Teaching & Student Photos

bialasiewicz/elements.envato.com

Responsibilities

Coordinator: ARC3600 Environmental Physics 1 (B.Sc. Arch, Y1), 2020 - present

Coordinator: ARC5630 Sustainable Development Issues (Master of Architecture, Y4), 2011-present

Coordinator: URB5101 Sustainable & Tropical Development Principles (Master of Tropical Urban Design, Y1), 2019-2020
Assistant: Architectural Design Studios (Master of Architecture, Y4), 2017-2019

Coordinator: ARC4502 Energy and Architecture (Master of Architecture, Y5), 2014-2016

Assistant: Architectural Design Studios (B.Sc. Arch., Y2), 2002-2016

Coordinator: History and Theory of Architecture - From Ancient to Modern (B.Sc. Arch, Y1 & Y2), 2003-2013

Teaching Philosophy

"I want to inspire my students and make them pledge and promise for the environment. I want them to look at me and say, “I will do my part to protect the Earth. I will take care of and clean up the environment. I will be kind to and respect all life forms. I will never litter. I will always recycle. I will reduce the waste I create. I will reuse what I can. I will conserve energy and water. I will encourage others to conserve our natural resources."

I spent ten years of my life living in Puchong, Selangor with no access to efficient public transports, nor any nearby recreational parks or proper facilities for me and my children to walk and cycle safely. I experienced floods almost every year and suffered from stress due to endless traffic congestion and air pollution almost every day. I may have supported sustainable actions and lifestyle, but I felt hopeless when I was surrounded by a throw-away society that cared less about the environment.

Puchong, Selangor

However, my life changed when my family and I lived in Adelaide and travelled to Melbourne and Perth, Australia's three world's most livable cities. I also travelled to beautiful places in the greenest cities in the world, like Singapore, London, Amsterdam and Seoul. As I travelled, I realized that I enjoy the beauty of nature and that settlements should be provided without sacrificing functioning natural ecosystems. I also learned that sustainable development requires a change of attitudes among design professionals and all other citizens. Since then, I have become passionate about environmental issues, and sustainable development has become my biggest interest.

When I came back to UPM, I knew that I must initiate change in how architecture students are taught. Many architecture students regarded personal initiatives towards sustainability as worthless: a drop in the ocean that will change very little globally. They did not have the ethical imperative to be sustainable. When it came to architecture design, they placed aesthetics over ethics (i.e. architecture of form and beauty above one of environmental and social value). They regarded sustainable design as just a style rather than a moral obligation. Even if they produced sustainable design at the beginning, they seldom sustained their passion throughout their learning and practising years. It became obvious to me that teaching "how" alone without the element of "why" is not enough to develop responsible future architects with a strong personal vision for sustainability. In fact, one of the major barriers to achieving sustainable development solutions is widespread ignorance about the issues that affect sustainability.

Melbourne, Australia

Seoul, South Korea

To be an outstanding educator, I strive to be a great agent of change. I uphold a teaching philosophy that instils positive personal attitudes and ethical positions to enable them to drive change towards a sustainable future. What makes me different is that I show them why it is important to address issues of sustainability and environmental protection, as well as global climate change and why it is important to be an environmentally literate building professional.

Specifically, I provide them with an overview of sustainability, including issues not directly related to architecture or the built environment and encourage them to consider their responsibilities as individuals and professionals. In my teaching, I show them real-life environmental disasters and negative social impacts as the result of greediness and irresponsible attitudes amongst certain building professionals and developers. I also demonstrate examples of what constitutes a sustainable built environment or lifestyle and how to live in a sustainable manner. I break their unsustainable lifestyle habits by making lifestyle choices more conscious of inspiring positive action. I also engage them in various class activities to inculcate environmental awareness, demonstrate their understanding, and enable an exchange of information and ideas between them.

My ambition is to generate future architects who see sustainable living and architectural design as a moral obligation and the only ethically acceptable way to act. I always motivate my students that "individually, we are a drop. Together we are an ocean." I always motivate myself that "the small changes I make will create a big difference because when I change, everything changes." When my students understand and experience solutions, I help to build a critical mass of people that can make the difference our world needs.

"The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education."

Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The exemplary teacher instructs in realities and suggests dreams."

John F. Kennedy