Architect Dr. Sally Mackereth joins WIRED to answer the internet’s burning questions about architecture. Is Brutalist architecture really ugly? Is there a theoretical limit of how tall a building can be on Earth? Does the climate of a city affect how architecture is built? Answers to these questions and many more await on Architecture Support.
#Architecture #BurjKhalifa #Brutalism
00:00 – Architecture Support
00:12 – Burj Khalifa, raise the roof
01:03 – The Walkie Scorchie
01:59 – No cutting corners here
03:04 – Let’s be brutally honest…
04:41 – The climate keeps architects on their toes
05:39 – If it ain’t broke, redesign it
06:43 – Honey, I shrunk the building
08:16 – “There are 360 degrees, so why stick to one?”
09:08 – Architect vs. Architectural Designer
09:51 – Draft mode is always on
10:46 – Frank Lloyd Wright, the American GOAT
11:52 – I talk and I draw things…
13:04 – Rome wasn’t built in a day, but your house was
14:16 – Blueprints need a strong foundation
15:00 – Pompidou or Pompidon’t?
15:53 – Concrete jungle where dreams are made of
16:34 – “Architect’s dream is an engineer’s worst nightmare”
17:15 – Louvre: the pyramid polarization
17:53 – An architect’s laboratory
_Sculpture credit: Sphere et cubes, 2014 by Karen Ctorza._
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@LooseNJangleN
May 5, 2026 at 4:34 pm
By my anecdotal experience, I think Brutalist architecture becoming “trendy” is partially based in misinformation. I’ve seen posts online with things like Falling Water and other non-examples in collages labeled “Brutalism”. Is this trolling? Propaganda? I don’t really know, but I do know most real Brutalist buildings seem to be designed with the intention to not require serious maintenance, as if they were industrial buildings, which is why they are so ugly.
Is that really the “no-makeup” look or is it the “no-bathing” look?
@---l---
May 5, 2026 at 4:40 pm
10:49 It launched the careers of thousands of waterproofing professionals?
@---l---
May 5, 2026 at 4:42 pm
12:48 It’s a technical skill and can learned. There are entire architectural drafting degrees.
@smithtorreysmith
May 5, 2026 at 4:45 pm
Yeah so you can absolutely model light reflecting off a curved surface and predict the results.
@psidvicious
May 5, 2026 at 6:56 pm
Same architect on both buildings. It may have been an oversight the first time but it was done purposely the second.
@AlexKarasev
May 5, 2026 at 8:03 pm
For like a few thousand years people have known how the sun moved in the sky. That’s how the sundial works.
@CGEarts
May 5, 2026 at 5:20 pm
Thank you. Detailed answers, a new view into this profession.
@WanderingYoda
May 5, 2026 at 5:22 pm
Penguin architecture!
@rasheedstarlet
May 5, 2026 at 5:26 pm
disappointing that the first question isn’t answered.
@markvwood2007
May 5, 2026 at 5:34 pm
So what is the height limit dictated by elevators. Has anyone worked this out, doctor?
@psidvicious
May 5, 2026 at 6:49 pm
Ultimately it’s actually dictated by strengths of materials, not elevators. If you discard building practicality, you can just keep going until the material can no longer withstand the given stresses. [2 adjacent “columns” that alternate back and forth, vertically, between usable space and elevator shaft every ~30 floors]
@blueprairiedog
May 5, 2026 at 5:52 pm
Painters don’t like how the walls of the Guggenheim tilt paintings downward. It’s not built for its purpose. And Fallingwater is famously poorly planned. It’s more like Fallingapart.
@User-54631
May 5, 2026 at 6:07 pm
I wonder if AI and 3D printers going to take this occupation.
@thehomeschoolinglibrarian
May 5, 2026 at 6:16 pm
Not likely since AI a computer program even a powerful one can’t understand abstract human ideas and can only create thing based on things that have been done before.
@hancfree
May 5, 2026 at 6:17 pm
I want a Chernobyl expert
@thehomeschoolinglibrarian
May 5, 2026 at 6:22 pm
Kyle Hill is who you want and he has his own channel.
@ehlava7331
May 5, 2026 at 6:20 pm
waaaay too many ads, I bailed
@RisoSystems
May 5, 2026 at 6:22 pm
The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles had the same reflectivity problem, solved fairly quickly.
@psidvicious
May 5, 2026 at 6:54 pm
Both buildings were designed by the same architect. They calculated that the fame and popularity achieved by the phenomenon were more than worth the price of the fix.
@thehomeschoolinglibrarian
May 5, 2026 at 6:25 pm
I am guessing because the YouTube Algorithm doesn’t like the word suicide that she didn’t mention what I believe is a University Library that’s design had students commiting suicide
@psidvicious
May 5, 2026 at 6:28 pm
Architect Sally Mackereth PhD – not Dr. (doctor)
Unless you’ve actually gone to medical school (which is entirely possible and then I have no point 🤐) and earned a doctorate in medicine.
A “doctor of architecture” sounds so pretentious. So much to be proud of in your own field. Anyone that matters, knows what “PhD” means and the level of expertise required to achieve it.
@pjanmax5082
May 5, 2026 at 6:42 pm
why was the intro cut off early? was waiting for the end
@kevinstowell6531
May 5, 2026 at 7:22 pm
Wonderful episode! Thanks Wired
@AS-kq7hw
May 5, 2026 at 7:31 pm
I kinda wish this had been more technical. This is Tech Support, after all. Just not as detailed as they usually get.
@ShawnLH88
May 5, 2026 at 8:32 pm
Well architects don’t actually build anything. They’re basically building artists.
Us civil engineers are the tech aspect that actually make architects famous
@jerrywood4508
May 5, 2026 at 7:56 pm
If I could have asked her a question, it would have been: Why is it that a so-called ‘architectural gesture’ is a middle finger to the rest of society? I have a theory.
@KurtFeudaleKing
May 5, 2026 at 8:06 pm
4:28 Comparing a beautiful, and naturally aged Pamala Anderson to Brutalist Architecture is WILD! LoL
I would say Pamala is a beautiful natural wood and stone house / cabin. While Kardashians are a fake marble veneer, and gaudy gold accent house, that isn’t going to age well lol.
@Edgewalker89
May 5, 2026 at 8:14 pm
What complete imbecile moron edited this? Why a cut every 2 seconds? Its educational content, not a action movie.
@ThePacketWhisperer
May 5, 2026 at 8:26 pm
(1:39) What? I’m pretty sure we can predict pretty accurately where the sun will be, at what angle, and how the curvature of the building will reflect all that.
@lowbudgetmic
May 5, 2026 at 8:49 pm
That blur O_O
@flightmasterr231
May 5, 2026 at 9:18 pm
She seems pleasant
@Anson120
May 5, 2026 at 9:22 pm
I can already see what is in her record collection. Lots of jazz and some Apex twin here and there. Is she single? I like architect babes. 🥰🥰🥰😁😁😁