Urban Design

June 21, 2022

Wesley Edward Edgar Centre

Architect/ Designer: Scott Carver Project: Wesley Edward Eagar Centre Segment: Social Housing Products: Carpet – Nimbus Graphite. LVT – textured Woodgrains Light Oak and Charcoal Dune Project Size: 1,000 sqm   The recent refurbishment of the Wesley Edward Eagar Centre redefines the concept of crisis accommodation and social housing. The team at Scott Carver, deinstitutionalises the…

July 1, 2020

Sunlight and Nature: Positive Medication in Healthcare Spaces

It is almost impossible to discuss biophilic design in healthcare without mentioning this 1981 seminal study on recovery times during post operative care after gall bladder surgery by professor Roger Ulrich of Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. This fascinating study investigates whether a view out to nature from their room had any effect on…

September 15, 2016

Building Biomimetic Cities: An Interview with Melissa Sterry

Melissa Sterry is a design scientist and systems theorist. We interviewed her on biodesign, biomimetic cities, and more. Melissa is recognised as a world leading authority on the science, technology and thinking that could help build a better world. We tend to focus on the macrocosm of the city but you’ve shown there’s much to…

August 8, 2016

Biophilic Vietnam: A Perspective on Vo Trong Nghia Architects

Vo Trong Nghia Architects (VTNA) has grown up against the backdrop of a relentless tear-down-and-build in Vietnam that many have criticised as hasty and insensitive. The firm offers a perspective on green urbanism does yet not affect the planning of Vietnamese cities where there is instead evidence of a systematic stripping of blue-green cover and…

May 22, 2016

Artful Restoration

Last October, during the first weekend of the Chicago Architecture Biennial, artist and social activist Theaster Gates pulled back the curtain on his latest endeavor: the Stony Island Arts Bank. The highly trumpeted project entailed the conversion of a derelict bank building on the city’s South Side into a public cultural venue, brimming with galleries,…

February 5, 2016

Are Green Buildings Biophilic? Why the Answer Matters, Particularly in Asia

The idea of ‘Green’ in Asia is dominated by certification tools. There are now some 14 national variants – not unlike LEED in the US – each offering tiered ratings at the building scale, some at the urban scale. The rating is determined by an aggregated score, the result of compliance with requirements that focus…