WOHA: New Forms of Sustainable Architecture

If it’s possible to name one firm that has thrust the Asian region to the forefront of the conversation about sustainable large-scale architecture, that would surely be WOHA. New Forms of Sustainable Architecture documents the firm’s complete oeuvre, from its native Singapore to Bangladesh, China and Australia. Author Patrick Bingham-Hall contributes an introductory essay discussing the firm’s approach, averring that ‘Sustainability begins in the city, where most of us live and where the greatest environmental damage is being done, and it cannot be realized without a large number of citizens agreeing to work towards the greater good.’ Here, architects must think like urban planners and vice versa, and form must follow function.

A further 12 essays by Bingham-Hall illuminate the firm’s origins, philosophy and various elements of its work, complemented by contributions from architecture scholars Timothy Beatley and Nirmal Kishnani. The publication then details 11 key projects, with enlightening texts and full-colour imagery that demonstrate WOHA’s unique approach; as WOHA founders Mun Summ Wong and Richard Hassell say, ‘we are dreaming of cities as rainforest’.