Pun:Chat Recommends - 20 Ted Talks
By Nirali Prajapati
Designers, by virtue of their profession, are required to be ‘Jacks of all Trades’. From designing new materials to planning and designing cities, designers don all sorts of hats. Take a look at these Ted Talks covering design and allied subjects.
1. We’re covered in germs. Let’s design for that.
As we deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, let’s take some time to watch this ted talk. Jessica Green, an engineer and biodiversity scientist, believes if we can design the invisible ecosystems in our surroundings it can open a path to influencing our health in unprecedented ways.
2. Architecture that repairs itself?
To prevent Venice from sinking, limestone protocells are being tested to petrify foundations of buildings. Can’t quite understand it? Rachel Armstrong is working on making metabolic materials which can interact with their surroundings through production or absorption of energy, like living matter. Check out this ted talk to learn more.
3. Architecture that’s built to heal
What more can architecture do? Michael Murphy of MASS Design Group relates how, through their projects, they have addressed health concerns of communities in Rwanda, Haiti, Congo, Malawi. Striving, not just for built environments with more ecological footprints, but also to involve the local communities - a process they call Lo-Fab.
4. Why the buildings of the future will be shaped by … you
We live in the times of a constantly connected global community. Information reaches us within moments of being published. Marc Kushner, co-founding CEO of Architizer, talks about the impact of social media and the resulting public opinion for buildings designed by architects. He elaborates how buildings of the future will be designed as a result of such participation and feedback.
5. When we design for disability, we all benefit
Elise Roy is a lawyer, artist and human rights advocate. At the age of 10 she was told she would lose her hearing and at 15 she was declared profoundly deaf. She believes we can solve a lot of problems by practicing Design Thinking (where we design for the disabled) and that this will solve some of the greatest problems.
6. The first secret of design is … noticing
Father of the iPod and the co-founder of NEST, product designer Tony Fadell speaks about the act of noticing problems where others don’t. The quality every designer should endeavour to have. The habit of observing can lead to innovations. Listen in on this engrossing talk for the designer in you.
7. Architecture that senses and responds
Digitization has taken over our life. Willingly or otherwise, our data now forms the basis for analytics that influence personalized content that the internet and social media deliver to us. Carlo Ratti of MIT SENSEable City Lab talks about how, by sensing the data that we collectively create, surprising visualizations of the city can be generated.
8. Would you live in a floating city in the sky?
Artist Tomas Saraceno takes us on a mystifying journey through this talk – blurring the lines between science and art. Explore the bindings of our fragile human and terrestrial ecosystem through this talk.
9. Cradle to cradle design principle for products and systems
Is it possible to design products and systems which can be recycled at the end of their life cycle? Architect William McDonough believes it is possible. He finishes the talk on a high note, showing the plan for a green field city in China based on the cradle to cradle template. Watch it to the end.
10. Architecture for the people by the people
Alastair Parvin of WikiHouse says, “globally, right now, the fastest-growing cities are not skyscraper cities. They're self-made cities in one form or another.” Shedding light on how architecture today caters to only the richest one percent of the world population, he walks us through three ideas of how that 1% can be made a 100%.
11. My architectural philosophy? Bring the community into the process
Pritzker winning architect Alejandro Aravena talks about the realities of bringing the community into the design process. He walks us through the processes of public participation and subsequent design conceptualization even as they try to stick within the framework of budgets and policies.
12. Ingenious homes in unexpected places
A photographer, Iwan Baan, has travelled around the world while working with architects on various assignments. In this ted talk, he talks about communities taking on planning, design and management roles without any formal training. A photo essay of ingenious homes in unexpected places.
13. What happens when a city runs out of room for its dead
An architect and urban planner, Alison Killing has been looking at death & dying and how that has shaped cities and the buildings in them. Check out this humorous and insightful talk about a topic we never really think about – cemeteries.
14. How public spaces make cities work
Amanda Burden served as the chief city planner for New York under the Bloomberg administration. She takes us through the most important aspect of urban planning – the humane one – as she shares her experiences of planning public spaces for people.
15. What happens if you cut down all of a city’s trees?
In this very short talk, architect Stefan Al talks about the importance of trees for a city’s survival. Don’t miss this one.
16. How urban spaces can preserve history and build community
Walter Hood is a landscape architect. While showing images of his projects, he shares five concepts that he follows to create spaces that spark shared memories and introduce empathy in our interactions with each other.
17. One seed at a time, protecting the future of food
Cary Fowler, a biodiversity archivist, takes us inside the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway. Nestled into a frozen mountain, the vault stores a diverse group of food-crop seeds for the unforeseeable future.
18. How the world’s longest underwater tunnel was built
England and France are connected by the Channel Tunnel which runs under the English Channel for a distance of about 50.45 km. Educator Alex Gendler narrates the challenges and technicalities behind the construction of the tunnel.
19. The design genius of Charles + Ray Eames
Artist Eames Demetrios is the grandson of Charles and Ray Eames. Follow this talk as he shows rarely seen films and archival footage in a lively and loving tribute to their creative process.
20. The intangible effects of walls
Intentionally or unintentionally, when built, physical walls create an intangible discrimination – us and them. Social designer, Alexandra Auer who grew up in Germany talks about the inter-connections of physical and mental walls.