The architecture news of the day is that Foster + Partners has been selected by the board of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority to design a massive 56-acre urban park on a reclaimed harbor-front site in Hong Kong. Designed as a carbon-neutral development, “City Park” will seamlessly blend into existing streets while creating large expanses of green space and seventeen new cultural venues. Multi-purpose facilities, public transportation links, energy efficient-design and renewable energy generation will help make the new development a prime Hong Kong destination.
The entire district will be raised 3 meters above its current elevation to accommodate for new infrastructure below. Streets, parking, utilities and urban transport lines will mostly be located below to increase the size of the green and public spaces above. The new cultural district will include an impressive array of facilities including the Great Opera House, M+ (a pioneering museum of modern art),concert halls, and a 15,000-seat arena with an expo centre below. It will also feature arts education facilities, apartments, offices, shops, and a 2 kilometer waterfront promenade with brilliant views of the Hong Kong skyline.
[...] Foster + Partners has just unveiled yet another competition-winning design – this time for a beautiful bank headquarters in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The energy-efficient building will echo the landscaping of the nearby park on its campus and features an undulating overhanging roof. Designed in collaboration with construction firm CRIBA S.A. and local architect BBRCH-Minond, the new corporate headquarters of the Banco Ciudad de Buenos Aires will seek LEED Silver certification. [...]
[...] favorite Foster and Partners designed these gorgeous eco-friendly residences for a community called Banyan Tree Corniche Bay in [...]
It sounds like a pretty lousy park if it’s only carbon neutral, shouldn’t it be carbon negative?
I agree with badconsumer. There is simply no excuse not to go carbon-negative now we are capable. And with these “superstar architect” firms claiming so many kudos for just doing the minimum, the rest of us need to help them come up to speed and into the real world of sustainability. Demand more.
Foster and Partners, HOK and others: we need you to put as much effort and resources into pushing through leading-edge and deep sustainability as you currently devote to hyperbole and marketing. It’s your job not only to showcase a better way forward, but to educate your clients. Please stop praising yourselves for taking minimal sustainability measures and join the rest of us in making the changes required.
And before you sign-off on these plans, might you not want to give a thought to predicted sea levels for 2050 and beyond?