4th Holcim Forum “Economy of Sustainable Construction”

Securing a sustainable future aligned with viable economics

  • 4th Holcim Forum 2013 - Economy of Sustainable Construction

    Group photo – The Holcim Forum on the theme of “Economy of Sustainable Construction” was attended by academics and professionals from architecture, civil engineering, urban planning, natural and social sciences, as well as representatives from business, politics, administration and civil society.

  • 4th Holcim Forum 2013 - Economy of Sustainable Construction

    Sir David Chipperfield, Principal of David Chipperfield Architects, based in London, UK delivering his keynote speech at the 4th Holcim Forum 2013 in Mumbai, India.

  • 4th Holcim Forum 2013 - Economy of Sustainable Construction

    Lucas Bretschger – Professor of Economics, ETH Zurich, Switzerland; Director of CER-ETH, the Center for Economic Research at ETH & a member of the Advisory Body on Climate Change to the Swiss government.

  • 4th Holcim Forum 2013 - Economy of Sustainable Construction

    Alejandro Aravena delivering his keynote address at the 4th Holcim Forum in Mumbai, India, 2013.

  • 4th Holcim Forum 2013 - Economy of Sustainable Construction

    Brinda Somaya – Architect and urban conservationist from Mumbai, India – Principal Architect and Managing Director at Somaya and Kalappa Consultants; founding trustee of the HECAR Foundation; and advocate of the work of women architects in South Asia.

  • 4th Holcim Forum 2013 - Economy of Sustainable Construction

    Concluding debate discussing workshop findings (l-r): Rolf Soiron (moderator, Switzerland), Ashok Lall (India), Werner Sobek (Germany), Nirmal Kishnani (Singapore) & Marc Angélil (Switzerland/USA).

Holcim Forum attended by about 350 representatives of various industries and disciplines from around 40 countries. It includes an array of photos of participants and from the four Forum workshops – improvement of informal settlements, densification, urban metabolism, and gains delivered by sustainable buildings – where participants exchanged their ideas and took part in topic-related excursions to sites in the city of Mumbai. Keynote speakers at the Forum included Sir David Chipperfield, a multiple award winning architect, Principal of David Chipperfield Architects, based in London, UK; Alejandro Aravena, architect and Executive Director of Elemental based in Santiago, Chile; Lucas Bretschger, economist and Professor of Economics, ETH Zurich, Switzerland; and Brinda Somaya, architect and urban conservationist from Mumbai, India; Principal Architect and Managing Director at Somaya and Kalappa Consultants.

350

experts

40

countries

55

keynotes and workshop sessions

Speakers

Workshop presenters, moderators & panelists

Workshops

Compact city - Sustainable or just sustaining economic law?

This workshop reviewed the concept of the compact city and evaluated and criticized the economic, social, and ecological aspects of this typology within the scope of sustainable urbanism.

Moderator: Harry Gugger; Reporter: Sanjay Prakash

Symposium experts: Shlomo Angel, Pierre Bélanger, Gwendolyn Kerschbaumer, Rahul Mehrotra, and Philipp Rode

Local resources - Leveraging regional skills and metabolism

This workshop investigated the regionalism of different sustainability issues, with the goal of determining localized strategies for overcoming barriers to sustainable design and construction.

Moderator: Hansjürg Leibundgut; Reporter: Niklaus Haller

Symposium experts: Matias Echanove, Diébédo Francis Kéré, Geeta Mehta, Lucy Musgrave, Rahul Srivastava, Alex Buechi and Forrest Meggers

Retained diversity - Maintaining strengths while upgrading informal habitats

Focusing on informal settlements and their tradition of combined living/working spaces, this workshop investigated the different economic, legal, planning, and cultural conditions affecting these settlements.

Moderator: Hans-Rudolf Schalcher; Reporter: Sarah Graham

Symposium experts: Uday Athavankar, Sheela Patel, Gustavo Restrepo, Michael Sorkin and Zhang Yue

Overall value - Harnessing all benefits from sustainable construction

This workshop investigated the financial value of sustainable buildings and infrastructure, with specific focus on the economic, ecological and social benefits and costs to society as a whole.

Moderator: Holger Wallbaum; Reporter: Chrisna du Plessis

Symposium experts: Gail Brager, Annika Feige, Prem C. Jain, Patrick McAllister, Sundaresan Raghupathy and Vishnu Swaminathan

Student poster competition

Exchange between the generations

Posters by students from eight of the world’s leading technical universities were displayed at the 4th International Holcim Forum 2013. The posters encouraged stimulating discussions on approaches to the “economy of sustainable construction”.

All Forum participants were eligible to vote in the Student Poster Competition. Prizes were presented by Rolf Soiron, Chair of the Board of the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction (Switzerland).

Publication

Forum 2013 – Economy of Sustainable Construction – Mumbai (Ruby Press)

The Economy of Sustainable Construction examines how sustainability can deliver a robust response to fiscal challenges. The book evaluates current architectural practices and models, and also introduces materials and methods to maximize the environmental, social, and economic performance of buildings.

Contained within its 400 pages are essays, reports, and case studies that examine the relationship between commercial and sustainable values, and explore the paths that construction will take in the 21st century. The Economy of Sustainable Construction points out the urgency of adapting more sustainable construction practices and buildings in the light of rapid urbanization, the vast growths of today’s giant cities, the sluggish economy, and burgeoning climate issues.

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