John Spence

Next Generation Tourism: Touching the Ground Lightly - Edward P. Bass Distinguished Visiting Architecture Fellowship John Spence

The book features current sustainability and material research and design for innovative strategies centered around ecology, sustainability, and the rise of future tourism models on the resort island of Gili Meno, Indonesia. It focuses on sustainability of materials, climate issues, and development in fragile island areas where exploitation of resources are being monitored for future development.

It is said that our actions impact the environment seven generations into the future. In fact the growing concern about the global impact of tourism and the associated waste produced by leisure industries is outdated. This Yale graduate advanced architecture studio analyzed the current ecological conditions, indigenous architecture styles, and resort culture of Gili Meno, a tiny remote island off the coast of Lombok, Indonesia, to generate next-generation models of tourism.

We've also seen a huge rise in awareness of sustainability in terms of holidaying patterns and resort developments. I wouldn't say that 30 years ago people were blind to these issues, but there's certainly much more education and consciousness now about global warming and other issues. So whether a developer sincerely believes it needs to incorporate sustainability or sees a commercial advantage in being sustainable, there's no discrepancy. A commercial advantage validates the need to be sustainable because there's nothing less sustainable than a failed resort. --John Spence