#SILASpotlight: LA Future and Anna Yap
LA Future
To groom the future of the profession early on, the Singapore Institute of Landscape Architects (SILA) kickstarted the LA Future initiative. Officially launched by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) Secretary-General, Mr. Chan Chun Sing, at the 6th SILA Student Design Awards in 2016, LA Future is a ground-up community comprising mostly of SILA graduate and student members. This initiative aims to help educate, provide networking opportunities, contribute and raise awareness about the profession and help with the professional development of young landscape architects. LA Future further aspires to contribute by providing a platform for a comprehensive range of initiated programs and activities that will be of interest to the members and the larger design community.
Objectives
- To provide a platform for students from different institutions to get acquainted.
- To create a stage for students and related professionals to share and inspire in their professional development.
- To strengthen the platform for mentorship in landscape architecture and be the bridge between Students, Graduates and Landscape Professionals to smoothen the transition between study and practice.
- To create multiple networking opportunities between Students and Graduates with potential employers/
Some of the more prominent events organized by the team in the past 3 years included the IFLA 2018 Student Design Charrette and Competition, the first Landscape Architecture Week in Singapore in 2017 with a whole week of events and activities for the fraternity, quarterly sharing and networking sessions (LA Fridays), technical tours and last year, organized SILA’s first community service project in Malaysia (Build-with-Heart 1.0).
For the latest updates on their initiatives and future events, follow LA Future on Facebook and Instagram.
Delegate Feature: Anna Yap
LA Future is pioneered by Ms. Anna Yap who has been serving as a Council Member of SILA (Singapore Institute of Landscape Architects) since 2017. Her vision is for LA Future to serve as a catalyst between students and working professionals, bridging the gap between them while establishing an active landscape architecture community. As such, activities such as quarterly sharing and networking sessions, the annual SILA Student Design Awards and the variety of technical tours, are amongst programs that have been organized thus far. Through this, she hopes to make SILA more relevant to a wider community.
Anna graduated with a Master of Landscape Architecture from the National University of Singapore. After 3 years of architecture training, she chose to specialize in Landscape Architecture to pursue her passion. She is currently working as a Landscape Architect at Stephen Caffyn Landscape Design. During her early professional years, she supervised a major project – ‘Learning Forest @ Singapore Botanic Gardens’. Now, she is also an Adjunct Lecturer teaching in the Diploma of Landscape Architecture at Singapore Polytechnic with the hope to inspire and help the younger generation to understand and know the profession.
‘As a Landscape Architect, the most rewarding part is witnessing people and wildlife interacting within the spaces you have created, enjoying themselves and having a good time. :) ’
