Thomas Heatherwick: Building the Seed Cathedral

www.ted.com A future more beautiful? Architect Thomas Heatherwick shows five recent projects featuring ingenious bio-inspired designs. Some are remakes of the ordinary: a bus, a bridge, a power station ... And one is an extraordinary pavilion, the Seed Cathedral, a celebration of growth and light.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at www.ted.com/translate.

[@myloveisprecious]

All I can see is his sparkling brain!

[@teguhakasha8512]

This guy absolutely a genius !

[@darthchrislord2167]

One of the greatest architects of our day!

[@9mijiu]

I remembered the Seed Cathedral (UK Pavilion) in Shanghai EXPO 2010, that's absolutely awesome.

[@avedic]

I wish Terence McKenna was alive to see all this. He often talked about how one day we would manifest our inner visions and the world of fractal geometry outward into architecture...the shell within which we live. The inner made manifest. Well, this is that. And it's only the beginning. Imagine what we will create 50 years from now. It's almost unfathomable to imagine. But getting a glimpse like this makes me so inspired and excited. This is an amazing time to be alive.

[@lanka8786]

Love the way he speaks..so romantic...

[@xDeltaF1x]

That bridge is beautiful

[@bigbadcrazykillahbee]

wow what a magnificent bridge !! awesome design and mechanics involved:)

[@chatsociety]

I love this ted talk, good job Thomas.

[@stellang3590]

He is one of most talented artist and architect in the world

[@Dixavd]

Those last apartment buildings looked beautiful - they looked like something out of a fantasy story.

[@wolf175]

I adore your creativity !

[@junho9811]

briliant guy..

[@Raziel_Knight]

The future looks AMAZING!

[@sab611]

Brilliant. TED doing what they're supposed to again.

[@ChocolateTeddybar]

Amazing creations.

[@fragelius]

amazing! presintations like this light hope in me for humanity

[@killudumb]

shout-out from singapore!! really hope that you can come to Singapore to built something cool and yet meaningful at the same time :D

[@jimmysgameclips]

What a great ted talk!

[@chingunmendbayar3257]

Brilliant designer, a role model.

[@kharenurbano8971]

I love you Thomas. I loved you ever since the Seed Cathedral up to this date. I will see you someday and hug you and take a selfie with you. I don't know how and when but I will and I know it :)

[@CHRISINMYHEAD]

thanks for uploading

[@MrMartini94]

Perhaps he wasn't the greatest speaker int the world, but his ideas and buildings we extremely cool and innovative : ]

[@davetv4705]

Great idea. Kudos!!

[@TravisBMasterson]

Awesome work¡

[@gorodnoff]

Great and VERY talented man!

[@maggru91]

Amazing just amazing.

[@thisscreensucks]

wow, that last building site in malaysia was breathtaking

[@Lifeintakes]

Neat design; I would love to live in those rainforest towers.

[@jodroboxes]

Looks like a good skate spot! :)

[@ngarcia257]

This guy is awesome! ...

[@ToastingaBiscuit]

He has that supreme humility that most lack :)

[@drealm]

@peterbriers I don't see anything wrong with sameness, this is how you create a sense of place. You cannot have neighborhoods, towns and cities competing within each other, they must stand as singular destinations. I'd argue the sterile boring buildings your referring to are closer to the 20th century. The 19th century still included lots of hand crafted building. Most extravagant highly stylized buildings quickly turn into uninviting dumps after the crowds wear off. The power plant was OK.

[@LeonidasGGG]

@roidroid He's passionate about what he does. And that's amazing.

[@sakokosa]

wonderful .

[@happytootoo]

you inspired me: Thomas Heatherwick!!

[@jimmysgameclips]

HOW HAVE I NEVER SEEN THIS SEED CATHEDRAL BEFORE?!

[@joshuadavies108]

I really want his shirt!

[@SunnyHilltop]

@DarkDemonWolf76 I agree... he's adorable and incredibly innovative!

[@00corin00]

awesome!!!

[@peachykeen970]

brilliant

[@osaiasilolohea6107]

Harry Potter + Wolverine = Architect

[@TonyGT37]

wow the seed cathedral looks amazing in that fly-over...but whats with the ramps/inclines of the surrounding area though? is it gonna be a skatepark? :p that would be cool...

[@nrnar]

Wow!

[@pinochska]

@bamboo4tameshigiri hahahah i am without words brother you made my day.. thank you very much

[@JuliaCookeARockAndASoftPlace]

This seed cathedral is so beautiful I had to add it to my blog "A rock and a soft place". The Kew Millenium Seed Bank at Wakehurst that inspired it is worth visiting even if I suspect I won't go to Shanghai any time soon.

[@LudicrousTachyon]

I love the power plant!

[@shirinakter27]

LudicrousTachyon k

[@slaughtz]

Kick ass.

[@ilotitto]

I want my driveway to open like that bridge

[@oicub2]

Awesome =-)

[@AverDim]

@VonLeachim Science studies was almost a decade ago for me, but wouldn't the loss of power be due to the resistance of the conducting matter/wires/cables? Therefore a matter for engineers/physicists/scientists? Just saying, but yes that would be awesome!

[@IridescentAudio]

that bridge is fucking cool

[@invinciblemode]

@lukostello what do you expect? He's an artist..

[@gregdahlen4375]

I do slightly wonder if the seeds would have much value except the ones that are low down enough that people can see them. Would there have been much value to ones on the roof? And did they tell you the names of the seeds, that would have been useful?

[@mohammedabdi2788]

Greg Dahlen

[@mohammedabdi2788]

Greg Dahlen

[@Lostpanda123]

waw! Genius!

[@nehorlavazapalka]

@emikochan13 I think you're right but the above is really true, at least in my country, heck.. we have so many sociologists and politicians and still hey can't research these things.. anyway his buildings are awesome

[@mirageinmercuryshadow]

This guy haz all the right quirks. I find him attractive :3

[@lakshmanankomathmanalath]

great

[@peterbriers]

@drealm I don't know. For the last 2 centuries we've been living with the effects of the industrial age, where everything must look the same to make it easy re-creatable. We lost a lot of uniqueness of products due that. This 'creative' age we are going in might change that.

[@tix333]

Why don't I see TED on any of TV channels?

[@s.s.j2497]

as a student of architecture and urban design i found my favourite architect.

[@pedroroque8681]

He's actually not an architect.

[@playaplastica]

WOW

[@Nashy119]

I'd prefer really dense cities, if we can't do epic building projects we could just build nice skyscrapers and link them up.

[@nedimkufi]

he is a genius of Bio Mimicry approach, i guess

[@Batman.Inside]

The vessel (USA) made this man famous again

[@emikochan13]

@nehorlavazapalka my experience is the exact opposite, heh ^_^ This is why we don't (shouldn't) use individuals experiences to make decisions :) Time to do some research....

[@roidroid]

is this guy a real person? he just seems too cute, like he's an actor playing a well written character.

[@Zenal_Hogan]

gj thomas

[@ChINNg28]

He is so cute help

[@roidroid]

@WyldOrbit never mentioned monetary gain

[@tix333]

@cristoretornebiblia I wonder what would happen if we could swap XFactor with TED?

[@roidroid]

@lukostello example?

[@immaculateblisssaintpatric5202]

Ist ja wie Hasbro!

[@SezSays]

how is a folding bridge functional on a 'river' that doesnt have boats?!

[@adrianjervis9971]

12.17, the inside is a face !

[@jordandaniels7]

Why is Canada not doing things like this? Oh right....Stephen Harper.

[@Ladyluck80srock]

In fact, he's not architect =)

[@drealm]

These buildings are highly individualistic, a symptom of our time. They won't modulate into cities, nor will they stand the test of time. They're a fad to the ninth degree. Much like that Gehry fellow.

[@harbin9er]

he sounds like Jude Law!

[@emikochan13]

@nehorlavazapalka no they don't, trees make the area nicer.

[@ThePureAura]

And here I thought that this would be boring... I WAS DAMN WRONG :D

[@MrDSX91]

I bet engineers hate this guy haha

[@jsmith2144]

@roidroid i know, he sounds like a wise master jedi.

[@nehorlavazapalka]

@emikochan13 yes, I like the idea of trees between buildings but you have to control places like that.... my experience is that places like these are "infected" by criminals, gypsies and homless... it's shit

[@iiblossobee]

Anyone else here because your school told you to watch this video as homework? No?...oh...just me then.

[@andybaldman]

The Seed Cathedral is what I call your mom.

[@Jared2324]

@alphakristjan he's ont strange. he's jut extremely intelligent

[@roidroid]

@leonidasx666 that's what i'm sayin

[@Kampup]

Ted are in bed with Monsanto now!!! the end of TED.

[@nedimkufi]

why dear. can you explain more please?

[@reafdaw01]

Damn he is nervous. Can't really bleam him for that, just think it's cute.

[@Bene9]

12:11 looks a lot like a face!

[@reid300]

cool but none were practical other than adding more green

[@WeatherManToBe]

15th

[@KingHypnosOne]

Damn that dude is strange...Amazing talk otherwise !

[@ihateslideshows]

1st

[@music_and_transitions]

Well, I don't..

[@VreyOneida]

Six people are dull and like big rectangles for buildings.

[@talkcafe1842]

Somebody help me make since of spending $150,000,000 dollars to create stairs that lead NO where?? Especially when 150,000 people in that city 🌃 could’ve used that money 💰 for food 🥘 🍱 , clothing, and shelter. I understand it’s his money but..... 🤦‍♀️

[@FractalBolt]

Is it me or the interior of the seed cathedral looks like a person?

[@omp835]

He's way out of his league when he's talking about urban design. I think he ended on a weak note with that last project. Every thing else is spectacular, though.