SHILLONG: Two city boys — Ambrose Kharkongor and Kyrshanbor Hynniewta — won the Urban Innovation Challenge Award for Smart Cities & Green Buildings at the 12th International Conference & Exhibition on Emerging Trends in Sustainable Habitat & Integrated Cities.
The conference was held in Gandhinagar from November 13 to 15.
Their project entitled ‘Grow Your Home’ is based on the concept “to capture the essence of Mawlynnong and the idea of sacred groves of the indigenous tribe of the Khasis in a contemporary approach”.
In their design for a four-storey building, bamboo is a key material. Bamboo louvers, rain water gutters, bamboo screens, carbonized bamboo flooring and roof sheeting are incorporated. But in a radical approach, growing bamboos support and strengthen the columns of the building. The roots and shafts of the growing bamboo are controlled by an arrangement of pebbles and cement blocks.
The design highlights the advantages of bamboo for soil conservation, rehabilitation of degraded land, cooling, water regulation and carbon capture.The Urban Innovation Challenge Award was open to anyone below 28 years of age from any discipline, “seeking individuals who are impatient for change and passionate about transforming urban India.”
This year the challenge process goes beyond being an ‘ideas’ competition to one that welcomes highly implementable and practical solutions for India’s urban innovation.
Proposed solutions should be capable of being implemented in a real-world setting and should identify and address critical development challenges of smart cities and green buildings.” The prize winners will be supported for incubation development and funding.
The award was presented by Union Minister for Urban Development, Venkaiah Naidu and Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel.
