Today is a big day for Architizer — and for myself personally — and I wanted to take a moment to thank the entire community for being a part of it! Today sees the launch of my TED Talk, originally presented last March, an 18-minute crash-course in the last 30 years of architecture history. In collaboration with TED and Simon & Schuster, I have expanded the conclusion of that talk into a new book called The Future of Architecture in 100 Buildings.
You can watch the talk here — and buy the book here — but the gist of it is that we are entering a golden age of architecture for the same reason that millions of you can watch the video and see the projects in the book, for free, online. Because of the proliferation and increasing speed of media, more people care about architecture and are demanding better buildings. I am so proud of the part that Architizer is playing in this revolution.
Five years ago, when we launched Architizer, we were bombarded by naysayers who told us that architects would never share their images. Boy were they wrong. Architizer now boasts a user-generated database of over 80,000 projects, uploaded by more than 50,000 firms around the world.
In a few weeks, we will open up public voting the Third Annual A+ Awards; 250,000 of you voted last year, and we hope to see even more of you do so this year. With your help — and your contributions — we are changing the face of architecture. We are breaking our profession out of the echo chamber and reminding the world that what architects do is of vital importance.
I ended my TED talk with a plea to the audience: “Find an Architect. Hire an Architect. Work with us to build better buildings, better cities and a better world — because the stakes are high. Buildings don’t just represent our society they shape our society.”
Together the Architizer community is showing the world that we aren’t waiting. Architects from around the globe are crafting new spaces and places that are tailored to the way we live today. Let’s keep building!
—Marc
MARC KUSHNER, AIA, is an architect with just one agenda — he wants you to love architecture. As partner at progressive New York architecture firm HWKN (Hollwich Kushner) and co-founder of Architizer, Marc is a celebrated designer and pioneer in the digital media industry, continually striving to find new ways to help the world not just like but fall in love with architecture. You can see Marc’s TED Talk on the last 30 Years of Architecture History here, or buy his book on The Future of Architecturehere.