Last Call for Planet Earth

The alarm was sounded, loud and clear. Warning! The planet is in danger! The challenge is very simple, it is a matter of survival. Architects throughout the world are tackling this challenge. That is why the film "Last Call for Planet Earth" offers twelve architects the opportunity to express themselves. It is produced by Archi-World and premiers in Belgium on 12 October. Each of these twelve highly renowned architects speaks to us about the means they have implemented, each in their own way.

Françoise-Hélčne Jourda tries to follow through on her approach, working with renewable, low- tech and bioclimatic materials. The concept of large glass spaces with an innovative design can be found in projects by Christoph Ingenhoven , focused on ecology and the sophisticated use of technology.

Today, confirms Thom Mayne, architecture is global. The American architect and 2005 Pritzker Prize winner today designs prestigious buildings resulting from a desire for sustainable development (buildings for the Caltrans transport company, Los Angeles 2004 or Federal Building in San Francisco, 2006). Backed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Thom Mayne was recently chosen to develop a zero energy school project.

Ivan Harbour, partner of Richard Rogers at the London agency of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners confirms that clean technologies are unavoidable today. The office participated actively in the development of passive design by using water, wind and sun. But it is through new technology that solutions to our planet's problems can be found. The prestigious RSH-P buildings are fitted with an electronic nervous system controlling heat, ventilation and all start-ups.

With the new Milan fair in Rho Pero, which covers a surface area of 120 hectares, Massimiliano Fuksas redeveloped a section of the city. A huge glass blanket, supported by steel tree columns, undulates in a succession of hills and craters and protects a long footpath as well as independent architectural structures.

Examples from the East

In the Far East, we chose two renowned architects who are total opposites of each other: Kengo Kuma and Qingyun Ma. The Japanese uses ancestral cultural tradition, which thoroughly blends architecture, nature and human beings. To him, it is in this triangle that he attempts to create new harmony. His projects favour the use of wood, bamboo, stone and even raw earth, which he applies along with new technologies. Evoking the issues specific to his country in full over-consumption, the Chinese on the other hand, is involved in megastructures that he tries to manage by taking into account environmental data, such as the Longyang residential complex in Shanghai with its 16 buildings covering an area of 185,000 m˛. For Thumb Island, also near Shanghai, Qingyun Ma designed a building in a park whose roof functions as a public garden.

Attention to derivatives

Finland is a country sensitive to environmental matters. So is Markku Komonen. An architect presents efficient offices in a former warehouse, which was part of Helsinki's cultural heritage, for us to reflect upon. However, he warns us: sustainable architecture should not be a style or a label. It's not about a trend! The Canadian Daniel Pearl responds along the same lines and fears "green washing" for marketing purposes: a project appears to be "green" through added technologies, disconnected from the architectural aspect. His social housing renovation projects in Montréal and his residential constructions integrated into the landscape are exemplary in more ways than one.

"Curitiba, the city people love"

The future of the planet is played out in the cities where urgent problems are expressed, which require bold solutions. The capital city of the State of Paraná, in the south of Brazil, Curitiba, that seemed destined to its fate as the anarchic city faced with blatant inequality and poverty. And yet, with few means and lots of creativity, the town planner Jaime Lerner, mayor of the city and Governor of the State has on several occasions been responsible for the urban revolution, which made Curitiba an international reference in ecological, economic and social terms. He informed us of his contributions of "urban acupuncture".

In practical terms

In his day-to-day work, the Belgian Jo Crepain favours architectural quality, which he views as the first form of sustainability: quality of the structure, insulation and materials - of bricks for the most part - high ceilings, adequate natural ventilation and integration into green spaces. Responding to the new office concept, his building for Telindus near Leuven multiplies glass volumes so as to allow daylight to enter abundantly into the 20,000 m˛ office space. In Vienna, Georg Reinberg showed us the quality of passive houses. He explained how they work. This Austrian pioneer of ecological construction is extremely demanding when it comes to energy solutions. His residential building projects in Vienna and the Biotop building are there to convince us.

Enhanced with contributions by professor Hugo Hens (KU Leuven), the great specialist of sustainable construction and European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, the film aims to show that sustainable development is thus materialised by a series of proposals on a new concept of the city, on a new way of approaching the home, with increased freedom and intelligence, on a more sensitive focus on materials, on water, air and energies. Critical aspects for future generations!