Biography
“ … beautifully defined
spaces, whether large
or small, urban or domestic,
can affect our emotions and
resonate with our senses.”
Rene Tan is the quintessential Renaissance man. He is an architect steeped in the intricacies of his craft, and yet equally fluent in other disciplines. Born in Malaysia, he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Music and Architecture from Yale, and his Master of Architecture from Princeton. His training in music, in particular, has been a potent influence in the way he approaches architecture at RT+Q, the firm he co-founded with T. K. Quek in 2003. Each project is an attempt to find a rhythm of space and a melody of proportion that seek to bring order to chaos – a favourite theme to which he returns time and again. Rene’s view of the world is a generous one. He serves as external school examiner and juror for the World Architecture Festival; he speaks at architectural symposiums, and has taught at the University of California, Berkeley, Syracuse University, and Hong Kong University.