Professor K. C. Lye was appointed Chair Professor and Head in September 1976. He was the first overseas-appointed Head who originated from the region. He also moved the Department of Architecture from its association with the Faculty of Engineering to an independent School of Architecture. In the following decades, master architects such as Buckminister Fuller, I.M. Pei, F. Maki, Richard Rogers, Harry Seidler, Charles Correa, Charles Jencks, B.V.Doshi, Paul Rudolph, K. Kurokawa and Toyo Ito visited and lectured at the Department.