TED Talks
TED: What happens when a city runs out of room for its dead | Alison Killing
If you want to go out and start your own cemetery in the uK, says Alison Killing, "you kind of can." She thinks a lot about where we die and are buried -- and in this talk, the architect and TED Fellow offers an eye-opening economic and...
TED Talks
TED: How do you build a sacred space? | Siamak Hariri
To design the Baha' Temple of South America, architect Siamak Hariri focused on illumination -- from the temple's form, which captures the movement of the sun throughout the day, to the iridescent, luminous stone and glass used to...
SciShow
How Scientists Protect the World's Most Famous Art
Conserving and restoring art can be pretty tricky. Thankfully, scientists have been learning how to restore artwork in some pretty cool ways that are effective, safe, and a little weird, to be honest.
TED Talks
Moshe Safdie: Building uniqueness
Looking back over his long career, architect Moshe Safdie delves into four of his design projects and explains how he labored to make each one truly unique for its site and its users.
TED Talks
TED: How architecture can create dignity for all | John Cary
If architect and writer John Cary has his way, women will never need to stand in pointlessly long bathroom lines again. Lines like these are representative of a more serious issue, Cary says: the lack of diversity in design that leads to...
TED Talks
TED: How cohousing can make us happier (and live longer) | Grace Kim
Loneliness doesn't always stem from being alone. For architect Grace Kim, loneliness is a function of how socially connected we feel to the people around us -- and it's often the result of the homes we live in. She shares an age-old...
TED Talks
Majd Mashharawi: How I'm making bricks out of ashes and rubble in Gaza
Majd Mashharawi was walking through her war-torn neighborhood in Gaza when an idea flashed in her mind: What if she could take the rubble and transform it into building materials? See how she designed a brick made out of ashes that's...
TED Talks
Rogier van der Heide: Why light needs darkness
Lighting architect Rogier van der Heide offers a beautiful new way to look at the world -- by paying attention to light (and to darkness). Examples from classic buildings illustrate a deeply thought-out vision of the play of light around...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The Taj Mahal: A monument to eternal love | Stephanie Honchell Smith
It's 1631. Mumtaz Mahal, beloved wife of Emperor Shah Jahan, is giving birth to their 14th child. A healthy girl is born, but Mumtaz dies soon after. Sobbing uncontrollably, the emperor decides to build a tomb worthy of his queen: a...
TED Talks
TED: How urban spaces can preserve history and build community | Walter Hood
Can public spaces both reclaim the past and embrace the future? Landscape architect Walter Hood has explored this question over the course of an iconic career, with projects ranging from Lafayette Square Park in San Francisco to the...
TED Talks
TED: Art in the age of machine intelligence | Refik Anadol
What does it look like inside the mind of a machine? Inspired by the architectural vision of a futuristic Los Angeles in "Blade Runner," media artist Refik Anadol melds art with artificial intelligence in his studio's collaborations with...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How did they build the Great Pyramid of Giza? | Soraya Field Fiorio
As soon as Pharaoh Khufu ascended the throne circa 2575 BCE, work on his eternal resting place began. The structure's architect, Hemiunu, determined he would need 20 years to finish the royal tomb. But what he could not predict was that...
TED Talks
Dan Barasch: A park underneath the hustle and bustle of New York City
Dan Barasch and James Ramsey have a crazy plan — to create a park, filled with greenery, underneath New York City. The two are developing the Lowline, an underground greenspace the size of a football field. They're building it in a...
Crash Course
Florence and the Renaissance: Crash Course European History
The Renaissance was a cultural revitalization that spread across Europe, and had repercussions across the globe, but one smallish city-state in Italy was in many ways the epicenter of the thing. Florence, or as Italians might say,...
TED Talks
Smruti Jukur Johari: What if the poor were part of city planning?
Almost a billion people worldwide live in informal communities and slums, often without basic infrastructure like clean water, toilets or adequate roads. Urban planner Smruti Jukur Johari breaks down myths about these communities and...
TED Talks
Kamal Meattle: How to grow fresh air
Researcher Kamal Meattle shows how an arrangement of three common houseplants, used in specific spots in a home or office building, can result in measurably cleaner indoor air.
TED Talks
Norman Foster: My green agenda for architecture
Architect Norman Foster discusses his own work to show how computers can help architects design buildings that are green, beautiful and "basically pollution-free." From the 2007 DLD Conference, Munich; www.dld-conference.com
TED Talks
Moshe Safdie: How to reinvent the apartment building
In 1967, Moshe Safdie reimagined the monolithic apartment building, creating “Habitat ’67,” which gave each unit an unprecedented sense of openness. Nearly 50 years later, he believes the need for this type of building is greater than...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why doesn't the Leaning Tower of Pisa fall over? | Alex Gendler
In 1990, the Italian government enlisted top engineers to stabilize Pisa's famous Leaning Tower. There'd been many attempts during its 800 year history, but computer models revealed the urgency of their situation. The tower would topple...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Will there ever be a mile-high skyscraper? - Stefan Al
Would a mile-high skyscraper ever be possible? Explore the physics behind some of the tallest buildings and megastructures in the world. -- In 1956, architect Frank Lloyd Wright proposed a mile-high skyscraper, a building five times as...
TED Talks
Alison Killing: There’s a better way to die, and architecture can help
In this short, provocative talk, architect Alison Killing looks at buildings where death and dying happen -- cemeteries, hospitals, homes. The way we die is changing, and the way we build for dying ... well, maybe that should too. It's a...
TED Talks
Doris Kim Sung: Metal that breathes
Modern buildings with floor-to-ceiling windows give spectacular views, but they require a lot of energy to cool. Doris Kim Sung works with thermo-bimetals, smart materials that act more like human skin, dynamically and responsively, and...
TED Talks
Sam Martin: Claim your "manspace"
Author Sam Martin shares photos of a quirky world hobby that's trending with the XY set: "manspaces." (They're custom-built hangouts where a man can claim a bit of his own territory to work, relax, be himself.) Grab a cold one and enjoy.