It was a full house at the Bandung Creative City Forum in the city’s historic quarter on October 31. Around 80 eager participants including architecture students and representatives of prominent architectural practices in Bandung gathered to examine the future of the built environment and of sustainability. Held to coincide with the Bandung Design Biennale, the key message was that creativity and ecologically integrated design were central elements in designing for sustainability. The event featured a presentation by Nirmal Kishnani of his latest research on how to create robust socio-ecological systems and a panel discussion on the benefits of participating in design competitions including the LafargeHolcim Awards. Organized by local architects Florian Heinzelmann and Daliana Suryawinata of SHAU on behalf of the LafargeHolcim Foundation, the attendance demonstrated local interest in the theme of sustainable construction.

Nirmal Kishnani, Assistant Professor of Architecture at the National University of Singapore, explained that there is a pressing need to integrate the “blue, green and grey” – that is to merge water, greenery and built elements in new ways that create robust socio-ecological systems. Asia is witnessing a staggering loss of human, social and natural capitals, partly due to the way we design the built environment. He introduced his latest research publication – Ecopuncture: Transforming Architecture and Urbanism in Asia that proposes to move beyond “green” to forge human-nature partnerships. “What's good for the planet, it turns out, is beautiful and profitable in more ways than we had imagined,” he said.

A number of projects featured in the book were used to illustrate the potential of sustainable design – and inspire the audience. The presentation was followed by a Q&A session moderated by Florian Heinzelmann, which explored in further detail the differences between more developed and less developed areas across Asia.

The panel discussion on the benefits of architectural competitions was moderated by architect Gemawang Swaribathoro from LAB. Florian Heinzelmann and Daliana Suryawinata from SHAU used examples of their own projects. They provided an overview of the awards competitions available to Indonesian architects and students and their recommendations. As former LafargeHolcim Awards winners for their series of “microlibraries” they were able to endorse the competition from their personal experience. “It felt great to be selected as one of the winning projects from Asia Pacific – so if you have the chance to participate, you should do it. Don’t be shy!” said Florian Heinzelmann.

LafargeHolcim Awards – open for entries

As a member of the LafargeHolcim Awards jury for Asia Pacific (and head of jury in 2020), Nirmal Kishnani was asked to outline the type of projects that the LafargeHolcim Awards were looking for. He explained that the competition was open to projects by professionals as well as bold ideas from the Next Generation that combine sustainable construction solutions with architectural excellence – and referred to the “target issues” for sustainable construction that are used by the juries to evaluate submissions.

Ten copies of Ecopuncture: Transforming Architecture and Urbanism in Asia were presented as lucky door prizes. Attendees were able to register for the 6th LafargeHolcim Awards competition and staff from SHAU demonstrated the easy-to-enter online submission form.

LafargeHolcim Awards talk – November 30 in Bintaro, Jakarta

A further LafargeHolcim Awards talk will be held at Praja Coffee, Bintaro, Indonesia on November 30, 2019. The event will be a gathering of architects on the themes of green campus and sustainability in architectural practice, while networking with LafargeHolcim Awards laureates from Indonesia.

18.00
Registration & Dinner for 70 Participants

18.40
Welcome
Danny Wicaksono, studiodasar, Bintaro Design District Curator

18.45
UI Greenmetric World University Ranking
Prof Dr Gunawan Tjahjono, Professor of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, University of Indonesia

19.30
Presentation and Discussion on Recent Work and Tips on Architectural Awards
Florian Heinzelmann and Daliana Suryawinata, SHAU – Awards Silver winners for “Microlibrary”
Kamil Muhammad, pppooolll – Awards Acknowledgement winner for “Growing Grassroots”
Andi Subagio, SASO – Next Generation prize winner for “School Hub”

20:45
Announcement of door prize winners
Prizes are limited edition copies of Ecopuncture: Transforming Architecture and Urbanism in Asia by Prof Dr Nirmal Kishnani

Free entry. Limited seats. Register to attend at:

lhabdd.eventbrite.com