Season 4

Explore the reality of greenery in architecture — pragmatic sustainability or mere aesthetics? Leonard Ng navigates the fine line, urging honesty in distinguishing between environmental impact and visual appeal.
Tackling the carbon dilemma requires a fresh perspective. Stuart Smith reveals how considering a building’s entire life cycle impact can simplify carbon reduction decisions, guiding us towards more sustainable choices.
Many countries in the developing South seek pathways to a sustainable future. Peru-based architecture firm Barclay & Crousse offers a prism on what this looks like, when it is anchored to the specifics of people, climate and place.
Good design often reveals what we do not know we need. But such a feat depends not only on what we tweak and improve, says Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, but how we re-imagine the process. The question is: where to start?
Bjarke Ingels is a global brand. Whatever one feels about starchitects in general, he is a force to be reckoned with. What does he think is the future of buildings and cities? What role will design play in solving the climate crisis?

Limited webinar series

Each building is a nexus of multiple systems ‘talking’ to each other. This integrated approach is often key to optimising performance. But how does integration work? How do you rally stakeholders and negotiate trade-offs?

Season 3

Season 3 is a wrap. What were the small and large, local and global challenges singled out throughout this series? What can we control at the drawing board and what remains beyond our grip? This is what we learned.
This year’s competition is now over. Out of 2,380 registrants from 114 countries, 20 entries stood above the rest. So what were the big takeaways? Who showed the most ambition? The five jury chairs are here to tell.
Can necessity unlock greater innovation? How to create an architecture of delight and renown when the climate is harsh, resources are scarce and budgets tight? Can less ever become something more?
Could a universal process account for all things sustainable — energy, materiality, comfort, etc. — in all typologies, from resorts to low-cost buildings? Would this work in a land as vast and complex as India?
Buildings offer shelter. Good architecture does more: it is a form of care for the mind and spirit. So how do we ensure sustainable equitable care for everyone, all social and emotional needs included?
As we aim to ‘do good’, we often wrestle with what to buy. Which materials are less harmful to the planet? But can a product also be net positive? Could manufacturing help reverse global warming?
To halt global warming, we must eliminate greenhouse gas emissions at scale and with speed. With renewables today, we can ignite a new kind of fire, one that is emissions-free and lower cost.

Season 2

Season 2 of Ecogradia has come to an end. Before we move on, let’s take a peek at some of the talking points that didn’t make the cut in the last ten episodes. Here is what was left ‘unsaid’.
Extreme weather is often a matter of life and death. How do we design for the growing frequency and ferocity of storms? Do we resist at all costs or should we build structures that give in a little to save the whole?
Water is a pressing design challenge of the climate crisis. Too much or too little and we struggle to survive. What is the sweet spot where we, our cities and the ecosystems that we rely on, can thrive?
More than a billion people are without shelter today. They could be 3 billion by 2050. Is the growing demand a giant opportunity? What if houses for those in need could produce both renewable energy and long-term profits?
Bangkok, Thailand’s capital, is sinking fast, like many other cities around the world. How can urbanists turn this congested megacity, threatened by flood and saltwater intrusion, into a resilient amphibious metropolis?
As a species, we seek closeness to nature. Designing for well-being, therefore, aims to bring nature to the heart of the built environment. But what do these ‘biophilic’ spaces feel like? And how do we set the stage to reap their benefits?
Should our buildings and cities minimise harm or do ‘good’ by design? In a world already at risk, less harm is no longer enough. We must repair, regenerate and create new life. So where do we start?

Season 1

We all want to live closer to nature. But can urban landscapes be designed to mimic natural systems and processes? And if replicated, what would a nature-based design approach mean to future cities?
How can we fix the problem of cities today? Is density at the expense of liveability? Are human-made and natural systems — key to our survival — at odds with each other? Can design offer a solution?

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