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The Rise of Boring Architecture — and the Case for Radically Human Buildings | TED

Where did all the lumps and bumps on buildings go? When did city architecture become so … dull? Here to talk about why cities need inspiring architecture, designer Thomas Heatherwick offers a path out of the doldrums of urban monotony — and a vision of cities filled with soulful buildings that people cherish for centuries. If…

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Where did all the lumps and bumps on buildings go? When did city architecture become so … dull? Here to talk about why cities need inspiring architecture, designer Thomas Heatherwick offers a path out of the doldrums of urban monotony — and a vision of cities filled with soulful buildings that people cherish for centuries.

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72 Comments

72 Comments

  1. TagusMan

    July 6, 2022 at 7:46 pm

    What all these so called modern architects and designers need to understand is that peak aesthetics was achieved a long time ago, and nothing these brainiacs can think of will ever be as beautiful as what was done before. Copy the masters of old because old school is the best school. Everything else is rubbish.

  2. Phil Urbaniak

    July 6, 2022 at 8:35 pm

    Interesting 👍👍

  3. Kervis Boston

    July 6, 2022 at 8:43 pm

    Excellent!

  4. Philip Surette

    July 6, 2022 at 8:57 pm

    You are 100% right about the new construction(s). The new stuff is 1000% crap, at their very best. Some places are 800 years old (and older) still beautiful, safe, and well maintained. Stop the construction of unadulterated garbage. Facts, the new buildings are only designed to be built and torn down in 20 years. The whole purpose is to create profit for nardowells and sleazy business thugs. There hasn’t been a decent building constructed in more than 60 years. That’s worldwide!

  5. Miguel Panadero

    July 6, 2022 at 9:05 pm

    They do focus in time and cost where these buildings aren’t usually mass producable like time and concrete. Could sell the longer linespan as the potential investment but usually a hard sell to politicians. Also would be a bit harder to regulate ensuring their up to code. Some of the designs need to be proven for safety.

  6. Elen Evans

    July 6, 2022 at 9:08 pm

    I love your work, Thomas Heatherwick, and you are so right : so many new buildings are souless and boring … as your daughter said: ‘meh’. Let’s bring back biodiversity and architectural diversity, and make this planet a nicer, healthier place to be 🙂

  7. Jim Hendrix

    July 6, 2022 at 9:10 pm

    If Damon Albarn was an architect 😀

  8. Com Truise

    July 6, 2022 at 9:30 pm

    The building “De Rotterdam” in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, springs to mind.

  9. Maniceureka

    July 6, 2022 at 9:45 pm

    Let’s build more interesting buildings so the homeless have something nice to look at. Will probably be more homeless people seeing how this will make the construction more costly and no one can afford homes these days.
    I’m all for beautiful architecture, but this sounds like a rich people problem.

  10. A New Day

    July 6, 2022 at 10:05 pm

    I find it interesting how people in the architecture field hate his work, but the public loves it

  11. Toni

    July 6, 2022 at 10:06 pm

    If it were not for the Tate Modern, St Pauls would still have a black dome. Remember those days?

  12. 🇬█ 𝔎𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑚 𝔎alisari│

    July 6, 2022 at 10:18 pm

    Oh *TED* 🌿🌎 🤔

    “You have to carefully choose the OPPORTUNITY and make sure that HISTORY would be on YOUR side.”

    ─ NELSONMANDELA 🇿🇦✍️

    ✍️✍️

    ###

    .
    .

  13. 🇬█ 𝔎𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑚 𝔎alisari│

    July 6, 2022 at 10:19 pm

    Yes! *TED* 🌿🌎 🤔

    “The support of tested and dependable friends gives one the strength to hold on to hope and to endure successfully even the most challenging knocks in life.”

    ~NelsonMandela🇿🇦✍️

    ✍️✍️

    .. .

  14. Akeem Perez

    July 6, 2022 at 10:21 pm

    Nothing wrong with boring

  15. 🇬█ 𝔎𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑚 𝔎alisari│

    July 6, 2022 at 10:23 pm

    Thank you *TED* ✓

    And yes! 🤔
    I think.. you so happy if my doughter 🌺 say ok 😊

  16. Blessing Adeyemi

    July 6, 2022 at 10:31 pm

    Wow this is an eye opener. Really buildings help our mental health

  17. 🇬█ 𝔎𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑚 𝔎alisari│

    July 6, 2022 at 10:43 pm

    Maybe yes! 🤔
    *TED* ✓ 🤔 “One loyal friend is better than ten thousand relatives.”

    — *Euripides* ✍️

    ✍️✍️✍️

    ..
    .

  18. Shinji Kataoka

    July 6, 2022 at 10:52 pm

    I’d rather have futuristic Sci-Fi skyscrapers like you see them in Japanese animes

  19. Frank-Gavin Moratalla

    July 6, 2022 at 11:24 pm

    I’m surprised but not surprised that he didn’t talk about his controversial suicide basket “Vessel” which is part of the Hudson Yards development in New York.

  20. simonshikos

    July 6, 2022 at 11:24 pm

    I loved every part of this presentation. This is the way architecture should be engaged within our lives and with every little aspect being considered. Because we’re not machinery. We’re human beings.

  21. september sage

    July 6, 2022 at 11:59 pm

    I started listening to this on spotify but i got so much fomo from not being able to see the buildings. and WOW I fully support this movement, I hope the architects of the world see this

  22. Doctor Polymer

    July 7, 2022 at 1:05 am

    Look at the Empire State Building and you are in awe and inspired. Look at the new “Freedom” tower and your head immediately turns back to look at the Empire State Building.

  23. sixteennaimaa

    July 7, 2022 at 1:17 am

    I’ve been thinking about this for months and he put it into words. The zeitz MOCCA and 1000 trees blew my mind. I deeply wish we see more projects like these around us. This man is brilliant. I want to see more of him and Heatherwick studios!!

  24. David Devine

    July 7, 2022 at 1:18 am

    Buildings should add to the built environment, but I fear that a focus on looking nice or neat design will miss out on both sustainable (a lot of the buildings shown had a ton of surface area, which makes interiors expensive to heat and cool … if not expensive in operation, using conventional methods, expensive in construction, as specialized components or construction techniques are not standard and not standard is expensive) … and affordable opportunities (where people can live in comfort and dignity at a rate that can be afford by not just the median income earner, but the widest possible income; we’ve been having an ongoing housing affordability situation here in Canada and developers aren’t going to soften their hearts to cut their profits to make buildings nicer for people).

  25. Alwyn Nito

    July 7, 2022 at 7:19 am

    are there plants or trees that naturally hold warmth to live inside of without hurting it, like intertwined or scarring enough to make a space inside but it still lives? I like those plants that repel mosquitoes
    Edit: Oh or like dome canopies of a variety of plants from the ground up in different sections to let each breathe, like how hairy rhinos in India that make tunnels in the jungle for other animals to use as walk ways

  26. Curious World

    July 7, 2022 at 8:06 am

    Frank Lloyd Wright rejected the Bauhaus idea, and managed to make beautiful and interesting homes, churches, office and public buildings, that still largely managed to be functional, and fit the landscape they sat on. The ‘glass and steel boys’ are boring and soulless; there’s nothing ‘human’ about them. Add in the temporary results of these buildings, and we have one, hot, mess. There is a reason so many old, even ancient, buildings are prized – they represented form in a way that is timeless, or at least, spoke to the generations that built them. As for many old commercial or residential buildings; repurposing them is so much more sensible than simply tearing them down, just to then put something very similar right back up. I find what this gentleman and his assoc. are doing is fascinating. 🙂

    • Алексей Л

      July 7, 2022 at 1:22 pm

      References to the genius Frank have already set the teeth on edge and he is perceived as “the past”, but this only exacerbates the approach of developers in the present. They consider themselves outside of this process. This architect shows “today” and that human architecture does not contradict development as a business.

  27. Silke Penner

    July 7, 2022 at 9:59 am

    Love trat so much ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

  28. Алексей Л

    July 7, 2022 at 12:58 pm

    I am an architect (coeval of the speaker) wholly agrees with his call! I design completely individual residences and not large buildings for this very reason. Developers don’t want to build for people, they want to build for business.

  29. Dreamers to Leaders

    July 7, 2022 at 1:10 pm

    Truly a great piece of work! Amazing! -Tracy

  30. Kuldeep Bhatt

    July 7, 2022 at 1:11 pm

    Am I only one who thinks these are ugly designs or Am I fucking stupid? Pls tell me.

  31. siji jijo

    July 7, 2022 at 2:12 pm

    Such an inspiring, wonderful and educative talk. Wishing you all the very best and success in ur career. Stay blessed 😍

  32. Koru Spring

    July 7, 2022 at 2:38 pm

    I don’t see a problem, looks fine to me.

  33. MobiusPrime 2035

    July 7, 2022 at 3:15 pm

    I mean if we did put art into buildings then at least the homeless can either like their streets or be terrified with all these scary shapes everywhere. But one things clear…..there’ll be more of them because there’s no way to mass produce these buildings and so the price wiild push almost everyone out who isn’t rich

  34. As I See It

    July 7, 2022 at 4:36 pm

    I was one of the first people to study in the dim sum building, and it is amazing!

  35. Jeanne Frias

    July 7, 2022 at 4:46 pm

    That’s was a great speech 💚. I can somehow understand a true essence of Architecture Diversity 😌. Thank you👏

  36. Cool Girl 007

    July 7, 2022 at 5:01 pm

    I joined you because keep repairing my old house 😄😄

  37. Frank Delahue

    July 7, 2022 at 5:03 pm

    Neo-futurism is one the best styles.

  38. Frank Delahue

    July 7, 2022 at 5:06 pm

    Postmodern architecture is a reaction to dullness of modern architecture.

  39. Frank Delahue

    July 7, 2022 at 5:12 pm

    Humane architecture is nothing new, Classical and postmodern architecture emphasize aesthetics and comfort.

  40. Kathryn Adkisson

    July 7, 2022 at 5:29 pm

    So glad this being talked about. I’m sick of ‘Modern.’ We are humans not robots!

  41. Lipi Akther

    July 7, 2022 at 5:38 pm

    that was just amazing 😍😍

  42. Sainath pogula

    July 7, 2022 at 6:49 pm

    you are right 👍🏻

  43. MR QuarkCluster

    July 7, 2022 at 6:52 pm

    I want to be an architect in the future so I will keep this video in my mind NOT to replace buildings with nature just MERGE it.
    As there will be lack of land in future so for better life humans have to learn how live with nature and stop damaging it .

  44. Austin Cunningham

    July 7, 2022 at 8:38 pm

    Reminds me of the Burberry building in Chicago. I genuinely got emotional the first time I saw it because it was so beautiful. I think Chicago does a good job of trying not to have 100% boring buildings

  45. Kometheus

    July 7, 2022 at 9:21 pm

    Architecture SUCKS now. A bunch of wanna be modernist, they’ve ruined it’s uniqueness.

  46. Kometheus

    July 7, 2022 at 9:37 pm

    This man is awesome.

  47. Cathy Elings-Sysel

    July 7, 2022 at 9:43 pm

    It’s been boring for 60 years!! And yes, we are living through an epidemic of boring.

  48. Kometheus

    July 7, 2022 at 9:45 pm

    THIS WAS AMAZINGGGG

  49. kaselemyers

    July 7, 2022 at 9:53 pm

    YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  50. Mark Stahura

    July 8, 2022 at 2:23 am

    Form = function means that only the function matters. It trains you in obedient capitalism. Personality isn’t called for; only function matters. The de-humanization of the environment, which teaches us to neglect caring, humanity, and personality.

  51. this over pc world

    July 8, 2022 at 3:13 am

    This presentation is boring

  52. Dương Tô Thùy

    July 8, 2022 at 3:44 am

    Wonderful presentation. We build things to make our life happier. Funtional buildings bring us convenience, but now this needs to change. We need more than just convenience, we need emotional connection, natural harmony and cost efficiency. Thank you for your courage and dedication. Hope to see more splendid buildings

  53. Harambee Gardens

    July 8, 2022 at 4:04 am

    Interesting.

  54. esssy mee

    July 8, 2022 at 9:17 am

    The problem is sustainable culture

  55. Yoh Shiro

    July 8, 2022 at 10:31 am

    the way this guy -optimistically- talks about _asian_ universities… *singapore even*

    i mean…

    wow i would really hate to be _that guy_ but *have you seen the self dead rates in the region* ? changing a few buildings is a good first step but there’s something more to it than that

  56. yo it's a great day

    July 8, 2022 at 2:23 pm

    Wow

  57. ENIGMA DESIGNERS

    July 8, 2022 at 4:05 pm

    Respect & Salute…🙏

  58. Sunset Time

    July 8, 2022 at 8:51 pm

    And why did not you mention Zuha Hadidi the Iraqi woman architect the Queen of curvature

  59. S.Yun_traveller

    July 9, 2022 at 2:50 pm

    I like how he talked about monotonous building that is devoid of character and unable to connect us, of which the ‘function of emotions’ are important in the creation of architecture . ‘Emotions’ indeed add values to the city and the people. Although I do love his works but I disagree with his examples of architectural diversity. To me, human instinctively love the old architecture, not just because it is rich in details and texture, it is the human activities that make the huge difference, as what is written in Jan Gehl’s Life Between Buildings. Walking through a tiny street with buildings laid in old bricks and mortar is only interesting when it is teeming with activities, as compared to characterless cities designed for automobile. It is also the buildings scale designed harmoniously with its urban environment that makes it appealing. Imagine if they entire township is covered with sculptural ‘interesting’ architecture like that of his example, the whole city will be in a visually chaotic state.

  60. DeepWork

    July 9, 2022 at 3:19 pm

    I am thinking about this for my entire life. Dehumanizing architecture and technology have brought all suffering in modern life. We are better off and creating a lot of wealth but the quality of life is going down . Thanks for proposing a solution . I will definitely join this movement if I can a chnace

  61. Kimberly Bone

    July 9, 2022 at 4:54 pm

    It’s not just the cities. Subdivisions are the same way. Builders want to spend the least to get the most money and many cheap it up on the lovely details that make homes beautiful.
    So many stucco yucko boxe homes in Florida.

  62. Imtiaz Mahmood

    July 9, 2022 at 7:33 pm

    the reason behind soullessness is missing. in previous decades, there were less concentration on public buildings, architects used to spend years on a large public building. now we have better technology, bigger budget but a lot less time. hence many potentially diversive projects failed, mechanical & commercial approach is safer (which is also killing the soul).

  63. Chris Martin

    July 9, 2022 at 7:45 pm

    “Form follows function” Isn’t supposed to mean that form will automatically spring forth once function is met. It’s supposed to mean that form should be secondary to function, so that function isn’t impeded by form.

  64. Invox

    July 9, 2022 at 10:00 pm

    Very emmotional.
    And very good.

  65. October_Revolution

    July 9, 2022 at 10:24 pm

    I really hope that this idea catches up. Living in a fast redeveloping London, I can say that all the new buildings are soulless and dull. None of those buildings will be remembered or missed when they’re brought down. We really need buildings to inspire and excite you when you see them.

  66. Mandeep

    July 9, 2022 at 11:04 pm

    I love some of the new buildings in Asia that incorporate a fluid design or is influenced by nature and includes nature 🤌🏼, the ones that take it a step further by working with nature are the best.
    I didn’t know countries de-constructed buildings that much!! 😲
    That university! Ohmygosh! 💜 stunning!

  67. Desuke

    July 11, 2022 at 8:26 am

    Damn, I am now studying UX but this presentation gives me tons of self awareness.
    This is valuable.

  68. qiao cheng

    July 12, 2022 at 8:28 am

    what’s a great lecture you gave! thank you!

  69. Mind, Body & Saúl

    July 12, 2022 at 10:52 am

    Wow! Came here loving the glass and steel walls but now I’m completely converted.

  70. Adah binti

    July 12, 2022 at 5:06 pm

    They are all amazing

  71. Chelsea Halliday

    July 12, 2022 at 10:30 pm

    👏👏👏

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