Honourable Mansion: Architecture as Text; Text as Architecture

About the Programme:
Writer Daryl Li enters into conversation with conservation specialist Yeo Kang Shua, taking readers into the body of the newly released publication.

About the Books:
Honourable Mansion: The Invisible Hands Behind Singapore’s Last Traditional Teochew House traces the rich history of an iconic residence, the House of Tan Yeok Nee. The book explores the crafts, techniques, and recent restoration that have preserved the intricate fabric of the house. Drawing on interviews with craftsmen, conservation reports, and newly uncovered archival materials, Yeo Kang Shua reveals the cultural networks and material practices that sustained Teochew building traditions in Singapore. Carefully researched and designed with intent, this volume is an essential reference for students, conservators, and anyone interested in Singapore’s architectural and material heritage.

About the Author:
Yeo Kang Shua is Associate Professor and Hokkien Foundation Professor in Architectural Conservation at the Singapore University of Technology and Design. He specialises in Singapore and Southeast Asia’s architectural history and conservation, with special interest in the built heritage of Chinese diaspora. His previous books, 《粵海清廟：建築與歷史的對話》 / Wak Hai Cheng Bio: A Dialogue between Architecture and History (ASD Press, 2020) and Divine Custody: A History of Singapore’s Oldest Teochew Temple (NUS Press, 2021), explore Teochew religious architecture in Singapore. This book on the House of Tan Yeok Nee focuses on the residential tradition, offering a complementary perspective on Teochew architectural expression in the city-state.

About the Speaker:
Daryl Li is a writer of literary fiction and nonfiction. He is the author of two collections of essays—The Inventors (Rosetta Cultures, 2023) and Tenderly, Tenderly (Atomic Bohemian, 2024)—as well as a collection of short stories—Minor Illusions (Querencia Press, 2025). He was a resident writer in the 2024 International Writing Program at the University of Iowa. His work has been awarded the Golden Point Award, longlisted for the Australian Book Review Calibre Essay Prize and Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize, and also a finalist in the Georgia Review Prose Prize.