Tag: ted-talks | ArchDaily

20 TED Talks on how Architecture can Change the World

Niall Patrick Walsh — Thu, 12 Sep 2019 06:45:00 +0000

Since its founding in 1984 by architect Richard Saul Wurman, TED has been a powerful force in the fields of technology, entertainment, design, and beyond. Architects are among the millions of people around the world who frequently tune into TED's “ideas worth spreading” including talks by architects such as Bjarke Ingels and Jeanne Gang. With over 2500 talks to choose from, we have followed on from our previous lists to provide you with 20 talks to help you work better as an architect.

TEDx Talk by CEBRA Founder Mikkel Frost demonstrates the Power of Hand Drawing

Niall Patrick Walsh — Thu, 07 Feb 2019 09:00:00 +0000

Danish architect and CEBRA founding partner Mikkel Frost has given a TEDx Talk arguing for the relevance of hand drawing in an increasingly virtual world. Titled “Let your fingers do the talking,” the talk presents hand drawing “not as a render killer, but rather as a lively and more open supplement to the close-to-nature visualization.”

TED Talk: Christian Benimana of MASS Design Group on Founding a Design School for Africa

Rory Stott — Sat, 30 Dec 2017 09:30:00 +0000

Are we going to follow a model of unsustainable building and construction similar to what I witnessed in China—or can we develop a uniquely African model of sustainable, and equitable development? I'm optimistic we can.

TED Talk: Justin Davidson on the Pitfalls of Glass Skylines

Osman Bari — Sat, 10 Jun 2017 12:00:00 +0000

In this TED Talk, architecture critic Justin Davidson explains the detrimental nature of building skylines with glass, and what we can do to rectify it.

TED Talk: The Designer of Chile's Bahá'í Temple Explores Sacred Spaces in a Secular Time

Isabella Baranyk — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 09:30:00 +0000

In a recent TED Talk, architect Siamak Hariri takes the audience inside his design process for the Bahá'í Temple of South America. Responding to an open call in 2003 to design the last of the faith's continental temples in Santiago, Chile, Hariri recalls a moment as a student at Yale when he learned about the transcendent power of architecture, a moment he tried to recreate in the twelve-year project.

TED Talk: Jeanne Gang on Buildings That Create Community

Patrick Lynch — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 16:00:00 +0000

I’m a relationship builder

TED Talk: MASS Design Group's Michael Murphy Asks “What More Can Architecture Do?”

Sharon Lam — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 09:30:00 +0000

In this TED Talk, co-founder of MASS Design Group, Michael Murphy, presents the question “what more can architecture do?” as the springboard philosophy behind the practice. Following a trajectory of MASS’s projects, Murphy reflects upon their practice’s progress in seeing architecture as an opportunity to invest in the future of communities.

The 20 Most Inspirational Non-Architecture TED Talks for Architects

Jan Doroteo — Mon, 29 Aug 2016 08:00:00 +0000

For more than 3 decades now, the annual TED Conference and its many affiliated events have served as an important platform for, as their tagline puts it, "ideas worth spreading," and has inspired countless people through its fast paced thought-provoking presentations. Founded in 1984 by architect and graphic designer Richard Saul Wurman, there have been many architecture presentations throughout the conferences—but there are even more inspirational talks which aren't necessarily about architecture. Here we've compiled 21 of the best TED Talks in recent years which, while not strictly about architecture, will certainly appeal to the architectural mindset. Covering a variety of topics such as creativity, art, productivity, technological advancements, and the science of cities and the natural environment, these videos will inspire you to become a better architect.

Marwa Al-Sabouni Explains How Syrian Architecture Laid the Foundations for War

Jan Doroteo — Sun, 21 Aug 2016 09:30:00 +0000

In 2014, Syrian architect Marwa al-Sabouni won the Syria category of the UN Habitat Mass Housing Competition for a housing scheme she developed for the city of Homs, her hometown. Now over two years later, Thames and Hudson has published her book Battle for Home: The Vision of a Young Architect in Syria. Throughout all of these events, al-Sabouni has remained in Syria. As the Guardian puts it: “As bombs fell around her, Syrian architect Marwa al-Sabouni stayed in Homs throughout the civil war, making plans to build hope from carnage.”

Dallas Architecture Forum Presents Architect Marc Fornes

Rene Submissions — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 18:49:00 +0000

Dallas Architecture Forum, a non-profit organization for everyone interested in learning about and improving the architecture, design, landscape and urban fabric of the North Texas region is pleased to continue its 2015-16 Lecture Season with award-winning architect Marc Fornes. He is the founder of THEVERYMANY™, a New York-based studio engaging Art and Architecture through systematic research and development into applied Computer Science and Digital Fabrication. Fornes creates complex, curvilinear self-supported structures located in France, Canada and the United States. His work is in the permanent collections of the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the FRAC Centre in Orleans, France and in many private collections. He has created private residences and Pop-Up stores for such well-known designers as Louis Vuitton and Irene Neuwirth.

The Shape of the Future City: A Conversation with Carlo Ratti and Natalie Jeremijenko

Rene Submissions — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 18:28:00 +0000

The advancement of contemporary technology is changing the way we study the world around us. The way we describe and understand cities is being radically transformed, along with the tools we use to envision and impact their physical form.

These new technologies allow us to understand the built environment differently. The city is no longer a static collection of built objects, but can instead be understood as a series of social, environmental, and informational networks. Can we this new knowledge to positively impact the city of the future? Can these technologies allow us to rectify the mistakes of the past? What new possibilities exist within their creative use?

Apply Now to TED Residency

Karissa Rosenfield — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 16:00:00 +0000

Could you be one of TED's first Residents? TED is offering a new space in their New York SoHo headquarters for a brand-new program: TED Residency. Searching for creative individuals who believe their work deserves more exposure and can benefit from interdisciplinary interactions, the TED team will give each resident a chance to develop their idea for four months with the support of their team. If chosen, you will be provided an office space, technical assistance, and an opportunity to present your idea in the TED theater.

Form Follows Fiction: Ole Scheeren’s TED Talk on Why Architecture Should Tell a Story

David Douglass-Jaimes — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 08:00:00 +0000

In his TED Talk filmed at TEDGlobal London in September 2015, Ole Scheeren eschews what he describes as the “detrimental straightjacket” of the modernist mantra “form follows function” in favor a phrase he attributes to Bernard Tschumi, “form follows fiction.” While Tschumi was referencing how cultural artifacts, such as literature, impact architecture, Scheeren reinterprets the phrase, imagining the stories of building users in order to inform the design process. Scheeren recounts, for example, how the daily activities of CCTV employees, the lifestyles of residents of a Singapore housing block, or the traditional tools of Thai fishermen have informed his various designs for OMA and Büro Ole Scheeren.

TED Talk: Norman Foster on Green Architecture

Sabrina Santos — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 08:00:00 +0000

“As an architect you design for the present, with an awareness of the past, for a future which is essentially unknown. The green agenda is probably the most important agenda and issue of the day […] all the projects which have, in some way, been inspired by that agenda are about a celebratory lifestyle, in a way celebrating the places and spaces which determine the quality of life.”

TED Talk: Shea Trahan on the Relationship Between Sound and Architecture

Sabrina Santos — Sun, 15 Nov 2015 08:00:00 +0000

“As a designer, we create architectural spaces which are de facto instruments—they contain sound, they manipulate it, they can even create sound—so we’re tasked with a very powerful tool for affecting human cognition.”

TED Talk: Takaharu Tezuka on Tokyo's Newest Open-Air Kindergarten

Finn MacLeod — Sun, 18 Oct 2015 14:00:00 +0000

"When you put many children in a quiet box, some of them get really nervous," says Japanese architect Takaharu Tezuka, founder of Tezuka Architects. "In this kindergarten, there is no reason for them to get nervous. There is no boundary." Speaking at TEDxKyoto on his design for an open-air kindergarten in Tokyo, Tezuka discusses his playful and unorthodox approach to the creation of the eccentric building. The unconventional space blurs interior with exterior while accommodating a varied program of athletic, educational and relaxed space. According to Tezuka, the concept was based on a progressive philosophy employed by the school administration: "The principal says: if the boy doesn't want to stay in the room, let him go. He will come back eventually." On children, Tezuka's own philosophy is one of empowerment: "Don't control them. Don't protect them too much. They need to tumble sometimes. They need to get injured. That makes them learn how live in this world."

Video: Neri Oxman Discusses How Design is Technology Plus Biology

Sabrina Santos — Sat, 10 Oct 2015 16:00:00 +0000

Architect and designer Neri Oxman, head of the Mediated Matter research group at MIT and developer of the “Material Ecology” approach, has given a TED Talk on design as the intersection of technology and biology. Oxman begins her talk by introducing the juxtaposition of left- and right-brain thinking in the design world, noting that her work seeks to marry the two by making design less about assembly of parts, and more about growth. Learn more about Oxman’s distinct work and views by watching the video above.

Bamboom: Elora Hardy's TED Talk on Bamboo's Exploding Popularity

Dario Goodwin — Wed, 27 May 2015 11:30:07 +0000

Perhaps the most surprising thing about bamboo - besides being an entirely natural, sustainable material with the tensile strength of steel that can grow up to 900 millimeters (3 feet) in just 24 hours - is that it's not more widely recognized as a fantastic construction material. Like many traditional building materials, bamboo no longer has the architectural currency that it once did across Asia and the pacific, but the efforts of Elora Hardy may help put it back into the vernacular. Heading up Ibuku, a design firm that uses bamboo almost exclusively, Hardy's recent TED Talk is an excellent run through of bamboo's graces and virtues in construction, showing off sinuous private homes and handbuilt school buildings.