We all have a choice how we can design. How can we make things better? How can architects and town planners design differently? When we are faced with a “blank canvas” how can we create a building and environment that will benefit the people, views, wildlife and our planet? It’s all possible.
I interview Robert Bedner of Cura Design who shares with us his fascinating journey working with Renzo Piano, and Sverre Fehn. We discuss Martin Heidegger, Kellert, Stefano Bolero, Terrapin Bright Green and more. Robert shares that Heidegger said an architect should take a “walk in the woods”, and look back and see the marks of your feet in the soil. Those are the only steps an architect should leave.
Robert Bedner is an architectural technologist and founder of Cura Design, an architectural design practice which designs with sustainability at the forefront of everything they do. Cura Design have been in practice for over 14 years and completed over 150 projects throughout the Southwest UK, London and abroad. Robert has spoken about Biophilic Design at the CESW Exeter Climate Summit 2018, The 13th Biennial European Town and Town Planners Conference 2019, and the Sustainable Earth 2021 - Climate Emergency - the Race to Net Zero.
Robert calls for architecture and design to enhance and protect nature, the more we are connected to nature, the better it will be for our wellbeing, health, spirits. It is what life is all about to begin with.
There are already strong movements across so many different disciplines. We need to stop thinking of the world as a resource for us. Rather we should be considering our role as shepherding, valuing the sun, the trees and birds. These aren’t things that you sell, we need to recognise our connection to them to remember why we are here. “If people can see the world more like that, the rest will follow.”
It is important for cities to design biophilically - it is future of urban design. We need to bring nature back into the urban environment. It is good for biodiversity, it is healthy for people. Simple things like green roofs do so much for wildlife, bringing the temperature down in the middle of cities, it also insulates the roof. It’s happening. For instance the Javits Center in New York now has a green roof, and it’s saving them money. It’s good for the building, and people like being up there.
Robert goes on to discuss various Biophilic City designs, what’s happening in Plymouth, Paris with its high rise urban farming (imagine having your salad from the green roof, from the same place you are), a hotel in Singapore which is covered in plants where a brown field site has now increased in animal and plant life by over 1000 per cent (even on the 20th floor residents can see squirrels walking by), in Vietnam he describes some spectacular architecture, how engineers created fantastic passive ventilation systems in Germany. Lots of positive designs, where once there was just concrete.
Everyone who is involved in Design and construction, planners, structural engineers, TV people, are building in the landscape and in nature. We need to design sensitively. Leaving the place better than when we started.
Did you know an Oak tree is home to over 3000 different life forms? Personally I really hope, that town planners, surveyors, commissioners, politicians, will increasingly feel emotionally involved at a civic level so they really understand why this biophilic change in urban planning needs to happen.
To find out more about Cura Design visit https://www.curadesign.com
Come and meet Robert Bedner and Cura Design at Future Build 1-3 March 2022, on stand B78 at ExCeL London.
To find out more about Cura Design https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK10pAq26zQ
To scroll through our other podcasts, have a look here on our main podcast page.
Credits: with thanks to George Harvey Audio Production for the calming biophilic soundscape that backs all our podcasts.
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