the sociopolitical and urban effects of industrialization and modernization in Asian cities in the 20th century, and the transnational formation of Asian modernism in architecture and urbanism. This knowledge connects with the experimental architectural practice SKEW Collaborative, with whom Koon had received a number of international architecture awards and accolades for the design of industrial buildings and campuses, such as Blueprint, Green Dot, LEAF, and the Chicago Athenaeum Awards. His recently authored and edited books include “Singapore Dreaming: Managing Utopia,” and “The Social Imperative in China: Architecture & the City.” Koon is the founding director of the HKU Cities in Asia Summer Program, and Assistant Professor at the Department of Architecture. He teaches core classes in urban history, globalization, politics of memory and identity, and architectural design.

Education

• Yale University
• The University of Western Australia
• National University of Singapore