EcoBuilding Conference and Exhibition results

Holcim (Mauritius) joins Alive2green to present his "Urban Village" as part of EcoBuilding Conference and Exhibition, being held since Thursday, and until Friday at the Swami Vivekananda Conference Centre in Pailles.

This year Alive2green chose to focus on "Urban Planning & Design Building on a Tropical Island." Partner of the organizer, Holcim (Mauritius) will also facilitate a session and presentation of information with the Mauritian architect, Gaetan Siew, on the sustainable development of cities. 

Pat Ng Cheong Tin, the president of the Mauritius Association of Architects (MAA), in his opening speech, said that there is a total lack of planning and urban development in Mauritius. He calls the architects and other professionals who constuct the bulk of homes in Mauritius for sustainable design in an integrated approach to the emergence of local architectural styles. 

Pat Ng Cheong Tin also mentioned the need for an appropriate legal framework to produce a minimum of decent architecture. It suggests that the tool that is the "Building Permit Law" has the serious shortcomings that need to be corrected to improve. 

Ashok Lall, architect from India welcomes the position and responsibility of architects and indicated that Mauritius could be considered the development of an institutional mechanism for such things as certification, the pooling of talents and skills in design for those who can not afford an architect to expand the base of sustainable construction and ecology. "According to my information, 80% of Mauritians do not use the help of architects. In India, the architects are the part of a vast network of NGOs and participate in reconstruction, development of suitable solutions and prototypes for the population." 

Osman Mohammed, Chairman of the Steering Committee of Maurice Ile Durable (MID) project and Director of the National Housing Development Company Ltd (NHDC) presented in his speech the various government projects in different areas and, among other , described the prototype development of construction of "low cost housing".