BRAC University hosts WOHA architect Wong Mun Summ for lecture on regenerative tropical urbanism

Wong Mun Summ, a founding director of Singapore-based architectural practice WOHA and one of the architects behind BRAC University's award-winning campus, delivered a lecture in Dhaka yesterday (23 September) exploring how rapidly growing tropical cities can be made more liveable, resilient and regenerative amid climate change.

Titled "Form Intelligence: Towards a New and Regenerative Tropical Urbanism", the lecture at BRAC University's Merul Badda campus was part of the Silver Jubilee Public Lecture Series marking the university's 25th anniversary, according to the press release.

The lecture focused on projects by WOHA, one of Southeast Asia's well-known architectural practices, co-founded by Wong Mun Summ and Richard Hassell in 1994.

Drawing on references from WOHA's "Garden City Mega City", published in 2016, Summ discussed how the practice has sought to reimagine dense tropical cities by bringing together people, nature, climate-responsive design and community.

He explained that "form intelligence" refers to the capacity of architectural form to respond to, support and enhance the systemic networks within and around a built project, allowing form to become an active participant in system performance rather than a passive container.

With this approach, WOHA projects are characterised by layered structures, greenery, breezeways and performance-based civic and environmental design measures.

Among the examples discussed was PARKROYAL COLLECTION Pickering in Singapore, a five-star "hotel-in-a-garden" known for its cascading sky gardens and biophilic architecture.

The project incorporates around 15,000 square metres of greenery, equivalent to more than twice the area of its site.

Another project, Oasia Hotel Downtown in Singapore, is a 27-storey tropical "living tower" with a biophilic and porous design.

Summ said its green façade contributes to a 43% reduction in cooling energy consumption and a 21% reduction in maximum façade temperature.

Pan Pacific Orchard in Singapore features four distinct open-air strata stacked vertically, integrating gardens and other landscape elements within the high-rise structure.

Compared with a pristine forest of an equivalent site area, the building's greenery contributes to filtration, pollutant removal and temperature regulation, Summ said.

He also discussed WOHA's work on a masterplan for a self-sufficient new town in northern Jakarta designed to accommodate 210,000 people.

The plan incorporates a rooftop canopy, residential and workplace layers, a rainforest-like layer, and an underground transportation and services layer.

Through such projects and planning concepts, WOHA envisions a future in which dense cities can become more liveable, sustainable and resilient, with people and nature coexisting within regenerative and circular systems.

Turning to the BRAC University campus, Summ referred to a social survey on the design in which 88% of respondents said the campus made them proud to be part of the BRAC community.

BRAC University Vice-Chancellor Professor Syed Ferhat Anwar said, "The country itself is extremely proud of…this extension of the nature (the campus)…giving to nature and becoming a part of nature."

BRAC University Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Arshad Mahmud Chowdhury, Treasurer Ariful Islam, Registrar Dr David Dowland and School of Architecture and Design Dean Professor Fuad Hassan Mallick were present at the lecture.

Office of Communications Director Khairul Basher moderated the event.