William Ti Jr. Principal Architect of WTA Architecture and Design Studio
William Ti Jr. graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Master’s in Urban Design in 2012 and acquired his Bachelor’s in Architecture from the University of Santo Tomas in 2002. He is the principal architect and founder of WTA Architecture and Design Studio. In the 15 years of his professional career, he has worked on projects ranging from commercial and housing developments to bridges and stadiums. As the principal architect of WTA, he has been able to lead the firm in winning various awards and gaining global recognition. He is also the founder and director of Anthology Festival, Shelter Magazine and The Book Stop Project. William is a strong advocate of social architecture that promotes a more humanist and socially relevant practice of architecture. He believes that architecture is a vital component of nation building and considers stories and toys as crucial parts in the development of Architecture.
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In the modern society, public spaces play an important role. They function as incubation areas to foster social interactions, spaces for cultural practices, and places for humans to interact with nature. Such environments that benefit humanity and ecology are not easy to design. The architects, planners, and urban designers must have a certain level of advocacy and responsibility to take on and carry out such projects. To address this issue, we carry out this interview, hoping to better understand the motivation of these designers, their workflow, and their perspective. Along the way, we can also learn from their projects that they carried out in reality and learn how architecture can engage with people in a world where people are constantly bombarded with different challenges, such as accessibility issues or the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Change is the only constant. How can architecture overcome this?