New book presents inspiring examples of sustainable
construction

From Morocco to the United States to China and Viet Nam, lives of common people become intertwined and bounded by a common vision—innovation.

Swiss-based Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction recently published a book, which contains inspiring examples of sustainable construction that do not only adhere to basic environmental principles but also alleviate the lives of millions across the globe.

The commemorative book Second Holcim Awards—Sustainable Construction 2008/2009 is not just a mere compilation of technical plans but gives a human face on the 15 projects across the world that qualified for the Global Holcim Awards 2009 and project descriptions of all 52 projects that received awards in the five Holcim Awards Competition.

The Holcim Awards is an international competition of the Holcim Foundation and offers price money of US$2 million per three-year competition cycle.

Almost 5,000 entries—designs for sustainable buildings, urban planning concepts, state-of-the-art engineering proposal—were submitted for this competition cycle that ended in February 2008. A total of 52 projects received awards, acknowledgments or ‘next generation’ prizes in the five regional award ceremonies.  The regional gold, silver and bronze winners—15 projects in all—qualified for the Global Holcim Awards 2009.

The book opens with the four winning entries—from Morocco, Viet Nam, China and the United States—in the competition’s global phase.

Morroco’s entry, which took the Gold Award, focuses on river remediation and urban development scheme in Fez, the oldest of Morocco’s four imperial cities. Once a fertile basin of a large river, the medina of Fez was conferred the Unesco World Heritage Site title. But it is threatened due to its continuing decay. The river Fez is now the most potent symbol of decline of the city that now hosts one million people, according to the book. Worse, it is now nicknamed the ‘River of Trash’. 

Architect Aziza Chai, 31, plans to change the path of decay for Fez. The revitalisation of the river is anchored on improving the quality of life for the people. Her vision is to create something new yet still relevant, that is to retain both its cultural integrity and economic value within the framework of integrated urban development "We want a medina to still be a living urban development in the 21st century not museum artifact."

The Silver Award, a proposal for a low impact greenfield university campus, aims to build a 40ha campus on an island is the Mekong Delta in the suburbs of Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam. Designed by Japanese architect Kazuhiro Kojima, the design blends with its natural environment and uses prevalent winds for natural ventilation of buildings and open circulation areas to reduce the use of airconditioning. Kojima and his team started with the question: how can space and education co-exist?  The design considers the sensitivity of its location and requirements of a growing student population.

The Bronze Award, a proposal for sustainable planning for a rural community in Beijing, China, aims at improving the logistics, public utilities and services while meeting stringent ecological targets for new buildings.

The book thoroughly explains how architect Yue Zhang, 35, and his partners vision old villages as ‘living areas’ where people have opportunities for sustainable livelihood and in the long run, would be enough reason for them to stay and not join the exodus to big cities. The project’s pilot village is situated in Shunyi district, 45kms northeast of Beijing’s centre. 

The award for ‘innovation’ was given to a design to create a self-contained day labour station in San Francisco, USA.

Architects Liz Ogbu and John Peterson and their colleagues at Public Architecture see their design as a holistic vision that would help day labourers, mostly immigrants to the US who are unlucky in the job market. The book accounts how difficult it is for a day labourer to wait all day by the roadside and in parking lots, often in the hot sun without amenities. In San Francisco, day labourers wait around C?sar Ch?vez Street. "They are hired to paint walls, move furnitures or work on building sites. Potential employers cruise by in their cars, check their faces and choose someone they think they can trust," the book narrates.

The design is a solution to improve the situation of day labourers who want to stay on the streets. "Their self-contained day labour station offers flexible structures, shelter, benches, washrooms, a kitchen and an education/trainings space" where green and recycled materials are used. 

The 220-page large-format book could be the Holy Grail for design professionals and the construction industry as it sets out fine examples of innovative approaches and integrated solutions that meet societal needs, address environmental performance and improve economic efficiency.