TRANSCRIPT
We continue to discover new things even on this little island in Singapore.
There is no formula to it.
You never negotiate with mother nature.
But not all human-nature interfaces end up happy.
We have literally removed their homes and created ours.
Today we are doing the opposite.
Now you see a thriving city in nature.
The saying is of course you cannot protect what you do not love.
You cannot love what you do not understand.
You cannot understand what you are not taught.
So we are starting from the ground up.
Singapore is amongst all other cities in the world, one where you can find critically endangered animals living next to people.
Because we created a home for them.
Singapore was developing its own brand of greenery.
Because of our Garden City concept, many of our projects required greenery to be incorporated as part of the building site.
If you go down to downtown Singapore there are still buildings of concrete glass and steel, they're very functional.
They're not necessarily environmentally friendly.
Greenery is just a decoration, an embellishment after the building has been designed.
We started looking at vertical greenery.
If you go into a forest, what are the kinds of vines that grow up?
And we try to replicate that through biomimicry in buildings.
You walk into a hospital, you don't get the hospital antiseptic smell.
The flora and fauna were selected based on native species that attract birds, dragonflies, butterflies.
Over time, the different critters came to appreciate what the flora can do for them.
And they started visiting this environment.
We had a pangolin in 2017.
The otters came in like a family of 10 but they wiped out all our fish.
When we first started, there were only three butterfly species found.
Today the most recent count was 114 species.
We have discovered about 36 species of dragonflies.
The number of species of birds is 96 and increasing.
They are important as an indicator of the health of the environment.
People heal faster in a green environment.
The ability to look out the window, see greenery, finding peace as they heal.
Like going for a holiday, instead of coming to a hospital.
Many of the people who come to the hospital are not patients, and they are people who actually come with cameras like butterfly enthusiasts or bird people.
This is about introducing nature back to Singapore.
The things that we have lost in those years of industrialization and rapid development.
We continue to evolve into a city in nature.
Right in front of you.
Do you see it?
In front of you.
Oh my God.
It's staring right at me.
Right?
Get the front shot.
I think that'll be nice.
Got it.
Got it too.
I have around 80 to 82?
And I'm currently at 91.
I'm catching up.
It gets harder.
As you can see, we are in a huge green space smack in the middle of apartment blocks full of people roads, construction all around.
And it just shows how nature can be integrated into our infrastructure and growth.
They are so cute.
Oh, look at that.
let alone insects.
We are literally coexisting right beside otters, monitor lizards, birds.
And I believe that's great.
Initially we were considered the emotional tree huggers.
People don't understand why we love nature so much.
But when we started interacting with young students, there was a cause that they were fighting for, you know, and nature was their cause.
Because this is their future.
There at the edge.
Oh, I see.
Oh yes, yes, yes.
Okay.
We are strapped for land.
The lack of resources actually makes an architect more creative.
This is what energizes me to carry on with my green movements studying butterflies because knowledge never stops.
Whether it's of the biodiverse environment or the built environment.
