TYPOLOGY, FRAMEWORK AND REGENERATIVE DESIGN IN ASIA

Abstract

The prevalent sustainability models preach to dissect large systems to better understand their inner workings in a bid to minimize or mitigate harm to the environment. Green building certification that have emerged from this line of thinking translates these components into a checklist, placing a greater emphasis on efficiency and performance. However, that mode of thinking already has reached its limits. We now have to look towards regenerative design which demands projects to have a net positive impact on the system it is nested in, furthering the goal of a sustainable future. This shift has incited researchers have designed various frameworks to guide architectural practice towards the new paradigm. There is, however, a large gap between theory and current practices. While engineered solutions have advanced in a bid for higher building performance, architectural innovation in terms of form and typology had stagnated. Many firms have been replicating cookie-cutter designs to meet space and programmatic efficiencies within short timeframes, undermining the role of the architect. Architectural typology has evolved to address the demands of the current ways of living but has yet to make major headway in answering to the requirements of regenerative design. Shifting towards regenerative design thinking, architects need to innovate on new typologies, allowing for new approaches which support regenerative thinking. Therefore, it is paramount to investigate the relationship of architectural form to nested systems and nature, and to understand the typology which they represent. Through the study of three case studies with unconventional building typologies in Asia, it allows us to extract strategies and understand motivations that enable regenerative design in the Asian context. The REGEN framework would also be examined in further detail. These case studies and the REGEN framework would illuminate gaps between theory and current practices in Asia, allowing for regenerative design thinking to be adapted for this region.