Magazine / May - Jun 2017

Green Awards 2017

The brief for FuturArc Prize 2017 asked if it’s possible for a standalone building to become a catalyst for a wider systemic change. Is every new development, small or big, capable of common good? The implicit critique here is that buildings do not do enough when they seek to be Green, as we know it. Improvements to indoor environmental quality or resource efficiency within site and shell are not enough where the neighbourhood is a slum or waterways are polluted.

So how do we move forward?

First, by imagining a new landscape. FuturArc Prize, now in its 10th year, asked that the Asian city be reimagined. In the shortlisted submissions in both categories, Professional and Student, the jury saw innovations of architectural typology; buildings that sink into the ground or fractalize, creating new surfaces for urban greenery or farming. We saw new kinds of urban infrastructure—farming to mobility—that integrate private needs with public good. We witnessed interest in hydrological systems: the repair of polluted waterways or the mitigation of floods.

The jury—experts from India, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Singapore and the United States—met in Singapore in March 2017 to sift through some 20 plus finalists that had been selected from over 100 submissions. We talked afterwards about the lessons learnt.

The first lesson was that we—the design professionals—have lost touch with the social roots of good design. Without this, there can be no sustainable future. Attention to public space, in particular, was evident in almost all entries. And this was tied to goals of inclusivity and social equity. In the era of starchitects and hyper-growth, ‘social’ has been put on a back burner. We need to bring social capital back into the discourse, and place it squarely alongside financial capital.

The second lesson was that natural capital must also become part of the discussion. The disconnection we feel from our natural selves is neither healthy nor profitable in the long run. Unhappy, unhealthy people eventually leave or give up. Natural capital, as we were shown, was about the repair of damaged hydrological systems and the introduction of nature into our cities—biophilic elements that repair our collective psyche.

Our hope is that some politician or developer somewhere will fall in love with the new landscapes shown in the winning entries that are assembled at the back of this issue. And following that first spark of attraction, s/he might ask, “If someone can imagine this, why can’t it be done?”

Honestly, we can’t think of a reason why not.

Happy reading.

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
8^th 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

Previous issues:

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

3Q 2021: CITIES ISSUE | EQUITY AND URBAN INTERVENTIONS

MAIN FEATURE
How Can We Design Cities to Be More Equitable?

SHOWCASE
Tebet Eco Garden

CITY PROFILE
Hoi An
Kandy

HAPPENINGS
Special Focus: World Cities Summit
In Conversation With Anupama Kundoo
Milestones
Products

FUTURARC INTERVIEW
James Shen

COMMENTARY
Why All Cities Should Prioritise Green Walking

PROJECTS
Shi Ban Qiao Mixed-Use Development
Zhuhai Xiangzhou Green Connector: Jing Shan Trail
Matsubara Civic Library
Porte de Montreuil

2Q 2021: WOMEN IN ARCHITECTURE

Main Feature: Intersectional Feminism for a Sustainable Future	Kotchakorn Voraakhom
Yasmeen Lari	Ganga Rathnayake
Serina Hijjas	Ching-Hwa Chang
Sonali Rastogi	Milestones
Maria Warner Wong	Product Advertorials

1Q 2021: ENERGY

THE FUTURARC INTERVIEW Hossein Rezai; Lee Chin Wei; Serina Hijjas	A Carbon Neutral Skyscraper: Arthaland Century Pacific Tower
Reaching Energy Targets: Singapore Institute of Technology; The Joyce Centre for Partnership & Innovation	In Conversation with Jan Glasmeier
Sky Green	Steering Clear of Catastrophe: Solutions from the Built Environment
Integrated Production Facility for Organic India	Water Becomes the New Crude and Other Things
SMU Connexion	Milestones Product Advertorials

MAIN FEATURE
Landscape Architecture Is Our First Line of Defence
The Next Paradigm; Where We Go From Here
The Future of Cities: Sustainability’s Deceptive Dreams
Rethinking Sustainability: Form Follows Systems
Moving Beyond Sustainability

THE FUTURARC INTERVIEW
Anna Heringer
HAPPENINGS
Milestones & Events
Product Advertorials

MAIN FEATURE
Adaptable Spaces
Cities and a Circular Economy After the Virus
Density versus COVID-19: An Indonesian Case Study
Landscape through the Lens of Pandemic
Reclaiming Immaterial Spaces

THE FUTURARC INTERVIEW
Prof Dr Lou Yongqi; Liak Teng Lit; Sameep Padora

HAPPENINGS
Milestones & Events
Product Advertorials

MAIN FEATURE
FuturArc Prize & FuturArc Green Leadership Award 2020 Winners

PROJECTS
The Green Hostel Village, CUHK – Jockey Club Postgraduate Halls 2 & 3
House No. 17
H.A House
Forest In The Sky
Viettel Academy Educational Centre

THE FUTURARC INTERVIEW
Prasoon Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO, billionBricks

HAPPENINGS
BCI Asia Top Ten 2020
Milestones & Events

Book Review
Product Advertorials

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT 2020
Information on FuturArc Prize & FuturArc Green Leadership Award
Jury & jurors’ comments
FuturArc Prize 2020 winning entries
FuturArc Green Leadership Award 2020 winning entries

MAIN FEATURE
Urban Farming

THE FUTURARC INTERVIEW
Veera Sekaran, Founder, Greenology

CITY PROFILES
Singapore
Kuala Lumpur
Dhaka

FUTURARC SHOWCASE
Thammasat Green Roof

PROJECTS
Dalat Farm
The Red Roof
Roof Water-Farm

PEOPLE
In Conversation with Shimul Javeri Kadri

COMMENTARY
Carbon Farming and Climate Change Education on Urban Farms

Milestones & Events
Product Advertorials

Main Feature
Frontlines of Ecological Practice

The FuturArc Interview
Yu Kongjian (Professor for landscape architecture, Peking University; Founder, Turenscape) and
Lou Yongqi (Dean, Tongji University’s College of Design and Innovation in Shanghai; Founder, TEKTAO and Design Harvest)

Futurarc Showcase
Shanghai Houtan Park & New Jindai Elementary School

Projects
Microlibrary Hanging Gardens
Lakeside Garden
Mandai Eco-Resort
Viettel Academy Educational Centre

Commentary
Benchmarking the Benchmark: Reflections on the 10th Anniversary of Malaysia’s Green Building Index

Happenings
Milestones & Events

Product Advertorials