Urban, Sustainable living has always been something I’m deeply connected to. When I was younger, I dreamt of designing and building a house that runs fully on renewable energy and has a zero net carbon output. I was inspired by a fellow traveler, Janusz whom I’ve met while backpacking in Barcelona. An amazing guy with a deep passion in sustainable living, where we spent hours chatting about our vision and ideas on sustainable technology. It was in Barcelona where we conceived our plans of embarking on a sustainable learning trip to Wales, to further educate ourselves on sustainable technology and be on the ground first hand to experience how environmentalist are building greenhouses. We became really good friends over the years and have constantly exchanged ideas about sustainable technology and have since made 2 road trips to Wales in search of sustainable technology. What was once a childhood dream of mine, where I was inspired by some of the sci-fi shows that I’ve watched on how to blend futuristic designs with biotechnology advancement to introduce groundbreaking innovations to urban living. Fast forward a decade, I’m in a more suitable position, along with the right opportunities I’m able to pursue this dream, reading up intensely on architectural design, and learn the basics of design. Along my pursuit and learning journey, Albert has been a great inspiration to me, with his pursuit of sustainable living and farming in his projects inspired me to execute on my ideas.
Dezeen, DestinAsian, Dwell were some really useful websites in helping me to understand architecture, they went rather in-depth with various model architectural buildings, showcasing their design intricacies and provide intriguing ideas to all aspect of urban living. Great learning resource for any budding architects!
Wales being the world’s leading sustainable development country, a pioneer in their chosen field and home to the largest amount of sustainable living habitats in the world presents great opportunities. Made a couple of trips to Wales, living and learning from the experts on the ground, experiencing first-hand how sustainable developments were being built and the considerations that were taken into account.
Whenever discussion surrounding sustainable living arises, I noticed it’ll usually revolve around the environmental aspect of sustainable living. However, I would like to challenge the notion of such conventional thinking. Sustainable living should be viewed as the ability to live independently without the reliance on any external resources, which includes and not limited to Energy, Water, but Income(resources) should be taken into consideration. To live sustainably in this modern day society, income has become an essential resource that one requires, to obtain the necessary materials and resources inorder to go about his/her daily life without compromising on basic needs.
I’m fortunate and greatful to be presented with the opportunity to rethink the concept of Urban Living on how homes were built and space maximised to allow other functions to be developed within the land area. The Vision of the project is to 1) Achieve 100% self-sufficient on Energy & Water 2) Working space to build products complementary to local culture 3) Cost Efficient and integrate seamlessly with the environment. (This is a work-in-progress project, feel free to get in touch and explore the subject matter further!)