Interview Vincent Callebaut
London 2025
England
4 June 2025
Deborah Nicholls-Lee
VCA : The Tao Zhu Yin Yuan residential tower was structurally completed in 2018. It has been fully operational since 2024, having achieved LEED Platinum certification from the US Green Council and Diamond certification from the International Low Carbon Buildings Alliance. Tao Zhu Yin Yuan has become the ecological landmark in the heart of Taipei City in Taiwan.
VCA : I am emerged as a pioneer of biomimicry and biophilic design in architecture through a multidisciplinary approach combining radical ecology, technological innovation, and organic inspiration from nature. Here are the key elements of my philosophical foundations and natural inspirations
I draw on biomimicry to design structures that mimic smartest natural ecosystems. My projects, such as Taipei’s Tao Zhu Yin Yuan tower, take direct inspiration from the DNA double helix, symbolizing harmony between human life and nature. I aim to “transform cities into ecosystems, neighborhoods into forests, and buildings into trees,” a vision that transcends aesthetics to integrate active ecological functions.
My biophilic design addresses the climate crisis by restoring the human-nature connection, as for examples:
- Biophilic Hospitals: My HOSPIWOOD 21 project incorporates therapeutic vertical forests, using greenery to reduce patient stress and enhance recovery.
- Manta Ray: This floating terminal in Seoul combines whale-inspired hydro turbines, solar roofs, and filtering marshes, illustrating symbiosis between technology and ecosystems.
- Secret gardens in Montpellier (completion by late 2025) embodies this philosophy with housing integrating urban farming and water recycling.
My climate responsive projects merges the best of high-tech and low-tech solutions, as for examples :
- Tao Zhu Yin Yuan: With 23,000 plants absorbing 130 tons of CO₂/year, this tower uses rotating balconies for optimal sunlight and water-recovery systems. Certified LEED Platinum, it serves as a prototype for “purifying vertical forests.”
- The Green Arch (Dubai 2020): A solar monolith covered in 2,500 plants, generating electricity and hot water via a photovoltaic canopy. The building is protected from the solar radiation with a giant mashrabiya shaped like a double-curved vault and built with recycled wood from local palm trees in Dubai.
I structure my approach around five key principles :
- Organizational Efficiency (short circuits, modularity).
- Circular Economy (recycled materials, renewable energy).
- Off-Site Prefabrication to reduce carbon footprint.
- Biophilia (extensive integration of greenery and natural light).
- Landscape Openness toward the city for social inclusivity.
As pioneer of regenerative architecture, I celebrate conceptual boldness trying to inspire a new generation of architects and citizens to rethink urbanism as a living ecosystem, where every building becomes an active player in ecological transition. This synthesis of structural biomimicry and operational biophilia positions “Vincent Callebaut Architectures” as an “ecosystemic architectural company,” whose work challenges both the habitability and climatic resilience of cities.
VCA : Buildings such as Tao Zhu Yin Yuan redefine urban living by merging sustainable ecology, smart technology, and biophilic design, fostering a new eco-conscious lifestyle. Here’s how they achieve this:
1. Symbiosis Between Nature and Architecture: The project integrates 23,000 trees and plants across its rotating balconies and communal spaces, forming a vertical forest that absorbs 130 tons of CO₂ annually. This greenery acts as a natural air purifier, reducing pollution and urban heat islands while sheltering local biodiversity (blue magpies, herons, squirrels).
2. Structural and Energy Innovations: Rotating Balconies: Each floor rotates by 4.5° to optimize sunlight exposure and allow trees to grow freely, creating private gardens of 167 m² per apartment.
Self-Sufficiency: The building aims for energy autonomy through solar panels and rainwater recovery systems.
Natural Insulation: The plant-covered façade reduces ambient temperatures by 3–4°C, cutting air conditioning use by 30%.
3. Reinventing Daily Practices: Urban Farming: Residents grow vegetables and herbs on their balconies, embodying the concept of a "livable vertical farm."
Biophilic Well-Being: Exposure to natural light and seasonal garden cycles lowers stress, aligning with LEED v5 principles on human-nature connectivity.
Eco-Conscious Community: The design encourages social interaction through shared green spaces, fostering a collective ecological mindset.
4. Societal and Philosophical Impact: Inspired by Fan Li (a Chinese philosopher advocating collective harmony), the project embodies "symbiotic architecture" where every action (gardening, energy savings) contributes to a global balance. I merge Western technology with Eastern ecological spirituality, as highlighted in his statement: "The garden is no longer beside the building; it is the building!"
5. Blueprint for Future Cities: With its LEED Platinum certification, Tao Zhu Yin Yuan serves as a laboratory for megacities like Seoul, Riyadh and New York, proving that dense urban habitats can become regenerative ecosystems. Its success inspires a new generation of architects to rethink urbanism as a living symbiosis rather than a conquest of space.
By transforming residents into urban gardeners and façades into carbon sinks, this building demonstrates that ecology isn’t a constraint but a lifestyle philosophy.
VCA : The "Secret Gardens" project under construction in Montpellier aims to create a regenerative urban ecosystem that merges sustainable architecture, biodiversity, and social cohesion. Its core objectives include:
1. Low-Carbon Ecosystem
The project seeks to reduce environmental impact by combining:
- Renewable energy production via rooftop photovoltaic solar panels.
- Waste-to-resource recycling, including rainwater harvesting and greywater treatment.
- Bio-based materials and low-carbon construction methods.
2. Biodiversity and Urban Agriculture
Permaculture in the heart of the site, with dedicated vegetable gardens. Urban beehives on rooftops, managed by a local beekeeper. Extensive greenery on loggias, balconies, and communal spaces to create a cooling microclimate through plant evapotranspiration.
3. Social Cohesion and Well-Being
113 affordable housing units (30% social housing) to promote social diversity. Shared spaces (community gardens, greenhouses) fostering neighborly interactions. Bioclimatic comfort through natural ventilation and optimized daylight.
4. Heritage Integration and Innovation
Dialogue with military history: The design references the site’s past as a military infantry school through lattice-inspired architecture. Respectful rehabilitation of the Genius Loci, harmonizing with nearby landmarks like the "Le Cocon" cinema. Awards: Winner of the Grand Prix de l'Immobilier for architectural aesthetics and the Pyramide d'Argent for global quality (2024).
5. Vision for Sustainable Urbanism
The project embodies "architecture meant to be shared", proving that urban density and ecology can coexist. It serves as a model for replicable solutions:
- Energy-positive buildings.
- Soft mobility (naturally ventilated parking, bike storage).
- Ecological education through resident involvement in urban farming.
In summary, "Secret Gardens" strives to reconcile cultural heritage, nature, and modernity, offering a climate-resilient living environment while honoring the history of Montpellier’s Creative District.
VCA : (A) RESHAPING URBAN IDENTITY:
Cities as Living Ecosystems: My projects replace concrete with vertical forests (Tao Zhu Yin Yuan) and ecological corridors (Paris Smart City 2050), turning urban landscapes into symbiotic environments as for example our “Paris Smart City 2050” with solar towers and bio-inspired hydrokinetic inhabited bridges replacing heat islands with "green lungs" generating renewable energy.
Reconciling Heritage and Innovation: I integrate local history (e.g., military latticework in Montpellier, Art-Deco in the metamorphosis of the Ancient Thermal Baths in Aix-les-Bains, Rue de Rivoli’s structure in Paris) into bio-inspired designs, creating a dialogue between past and future.
Resilient and Desirable Cities: Concepts like Dragonfly (a vertical farm for New York on the Roosevelt Island) or Manta Ray (the floating terminal in Seoul) redefine cities as climate laboratories, where every building actively combats global warming.
VCA : (B) IMPACT ON RESIDENTS’ EXPERIENCE
Biophilic Well-Being
Tao Zhu Yin Yuan: 23,000 plants reduce stress through daily immersion in nature, while private garden balconies promote urban farming.
HOSPIWOOD 21: Therapeutic vertical forests accelerate patient recovery via air quality and natural light [see previous response].
Eco-Conscious Communities
Rainbow Tree in Cebu: Shared greenhouses and urban beehives foster social bonds, with residents collaborating on green space management.
Paris Smart City 2050: Inhabited bridges on the Seine and vertical farms in suburbs turn citizens into active contributors to food self-sufficiency.
New Lifestyles
Energy Autonomy: Solar panels and hydroelectric systems (e.g., urban waterfalls in Paris) empower residents to reduce their carbon footprint.
Ecological Education: Residents learn permaculture, strengthening their environmental awareness.
Our biomimetic projects replace traditional urbanism with regenerative architecture, where cities evolve from machine-like structures into conscious ecosystems, and civic life becomes active and resilient. My projects embody a vision where cities are no longer climate problems but living solutions.
VCA The biggest philosophical difference between Vincent Callebaut Architectures' models and conventional urban architecture lies in their paradigm-shifting approach to the human-nature relationship:
1. Biomimetic Symbiosis vs. Human-Centric Domination
My Vision: "Cities as ecosystems" where buildings act as "inhabited trees" (Tao Zhu Yin Yuan’s DNA-inspired structure) that absorb CO₂, produce energy, and shelter biodiversity. Biomimicry guides our designs to emulate natural cycles (zero waste, zero poverty, zero exclusion, circular resource use), as seen in Paris Smart City 2050’s solar towers and algae bioreactors.
Conventional Architecture: Prioritizes functional zoning and economic efficiency, often treating nature as an obstacle or ornamental afterthought. Relies on linear resource consumption (take-make-waste) and fossil-fuel dependency.
2. Regenerative vs. Extractive Urbanism
My Vision: Energy-positive buildings built in CLT Cross Laminated-Timber (e.g., Rainbow Tree wooden tower in Cebu) that generate 120–150% of their energy needs via solar, wind, and geothermal systems. Vertical forests with endemic species that absorb 180+ tons of CO₂/year while creating microclimates.
Conventional Architecture: Carbon-intensive materials (concrete, steel) dominate, contributing to 30–40% of global emissions. Urban sprawl and heat islands exacerbate climate vulnerability.
3. Holistic Well-Being vs. Isolated Functionalism
My Vision: Biophilic design integrates nature into daily life (e.g., Secret Gardens’ permaculture gardens) to reduce stress and foster community. Social equity via mixed-income housing and participatory planning (e.g., 30% social housing in Montpellier).
Conventional Architecture: Compartmentalized living (residential/commercial segregation) undermines social cohesion. Aesthetic uniformity often prioritizes cost over cultural or ecological context.
4. Systemic Resilience vs. Short-Term Fixes
My Vision: "Architecture as climate action" (e.g., Lilypad Floating Ecopolis) prepares cities for rising seas and climate refugees. Cross-laminated timber and bio-based materials reduce embodied carbon by 60%.
Conventional Architecture: Reactive solutions (e.g., higher levees, AC dependency) fail to address root causes of climate crises. Bureaucratic inertia perpetuates outdated building codes and fossil-fuel subsidies.
At Vincent Callebaut Architectures, we redefine architecture as a regenerative force, merging technology with ecology to create "living cities" that actively heal ecosystems. Conventional urban design, rooted in industrial-era logic, remains anthropocentric, prioritizing human convenience over planetary health. This philosophical rift separates climate-resilient symbiosis from exploitative urban expansion.
I would like to speak about our current emblematic project in France : “The Foam of Waves”
The revitalization of the Thermes Nationaux d’Aix-les-Bains embodies a pioneering vision for future urbanism, blending historic preservation, ecological innovation, and social cohesion. Here’s why it stands as a landmark ecological project:
1. Radical Ecological Regeneration
Massive Greening: 15,000 plants on balconies and façades create a "vertical ecosystem" that absorbs CO₂, reduces urban heat islands, and restores biodiversity (magpies, herons).
Water Management: Rain curtains for rainwater harvesting and natural filtration systems, exemplifying circular water economy.
Renewable Energy: Solar panels and optimized natural lighting to achieve energy autonomy.
2. Symbiosis Between Heritage and Modernity
Respectful Preservation: The 19th-century thermal baths’ historic elements are conserved, while unsightly 20th-century additions are removed to reveal the site’s architectural soul.
Biomimetic Design: Wavy façades ("L’Écume des Ondes") mimic the ripples of Lake Bourget, creating a poetic dialogue between the building and its natural surroundings.
Hybrid Spaces: The project combines housing (256 units), organic shops, coworking areas, and museum exhibits, transforming the baths into a multifunctional "living neighborhood".
3. Model for Urban Resilience
Social Diversity: 25% social housing integrated into a premium area, preventing gentrification and fostering socioeconomic inclusion.
Soft Mobility: Expanded underground parking or electro-sharing vehicles and priority to proximity (15 minutes city) for pedestrians/cyclists via a new rooftop public square.
Climate Adaptation: Advanced hydrogeological studies and bio-based materials address flood risks and climate challenges.
4. Laboratory for Participatory Democracy
Citizen Involvement: The design was chosen by 62.89% of residents in a 2019 public consultation, embodying democratic architecture.
Ecological Education: Shared greenhouses and urban beehives teach residents about local agriculture and pollinator conservation.
5. Global Inspiration
The project serves as a blueprint for revitalizing historic sites (like Montreal’s Docks or Budapest’s Public Baths), proving that:
Ecology is not a luxury: Green tech (seasonal planters, geothermal systems) is accessible to all.
Heritage can be dynamic: By merging collective memory (thermal culture) with innovation (coworking), it avoids sterile museumification.
Beauty drives transition: Organic curves and hanging gardens attract investors and tourists while raising environmental awareness.
Vincent Callebaut Architectures redefines urbanism as a total art form, where every detail (from garden balconies to light wells) serves humanity, history, and the climate. This project transcends renovation to become a constructive prophecy: a vision of cities where past and future collaborate to regenerate life.
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