Singapore
Sarah Mineko Ichioka leads and advises places, communities, and organizations to chart paths toward thriving futures. She has been cited as “Singapore’s leading urbanist and strategist” (Memberful Design) and one of the “world’s top five women in design” (Filipino Times), while her book 'Flourish: Design Paradigms for Our Planetary Emergency' has been acclaimed as “the one book to read to understand your industry” (Financial Times), Through more than 20 years of professional contributions, Sarah has explored the intersections of cities, society and ecology within prominent international institutions of policy, culture and research including the City of New York, the London School of Economics, the Venice Biennale, Tate Modern, Singapore’s National Parks Board, the Seoul Biennale of Architecture & Urbanism, and as Director (Chief Executive) of The Architecture Foundation (UK), and Co-Director of the London Festival of Architecture. Sarah currently chairs the Advisory Board of Participate in Design (Singapore), is Vice Chair of the Board of the Klosters Forum (Switzerland), and serves on the International Advisory Board of the ArtScience Museum (Singapore). Her past board and jury roles include the Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction, Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, Water as Leverage for Resilient Cities Asia, and the European Prize for Urban Public Space. A widely-published author and public speaker, she has been recognized as a lifetime Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, one of the Global Public Interest Design 100, a World Cities Summit Young Leader, British Council / Clore Duffield Cultural Leadership International Fellow, Designing Cities for All Fellow of Pakhuis de Zwijger (Netherlands), and Treseder Fellow of the Melbourne School of Design (Australia).
Leader of Desire Lines, a cross-disciplinary practice guiding the transformation of places, communities, and organizations towards thriving futures. We work in constellation with a curated network of experts whose values match – and expertise complements – our own. This deliberate assembly allows us to craft solutions that singular organizations often cannot achieve. We work alongside leaders from the public, private and nonprofit sectors, serving as discerning guides in “building the road by walking” between current and desired conditions. Our work takes different forms depending on the context. This currently ranges from designing new programs to shift systems, developing strategies that activate places’ cultural and social potentials, and drawing out expressions of collective imagination. Desire Lines guide future-focused clients around the world, working from our base in Southeast Asia.
Initiated and led applied research project investigating new urban eco-villages in post-industrial American cities. Funded by a generous R&D grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, the project aimed to reveal the lessons that alternatively-financed, ecologically sensitive community architecture might offer globally for aspiring community-dwellers, built environment professionals and policymakers. Some key outcomes were exhibited and published as an official entry of the inaugural Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, an initiative of Seoul Metropolitan Government, South Korea.
Conceptualized and led mixed-methods research project investigating the social and well-being impacts of civic agricultural initiatives, setting Singapore's programs in international comparison with New York, London, Hong Kong, Sydney and Paris, and making key operational recommendations for enhancing existing initiatives. Findings presented to NParks leadership and at the Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore. CUGE Research is a branch in the Centre for Urban Greenery & Ecology and the National Parks Board of Singapore, under the aegis of the Ministry of National Development. It engages in multidisciplinary research on the greening and ecology of cities. Through its research programs, CUGE Research aims to enhance greenery planning, design and management in cities. CUGE Research works in close partnerships with other research institutions and agencies.
Chief executive of UK’s leading independent center for architecture and urbanism. Spearheaded the significant expansion of foundation’s international presence, earning critical acclaim for future-focused, cross-disciplinary, and socially engaged programs. Served as primary manager of relationships with foundation’s funders, trustees, cultural partners, elected officials, members of the press, and other senior stakeholders. Initiated and led comprehensive professionalization of foundation's governance, communications, operations and financial management systems. Led strategic planning, commissioning and delivery of a diverse portfolio of cultural and urban projects, including: - 140+ events, including collaborations with the Hong Kong + Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism, Aga Khan Award for Architecture, European Prize for Urban Public Space, and London Olympic Development Authority; - 25+ exhibitions, including first-ever solo shows of practices such as: Akihisa Hirata (Japan), Exploration Architecture (UK), and Superuse Studios (Netherlands); - 20+ competitions and commissions, including a strategic masterplan for an 8-hectare island in historic St Petersburg (Russia), and a series of creative business incubation sites tackling youth unemployment and high street decline in Outer London (UK); - 12 neighborhood-based education programs for young people; and - 8 international exchange programs connecting emerging architects from Great Britain with their peers in other countries including Norway, Denmark, Finland, Turkey, Australia and Poland.
Shared leadership model for multiple editions of city-wide festival, together with collaborators from New London Architecture, the Royal Institute of British Architects and the British Council. Served concurrently / in complement with full-time directorship of The Architecture Foundation.
Developed structure, generated program and managed on-the-ground delivery of festival. Acted as ambassador to partners including statutory bodies, local planning authorities, property developers, cultural institutions, and built environment professionals. Composed brief and reviewed submissions for independent projects, resulting in over 400 exhibitions and events. Initiated and serviced strategic funding relationship with the Arts Council of England. Supervised press strategy. Drafted and implemented marketing strategy. Prepared and delivered regular stakeholder briefings.