Updated by Paul Keskeys, May 3, 2016
Big news from the definitive online epicenter of ideas: Head of TED Chris Anderson has released a new book entitled TED TALKS: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking. In honor of the occasion, we peruse nine of the finest architectural presentations to grace the platform. From Frank Gehry to Thomas Heatherwick, listen to some of the profession’s brightest minds as they walk the TED stage:
Frank Gehry, “My Days as a Young Rebel,” 1990
Though Frank Gehry has taken heat for devolving into the “Guy Fieri of architecture,” his early work was some of the most innovative and creative in American postmodernism. “All I’m going to try to prove to you with these slides,” he jokes, “is that I do just very straight stuff.” It’s a tongue-in-cheek comment, but Gehry continues to discuss his work in a quotidian, down-to-earth manner, focusing on how he solves problems for clients and makes an effort to address context. His fantastic early designs speak for themselves from the old, musty slides he presents. There are some fun bits, too, as Gehry tells the story of a play in which he and his sons participated — Gehry’s name was “Frankie P. Toronto. P for Palladio.”
Liz Diller, “The Blur Building and Other Tech-Empowered Architecture,” 2007
In the context of architecture as a “special effects machine,” Liz Diller presents and describes some of Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s most offbeat work, from theater and design to master planning. The common thread? “It challenges the assumptions about conventions of space.” Their search for an “architecture of nothingness” aims to produce moments and places that make us think, instead of sleepwalking through the world we inhabit.
David Byrne, “How Architecture Helped Music Evolve,” 2010
Former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne, who dropped out of RISD, explains how architecture factors into music production and performance. “Do I write stuff for specific rooms? Is that a model for creativity? Do we all make things with a venue, a context in mind?” He explains that different kinds of music are made for different spaces. In his typical calm-yet-energetic, deadpan punchiness, Byrne traces the history of music between Mozart, Scott Joplin and punk, and examines their relationship to both the acoustics of the rooms in which they were played and the media players that were in use.
Joshua Prince-Ramus, “Building A Theater That Remakes Itself,” 2009
This is a talk about the agency of architecture. “It’s time for architecture to do things, Prince-Ramus argues, “not just represent things.” His theories on how to accomplish this are exemplified by his work on the Dallas Theater Center. The constraints of the project were seen as a stimulus for productivity, and the project became a multiform building where different configurations accommodated the mission of the company, resulting in a dynamic and performative space.
Rachel Armstrong, “Architecture That Repairs Itself,” 2009
Rachel Armstrong is looking to the future for a sustainable architecture that is made in new and eco-friendly ways. “All buildings today have something in common,” she points out. “They are made using Victorian techniques.” Armstrong and her team at the Bartlett School of Architecture are working with scientists to find new materials that can be grown; she aims to create energy-efficient materials that make themselves through natural processes, rather than employ the Victorian method of imposing mankind’s will on natural materials. She describes a plan to grow a new limestone foundation for Venice, “carefully crafted around the wooden piles.”
Cameron Sinclair, “My Wish: A Call for Open-Source Architecture,” 2006
Sinclair talks about his work as the founder of Architecture for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that uses innovative, sustainable and collaborative design to address problems in the world’s neediest places. To this aim, he argues, architects should be making open-source design proposals and embracing “not just the responsibility, but the opportunity to really get involved in making change.” The open call for proposals has produced innovative ideas in places as diverse as Kosovo, Sub-Saharan Africa and post-Katrina Mississippi. For Sinclair, sustainability is not just a responsible way of designing, but a way of surviving and thriving with minimum expense (for example, using rainwater collection to provide clean water).
Thomas Heatherwick, “Building the Seed Cathedral,” 2011
Heatherwick discusses growing up disenfranchised by large buildings that lacked the materiality and soul of smaller-scale design. He has run a studio in London for 20 years, and in this talk, he discusses his most famous work, the Seed Cathedral. The cathedral was completed in 2010 for the Shanghai World Expo, and the British government requested a design that would both stand out and maintain elegance. The pavilion was inspired by the Expo’s theme of future cities — and by the movie “Jurassic Park.” “This is the only project we’ve ever done that looked more like a rendering than the actual renderings,” he jokes. Heatherwick also wins the prize for baggiest TED Talk attire, a surprisingly competitive category in this list.
Paola Antonelli, “Design and the Elastic Mind,” 2007
While this talk is not directly about architecture, the points that Antonelli brings up still apply to the profession. She gives us a glimpse into the process of curating her exhibition “Design and the Elastic Mind,” explaining how designers are “elastic” — they move through various fields of knowledge — and how they help us to be more elastic ourselves. Nanotechnology, physics and other fields of science, for example, stimulate designers as they begin to incorporate the new technology into innovative designs. The products Antonelli describes are quite diverse — from new visions for growing meat to the creation of a poem with every ejaculation — and, as she quips, “designers are quite fantastic.”
Architizer’s very own Marc Kushner, “Why the Buildings of the Future will be Shaped by … You,” 2014
“Architecture is not about math or zoning — it’s about visceral emotions,” says Marc Kushner. In a sweeping — often funny — talk, he zooms through the past 30 years of architecture to show how the public, once disconnected, has become an essential part of the design process. With the help of social media, feedback reaches architects years before a building is even created. The result? Architecture that will do more for us than ever before.
BONUS: Bjarke Ingels, “3 Warp-Speed Architecture Tales”, 2009
Danish architect Bjarke Ingels rockets through photo/video-mingled stories of his eco-flashy designs. His buildings not only look like nature — they act like nature: blocking the wind, collecting solar energy — and creating stunning views.
Have a favorite architecture TED talk that we missed? Let us know in the comments section.
Hero image via InDecision