0:00:00.787,0:00:03.747
Imagine that when you walked[br]in here this evening,

0:00:03.747,0:00:05.825
you discovered that everybody in the room

0:00:05.825,0:00:08.450
looked almost exactly the same:

0:00:08.450,0:00:10.447
ageless, raceless,

0:00:10.447,0:00:12.426
generically good-looking.

0:00:12.426,0:00:14.478
That person sitting right next to you

0:00:14.478,0:00:16.704
might have the most[br]idiosyncratic inner life,

0:00:16.704,0:00:19.045
but you don't have a clue[br]because we're all wearing

0:00:19.045,0:00:22.450
the same blank expression all the time.

0:00:22.450,0:00:25.636
That is the kind of creepy transformation

0:00:25.636,0:00:28.066
that is taking over cities,

0:00:28.066,0:00:31.485
only it applies to buildings, not people.

0:00:31.485,0:00:37.711
Cities are full of roughness and shadow,

0:00:37.711,0:00:38.934
texture and color.

0:00:38.934,0:00:44.376
You can still find architectural surfaces[br]of great individuality and character,

0:00:44.376,0:00:47.608
in apartment buildings in Riga

0:00:47.608,0:00:50.041
and [???].

0:00:50.041,0:00:53.498
social housing in Vienna,

0:00:53.498,0:00:55.535
Hopi villages in Arizona,

0:00:55.535,0:00:57.859
brownstones in New York,

0:00:57.859,0:00:59.917
wooden houses in San Francisco.

0:00:59.917,0:01:02.251
These aren't palaces or cathedrals.

0:01:02.251,0:01:04.094
These are just ordinary residences

0:01:04.094,0:01:06.969
expressing the ordinary[br]splendor of cities.

0:01:06.969,0:01:09.017
And the reason they're like that

0:01:09.017,0:01:11.010
is that the need for shelter

0:01:11.010,0:01:13.343
is so bound up with the human desire

0:01:13.343,0:01:15.303
for beauty.

0:01:15.303,0:01:17.792
Their rough surfaces give us

0:01:17.792,0:01:21.070
a touchable city.

0:01:21.070,0:01:23.448
Right? Streets that you can read[br]by running your fingers

0:01:23.448,0:01:24.783
over brick and stone.

0:01:24.783,0:01:28.430
But that's getting harder to do,

0:01:28.430,0:01:31.917
because cities are becoming smooth.

0:01:31.917,0:01:34.875
New downtowns sprout towers[br]that are almost always made

0:01:34.875,0:01:36.381
of concrete and steel

0:01:36.381,0:01:39.166
and covered in glass.

0:01:39.166,0:01:42.076
You can look at skylines[br]all over the world --

0:01:42.076,0:01:45.523
Houston, Guangzhou,

0:01:45.523,0:01:47.483
Frankfurt --

0:01:47.483,0:01:50.987
and you see the same army[br]of high-gloss robots

0:01:50.987,0:01:53.744
marching over the horizon.

0:01:53.744,0:01:55.920
Now just think of everything we lose

0:01:55.920,0:01:58.381
when architects stop using the full range

0:01:58.381,0:02:00.934
of available materials.

0:02:00.934,0:02:03.105
When we reject granite

0:02:03.105,0:02:05.798
and limestone and sandstone[br]and wood and copper

0:02:05.798,0:02:07.330
and terra cotta and brick

0:02:07.330,0:02:09.311
and wattle and plaster,

0:02:09.311,0:02:11.491
we simplify architecture

0:02:11.491,0:02:13.841
and we impoverish cities.

0:02:13.841,0:02:17.291
It's as if you reduced all[br]of the world's cuisines

0:02:17.291,0:02:19.372
down to airline food.

0:02:19.372,0:02:20.936
(Laughter)

0:02:20.936,0:02:23.678
Chicken or pasta?

0:02:23.678,0:02:25.960
But worse still,

0:02:25.960,0:02:29.623
assemblies of glass towers[br]like this one in Moscow

0:02:29.623,0:02:34.626
suggest a disdain for the civic[br]and communal aspects of urban living.

0:02:34.626,0:02:39.470
Right? Buildings like these are intended[br]to enrich their owners and tenants,

0:02:39.470,0:02:42.201
but not necessarily the lives[br]of the rest of us,

0:02:42.201,0:02:46.457
those of us who navigate the spaces[br]between the buildings.

0:02:46.457,0:02:50.065
And we expect to do so for free.

0:02:50.065,0:02:53.198
Shiny towers are an invasive species,

0:02:53.198,0:02:57.821
and they are choking our cities[br]and killing off public space.

0:02:57.821,0:02:59.469
We tend to think of a facade

0:02:59.469,0:03:01.102
as being like makeup,

0:03:01.102,0:03:05.154
a decorative layer applied at the end[br]to a building that's effectively complete.

0:03:05.154,0:03:07.877
But just because a facade is superficial

0:03:07.877,0:03:10.145
doesn't mean it's not also deep.

0:03:10.145,0:03:12.420
Let me give you an example

0:03:12.420,0:03:15.510
of how a city's surfaces affect[br]the way we live in it.

0:03:15.510,0:03:18.372
When I visited Salamanca in Spain,

0:03:18.372,0:03:20.760
I gravitated to the Plaza Mayor

0:03:20.760,0:03:22.560
at all hours of the day.

0:03:22.560,0:03:25.082
Right? Early in the morning,[br]sunlight rakes the facades,

0:03:25.082,0:03:26.691
sharpening shadows,

0:03:26.691,0:03:30.753
and at night, lamplight segments[br]the buildings into hundreds

0:03:30.753,0:03:32.676
of distinct areas,

0:03:32.676,0:03:34.913
balconies and windows and arcades,

0:03:34.913,0:03:38.600
each one a separate pocket[br]of visual activity.

0:03:38.600,0:03:41.732
That detail and depth, that glamour

0:03:41.732,0:03:46.135
gives the plaza a theatrical quality.

0:03:46.135,0:03:50.405
It becomes a stage where[br]the generations can meet.

0:03:50.405,0:03:53.343
You have teenagers sprawling[br]on the pavement,

0:03:53.343,0:03:56.286
seniors monopolizing the benches,

0:03:56.286,0:04:00.591
and real life starts to look[br]like an opera set.

0:04:00.591,0:04:03.278
The curtain goes up on Salamanca.

0:04:03.278,0:04:08.645
So just because I'm talking about[br]the exteriors of buildings,

0:04:08.645,0:04:11.981
not form, not function, not structure,

0:04:11.981,0:04:17.569
even so those surfaces[br]give textures to our lives,

0:04:17.569,0:04:20.588
because buildings create[br]the spaces around them,

0:04:20.588,0:04:23.565
and those spaces can draw people in

0:04:23.565,0:04:25.520
or push them away.

0:04:25.520,0:04:29.307
And the difference often has to do[br]with the quality of those exteriors.

0:04:29.307,0:04:32.983
So one contemporary equivalent[br]of the Plaza Mayor in Salamanca

0:04:32.983,0:04:36.050
is the Place de la Défense in Paris,

0:04:36.050,0:04:39.504
a windswept, glass-walled open space

0:04:39.504,0:04:41.582
that office workers hurry through

0:04:41.582,0:04:43.840
on the way from the Metro[br]to their cubicles

0:04:43.840,0:04:48.107
but otherwise spend[br]as little time in as possible.

0:04:48.107,0:04:51.369
In the early 1980s,[br]the architect Philip Johnson

0:04:51.369,0:04:55.951
tried to recreate a gracious[br]European plaza in Pittsburgh.

0:04:55.951,0:04:57.444
This is PPG Place,

0:04:57.444,0:05:02.585
a half acre of open space[br]encircles by commercial buildings

0:05:02.585,0:05:04.254
made of mirrored glass.

0:05:04.254,0:05:05.832
And he ornamented those buildings

0:05:05.832,0:05:07.553
with metal trim and baize

0:05:07.553,0:05:09.475
and gothic turrets

0:05:09.475,0:05:11.659
which really pop on the skyline.

0:05:11.659,0:05:13.680
But at ground level,

0:05:13.680,0:05:18.166
the plaza feels like a black glass cage.

0:05:18.166,0:05:21.146
I mean sure, in summertime kids[br]are running back and forth

0:05:21.146,0:05:22.487
through the fountain

0:05:22.487,0:05:24.227
and there's ice skating in the winter,

0:05:24.227,0:05:27.993
but it lacks the informality[br]of a leisurely hangout.

0:05:27.993,0:05:33.640
It's just not the sort of place[br]you really want to just hang out and chat.

0:05:33.640,0:05:39.584
Public spaces thrive or fail[br]for many different reasons.

0:05:39.584,0:05:41.702
Architecture is only one,

0:05:41.702,0:05:43.938
but it's an important one.

0:05:43.938,0:05:45.373
Some recent plazas

0:05:45.373,0:05:48.131
like Federation Square in Melbourne

0:05:48.131,0:05:52.126
or Superkilen in Copenhagen

0:05:52.126,0:05:55.613
succeed because they combine old and new,

0:05:55.613,0:05:57.526
rough and smooth,

0:05:57.526,0:05:59.334
neutral and bright colors,

0:05:59.334,0:06:04.049
and because they don't rely[br]excessively on glass.

0:06:04.049,0:06:07.180
Now, I'm not against glass.

0:06:07.180,0:06:11.312
It's an ancient and versatile material.

0:06:11.312,0:06:16.125
It's easy to manufacture and transport

0:06:16.125,0:06:18.170
and install and replace

0:06:18.170,0:06:19.744
and clean.

0:06:19.744,0:06:22.593
It comes in everything[br]from enormous, ultra-clear sheets

0:06:22.593,0:06:25.467
to translucent bricks.

0:06:25.467,0:06:27.569
New coatings make it change mood

0:06:27.569,0:06:29.867
in the shifting light.

0:06:29.867,0:06:33.296
In expensive cities like New York,[br]it has the magical power

0:06:33.296,0:06:37.036
of being able to multiply real estate[br]values by allowing views,

0:06:37.036,0:06:40.016
which is really the only commodity[br]that developers have to offer

0:06:40.016,0:06:43.821
to justify those surreal prices.

0:06:43.821,0:06:46.396
In the middle of the 19th century,

0:06:46.396,0:06:49.360
with the construction[br]of the Crystal Palace in London,

0:06:49.360,0:06:54.566
glass leapt to the top of the list[br]of quintessentially modern substances.

0:06:54.566,0:06:56.082
By the mid-20th century,

0:06:56.082,0:06:59.905
it had come to dominate the downtowns[br]of some American cities,

0:06:59.905,0:07:02.015
largely through some really spectacular

0:07:02.015,0:07:03.730
office buildings like Lever House

0:07:03.730,0:07:07.685
in midtown Manhattan, designed[br]by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.

0:07:07.685,0:07:09.602
Eventually, the technology

0:07:09.602,0:07:13.347
advanced to the point where architects[br]could design structures so transparent

0:07:13.347,0:07:16.421
they practically disappear.

0:07:16.421,0:07:18.015
And along the way,

0:07:18.015,0:07:22.697
glass became the default material[br]of the high rise city,

0:07:22.697,0:07:25.351
and there's a very[br]powerful reason for that,

0:07:25.351,0:07:30.216
because as the world's populations[br]converge on cities,

0:07:30.216,0:07:33.842
the least fortunate pack into[br]jerrybuilt shantytowns,

0:07:33.842,0:07:37.726
but hundreds of millions of people[br]need apartments and places to work

0:07:37.726,0:07:38.979
in ever larger buildings,

0:07:38.979,0:07:41.513
so it makes economic sense[br]to put up towers

0:07:41.513,0:07:45.329
and wrap them in cheap[br]and practical curtain walls.

0:07:45.329,0:07:48.448
But glass has a limited ability

0:07:48.448,0:07:51.459
to be expressive.

0:07:51.459,0:07:53.604
This is a section of wall framing a plaza

0:07:53.604,0:07:56.676
in the pre-Hispanic city of Mitla,[br]in southern Mexico.

0:07:56.676,0:08:00.394
Those 2,000-year old carvings

0:08:00.394,0:08:04.696
make it clear that this was a place[br]of high ritual significance.

0:08:04.696,0:08:11.182
Today we look at those and we can see[br]a historical and textural continuity

0:08:11.182,0:08:13.811
between those carvings,[br]the mountains all around,

0:08:13.811,0:08:17.937
and that church which is built[br]on top of the ruins

0:08:17.937,0:08:21.126
using stone plundered from the site.

0:08:21.126,0:08:23.931
In nearby Oaxaca, even[br]ordinary plaster buildings

0:08:23.931,0:08:27.937
become canvasses for bright colors,[br]political murals,

0:08:27.937,0:08:31.082
and sophisticated graphic arts.

0:08:31.082,0:08:34.136
It's an intricate, communicative language

0:08:34.136,0:08:37.654
that an epidemic of glass[br]would simply wipe out.

0:08:38.196,0:08:41.147
The good news is that architects[br]and developers

0:08:41.147,0:08:43.933
have begun to rediscover[br]the joys of texture

0:08:43.933,0:08:46.572
without backing away from modernity.

0:08:46.572,0:08:50.901
Some find innovative uses[br]for old materials like brick

0:08:50.901,0:08:54.013
and terra cotta.

0:08:54.013,0:08:56.863
Others invent new products[br]like the molded panels

0:08:56.863,0:08:58.618
that Snøhetta used

0:08:58.618,0:09:01.645
to give their San Francisco[br]Museum of Modern Art

0:09:01.645,0:09:04.835
that crinkly, sculptural quality.

0:09:04.835,0:09:08.519
The architect Stefano Boeri[br]even created living facades.

0:09:08.519,0:09:12.580
This is his Vertical Forest,[br]a pair of apartment towers in Milan,

0:09:12.580,0:09:15.436
whose most visible feature is greenery.

0:09:15.436,0:09:21.310
And Boeri is designing a version of this[br]for Nanjing in China.

0:09:21.310,0:09:25.453
And imagine if green facades[br]were as ubiquitous as glass ones

0:09:25.453,0:09:28.633
how much cleaner the air[br]in Chinese cities would become.

0:09:29.464,0:09:32.563
But the truth is that these[br]are mostly one-offs,

0:09:32.563,0:09:34.115
boutique projects,

0:09:34.115,0:09:37.347
not easily reproduced[br]at a global scale.

0:09:37.347,0:09:40.448
And that is the point.

0:09:40.448,0:09:43.571
When you use materials[br]that have a local significance,

0:09:43.571,0:09:47.003
you prevent cities from[br]all looking the same.

0:09:47.003,0:09:49.916
Copper has a long history in New York --

0:09:49.916,0:09:51.622
the Statue of Liberty,

0:09:51.622,0:09:54.006
the crown of the Woolworth Building --

0:09:54.006,0:09:57.705
but it fell out of fashion for a long time

0:09:57.705,0:10:02.105
until shop architects used it to cover[br]the American Copper Building,

0:10:02.105,0:10:05.295
a pair of twisting towers[br]on the East River.

0:10:05.295,0:10:08.179
It's not even finished and you[br]can see the way sunset

0:10:08.179,0:10:10.787
lights up that metallic facade,

0:10:10.787,0:10:13.824
which will weather to green as it ages.

0:10:13.824,0:10:16.289
Buildings can be like people.

0:10:16.289,0:10:19.270
Their faces broadcast their experience.

0:10:19.270,0:10:21.089
And that's an important point,

0:10:21.089,0:10:23.257
because when glass ages,

0:10:23.257,0:10:25.429
you just replace it,

0:10:25.429,0:10:27.669
and the building looks pretty much[br]the same way it did before

0:10:27.669,0:10:30.234
until eventually it's demolished.

0:10:30.234,0:10:33.942
Almost all other materials[br]have the ability to absorb

0:10:33.942,0:10:36.278
infusions of history and memory

0:10:36.278,0:10:40.850
and project it into the present.

0:10:40.850,0:10:43.053
The firm Ennead

0:10:43.053,0:10:47.866
clad the Utah Natural History Museum[br]in Salt Lake City in copper and zinc,

0:10:47.866,0:10:53.410
ores that had been mined[br]in the area for 150 years

0:10:53.410,0:10:57.691
and that also camouflage the building[br]against the ochre hills

0:10:57.691,0:10:59.594
so that you have a natural history museum

0:10:59.594,0:11:03.723
that reflects the region's[br]natural history.

0:11:03.723,0:11:06.739
And when the Chinese[br]Pritzker Prize Winner Wang Shu

0:11:06.739,0:11:09.851
was building a history museum in Ningbo,

0:11:09.851,0:11:13.124
he didn't just create[br]a wrapper for the past,

0:11:13.124,0:11:16.407
he built memory right into the walls

0:11:16.407,0:11:19.883
by using brick and stones and shingles

0:11:19.883,0:11:24.513
salvaged from villages[br]that had been demolished.

0:11:24.513,0:11:27.822
Now, architects can use glass

0:11:27.822,0:11:30.436
in equally lyrical and inventive ways.

0:11:30.436,0:11:32.049
Here in New York, two buildings,

0:11:32.049,0:11:34.838
one by Jean Nouvel[br]and this one by Frank Gehry

0:11:34.838,0:11:37.787
face off across West 19th Street,

0:11:37.787,0:11:40.811
and the play of reflections[br]that they toss back and forth

0:11:40.811,0:11:43.421
is like a symphony in light.

0:11:43.421,0:11:47.553
But when a city defaults to glass

0:11:47.553,0:11:49.032
as it grows,

0:11:49.032,0:11:51.070
it becomes a hall of mirrors,

0:11:51.070,0:11:54.142
disquieting and cold.

0:11:54.142,0:11:58.581
After all, cities are places[br]of concentrated variety

0:11:58.581,0:12:04.869
where the world's cultures[br]and languages and lifestyles

0:12:04.869,0:12:06.886
come together and mingle.

0:12:06.886,0:12:09.963
So rather than encase all that variety

0:12:09.963,0:12:14.763
and diversity in buildings[br]of crushing sameness,

0:12:14.763,0:12:17.007
we should have an architecture that honors

0:12:17.007,0:12:19.589
the full range of the urban experience.

0:12:19.589,0:12:21.177
Thank you.

0:12:21.177,0:12:26.631
(Applause)