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Retail and Greening, it seems, have not integrated well; there are too few noteworthy Green malls in Asia. Faced with a dearth of submissions, the editorial team wondered why malls, shops and retail interiors are proving harder to Green. Is there not enough incentive for retailers to change their spots?
This said, there are signs of change. The trend towards ethical consumption—think free-range chickens in your local supermarket—tells us that not all buyers have the same priorities. Some retailers in the US—designing their outlets to be day lit—are hoping that occupant comfort will equal, over time, customer loyalty. Some retail chains in Europe are crafting retail space as an antidote to “modern urban life”. There are shopping precincts in Asia—Clark Quay, Singapore; Xintiandi, Shanghai—that are reconstituted pieces of urban history, where the ambling, unhurried quality of the outdoor public space adds to the bottom-line.
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FuturArc Competitions
Asia’s foremost Green building design competition is back. Register now for FuturArc Prize 2012.
If you have an exceptional Green built project, register now for the FuturArc Green Leadership Award 2012. |
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The FuturArc Interview
CHÉ WALL
Director, Lend Lease Sustainability Solutions
Ché Wall, Director of Lend Lease Sustainability Solutions, was founding Chairman of the World Green Building Council and co-founder of the Green Building Council of Australia. He has also chaired the Common Carbon Metric project, a collaborative effort of the United Nations Environment Programme (Sustainable Buildings & Climate Initiative), the World Green Building Council, and the Sustainable Building Alliance. In Singapore for the International Green Building Conference 2011, he spoke with FuturArc Editor-in-Chief Dr Nirmal Kishnani about the space between regulation and best practice, of the compelling need for collaboration between government and industry.
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Main Feature
MALL MADNESS
Writing from the capital of over-the-top consumption, Dubai, Vincent Lim probes the mind of shoppers, their willingness to surrender to the siren’s call of opulence and acquisition. Truth is, he tells us, malls are a reflection of ourselves, a mirror into our psyches. We want more; far more than we need. Why then should the mall—pandering to our appetites—settle for less? Let there be light, all 2,000 lux from halogen bulbs, at shop-front displays. Let there be cooling, indoor temperatures dragged down to well below what is necessary for comfort. Customers walking into an overcooled, over lit mall are—experts tell us—stimulated, happier, ready to swipe their credit cards.
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FuturArc Showcase
COCOONED COMFORT
Twentieth century inventor and visionary Buckminster Fuller, well known for coming up with the concept of geodesic domes, envisioned a broad, space-spanning envelope that encompassed a city to save energy and to protect its occupants against pollution. First unveiled at the Milan Triennale in 1954, it was a utopian idea then. Today, after more than 40 intervening years and advancement in technology, Parkview Green FangCaoDi pays homage to that vision and reinterprets it with the aim of setting a new benchmark for Green buildings in China.
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