Equity and Urban Interventions

Magazine / 3rd Quarter 2021

Equity and Urban Interventions

Dear FuturArc Readers,

There was a quote that I came across while doing this edition that moved me. “We don’t move through time, time moves through us.”

Sarah Lynn Rees, who spoke at the Living Cities Forum organised in Australia, shared this anecdotal quote told to her by an elder in her community—she is a descendant of the Plangermaireener and Trawlwoolway people of North-East Tasmania. She talked about the role of indigenous knowledge systems for creating an inclusive, sustainable built environment.

And as time moves through the making of this Cities issue, we see how it has played out as an underlying narrative in the stories covered. The tensions cities face that emerged from the inevitable tide of change—changes in climate; distribution of resources; geographical and physical landscapes; as well as urban fabric.

Dzung Do Nguyen (urban planner; CEO of enCity), Heather Banerd (urban and landscape designer), and Milinda Pathiraja (Co-founder of RAW) wrote a critique on Hoi An and Kandy respectively—about how these two World Heritage cities are struggling to balance the demand for development with preserving its natural and cultural assets; each having to contend with ‘urban progress’ against the backdrop of ecological resources intersecting with their colonial past and the crises-ridden present.

With a panel of professionals: Dr Yayat Supriatna (urban observer and lecturer); Sacha Schwarzkopf (Director at AECOM); Daniel Lim and Gan Yi Reng (placemaking experts from Think City), we discussed extensively issues of equity and how different urban interventions and solutions could address them now. Principal and Founding Partner of People’s Architecture Office James Shen’s Plugin systems, which have developed into several permutations as an answer to cities’ call for solutions, could serve as a way to literally connect the old with the new with little time and minimal wastage.

An indicator of a well-designed, well-planned city is by measure of its walkability—Richard Lambert, an expert in the field, discoursed at length on why Asian cities, which were historically designed for walking, need to bring back more walkable streets now. We also look at future and present projects that attempt to foster ties with city dwellers by their intent, impact and function.

Going back to where I began, in the same forum, Anupama Kundoo, India-born and Berlin-based architect, made a case for slow architecture—looking at time as a resource—saying, “There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”

In today’s climate, where most cities are hard hit by natural or man-made disasters, and with the disadvantaged or marginalised bearing the brunt of such blows, have we stopped to consider if what we are doing is effective and necessary or useless and excessive?

Drop us an email to let us know what you think.

Candice Lim
Editor-in-Chief

Table of Contents
1Q 2023: MOBILITY & TRANSPORT
THE FUTURARC INTERVIEW
Bryant Lu
Elisa Sutanudjaja

PROJECTS
Regeneration of Disused Transport Infrastructure
MRT Kota Station: Catalysing a Historic Node
Cakra Selaras Wahana (CSW): Articulating a Lost Roundabout
The Longest Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge in Flanders, Belgium
The Rise of PAREX in Manila: An Antithesis to Green Mobility
A Greener Future for September 23 Park

COMMENTARY
Climate Feature: Climate Targets and the Transportation Sector
Roads Reimagined
Cable Cars as Feasible Urban Transport Option?
Can Pune be a Case Study for Indian Cities to Improve Pedestrian Infrastructure?

HAPPENINGS
Can Indonesia accelerate the adoption of net zero buildings?
FuturArc Exchange and Exhibitions (FEX)
Products



Previous issues:

4Q 2022: YEAR-END ISSUE | POLICY VS PRACTICALITY, PRACTICE VS PRINCIPLES, PROGRESS VS PLANET
MAIN FEATURE
The Uneasy Relationship Between Architecture Practices and Labour

FUTURARC INTERVIEW
Swati Janu

PROJECTS
Private Houses, Public Good?
A Tale of Two Platinum Firsts
Huma Betang Umai: What Should a Future Governmental Palace Look Like?

COMMENTARY
Form Follows Political Paradigm: A Reflection on Indonesia’s New Capital City
Peak Heat: Learning from London’s Hottest Days
Land Reclamation in Asia: Is Eco-engineering Possible?





PHILIPPINE FOCUS
City Profile | Quezon City: Setting up an Infrastructure of Sustainability
Commentary | Master-planning Happier Philippine Cities
Project | Hue Hotel Wave Front

HAPPENINGS
WGBW spotlights recent efforts to advance net zero around the world
IGEM 2022: Can we push a ‘carbon report card’ for every single building?
WCSC 2022: What entails a liveable and resilient urban future?
IBEW 2022 aims for Industry Transformation
Better Climate Festival 2022: Preparing an industry ecosystem to meet carbon targets
Products


3Q 2022: GREEN AWARDS | REINTERPRETATION
MAIN FEATURE
FuturArc Prize 2022: Reinterpretation Jury Panel & Comments

FUTURARC PRIZE (FAP) 2022 WINNERS
First Place | A Chronographic Blueprint:
Reinstating the Valley of Hope

Second Place | Biodivercity: A Story of Flight
Third Place | Revival Waste: Propagating Permaculture

MERITS
FluxToActive
Footsteps of Imagination
Agropolis
Wastefilter
Touch of Change
Low Garden
San Chung


FUTURARC INTERVIEW
Excerpts from FuturArc Prize 2022 Jury Meeting
Round-Table Discussion with FuturArc Prize 2022 Jurors

SHOWCASE
Ragunan Bio Park: A Nature-based update of Indonesia’s oldest zoo

COMMENTARY
And Now the Real World

HAPPENINGS
FAP 2022: Young talents awarded at BCIAA
FuturArc Exchange and Exhibitions (FEX) | 3Q 2022
Actionable steps for Malaysia’s building industry
Products


2Q 2022: NEW & RE-EMERGING ARCHITECTURE
MAIN FEATURE
Imagining a Building Culture Revived on Architectural Robustness

COMMENTARY
The Sky as a Source of Cooling & Other Tropical Innovations
Igniting Ideas from Other Insights
Reinforcing a Labour of Love
Re-emergence of the Vernacular in India

HAPPENINGS
SIWW & CESG 2022
The potential of circular materials for architectural use
Revitalised Tebet Eco Park opened as a Green oasis
How emerging architectural technologies can decentralise healthcare
Milestones & Events
Products

FUTURARC INTERVIEW
Wendy W. Fok

IN CONVERSATION
Aswin Indraprastha & Carlos Bañón:
Next-Generation Technologies in Architectural Design


PROJECTS
OCEANIX City: Keeping Future Cities Afloat
A Futuristic Idea of Using Nature to Heal & Manage Diabetes
Cocoa Craftsman Factory: The Building as a Chocolate Melting Machine
Daylight Ducts for High-Rise Offices


1Q 2022: HOUSING ASIA
MAIN FEATURE
Homes, not Houses
3d-printed housing in India
Homes built by homeowners in Sri Lanka
Carbon Tech Modular House in Indonesia

VIETNAM FOCUS
Adapting Vietnam’s Urban Street House to High-Rise Apartments
Hong Ha Eco City
The Nest Modular Housing
Tan Phu House

COMMENTARY
Public and Private Housing in Malaysia

HAPPENINGS
8th APHF: Mainstreaming Green throughout the housing value chain
Oceanix City
Milestones & Events
Products

SHOWCASE
Habitat ’67: Critique on a Classic & Its Modern Interpretations
Safdie Architects: Charu Kokate

FUTURARC INTERVIEW
Toyo Ito

IN CONVERSATION
Eko Prawoto: Living More Authentically With Nature

PROJECTS
Bay Window Tower House
AMN Student Housing
Baan Hom Din
Jervois Mansion
Permeability Housed

4Q 2021: YEAR-END | NOW & THEN

MAIN FEATURE
Aspirations Versus Realities of Utopia in India

SHOWCASE
Charles Correa Now

YEAR-END FOCUS: CARBON
A Case Study from China
Reaching Carbon Neutrality in Hong Kong
A Singapore Perspective

HAPPENINGS
Special Focus: Reimagining the Future at IBEW 2021
Indonesia’s Progress Towards Carbon Goals
FuturArc Readership Survey 2021
Milestones
Products

FUTURARC INTERVIEW
Jason F. McLennan

COMMENTARY
Brazil’s Favelas

PROJECTS
Heron Hall
Climate Pledge Arena
ASHRAE World Headquarters
HMTX World Headquarters and Materials Innovation Center
Singapore Zero Energy Cases
Green Shore Residence Phase II
Tianheng Bayview

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