Under the auspices of the WELL • BEING Estate Festival held in Hong Kong in September 2024, I had the opportunity to chat with Eric Ho, co-founder of Architecture Commons and founder of Neighbourhood Innovation Lab (NIL) to learn about the power of co-creation in placemaking. One of NIL’s latest projects is the Lam Tsuen […]
Read More… from How Co-created Placemaking Can Enhance Climate Resilience and Well-being
Ouroboros is an ancient circular symbol of a snake/serpent or dragon eating its own tail, signifying variously infinity and the cycle of birth and death. It is one of the oldest mythical emblems in the world that represents fundamental concepts of life. Of this age-old never-ending ‘loop’, this entry seeks to present a modern interpretation […]
Jakarta, the largest metropolitan area in Indonesia, is among the world’s fastest-sinking cities. Due to massive groundwater extraction, its coastal areas experience land subsidence at an alarming rate of up to 15 centimetres/year.1 It has been predicted that around 90 per cent of North Jakarta could be submerged by 2050 if no counter-measures are taken, […]
Read More… from Coastal Reform: Muara Angke 2100 | FuturArc Prize 2024 Second Place
Of Muaragembong Estuary, the selected location upon which the proposal is based, the team described it as a prime example of what environmental historian Scott Gabriel Knowles calls a slow disaster. It has suffered from intensive salinisation due to nearly 50 years of anthropogenic landscape alterations, leading to a fresh water crisis. This area, where […]
Read More… from The Spatialization of Salt | FuturArc Prize 2024 Third Place
The following Main Feature presents FuturArc Prize (FAP) 2024 winning and merit entries, as well as the awardees. The 2024 cycle’s theme Architecture for Life After required entrants to propose architectural solutions within Asia for the continuation of life after either one or both of the following scenarios: Climate Destruction and/or Endings. Climate Destruction scenarios […]
Read More… from FuturArc Prize 2024: Architecture for Life After
In addressing the Endings scenario, the entry presents an idea that revolves around the theme of the cycle of life—it proposes a burial solution with an architectural scheme for a site located in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. The city’s over-1,000-year history has brought with it the effects of population expansion, environmental pollution and other […]
Read More… from Circulation of Life | FuturArc Prize 2024 Merit
Dong Nai, a province that borders Ho Chi Minh City, is known for its rich geological resources that include metallic and non-metallic minerals like quartz, sand, kaolin clay, limestone and granite.1,2 For over two decades since stone mining was permitted by the government in 2000, over 14,000 square kilometres of quarries have been established, measuring […]
Read More… from Reviving Mines: The Tan Cang Ecosystem | FuturArc Prize 2024 Merit
Sa Huynh in Central Vietnam is an ancient fishing port that has played a pivotal role in the region’s maritime trade. Currently, it is at the centre of the fishing community and is a source of livelihood for many households. In recent years, the place has become heavily polluted due to the accumulation of many […]
Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake and inland fishery in Southeast Asia, is a vital ecosystem and source of sustenance for many Cambodians. Situated downstream in the Mekong Basin, it has been bearing the brunt of global warming, resulting in droughts and dry spells that are increasingly frequent and severe.1 This not only reduces the […]
Read More… from The Commons Cooperative | FuturArc Prize 2024 Merit
Made up of a total 7,641 islands, the Philippines, with its distinctive archipelago geography, is considered one of the most environmentally vulnerable countries that is highly prone to natural disasters. Apart from being regularly affected by volcanic activities, landslides and floods, the Philippines sits astride the typhoon belt that is struck averagely by 20 cyclonic […]
Read More… from Living Traces, Leaving Traces | FuturArc Prize 2024 Merit
Sunken homes and a damaged coastline depict ‘life before’ at Timbulsloko Village, Indonesia, which is currently inundated due to mangrove logging, changes in productive ponds, climate crisis and the construction of a nearby seaport. As such, the coastal village has been consecutively sinking from early 2010s. Their mangrove forest has been severely reduced due to […]
Read More… from Mangrupuncture: A Tale of Coastal Remediation | FuturArc Prize 2024 Merit
Climate change was famously called a monster of our own making. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2019, which swiftly evolved into the most significant health problem of this century. The health and economic fallouts are well documented, particularly on already vulnerable families and communities. ⠀ For some people, staying at home posed threats […]
Read More… from The Symbiotic Relationship between Housing and Health
