Good architecture could inspire love for the environment

PETALING JAYA: Good architectural design could promote awareness on sustainable development and be a source of inspiration, according to international global award-winning architects.

The architects were the past winners of the LafargeHolcim Awards, namely the 2014 LafargeHolcim Awards Asia Pacific Gold winner Jariyawadee Lekawatana, 2012 Asia Pacific Bronze winner Datuk Ken Yeang and 2014 Global Silver winner Milinda Pathiraja.

Jariyawadee, the principal architect of Architectkidd Thailand together with Yeang from TR Hamzah & Yeang and Milinda from Robust Architecture Workshop Sri Lanka were guest speakers at Lafarge Malaysia’s “An afternoon with Lafarge — Sustainable by Design” last Friday. Besides giving presentations on their award-winning projects, the speakers also participated in a panel discussion moderated by TheEdgeProperty.com managing director and editor-in-chief Au Foong Yee. The event was supported by The Malaysian Institute of Architects while TheEdgeProperty.com was the media partner.

According to Jariyawadee, one great project inspires not only other architects but also the community to work together towards a greener environment.

“Architecture is for people; instead of just designing a building, we (architects) can use architecture to educate the public on how nature works and teach them to love nature,” she said.

During the panel discussion, Yeang said sustainable design has become a trend in recent years and many architects have been trying to improve their designs to meet green building requirements, but some may have failed to look at the “big picture”.

“To achieve the objective of sustainable design, it is not just about putting in the green elements and hardware components into the building, we have to look at the entire ecology system in a holistic way,” he explained.

He noted that architects need to rethink how buildings communicate with the environment and to design buildings that require lower energy usage which benefits the environment.

However, Yeang emphasised that the authorities also play an important role in promoting sustainable design thus making it a city-scale effort.

“No matter how green the building is, if the infrastructure development itself is not green, it won’t have a significant improvement on the environment. The sustainable design needs to start from infrastructure development,” he added.

Milinda from Sri Lanka concurred with Yeang. “Sustainability is not a choice in the current environment. It is an obligation for all human beings to develop responsibly — by building infrastructure and preserving the environment at the same time,” he said.

He noted that with the right architecture and resource planning as well as the right choices on building materials, infrastructure development could have a smaller impact on the environment.

Another guest speaker at the event was Taylor’s University School of Architecture, Building and Design Professor Robert Powell, who shared about sustainable design, citing his project King Abdullah City for Atomic and Nuclear Research in Saudi Arabia as an example.

He emphasised the importance of incorporating the use of renewable energy in the design of future cities, and finding ways to integrate renewable energy to power cities will be an important aspect to look into.

Also present at the event was Lafarge Malaysia president and CEO Thierry Legrand who introduced the upcoming 5th LafargeHolcim Awards, which is now open for submissions. He urged Malaysian architects to participate in this global competition.

“Through this Awards, we hope the winners will inspire local industry players to develop inspiring and sustainable responses to the challenges facing the industry today,” he said.

Organised by the LafargeHolcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, the Awards offers US$2 million (RM8.66 million) in cash prizes.

Projects and concepts from the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, planning, technology, and civil and materials engineering, which could provide insights on smart solutions for cities and the built environment, are eligible for entry. Online submissions close on March 21, 2017.

This story first appeared in TheEdgeProperty.com pullout on Nov 18, 2016, which comes with The Edge Financial Daily every Friday. Download TheEdgeProperty.com pullout here for free.