0:00:00.600,0:00:03.416
Imagine that when you walked[br]in here this evening,

0:00:03.440,0:00:07.520
you discovered that everybody in the room[br]looked almost exactly the same:

0:00:08.280,0:00:10.216
ageless, raceless,

0:00:10.240,0:00:11.480
generically good-looking.

0:00:12.280,0:00:14.256
That person sitting right next to you

0:00:14.280,0:00:16.416
might have the most[br]idiosyncratic inner life,

0:00:16.440,0:00:17.696
but you don't have a clue

0:00:17.720,0:00:21.280
because we're all wearing[br]the same blank expression all the time.

0:00:22.960,0:00:27.320
That is the kind of creepy transformation[br]that is taking over cities,

0:00:27.920,0:00:29.960
only it applies to buildings, not people.

0:00:31.480,0:00:37.456
Cities are full of roughness and shadow,

0:00:37.480,0:00:38.696
texture and color.

0:00:38.720,0:00:43.880
You can still find architectural surfaces[br]of great individuality and character

0:00:45.360,0:00:47.280
in apartment buildings in Riga

0:00:48.080,0:00:49.280
and Yemen,

0:00:50.520,0:00:52.040
social housing in Vienna,

0:00:53.000,0:00:55.376
Hopi villages in Arizona,

0:00:55.400,0:00:56.840
brownstones in New York,

0:00:57.520,0:00:59.120
wooden houses in San Francisco.

0:00:59.800,0:01:01.680
These aren't palaces or cathedrals.

0:01:02.080,0:01:03.856
These are just ordinary residences

0:01:03.880,0:01:06.440
expressing the ordinary[br]splendor of cities.

0:01:07.480,0:01:10.776
And the reason they're like that[br]is that the need for shelter

0:01:10.800,0:01:13.880
is so bound up with[br]the human desire for beauty.

0:01:16.600,0:01:20.320
Their rough surfaces[br]give us a touchable city.

0:01:20.840,0:01:22.416
Right? Streets that you can read

0:01:22.440,0:01:24.560
by running your fingers[br]over brick and stone.

0:01:25.600,0:01:27.280
But that's getting harder to do,

0:01:28.200,0:01:30.440
because cities are becoming smooth.

0:01:31.680,0:01:33.736
New downtowns sprout towers

0:01:33.760,0:01:36.096
that are almost always[br]made of concrete and steel

0:01:36.120,0:01:37.480
and covered in glass.

0:01:38.920,0:01:41.776
You can look at skylines[br]all over the world --

0:01:41.800,0:01:43.000
Houston,

0:01:43.640,0:01:44.840
Guangzhou,

0:01:45.440,0:01:46.640
Frankfurt --

0:01:47.440,0:01:50.856
and you see the same army[br]of high-gloss robots

0:01:50.880,0:01:52.160
marching over the horizon.

0:01:53.560,0:01:55.696
Now, just think of everything we lose

0:01:55.720,0:01:59.960
when architects stop using[br]the full range of available materials.

0:02:00.800,0:02:04.536
When we reject granite[br]and limestone and sandstone

0:02:04.560,0:02:06.736
and wood and copper[br]and terra-cotta and brick

0:02:06.760,0:02:08.280
and wattle and plaster,

0:02:09.120,0:02:11.256
we simplify architecture

0:02:11.280,0:02:12.840
and we impoverish cities.

0:02:13.880,0:02:17.576
It's as if you reduced[br]all of the world's cuisines

0:02:17.600,0:02:19.536
down to airline food.

0:02:19.560,0:02:20.616
(Laughter)

0:02:20.640,0:02:21.840
Chicken or pasta?

0:02:23.440,0:02:24.760
But worse still,

0:02:25.760,0:02:29.336
assemblies of glass towers[br]like this one in Moscow

0:02:29.360,0:02:34.256
suggest a disdain for the civic[br]and communal aspects of urban living.

0:02:34.280,0:02:39.336
Right? Buildings like these are intended[br]to enrich their owners and tenants,

0:02:39.360,0:02:41.936
but not necessarily[br]the lives of the rest of us,

0:02:41.960,0:02:45.600
those of us who navigate[br]the spaces between the buildings.

0:02:46.440,0:02:48.480
And we expect to do so for free.

0:02:49.800,0:02:52.240
Shiny towers are an invasive species

0:02:53.080,0:02:56.320
and they are choking our cities[br]and killing off public space.

0:02:57.320,0:03:00.776
We tend to think of a facade[br]as being like makeup,

0:03:00.800,0:03:04.562
a decorative layer applied at the end[br]to a building that's effectively complete.

0:03:05.160,0:03:07.696
But just because a facade is superficial

0:03:07.720,0:03:09.976
doesn't mean it's not also deep.

0:03:10.000,0:03:11.280
Let me give you an example

0:03:12.200,0:03:15.216
of how a city's surfaces[br]affect the way we live in it.

0:03:15.240,0:03:18.136
When I visited Salamanca in Spain,

0:03:18.160,0:03:20.416
I gravitated to the Plaza Mayor

0:03:20.440,0:03:21.856
at all hours of the day.

0:03:21.880,0:03:24.856
Early in the morning,[br]sunlight rakes the facades,

0:03:24.880,0:03:26.576
sharpening shadows,

0:03:26.600,0:03:29.896
and at night, lamplight[br]segments the buildings

0:03:29.920,0:03:31.760
into hundreds of distinct areas,

0:03:32.520,0:03:34.896
balconies and windows and arcades,

0:03:34.920,0:03:37.760
each one a separate pocket[br]of visual activity.

0:03:38.680,0:03:41.320
That detail and depth, that glamour

0:03:42.640,0:03:45.040
gives the plaza a theatrical quality.

0:03:47.000,0:03:49.400
It becomes a stage[br]where the generations can meet.

0:03:50.160,0:03:53.536
You have teenagers[br]sprawling on the pavers,

0:03:53.560,0:03:56.376
seniors monopolizing the benches,

0:03:56.400,0:04:00.296
and real life starts to look[br]like an opera set.

0:04:00.320,0:04:02.080
The curtain goes up on Salamanca.

0:04:03.520,0:04:07.600
So just because I'm talking[br]about the exteriors of buildings,

0:04:08.520,0:04:11.520
not form, not function, not structure,

0:04:12.760,0:04:16.160
even so those surfaces[br]give texture to our lives,

0:04:17.399,0:04:20.296
because buildings[br]create the spaces around them,

0:04:20.320,0:04:23.336
and those spaces can draw people in

0:04:23.360,0:04:24.560
or push them away.

0:04:25.280,0:04:28.976
And the difference often has to do[br]with the quality of those exteriors.

0:04:29.000,0:04:32.736
So one contemporary equivalent[br]of the Plaza Mayor in Salamanca

0:04:32.760,0:04:35.080
is the Place de la Défense in Paris,

0:04:35.880,0:04:39.496
a windswept, glass-walled open space

0:04:39.520,0:04:41.296
that office workers hurry through

0:04:41.320,0:04:43.816
on the way from the metro[br]to their cubicles

0:04:43.840,0:04:46.200
but otherwise spend[br]as little time in as possible.

0:04:48.120,0:04:51.416
In the early 1980s,[br]the architect Philip Johnson

0:04:51.440,0:04:55.200
tried to recreate a gracious[br]European plaza in Pittsburgh.

0:04:55.680,0:04:57.176
This is PPG Place,

0:04:57.200,0:05:02.416
a half acre of open space[br]encircled by commercial buildings

0:05:02.440,0:05:03.896
made of mirrored glass.

0:05:03.920,0:05:07.336
And he ornamented those buildings[br]with metal trim and bays

0:05:07.360,0:05:09.296
and Gothic turrets

0:05:09.320,0:05:11.040
which really pop on the skyline.

0:05:11.880,0:05:13.160
But at ground level,

0:05:14.520,0:05:17.240
the plaza feels like a black glass cage.

0:05:18.080,0:05:19.936
I mean, sure, in summertime

0:05:19.960,0:05:22.416
kids are running back and forth[br]through the fountain

0:05:22.440,0:05:24.416
and there's ice-skating in the winter,

0:05:24.440,0:05:27.656
but it lacks the informality[br]of a leisurely hangout.

0:05:27.680,0:05:31.680
It's just not the sort of place[br]you really want to just hang out and chat.

0:05:35.480,0:05:39.216
Public spaces thrive or fail[br]for many different reasons.

0:05:39.240,0:05:40.640
Architecture is only one,

0:05:41.480,0:05:42.880
but it's an important one.

0:05:43.840,0:05:45.176
Some recent plazas

0:05:45.200,0:05:47.560
like Federation Square in Melbourne

0:05:48.640,0:05:51.080
or Superkilen in Copenhagen

0:05:51.960,0:05:55.336
succeed because they combine old and new,

0:05:55.360,0:05:56.560
rough and smooth,

0:05:57.400,0:05:59.256
neutral and bright colors,

0:05:59.280,0:06:02.920
and because they don't rely[br]excessively on glass.

0:06:04.000,0:06:06.960
Now, I'm not against glass.

0:06:07.800,0:06:10.520
It's an ancient and versatile material.

0:06:11.640,0:06:15.856
It's easy to manufacture and transport

0:06:15.880,0:06:17.936
and install and replace

0:06:17.960,0:06:19.496
and clean.

0:06:19.520,0:06:22.416
It comes in everything[br]from enormous, ultraclear sheets

0:06:22.440,0:06:24.520
to translucent bricks.

0:06:25.200,0:06:27.496
New coatings make it change mood

0:06:27.520,0:06:28.760
in the shifting light.

0:06:29.880,0:06:33.136
In expensive cities like New York,[br]it has the magical power

0:06:33.160,0:06:36.776
of being able to multiply[br]real estate values by allowing views,

0:06:36.800,0:06:39.896
which is really the only commodity[br]that developers have to offer

0:06:39.920,0:06:41.640
to justify those surreal prices.

0:06:44.400,0:06:46.336
In the middle of the 19th century,

0:06:46.360,0:06:49.136
with the construction[br]of the Crystal Palace in London,

0:06:49.160,0:06:53.200
glass leapt to the top of the list[br]of quintessentially modern substances.

0:06:54.280,0:06:55.776
By the mid-20th century,

0:06:55.800,0:06:58.920
it had come to dominate[br]the downtowns of some American cities,

0:06:59.680,0:07:02.696
largely through some[br]really spectacular office buildings

0:07:02.720,0:07:06.680
like Lever House in midtown Manhattan,[br]designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.

0:07:07.560,0:07:10.256
Eventually, the technology[br]advanced to the point

0:07:10.280,0:07:13.376
where architects could design[br]structures so transparent

0:07:13.400,0:07:14.686
they practically disappear.

0:07:16.360,0:07:17.776
And along the way,

0:07:17.800,0:07:21.840
glass became the default material[br]of the high-rise city,

0:07:22.680,0:07:25.176
and there's a very[br]powerful reason for that.

0:07:25.200,0:07:28.920
Because as the world's populations[br]converge on cities,

0:07:30.000,0:07:33.656
the least fortunate pack[br]into jerry-built shantytowns.

0:07:33.680,0:07:37.496
But hundreds of millions of people[br]need apartments and places to work

0:07:37.520,0:07:38.736
in ever-larger buildings,

0:07:38.760,0:07:41.376
so it makes economic sense[br]to put up towers

0:07:41.400,0:07:43.880
and wrap them in cheap[br]and practical curtain walls.

0:07:45.600,0:07:48.160
But glass has a limited ability

0:07:49.080,0:07:50.280
to be expressive.

0:07:51.240,0:07:53.416
This is a section of wall framing a plaza

0:07:53.440,0:07:57.520
in the pre-Hispanic city of Mitla,[br]in southern Mexico.

0:07:58.640,0:08:00.136
Those 2,000-year-old carvings

0:08:00.160,0:08:03.200
make it clear that this was a place[br]of high ritual significance.

0:08:05.240,0:08:11.016
Today we look at those and we can see[br]a historical and textural continuity

0:08:11.040,0:08:13.896
between those carvings,[br]the mountains all around

0:08:13.920,0:08:17.776
and that church which is built[br]on top of the ruins

0:08:17.800,0:08:19.960
using stone plundered from the site.

0:08:20.880,0:08:23.776
In nearby Oaxaca,[br]even ordinary plaster buildings

0:08:23.800,0:08:28.136
become canvasses for[br]bright colors, political murals

0:08:28.160,0:08:30.000
and sophisticated graphic arts.

0:08:31.000,0:08:33.600
It's an intricate, communicative language

0:08:34.400,0:08:37.039
that an epidemic of glass[br]would simply wipe out.

0:08:37.960,0:08:40.736
The good news is[br]that architects and developers

0:08:40.760,0:08:43.736
have begun to rediscover[br]the joys of texture

0:08:43.760,0:08:45.800
without backing away from modernity.

0:08:46.240,0:08:50.360
Some find innovative uses[br]for old materials like brick

0:08:51.320,0:08:52.520
and terra-cotta.

0:08:53.760,0:08:59.056
Others invent new products[br]like the molded panels that Snøhetta used

0:08:59.080,0:09:01.496
to give the San Francisco[br]Museum of Modern Art

0:09:01.520,0:09:03.880
that crinkly, sculptural quality.

0:09:04.520,0:09:08.416
The architect Stefano Boeri[br]even created living facades.

0:09:08.440,0:09:12.456
This is his Vertical Forest,[br]a pair of apartment towers in Milan,

0:09:12.480,0:09:14.360
whose most visible feature is greenery.

0:09:15.240,0:09:19.760
And Boeri is designing a version of this[br]for Nanjing in China.

0:09:21.080,0:09:25.216
And imagine if green facades[br]were as ubiquitous as glass ones

0:09:25.240,0:09:27.880
how much cleaner the air[br]in Chinese cities would become.

0:09:29.280,0:09:32.296
But the truth is[br]that these are mostly one-offs,

0:09:32.320,0:09:33.816
boutique projects,

0:09:33.840,0:09:36.080
not easily reproduced at a global scale.

0:09:37.720,0:09:39.200
And that is the point.

0:09:40.360,0:09:43.456
When you use materials[br]that have a local significance,

0:09:43.480,0:09:45.600
you prevent cities[br]from all looking the same.

0:09:46.760,0:09:49.616
Copper has a long history in New York --

0:09:49.640,0:09:50.960
the Statue of Liberty,

0:09:51.720,0:09:53.530
the crown of the Woolworth Building --

0:09:54.200,0:09:57.376
but it fell out of fashion for a long time

0:09:57.400,0:10:01.776
until SHoP Architects used it[br]to cover the American Copper Building,

0:10:01.800,0:10:04.240
a pair of twisting towers[br]on the East River.

0:10:05.160,0:10:06.416
It's not even finished

0:10:06.440,0:10:10.536
and you can see the way[br]sunset lights up that metallic facade,

0:10:10.560,0:10:12.600
which will weather to green as it ages.

0:10:13.720,0:10:16.016
Buildings can be like people.

0:10:16.040,0:10:18.360
Their faces broadcast their experience.

0:10:19.400,0:10:20.856
And that's an important point,

0:10:20.880,0:10:22.920
because when glass ages,

0:10:23.800,0:10:25.296
you just replace it,

0:10:25.320,0:10:28.216
and the building looks[br]pretty much the same way it did before

0:10:28.240,0:10:29.936
until eventually it's demolished.

0:10:29.960,0:10:32.736
Almost all other materials[br]have the ability

0:10:32.760,0:10:36.336
to absorb infusions of history and memory,

0:10:36.360,0:10:39.680
and project it into the present.

0:10:40.840,0:10:42.696
The firm Ennead

0:10:42.720,0:10:47.616
clad the Utah Natural History Museum[br]in Salt Lake City in copper and zinc,

0:10:47.640,0:10:51.840
ores that have been mined[br]in the area for 150 years

0:10:53.280,0:10:56.520
and that also camouflage the building[br]against the ochre hills

0:10:57.360,0:10:59.656
so that you have a natural history museum

0:10:59.680,0:11:01.920
that reflects the region's[br]natural history.

0:11:03.680,0:11:06.456
And when the Chinese[br]Pritzker Prize winner Wang Shu

0:11:06.480,0:11:09.816
was building a history museum in Ningbo,

0:11:09.840,0:11:13.056
he didn't just create[br]a wrapper for the past,

0:11:13.080,0:11:16.136
he built memory right into the walls

0:11:16.160,0:11:19.856
by using brick and stones and shingles

0:11:19.880,0:11:22.640
salvaged from villages[br]that had been demolished.

0:11:24.440,0:11:27.296
Now, architects can use glass

0:11:27.320,0:11:30.096
in equally lyrical and inventive ways.

0:11:30.120,0:11:31.816
Here in New York, two buildings,

0:11:31.840,0:11:34.480
one by Jean Nouvel[br]and this one by Frank Gehry

0:11:35.160,0:11:37.000
face off across West 19th Street,

0:11:37.800,0:11:40.736
and the play of reflections[br]that they toss back and forth

0:11:40.760,0:11:42.120
is like a symphony in light.

0:11:44.280,0:11:47.296
But when a city defaults to glass

0:11:47.320,0:11:48.816
as it grows,

0:11:48.840,0:11:50.400
it becomes a hall of mirrors,

0:11:51.080,0:11:53.280
disquieting and cold.

0:11:54.000,0:11:57.880
After all, cities are places[br]of concentrated variety

0:11:59.680,0:12:04.696
where the world's cultures[br]and languages and lifestyles

0:12:04.720,0:12:05.920
come together and mingle.

0:12:07.000,0:12:10.000
So rather than encase all that variety

0:12:10.800,0:12:14.776
and diversity in buildings[br]of crushing sameness,

0:12:14.800,0:12:19.480
we should have an architecture that honors[br]the full range of the urban experience.

0:12:20.000,0:12:21.216
Thank you.

0:12:21.240,0:12:26.638
(Applause)