The publication Green Buildings, Tropical Gardens accompanies the exhibition at ifa Galleries Stuttgart (19.10.2012-06.01.2013) and Berlin (18.01.-10.03.2013), concentrating on South-East Asia, in particular Malaysia and Indonesia. In recent years, highly advanced projects have been developed there, which are far from being architecture tied to investors’ interests. They take a new and innovative approach towards sustainable and landscape architecture. The presented architects, landscape architects and activists have each given individual answers to the requirements of future-oriented construction whether in tropical rainforest or metropolitan areas.
The Malaysian star architect Ken Yeang has a reputation as a pioneer in eco-architecture. He investigated in traditional Malaysian building typology in the early 1970s, from which he has developed his approach to sustainable architecture. Yeang has set new standards for eco-architecture with the development of the bioclimatic tower. For his projects alternative energy generation plays an equally important role as rainwater collection and recycling, agricultural areas for the self-sufficiency of complexes and the incorporation of vertical greenery. While Ken Yeang advances the task of building a skyscraper, the renowned Malaysian landscape architect Ng Seksan works in the horizontal dimension. Seksan plans gardens, parks and public spaces that subtly merge with untouched, natural areas.
The founders of the Green School in Bali, Indonesia, not only work with natural building materials, but have also developed a guiding holistic concept; the harmony of ideas and practice with nature is the underlying concept of teaching. Green Design is more than architecture: Green Design involves consequent thought and education for the future - in Kuala Lumpur and in Bali, in New Delhi, Singapur, London, Stuttgart and Berlin.
