Rahul Mehrotra, Harvard University Graduate School of Design: The kinetic city
Cities are evolving, living systems. Why then do we design them as fixed and permanent? Is it time for a new theory of urbanism, better suited to the developing world, where urban space is often used in transient ways?
Yu Kongjian, Turenscape: Landscape as ‘art of survival’
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?
Manit and Sonali Rastogi, Morphogenesis: ‘An architecture of almost somewhere’
Can a building address local and global imperatives? Can it be informed by the vernacular and yet be energy efficient? Can it be locally attuned and low carbon? What would this look like, say, in a place like India?
Wolfgang Kessling, Transsolar: Low tech and low energy for high comfort
Cooling and heating consume a lot of power in buildings. But what if the answer to the question of comfort was only partly about mechanical solutions? What if we could create comfort indoors with little or even no energy?
Prashant Kapoor, IFC/World Bank: Making sense of sustainable finance
We are seeing today a newfound interest in sustainable finance. Words like Green bonds and Green mortgages are increasingly common. But what do they actually mean?
Wong Mun Summ and Richard Hassell, WOHA: (Re)Imagining the city
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?
Introducing Ecogradia: The sustainable architecture and urbanism podcast
Are buildings and cities doing enough? Are they rising to the challenge of an uncertain future? And are we doing what needs to be done fast enough?
