Erik L'Heureux - Böcker

Carbon is everywhere — in the soil, in the air, in life. Carbon is the foundation of architecture and the built environment. Carbon is also infamous for intensifying the climate catastrophes around us. And architects — by the nature of their education and practice are transforming this carbon into the built environment. Twelve critical essays in this book present a constellation of voices surrounding carbon and its relationship with architecture, renovation, material, form, and design pedagogy. The renovation of two buildings on the Equator — at the School of Design and Environment (SDE), National University of Singapore — serve as the protagonists for these reflections. The essays raise key questions on the values embedded in the architecture of architecture schools. What principles might a low-carbon future embody? What do renovations mean for rapidly urbanising Asia? How can they transform the relationship between climate and architecture on the Equator? Do they demand new equatorial forms? How can material innovations influence their design? How can the design of architecture schools influence a new generation of architects towards a sustainable future? These and other questions are set forth within while illustrating the models of thought that have shaped the architecture of SDE 1 & 3, offering ways to sustainably transform carbon in the context of our warming world.

Hot Air is a monograph that situates and defines the hot air of the urban equator through the architecture and creative practice of Erik L’Heureux and the Office of Equatorial Intelligence. By critically evaluating intersections of architecture, the tropics, the equator, urbanisation, colonialism, mechanical cooling, and fossil fuel dependency, L’Heureux’s built work offers decarbonisation, passive comfort, and contextual case studies appropriate for the urban equator. The architectural projects are also the outcome of deeply personal and self-reflective thinking, having lived on the equator for 20 years. The book offers insights into the practice of architecture on the equator in an age of climate calamity. Themes embedded in a series of architectural projects engender writings on tropical representation, postcolonialism, monoliths, jungles, carbon, and others from diverse contributors. Each contributor offers a divergent inquiry and critical reflection on Hot Air, examining the architectural work through different cultural and geographical contexts while situating the work at the equator and in our rapidly warming world.