Ecogradia Season 3

December 19, 2023 

Season 3 of the Ecogradia podcast series is a wrap. What were the small and large, local and global challenges singled out throughout this series? What can we control at the drawing board and what remains beyond our grip? This is what we learned.

One word sums up the interviews: diversity. We spoke with practitioners from regions as far-flung as Africa, Mexico and India. We also asked thought leaders about their takes on questions feeding the global conversation: How does carbon shape design? What products should we buy? How do boardrooms affect thinking at the drawing board?

5 December 2023

This year’s Holcim Awards competition is now over. Out of 2,380 registrants from 114 countries, 20 entries stood above the rest. So what were the big takeaways? Who showed the most ambition? The five jury chairs are here to tell.

November 21, 2023

In the first of the interview with Paul Finch, the spotlight was set on an architect’s role in sustainable design. In this follow-up, the founder and programme director of the World Architecture Festival (WAF) deep dives into the specifics of sustainability: energy and carbon, nature and cities.

November 7, 2023

How does the architecture we praise today square up with a sustainability mandate? Do green imperatives dampen the spirit at the drawing board, or can they lift design excellence to new heights?

In this episode of the Ecogradia Podcast, Nirmal Kishnani speaks with Paul Finch, the founder and programme director of the World Architecture Festival (WAF). Paul is an advocate, an analyst, and a tastemaker, able to offer insights into the past and, at the same time, move the needle on what’s to come.

October 24, 2023

Can necessity unlock greater innovation? How to create an architecture of delight and renown when the climate is harsh, resources are scarce and budgets tight? Can less ever become something more?

In this episode of Ecogradia, Nirmal Kishnani speaks with Nina Maritz, a maverick architect from Namibia who succeeds in creating efficient and appealing buildings despite tight budgets, difficult-to-reach sites and harsh climates. “Less is more” is her approach to an architecture that, despite these challenges, enhances the human condition without damaging the environment.

She founded her eponymous firm 25 years ago which now has an oeuvre that defies categorisation. Her buildings are sometimes rational vernacular — sensible, rooted in climate and site, striving for passive comfort. Sometimes they are outright idiosyncratic — organic, poetic and deeply personal.

October 10, 2023

Could a universal process account for all things sustainable — energy, materiality, comfort, etc. — in all typologies, from resorts to low-cost buildings? In this episode of the Ecogradia podcast, we ask: Would this work in a land as vast and complex as India?

Ambrish Arora, founder and principal at Studio Lotus based in New Delhi, aims to achieve social, cultural and environmental sustainability in contemporary buildings by integrating traditional crafts, vernacular wisdom and local artisanal skill sets.

Studio Lotus is known for innovative designs, each with a strong affinity to place, an approach that is backed by cross-disciplinary skill sets that produce solutions for the various climates and conditions across India. As one of several partners who lead the firm, Ambrish views design leadership as a catalyst of wider change.

September 26, 2023

Buildings offer shelter. Good architecture does more: it is a form of care for the mind and spirit. In this episode of the Ecogradia podcast, we consider how we ensure sustainable equitable care for everyone where all social and emotional needs are included.

Tatiana Bilbao is a multi-award-winning architect from Mexico who, through her work, embraces the human condition. She views architecture as a sanctuary tailored to meet the physiological needs of individuals and groups, as well as their psychological and spiritual aspirations.

She founded her eponymous studio in 2004, wanting to explore how buildings can deliver care through a collaborative and participatory design process. Her portfolio includes today multiple scales and typologies, from homes to housing, museums to botanical gardens and urban planning.

September 12, 2023

There is wisdom in the vernacular. But does this knowledge offer something more than feel-good nostalgia? Are traditional buildings models for low-impact architecture that must be emulated?

Benny Kuriakose certainly thinks so. In this episode of Ecogradia, the prolific practitioner from Chennai, India, whose firm, Benny Kuriakose & Associates, champions vernacular-inspired architecture, illustrates how traditional knowledge is a pathway to sustainability.

His portfolio includes conservation, hospitality, and housing projects. The vast majority of his buildings are in peri-urban or rural settings and tend to be low-rise structures set in natural landscapes. His work is a conduit for the materials and crafts indigenous to a region.

August 29, 2023

As we aim to “do good”, we often wrestle with what to buy. Which materials are less harmful to the planet? But can a product also be net positive? Could manufacturing help reverse global warming?

In this episode of Ecogradia, Chief Innovation & Sustainability Officer Nigel Stansfield takes us on the journey of Interface, a major leader in commercial flooring solutions that TIME has singled out as one of the “100 Most Influential Companies” in the world for 2023.

Founded in 1973 by Ray Anderson on the premise of bringing carpet tiles to America, Interface is today the first global flooring manufacturer to sell all its products as carbon neutral across their full life cycle. It now aims to be a carbon-negative powerhouse by 2040.

August 15, 2023

We need a transformational shift: a rethink of the way we work, the goals we set, the processes we deploy. But how should we push forward? Who can help us get to where we need to be?

This episode of Ecogradia features Maria Atkinson AM, the Chairperson of the Holcim Foundation, and an advisor and strategist based in Sydney, Australia, who has been on the front lines of sustainable construction for over 25 years. For her service to the construction and real estate sector, she was awarded the Member of the General Division of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2012.

Maria has donned many hats in her career. It is this diversity of roles – consultant, advocate, advisor – and the many platforms – commercial, institutional, non-profit – she’s engaged with that make her uniquely qualified to lead a conversation on the future of buildings and cities.

August 1, 2023

To halt global warming, we must eliminate greenhouse gas emissions at scale and with speed. With renewables today, we can ignite a new kind of fire, one that is emissions-free and lower cost.

Inaugurating Season 3 of Ecogradia is Amory Lovins, a physicist by training who is, by vocation, a fearless researcher, consultant, and advocate. In 1982, he co-founded the famed Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) in the United States. He was also a member of the Board of the Holcim Foundation, since the inception of its Advisory Board in 2004 until 2012, and presented a keynote address “No more inefficiency” at the 3rd International Holcim Forum 2010 in Mexico City.

Amory is known worldwide for path-breaking ideas on energy sourcing and efficiency. For more than 45 years, he has been an advisor to building owners, corporations, and governments. He connects dots on the big canvas, linking a global perspective on sourcing and pricing to how we design pipes in super-efficient buildings.