Planners agree people-friendly centers, a vibrant street life and efficiency are guiding principles. Don't let the car take over. He suggests planners identify the overriding character in a city or district and build on it. Success stories are Boat Quay in Singapore and Lan Kwai Fong in Hong Kong. And they are not all high-tech gizmos.
Sunlight is let in for illumination.
Although many of his skyscrapers are in the tropics, most don't require air-conditioning. His clients loved the structure. So did the Aga Khan Foundation, which gave it an architecture award in 1995. But the race to design Asia's most energy-efficient building is heating up. When Hijjas Kasturi Associates' 55-story Telekom Malaysia tower opens in Kuala Lumpur next June, it will make use of similar principles.