WOHA Architects – Buildings for high density tropical Garden Cities
WOHA is Singaporean architectural firm that aims to re-invent skyscrapers for dense urban living. Some of their influential projects are The Met Apartments in Bangkok, and the Singapore School of the Arts, and the Parkroyal on Pickering hotel in Singapore. School of the Arts, Singapore designed by WAHO. Photo by wikipedia user Katmorro. WOHA was founded in 1994 by architects Wong Mun Summ and Richard Hassell. It has designed projects [...]
De-extinction: using genetics to revive & restore extinct species
Big animals regulate many ecological processes and their activities create spaces for others animals to live. Millenia of human action has eliminated most of the these big animals, decreasing their numbers and driving many of them extinct. Can these extinct animals be restored? Revive and Restore is a NGO that aims to promote the use of rapidly advancing genomic technology for biological conservation and rewilding by enhancing the genetic diversity of small [...]
Isle of Gigha Heritage Trust – Reshaping Land Ownership in Scotland
How can communities reclaim control over their shared challenges? In March 2002, Gigha islanders managed, with help from grants and loans from the National Lottery and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, to purchase the island from its absentee landlord for £4 million. The island is now owned through a development trust called the Isle of Gigha Heritage Trust. The Trust aims to promote: community regeneration, employment and sustainability. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFiudQ0t2ms?rel=0] Many people in [...]
Cable Cars as Urban Public Transport in Medellin
How can cities grow in ways that promote social inclusion? The city of Medellín, Colombia, built a cable car system to provide a new type of public transport that connected poorer people, living in rugged areas, to Medellin's public transport system. The cable car system, Metrocable, was part of an integrated investment in new public transport and neighbourhood infrastructure. It began operation in 2004, and the success of the first line lead to the construction [...]
Eigg Heritage Trust – Reshaping Land Ownership in Scotland
How can people organise to gain control of the place in which they live? The Scottish Ilse of Eigg replaced its historic semi-feudal system of land ownership, in which residents were tenants of an absentee laird (a large landowner) with a new model community based ownership. Eigg is one of the Scottish Inner Hebrides. In 1997, the island was bought from its absentee landlord for £1.5m, raised from residents and thousands of non-residents. Many people in Scotland live on land [...]
