14th national conference of ISOLA held virtually
The conference is held under the theme “Unbuilt Landscapes” intending to focus on the relation between the built and unbuilt environments
image for illustrative purpose
Hyderabad A three-day virtual conference of Landscape Architects, 14th National Conference of ISOLA with the unique theme "Unbuilt Landscapes" opened here on Friday focussing on the relation between the built & unbuilt environments. The conference is hosted by the Hyderabad Chapter of the Indian Society of Landscape Architects (ISOLA) and will continue till 13th February.
Kotchakorn Voraakhom, a Thai landscape architect, said, "The health of the city is directly related to the health of the people. Holidaymakers' haven -Thailand was once considered a Happy City. The flooding of the city reached such a level that in the year 2011 was the worst flood in its history. And now it is estimated that the city will be underwater by 2030. The New York Times states that the rising sea level will erase more cities by 2050. But many governments which are trying to find engineering-based solutions are not going to yield any positive results."
"Urban Planning is the key factor. I and my team built an innovative park in Bangkok that controls floods. The rainwater here flows into special tanks underneath the park and it can be used to water the entire park for 20 days. The tanks can hold 3.8 million litres of rainwater. It is almost the same as filling an American football field with water 1 meter deep. Cities are for the living. Parks are one of the answers to building happier cities and I am confident of turning Bangkok from a grey city into a green city," she added.
Mohan S Rao, Principal Design, Integrated Design, said, "Nurturing an unbuilt landscape, which are meant to convey the idea of mindful interventions reinforcing rather than replacing or transforming nature."
Sridevi Rao, President, ISOLA, said "India has three quantifiable nationally determined contributions as part of the Paris Agreement by lowering emissions, increasing power generation away from fossil fuels, and creating a carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tons. As a Landscape Architect, the reference from a Government of India offers great opportunities for implementing the International Federation of Landscape Architects or the IFLA Climate Action Commitment. The 10 Chapters of ISOLA are keen to showcase solutions and have the expertise to do so."
The conference was attended by Dirk van Peijpe, Founder and Director, DE Urbanisten, Netherlands and Jan Gehl, a Danish architect.
