PUNCH LIST Ken Yeang
“If you can make a place that gives people an identity and let’s them know how, where, and when they are, and make it green, that will make architecture a success.” Ken Yeang, T.R. Hamzah & Yeang
RIGHT In Singapore, Ken Yeang’s Solaris Tower integrates full-size trees and other plants into the façade, assisting in the research facility’s 36% reduction in energy consumption. BELOW The nearly 16,000-square-foot living wall on the façade of this data center aids the building’s energy performance and provides added biodiversity and habitat to the site.
It’s a movement—just like Modernism— and it should have a whole new style. It should be hairy. It’s not pristine. gb&d: Where do you want to push the field next? What’s the most important achievement architects must accomplish? Yeang: There’s a whole generation of green designers being trained right now, and they’ll come into the field within the next three to five years, so green design will happen automatically. This is good. We’ll be able to focus on making architecture that makes people happy. If you can make a place that gives people an identity and let’s them know how, where, and when they are, and make it green, that will make architecture a success. My father told me that to be a good human being, you must do good, be good, and feel good. I’m trying to achieve that to varying degrees of success every day. gb&d
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september–october 2014
gbdmagazine.com