Floating cities, the LEGO House and other architectural forms of the future
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0:01 - 0:04My mom has always reminded me
-
0:04 - 0:07that I have the same
proportions as a LEGO man. -
0:07 - 0:08(Laughter)
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0:08 - 0:11And she does actually have a point.
-
0:11 - 0:14LEGO is a company that has succeeded
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0:14 - 0:19in making everybody believe
that LEGO is from their home country. -
0:19 - 0:22But it's not, it's from my home country.
-
0:22 - 0:25So you can imagine my excitement
when the LEGO family called me -
0:25 - 0:28and asked us to work with them
to design the Home of the Brick. -
0:29 - 0:32This is the architectural model --
we built it out of LEGO, obviously. -
0:32 - 0:34This is the final result.
-
0:34 - 0:36And what we tried to do was to design
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0:36 - 0:41a building that would be as interactive
and as engaging and as playful -
0:41 - 0:42as LEGO is itself,
-
0:42 - 0:45with these kind of interconnected
playgrounds on the roofscape. -
0:45 - 0:47You can enter a square on the ground
-
0:47 - 0:51where the citizens of Billund
can roam around freely without a ticket. -
0:52 - 0:55And it's probably one of the only
museums in the world -
0:55 - 0:58where you're allowed
to touch all the artifacts. -
0:59 - 1:05But the Danish word for design
is "formgivning," which literally means -
1:05 - 1:09to give form to that
which has not yet been given form. -
1:09 - 1:12In other words,
to give form to the future. -
1:13 - 1:17And what I love about LEGO
is that LEGO is not a toy. -
1:17 - 1:22It's a tool that empowers the child
to build his or her own world, -
1:22 - 1:24and then to inhabit
that world through play -
1:24 - 1:29and to invite her friends to join her
in cohabiting and cocreating that world. -
1:29 - 1:32And that is exactly what formgivning is.
-
1:32 - 1:38As human beings, we have the power
to give form to our future. -
1:39 - 1:40Inspired by LEGO,
-
1:40 - 1:44we've built a social housing
project in Copenhagen, -
1:44 - 1:47where we stacked blocks
of wood next to each other. -
1:47 - 1:52Between them, they leave spaces
with extra ceiling heights and balconies. -
1:52 - 1:55And by gently wiggling the blocks,
-
1:55 - 1:57we can actually create curves
or any organic form, -
1:57 - 2:00adapting to any urban context.
-
2:01 - 2:06Because adaptability is probably one
of the strongest drivers of architecture. -
2:06 - 2:08Another example is here in Vancouver.
-
2:08 - 2:13We were asked to look at the site
where Granville bridge triforks -
2:13 - 2:14as it touches downtown.
-
2:15 - 2:17And we started, like,
mapping the different constraints. -
2:17 - 2:20There's like a 100-foot
setback from the bridge -
2:20 - 2:22because the city want to make sure
-
2:22 - 2:25that no one looks
into the traffic on the bridge. -
2:25 - 2:28There's a park where
we can't cast any shadows. -
2:28 - 2:32So finally, we're left with a tiny
triangular footprint, -
2:32 - 2:33almost too small to build.
-
2:34 - 2:35But then we thought, like,
-
2:35 - 2:39what if the 100-foot minimum distance
is really about minimum distance -- -
2:39 - 2:43once we get 100 feet up in the air,
we can grow the building back out. -
2:44 - 2:45And so we did.
-
2:45 - 2:46When you drive over the bridge,
-
2:47 - 2:49it's as if someone is pulling
a curtain aback, -
2:49 - 2:51welcoming you to Vancouver.
-
2:52 - 2:55Or a like a weed growing
through the cracks in the pavement -
2:55 - 2:58and blossoming as it gets light and air.
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2:58 - 3:01Underneath the bridge,
we've worked with Rodney Graham -
3:01 - 3:03and a handful of Vancouver artists,
-
3:03 - 3:08to create what we called
the Sistine Chapel of street art, -
3:08 - 3:09an art gallery turned upside down,
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3:09 - 3:14that tries to turn the negative
impact of the bridge into a positive. -
3:14 - 3:17So even if it looks like
this kind of surreal architecture, -
3:17 - 3:20it's highly adapted to its surroundings.
-
3:21 - 3:25So if a bridge can become a museum,
a museum can also serve as a bridge. -
3:25 - 3:30In Norway, we are building a museum
that spans across a river -
3:30 - 3:33and allows people to sort of journey
through the exhibitions -
3:33 - 3:36as they cross from one side
of a sculpture park to the other. -
3:37 - 3:40An architecture sort of
adapted to its landscape. -
3:41 - 3:45In China, we built a headquarters
for an energy company -
3:45 - 3:49and we designed the facade
like an Issey Miyake fabric. -
3:49 - 3:52It's rippled, so that facing
the predominant direction of the sun, -
3:52 - 3:54it's all opaque;
-
3:54 - 3:57facing away from the sun, it's all glass.
-
3:57 - 4:00On average, it sort of transitions
from solid to clear. -
4:01 - 4:03And this very simple idea
without any moving parts -
4:03 - 4:05or any sort of technology,
-
4:05 - 4:08purely because
of the geometry of the facade, -
4:08 - 4:11reduces the energy consumption
on cooling by 30 percent. -
4:13 - 4:15So you can say what makes
the building look elegant -
4:15 - 4:18is also what makes it perform elegantly.
-
4:18 - 4:21It's an architecture
that is adapted to its climate. -
4:21 - 4:24You can also adapt one culture to another,
-
4:25 - 4:29like in Manhattan, we took
the Copenhagen courtyard building -
4:29 - 4:31with a social space
where people can hang out -
4:31 - 4:33in this kind of oasis
in the middle of a city, -
4:33 - 4:36and we combined it with the density
and the verticality -
4:36 - 4:37of an American skyscraper,
-
4:37 - 4:40creating what we've called
a "courtscraper." -
4:41 - 4:43From New York to Copenhagen.
-
4:43 - 4:45On the waterfront of Copenhagen,
-
4:45 - 4:50we are right now finishing this
waste-to-energy power plant. -
4:50 - 4:53It's going to be the cleanest
waste-to-energy power plant in the world, -
4:53 - 4:56there are no toxins
coming out of the chimney. -
4:56 - 4:59An amazing marvel of engineering
that is completely invisible. -
4:59 - 5:01So we thought, how can we express this?
-
5:02 - 5:05And in Copenhagen
we have snow, as you can see, -
5:05 - 5:08but we have absolutely no mountains.
-
5:08 - 5:11We have to go six hours by bus
to get to Sweden, -
5:11 - 5:12to get alpine skiing.
-
5:12 - 5:15So we thought,
let's put an alpine ski slope -
5:15 - 5:17on the roof of the power plant.
-
5:17 - 5:21So this is the first test run
we did a few months ago. -
5:21 - 5:23And what I like about this
-
5:23 - 5:28is that it also show you the sort of
world-changing power of formgivning. -
5:28 - 5:30I have a five-month-old son,
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5:30 - 5:32and he's going to grow up in a world
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5:32 - 5:34not knowing that there was ever a time
-
5:34 - 5:37when you couldn't ski
on the roof of the power plant. -
5:37 - 5:39(Laughter)
-
5:39 - 5:43(Applause)
-
5:43 - 5:47So imagine for him and his generation,
that's their baseline. -
5:47 - 5:49Imagine how far they can leap,
-
5:49 - 5:53what kind of wild ideas
they can put forward for their future. -
5:53 - 5:57So right in front of it,
we're building our smallest project. -
5:58 - 6:01It's basically nine containers
-
6:01 - 6:03that we have stacked
in a shipyard in Poland, -
6:03 - 6:06then we've schlepped it
across the Baltic sea -
6:06 - 6:08and docked it in the port of Copenhagen,
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6:08 - 6:11where it is now the home of 12 students.
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6:11 - 6:13Each student has a view to the water,
-
6:13 - 6:17they can jump out the window
into the clean port of Copenhagen, -
6:17 - 6:18and they can get back in.
-
6:19 - 6:22All of the heat comes
from the thermal mass of the sea, -
6:22 - 6:24all the power comes from the sun.
-
6:24 - 6:26This is the first 12 units in Copenhagen,
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6:26 - 6:28another 60 on their way,
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6:28 - 6:30another 200 are going to Gothenburg,
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6:30 - 6:32and we're speaking with the Paris Olympics
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6:32 - 6:35to put a small floating
village on the Seine. -
6:36 - 6:40So very much this kind of, almost like
nomadic, impermanent architecture. -
6:40 - 6:44And the waterfronts of our cities
are experiencing a lot of change. -
6:44 - 6:48Economic change, industrial change
and climate change. -
6:48 - 6:51This is Manhattan before Hurricane Sandy,
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6:51 - 6:54and this is Manhattan after Sandy.
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6:54 - 6:56We got invited by the city of New York
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6:56 - 7:00to look if we could make the necessary
flood protection for Manhattan -
7:00 - 7:02without building a seawall
-
7:02 - 7:06that would segregate the life
of the city from the water around it. -
7:06 - 7:08And we got inspired by the High Line.
-
7:08 - 7:11You probably know the High Line --
it's this amazing new park in New York. -
7:11 - 7:15It's basically decommissioned train tracks
-
7:15 - 7:18that now have become one of the most
popular promenades in the city. -
7:18 - 7:19So we thought,
-
7:19 - 7:23could we design the necessary
flood protection for Manhattan -
7:23 - 7:27so we don't have to wait
until we shut it down before it gets nice? -
7:28 - 7:34So we sat down with the citizens
living along the waterfront of New York, -
7:34 - 7:38and we worked with them to try
to design the necessary flood protection -
7:38 - 7:41in such a way that it only
makes their waterfront -
7:41 - 7:44more accessible and more enjoyable.
-
7:44 - 7:47Underneath the FDR,
we are putting, like, pavilions -
7:47 - 7:50with pocket walls that can slide out
and protect from the water. -
7:50 - 7:52We are creating little stepped terraces
-
7:52 - 7:54that are going to make
the underside more enjoyable, -
7:54 - 7:56but also protect from flooding.
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7:57 - 8:01Further north in the East River Park,
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8:01 - 8:04we are creating rolling hills
-
8:04 - 8:08that protect the park
from the noise of the highway, -
8:08 - 8:11but in turn also become
the necessary flood protection -
8:11 - 8:15that can stop the waves during
an incoming storm surge. -
8:16 - 8:20So in a way, this project
that we have called the Dryline, -
8:21 - 8:22it's essentially the High Line --
-
8:22 - 8:24(Laughter)
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8:24 - 8:26The High Line that's
going to keep Manhattan dry. -
8:26 - 8:28(Applause)
-
8:28 - 8:32It's scheduled to break ground
on the first East River portion -
8:32 - 8:33at the end of this year.
-
8:33 - 8:36But it has essentially been codesigned
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8:36 - 8:38with the citizens of Lower Manhattan
-
8:38 - 8:42to take all of the necessary
infrastructure for resilience -
8:42 - 8:46and give it positive social
and environmental side effects. -
8:47 - 8:52So, New York is not alone
in facing this situation. -
8:52 - 8:55In fact, by 2050,
-
8:56 - 8:5990 percent of the major
cities in the world -
8:59 - 9:01are going to be dealing with rising seas.
-
9:01 - 9:03In Hamburg,
-
9:03 - 9:05they've created a whole neighborhood
-
9:05 - 9:08where the bottom floors are designed
to withstand the inevitable flood. -
9:09 - 9:15In Sweden, they've designed a city
where all of the parks are wet gardens, -
9:15 - 9:19designed to deal with storm water
and waste water. -
9:20 - 9:22So we thought, could we perhaps --
-
9:22 - 9:24Actually, today,
-
9:24 - 9:29three million people are already
permanently living on the sea. -
9:30 - 9:33So we thought, could we actually
imagine a floating city -
9:33 - 9:37designed to incorporate all
of the Sustainable Development Goals -
9:37 - 9:39of the United Nations
-
9:39 - 9:43into a whole new human-made ecosystem.
-
9:43 - 9:48And of course, we have to design it
so it can produce its own power, -
9:48 - 9:50harvesting the thermal mass of the oceans,
-
9:50 - 9:54the force of the tides,
of the currents, of the waves, -
9:54 - 9:55the power of the wind,
-
9:55 - 9:57the heat and the energy of the sun.
-
9:58 - 10:01Also, we are going to collect
all of the rain water that drops -
10:01 - 10:04on this man-made archipelago
-
10:04 - 10:07and deal with it organically
and mechanically -
10:07 - 10:08and store it and clean it.
-
10:09 - 10:12We have to grow all of our food locally,
-
10:12 - 10:14it has to be fish- and plant-based,
-
10:15 - 10:19because you won't have the space
or the resources for a dairy diet. -
10:20 - 10:22And finally,
-
10:22 - 10:25we are going to deal
with all the waste locally, -
10:25 - 10:30with compost, recycling,
and turning the waste into energy. -
10:30 - 10:34So imagine where a traditional
urban master plan, -
10:34 - 10:37you typically draw the street grid
where the cars can drive -
10:37 - 10:40and the building plots
where you can put some buildings. -
10:40 - 10:43This master plan, we sat down
with a handful of scientists -
10:43 - 10:46and basically started
with all of the renewable, -
10:46 - 10:48available natural resources,
-
10:48 - 10:50and then we started channeling
the flow of resources -
10:50 - 10:55through this kind of human-made ecosystem
or this kind of urban metabolism. -
10:56 - 10:59So it's going to be modular,
-
11:00 - 11:01it's going to be buoyant,
-
11:01 - 11:04it's going to be designed
to resist a tropical storm. -
11:04 - 11:07You can prefabricate it at scale,
-
11:07 - 11:11and tow it to dock with others,
to form a small community. -
11:11 - 11:14We're designing these
kind of coastal additions, -
11:14 - 11:16so that even if it's modular and rational,
-
11:17 - 11:20each island can be unique
with its own coastal landscape. -
11:20 - 11:23The architecture
has to remain relatively low -
11:23 - 11:26to keep the center of gravity buoyant.
-
11:26 - 11:29We're going to take all of the agriculture
-
11:30 - 11:32and use it to also create social space
-
11:32 - 11:35so you can actually enjoy
the permaculture gardens. -
11:35 - 11:38We're designing it for the tropics,
so all of the roofs are maximized -
11:38 - 11:41to harvest solar power
and to shade from the sun. -
11:42 - 11:45All the materials are going to be
light and renewable, -
11:45 - 11:46like bamboo and wood,
-
11:46 - 11:50which is also going to create
this charming, warm environment. -
11:50 - 11:55And any architecture is supposed
to be able to fit on this platform. -
11:56 - 12:00Underneath we have all the storage
inside the pontoon, -
12:00 - 12:03almost like a mega version
of the student housings -
12:03 - 12:04that we've already worked with.
-
12:04 - 12:07We have all the storage
for the energy that's produced, -
12:07 - 12:10all of the water storage and remediation.
-
12:10 - 12:15We are sort of dealing
with all of the waste and the composting. -
12:15 - 12:18And we also have some backup farming
-
12:18 - 12:21with aeroponics and hydroponics.
-
12:21 - 12:25So imagine almost like a vertical section
through this landscape -
12:25 - 12:29that goes from the air above,
where we have vertical farms; -
12:29 - 12:33below, we have the aeroponics
and the aquaponics. -
12:33 - 12:36Even further below,
we have the ocean farms -
12:36 - 12:39and where we tie the island to the ground,
-
12:39 - 12:44we're using biorock to create new reefs
to regenerate habitat. -
12:44 - 12:48So think of this
small island for 300 people. -
12:48 - 12:51It can then group together
to form a cluster or a neighborhood -
12:52 - 12:56that then can sort of group together
to form an entire city for 10,000 people. -
12:56 - 12:59And you can imagine
if this floating city flourishes, -
13:00 - 13:03it can sort of grow
like a culture in a petri dish. -
13:05 - 13:08So one of the first places
we are looking at placing this, -
13:08 - 13:10or anchoring this floating city,
-
13:10 - 13:12is in the Pearl River delta.
-
13:12 - 13:15So imagine this kind of canopy
of photovoltaics -
13:15 - 13:18on this archipelago floating in the sea.
-
13:18 - 13:21As you sail towards the island,
you will see the maritime residents -
13:21 - 13:26moving around on alternative forms
of aquatic transportation. -
13:26 - 13:29You come into this kind of community port.
-
13:29 - 13:32You can roam around
in the permaculture gardens -
13:32 - 13:35that are productive landscapes,
but also social landscapes. -
13:35 - 13:40The greenhouses also become orangeries
for the cultural life of the city, -
13:40 - 13:43and below, under the sea,
-
13:43 - 13:47it's teeming with life
of farming and science -
13:47 - 13:49and social spaces.
-
13:49 - 13:52So in a way, you can imagine
this community port -
13:52 - 13:55is where people gather,
both by day and by night. -
13:55 - 13:58And even if the first one
is designed for the tropics, -
13:58 - 14:02we also imagine that the architecture
can adapt to any culture, -
14:02 - 14:04so imagine, like,
a Middle Eastern floating city -
14:04 - 14:07or Southeast Asian floating city
-
14:07 - 14:11or maybe a Scandinavian
floating city one day. -
14:12 - 14:15So maybe just to conclude.
-
14:16 - 14:20The human body is 70 percent water.
-
14:20 - 14:24And the surface of our planet
is 70 percent water. -
14:25 - 14:26And it's rising.
-
14:26 - 14:29And even if the whole world
woke up tomorrow -
14:29 - 14:31and became carbon-neutral over night,
-
14:31 - 14:35there are still island nations
that are destined to sink in the seas, -
14:35 - 14:40unless we also develop alternate forms
of floating human habitats. -
14:42 - 14:45And the only constant
in the universe is change. -
14:45 - 14:49Our world is always changing,
and right now, our climate is changing. -
14:50 - 14:53No matter how critical
the crisis is, and it is, -
14:53 - 14:58this is also our collective
human superpower. -
14:58 - 15:01That we have the power to adapt to change
-
15:02 - 15:05and we have the power
to give form to our future. -
15:06 - 15:12(Applause)
- Title:
- Floating cities, the LEGO House and other architectural forms of the future
- Speaker:
- Bjarke Ingels
- Description:
-
Design gives form to the future, says architect Bjarke Ingels. In this worldwide tour of his team's projects, journey to a waste-to-energy power plant (that doubles as an alpine ski slope) and the LEGO Home of the Brick in Denmark -- and catch a glimpse of cutting-edge flood resilience infrastructure in New York City as well as an ambitious plan to create floating, sustainable cities that are adapted to climate change.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 15:24
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Floating cities, the LEGO House and other architectural forms of the future | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Floating cities, the LEGO House and other architectural forms of the future | ||
Oliver Friedman approved English subtitles for Floating cities, the LEGO House and other architectural forms of the future | ||
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for Floating cities, the LEGO House and other architectural forms of the future | ||
Krystian Aparta accepted English subtitles for Floating cities, the LEGO House and other architectural forms of the future | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Floating cities, the LEGO House and other architectural forms of the future | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Floating cities, the LEGO House and other architectural forms of the future | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Floating cities, the LEGO House and other architectural forms of the future |