Take a shortcut! Explore the pop-up market! Breathe the fresh scents of flowers in a secret garden! What if backlanes were far from the state they are in today — lively chatter and laughter replacing the heat and noise of air-conditioning condensers and foul smells from trash bins?Reclaiming Backlanes presents design visions for future development of shophouse neighbourhoods, reprogramming backlanes into viable and high-quality common spaces, while improving energy efficiency of shophouses by up to 50%. These visions mark the convergence of studies in energy efficiency, pedestrian movement, historic building stock analysis and urban diversity by a multidisciplinary team.

Design with Life chronicles the breakthroughs and projects of a nonprofit that is defining resolute new directions in socio-ecological design and other deep-seated intersections of synthetic biology, architecture, and urban systems. In the challenging context of accelerating climate dynamics, the core discipline of architectural design is evolving and embracing new forms of action. New York-based nonprofit Terreform ONE has established a distinctive design tactic that investigates projects through the regenerative use of natural materials, science, and the emergent field of socio-ecological design. This kind of design approach uses actual living matter (not abstracted imitations of nature) to create new functional elements and spaces. These future-based actions are not only grounded in social justice, but are also far-reaching in their application of digital manufacturing and maker culture. Terreform ONE tackles urgent environmental and urban social concerns through the integrated use of living materials and organisms.