Regional Holcim Awards 2014 Asia Pacific

Each year, thousands of birds are smuggled in and out of Thailand for their exotic colors and bird calls, to be sold on the world’s growing black market. Rescued birds usually die in confinement because they are retained in cages for up to five years as evidence during prosecution of smugglers.

The Lali Gurans orphanage and library addresses the needs of an under-served rural population. In a context lacking basic infrastructure, the new facility utilizes low-technology renewable energy and material resources, local craftsmanship, and vertical gardens for insulation and food, thus significantly reducing operating costs.

With the aim of reintegrating former soldiers into post-civil war society, young men from underprivileged backgrounds are trained in building techniques through their involvement in the construction of public buildings – such as this Community Library.

The community center comprised of a residential school for 400 students, vocational training program and medical center for 14 villages is financed by as part of a corporate social responsibility program.

The French School of Asian Studies (EFEO) has an extensive library housed in a new building on a narrow site surrounded by neighboring buildings on three sides. Equipped with the most advanced technological features, the structure offers a prime example of sustainable development in modern construction.

Palm tree branches are used as a simple measure to respond to the imminent threat of coastal erosion due to rising waters and habitat destruction. Inserted into the sand, the spoon-shaped branches constitute an ideal barrier, causing sea currents to slow down and deposit sand material into the concave inner surface of the leaf branch. Sand mounds are thus created which gradually elevate coastline embankments, allowing aquatic plants such as mangroves to grow and secure the beach.

This 2-step micro intervention upgrades informal settlements in megacities and avoids slum-clearance by authorities. Planned first as a participatory initiative – not top-down – narrow spatial “voids” are introduced within high-density residential areas to bring air and light into the neighbourhood’s building fabric.

Addressing notoriously congested traffic conditions, this concept revives ancient canals of the city to create a modern network of waterways to supplement existing Metropolitan Rapid Transit.

The design proposes a post-earthquake reconstruction of Xueshan, Sichuan, a historic village known as the hometown of the panda in China. Focusing on the unique local characteristics of the site, the project uses bamboo as the main building material and revives traditional construction techniques. Approximately 50 houses will be rebuilt and a small number of new structures erected, including a hotel, panda museum, memorial hall and raised platforms for panda watching.

This project to house the urban poor proposes a modular system of dwelling units for marginalized neighborhoods in the rapidly-growing city of Dhaka. The dwellings can easily adapt to the changing needs of their inhabitants and either grow or reduce. Moreover, the units can be dismantled when slum dwellers are evicted and reassembled in a new location. Made of bamboo and recycled materials, the dwelling’s modular components and panels are sufficiently light to be easily transported.

The design improves deteriorating physical and social conditions of the Bukit Jarian Kampong by introducing a sanitation hub as public space in the center of the slum and also restoring the polluted river, which has long been used as a garbage dump. Designed in a square pattern of bridges, buildings and platforms over a landfill bordering the river, the proposed hub is accessible from several sides, opening connections to the neighborhood while providing a range of public amenities.

The quasi-voluntary relocation of informal dwellers in large-scale urban development projects typically results in the dissolution of communities, long commutes to distant workplaces, cultural disorientation of individuals and families, and further adverse effects. Countering standard eviction practices, the submitted proposal for a marginalized settlement in Tangerang, Banten identifies strategies for a gradual upgrading of physical and social space.

This project investigates relationships in between producer and consumer nations in the global garment industry. Potential architectural interventions aim to improve working conditions and eliminate practices of labor exploitation. The project seeks to enable a shift from mass production industries to micro and small enterprises, with workshops distributed throughout cities rather than isolated factory compounds on the periphery of metropolitan centers.