Why great architecture should tell a story | Ole Scheeren

[@GuyWithAnAmazingHat]

As someone who has live in the vertical apartments in Singapore my whole life, I didn't realise why my country is making so many strange buildings until recently. I have been living in a high rise prison my entire life. Many parts of Singapore are now adopting non traditional architecture that greatly increases the infrastructure on a personal level. These buildings aren't just there to look different, they also function on a much higher level than what elongated cubes can do. The fiction he is describing is not fairy tales, but, a narrative of functions, a series of the functions that the people occupying the building perform. A building is not just space that people fill up, it is a space where people do things. And these buildings are designed to allow people to perform a series of functions at greater efficiency than a normal tower. For example, the Chinese news tower is built in a way where the different sections are specifically arranged to allow maximum production efficiency, where all the work will be passed through the production line all the way to the top and meet in the middle where they collect all the materials for broadcasting. This in fact allows architecture to perform functions much more efficiently than a traditional "form follows function" box.

[@TheAnnoyingGunner]

+GuyWithAnAmazingHat Traditional "form follows function"? His best example, the apartment complex in Singapore, is all about form follows function. The appreciable form of the complex is a result of it's functionality, it is constructed from the simplest shape possible but aligned in a way that allows high functionality at the same time.

[@GuyWithAnAmazingHat]

TheAnnoyingGunner Of course, I'm not saying that form follows function is gone, in fact form follows fiction is an updated and extended principle of form following function. It is a principle that serves to follow the functions of everyone that occupies the building, the stories and purposes that everyone has.

[@TheAnnoyingGunner]

GuyWithAnAmazingHat Maybe the name he used is simply too artsy for me to understand...

[@wchingfong]

You have given a better interpretation of what the speaker wanted to say, people who critic his architecture actually fall into same scenario that only see what is in the surface, or in this case, ugliness. I think real beauty is in the life, not in the eyes.

[@hansrama3485]

@@wchingfong cant believe there are people who dont find his architecture beautiful

[@srimansrini]

The renowned German Architect Ole Scheeren gives a breathtaking showcase of his architectural work and shows how the modern buildings to be built. Applying critical thinking with structural designs, his team had created some of the marvelous landscapes across the globe. it's a very fascinating for everyone, including the students of Architecture. Highly recoomended.

[@bradleybruvva3021]

Man, this dude is taking the words out of my head, I think I’m finally in the right profession.

[@royghosn18]

Are you an architect now?

[@alexczrs]

It really is, my brother

[@marcv2648]

Notice the big difference between his words, and the final result of the buildings he produces.

[@zontenang6046]

15:09 this is a great idea .. especially throughout school buildings . student can interact and collaborate with no partitions at all sure this would ensure a new world of studying

[@demili2243]

So many thanks to this nice video clip which includes the essence of the story-telling art of architectures! This video had definitely demonstrated 3 confusion about architectures of mine. 1 is: How structure designs associated to so many aspects of informations, such as biology, ministration and collaboration? 2 is: How to identify the group of people and their inhabitants by viewing the outlook of their office buildings? 3 is: What is the Modern Art of buildings nowadays? And I have found the explanation of all of them in this video.🥰

[@hariking22]

as an architecture student. this is amazing work. yes it is not a sustainable building project in a slum somewhere which serves the greater good but this is in a different context. these buildings are for the working middle or upper class. In that context these designs are path breaking

[@fionafiona1146]

As a cultural anthropology student, I too think it's fascinating.

[@marcv2648]

As a student of life, I find his architecture to be the building blocks of dystopia.

[@aedaldaniel]

@@marcv2648 why? I think this is more like the ancient cities where the place has all the functions for a people to live comfortably

[@yunseiprod]

@@aedaldanielI suppose he argues for the progression of technology as a destruction of all humanity in general. Though this is not possible with this post-post-modern architecture where we are instilling history, psychology, and biology in order to conceive new ideas.

[@Robersora]

TED videos sure must be full of educated, intelligent people who are able to listen and understand, and can formulate a point without insulting. *goes to comment section* *fliesaway*

[@TheAnnoyingGunner]

+Robersora Bye, don't fly too close to the sun...

[@Robersora]

+TheAnnoyingGunner Heh, clever comeback.

[@ogi169]

What's more depressing is the fact that the community of TED is getting more conservative and radical.

[@ogi169]

+Robersora I meant the people who are watching the talks

[@Manni5h]

+Ognjen Basic I think its more about the people who decide to comment. They're more likely to share a negative opinion than a positive one.

[@mrmuh2000]

I salute this guy. He taught me something. And it felt so short. Thanx for uploading.

[@krucafuks123]

the guy just did a commercial for himself "hire me, hire me, I am such a cool guy" There was no story in his speech or his buildings, he just showcased how great design they do.

[@iaspace7601]

119 dislike are his draftman.

[@mansibabar7492]

IA SPACE 😂

[@Jeffbasill]

u made my day XD

[@RenshenguoSuomessa]

He has even more hater draftmen now.

[@aadhyachintala8532]

well hes hiring more draftsmen xD

[@kaito9330]

and the civil engineers

[@avadash6775]

The people who laughed at the pic (6:26) bet they never taught 4 years later wearing masks and being in the wedding is totally normal thanks to COVID19 :)

[@robbedontuesday]

Just what I thought, and wrote in a different way.

[@tunvm4893]

Well actually no one in the world 4 years ago would think of that either

[@luisstolzespana684]

¡Scheeren es un crack! Soy profesor de estructuras en una universidad en Guatemala (URL) y se decirles que la narrativa de la historia del edificio debe estar en completa armonía con la estructura. Scheeren es audaz y logra el cometido.

[@AronBagel]

Form follows function. Or, in the case of the Singapore apts, the form defines new functionality.

[@Fjuron]

Wow! Until now, I was only interested in historic Archetecture, but shown and explained this way, modern archetecture is truly intriguing in it's own right.

[@HAPPYplaceQC]

Love you TED! We're actually doing a 30-challenge of TED videos. For the month of Feb (2016) we are well on our way to watching a ted video every single day! 😊

[@SuperHiveProductions]

Hi greetings from 2020, we are in the midst of a pandemic, it kinda concerns me that the goal in most of these buildings were to get people together and be in a community. I hope we can go back to this ideal life.

[@janjeetmazumder3407]

Lol

[@architettoleonardorusso]

Most of negative comment derive by the fear of people with new things and new ideas to live the Earth. Thank the artchitectes, because they do this work for us. Sorry my english, I was still learning

[@ronaldm.6150]

...perhaps that's because he's pushing postmodern architecture, which wars against the fact that truth is absolute and never changes, which postmodernism counters.

[@thePlum]

Phenomenal talk! I am eternally fascinated by architecture!

[@ma.norasoriano6092]

Arch. Scheeren exemplifies a designing and theorizing architect. Kudos!

[@chishakwer]

This is the stuff that gets my heart pumping differently!!!

[@PedroGeaquinto]

I like the way it makes buildings more active and compact, just like the trends of urbanism, but I really miss this going to the population in these projects. These buildings are still in kinda isolated spaces and are built for really restricted targets. The London project is a little better in this aspect though, even being located in a more or less sparse place.

[@TotallyGlar]

Surprised to see a Singaporean building as the thumbnail

[@TheAnnoyingGunner]

+TotallyGlar It was the best one, you don't want to advertise yourself with your worst piece of work...

[@joyjoyoo]

What is that building called? It does look neat

[@TheAnnoyingGunner]

***** It is called "The Interlace", in Singapore.

[@joyjoyoo]

+TheAnnoyingGunner thank you

[@mohamedhafizh5512]

haha i know right. i clicked this video because of thumbnail,and the first thing i did was to look up for this comment.

[@MaxamillianStudio]

Amazing Work! Incredible vision.

[@titosalas29]

Vaya, estoy sorprendido éste hombre es un genio. Ole Scheeren es un genio.

[@アツあつ-w6k]

日本語字幕ありがとうございます。感謝します。

[@prahas777]

What a creative genius!

[@jblue616]

This is exciting , why do so many architects complain so much when there are so many opportunities out there ? It almost makes no sense to say it's a dying field when you see this kind of innovation taking place. Offices and schools will become playgrounds for people to interact more closely. This is amazing

[@lazarazal6539]

architecture can be functional and tell story at the same time, whats the problem ?

[@theeae_architects]

There are many different ideas and method that architects would be able to design, but so much cases are not built, since it is too hard to convince or even impossible to meet clients who are able to grasp and agree to execute. There landmark proejcts are truly amazing for the city, even if CCTV is required to built up the structure space as much as usuable space, Singapore apartment lost household privacy extensively, and Collaborative Cloud overall mass conflicts with great opening space. Making decision to those ideas and bringing them into realization are an amazing talent as an architect. It is truly great talk and amazing presentation.

[@Zepherian]

That singapore apt complex is very cool. If I wanted to live in a box it could be one of those. But imo architecture is at its best designing family homes, not ant farms.

[@jvs333]

Zepherian architecture is solving a human situation. Asia is a high density society. Single family homes does not solve those challenges. In the states single home designs are ok because the density and space permit that approach. Architecture is solving situations for humanity that enrich one’s life as well as that of the community it is serving.

[@marcv2648]

Yes, these are ant farms.

[@antonshvydkyi8551]

All his renders look like this building would stand somewhere in heaven

[@brezhnev89]

I am impressed. Amazing projects.

[@fennycruz6714]

Great minds... thank you Ole.

[@wenigmehl]

11:40 looks amazing.

[@makeshd6775]

yeah it is !!

[@gerdafundneider2642]

You do a Great work 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

[@wangqimei3954]

To have the best understanding of the Absurd, just combining this guy's idealism speech about CMG Headquarters and the banner shows in 5:37 - "欢迎各位领导莅临指导" （“it's our honor that each leader could come to visit and guide us”）

[@alexczrs]

Congratulations on architects day!

[@TheAnnoyingGunner]

I'd appreciate highrise architecture that is a bit more intertwined. Not two buildings but a whole bunch of towers and smaller buildings that are close to each other and are connected by bridges on various heights. Streets on the ground are pretty much designed for vehicles instead of pedestrians in this modern world. Those bridges enable the whole city to grow vertically and can be used for small shops, cafe's and so on. It'd be pretty cool.

[@somerandomedgyguy1723]

fascinating! That makes me wanna drop my current subject and study architecture.

[@iffahooha]

i don't understand this. people getting mad for all the money spent on form architecture and saying its a waste of money. you can see it in this way: its money spent on breaking the boundaries of architecture and engineering, exploration just like billions been spent on science for eg nasa. i means billions spent to discover more galaxies that wont probably affect life right now....but it would probably matter in the future right? the same goes for this guy and many other architects. theyre testing the waters, making progress in the architecture industry. many people cant just see that right now and assuming they understand what is important without being experts in the subjects first. you want to save money? cut down the money on ammunition, cut down food wastage, cut down money spent on useless entertainment like the kardashians or smth

[@chuangkou101]

The building in Beijing is name big short pants in China. A wonderful story to tell.

[@chillchick9984]

Very nice talk, really interesting ✨

[@MaZEEZaM]

Awesome design :D Great Ted Talk.

[@henry.pham.vietnam6080]

Thank you very much for your video

[@robbedontuesday]

15:56 Big British Brother is watching you. Always. So the structure that serves fishermen to earn their sustenance, now it's been con(per)verted into a floating entertainment follie... Good job.

[@jiggablackshine]

My architecture professor at the architectural school always told us, the best architects can tell you a great story with their buildings

[@marianastuart]

Que vídeo maravilhoso!!! 💛

[@GarciaJustinBArchPE]

Lots of jealous comments here....such arrigance!! This guy is obviously a very intelligent and passionate architect with something to offer...

[@ParaSpite]

He should keep designing buildings, but shut his stupid mouth. His buildings are awesome. But what his mouth is spewing is a wave of meaningless buzzwords and boundless arrogance.

[@joze838]

Yep he is really arrogant and for real, some of those buildings just looks awefull. He contribute to destroy the citys and still is proud of this.

[@exas4791]

So build regularly shaped modules and stack them according to functions ?

[@annaleipold6863]

amazing work, great ideas for a better future of architecture

[@WorldStuffInni]

That was great, in my city of Swansea where having student apartments built just like this

[@mourtadababoukari9723]

Wow, I'm amazed and at the same time im becoming more appasionate in architecture andunderstanding it more. :D

[@khadijahmf8560]

In your opinion, should i take architecture or engineering course when i finish school? also, how should we base on what course is the best for us?

[@robbedontuesday]

2021: When you see wedding photo with all members wearing masks... and you don't understand the laughs.

[@freshfacebeauty96]

anyone know what programme he used for the renders? or a process of getting them to that quality

[@jesusfreites6393]

I love architecture ❤

[@exgeeinteractive]

When I was starting my career I've always thought of myself as an artist. As I start to delve deeper, a lesson hit me "Lookin pretty is not top priority" and boy that was tough to swallow. Aesthetically pleasing work wows people but it opens a ton of questions. What's this? what's that? what is that for? this doesn't look right? FUNCTION first. FORM follows. And you can always maximize BOTH. It's also more feasible and offers a bigger challenge in terms of creativity. I'm an artist but I'm a designer first (web tech).

[@etv4975]

What a great video.

[@nimalibandaraarchitects6899]

You have done great designs and it is pleasing the eye and the mind best wishes to do more creative work Archt. Nimali Bandara

[@Daimo83]

You built a Borg Cube in Germany? Nice.

[@mariaceciliatv]

I LOVE THIS FORM OF THINK THANKS

[@jajuanmeeks8814]

Great video. Father in law is an architect so I can notice the difference in modern structures. The future is surely amazin!

[@mubarak4856]

Nice My elder bro is doing last year in Architect

[@harenterberge2632]

In the end it is just another soulless concrete box with a sheet of mirror-glass, just with a slightly different shape and a lot of architectural Blabla to make it sound more than it really is.

[@soufiane464]

great work ... I love architecture and you make me love it mooore :)

[@岡田有希子-f1j]

그냥 랜드마크고, 유명해져서 그렇다는 소리를 저렇게 장황하게 부풀려서 설명하는 사기에 가까운 발언에 박수를 보낸다. 역시 건축은 포장이 최우선인듯.

[@davetv4705]

Great achievement there! Kudos

[@건축공감]

정말 잘 보고 갑니다. ^^

[@AsiqueIkbalAnsari]

He is a great architect!

[@alkrardaghfal2172]

VERY GOOD PROJECT.

[@eliharman]

Being Aesthetically pleasing IS a function. Providing connection and continuity to the past IS a function. Harmony with a particular place and its existing aesthetics IS a function. Being identifiable to a particular people as “ours” IS a function. Making architecture functional in all of these ways enhances its value. The modern, international, style and adjacent are crimes against humanity. Acts of aesthetic aggression, cultural destruction and theft of value.

[@ghassankanaan1767]

Very interresting as a concept and in theory...But what about the result in real life?...i hope to know how much the reality confirms the concept.

[@HalbleeresGlas]

I actually like the hexagonally stacked housing blocks. The other buildings I didn't really care for, but damn, if Berlin-Marzahn was build that way instead of all the Plattenbauten...

[@CUBETechie]

Did his project get copied in other places in Singapore or other places? And is this an individual location which works only in Singapore or can be used everywhere in the world?

[@vietnowrenegades]

Hi! Does anybody have any tips/ideas on what program or software they use for making those isometric diagrams? It would be much appreciated! Thanks :)

[@scottweale4740]

Great Architecture is Fundamental this is perfect.

[@yuxiguo242]

Does interpretation influences the design quality itself? Everyone call that CCTV building "big underpants" in China, what a nice story for us to share.

[@quackcement]

16 mins shortened to one line " I make buildings with gaps in the middle"

[@seag1492]

90 IQ alert

[@wchingfong]

This is where the story begins = Form follows Fiction

[@gs2tab]

haha, he has totally found his niche design point! Whatever buzzword, jargon-filled justification he gives, at least it is a novel approach to design and produces some interesting architecture.

[@vishalrs1129]

wow just wow

[@AndrewDunn]

See also Habitat 67 by Moshe Safdie.

[@oldcowbb]

i don't understand why this comment section is so angry, someone explain?

[@lmonk9517]

+oldcowbb I think it is the overuse of meaningless buzzwords and the fact the some of the Buildings didn't look so great. I thought they looked okay, I liked the floating cinema but not a fan of the London olympics building.

[@arvinpan1705]

+oldcowbb those are really excellent designs. why they are angry ?

[@roiferreach100]

maybe it's new in their ears or some are so self-absorbed with their designs, they forget to consider the stories of people and their experiences they are designing for. The speaker is great he is bringing up the User Experience Design principles in his architectures.

[@etrebelle9812]

Because the talking is wordy but obvious and the architectures are ugly

[@TheBeltroy]

two side of a coin; the idealist and the not..

[@jdkhan5441]

waw I m so empressed from this video

[@davidmayhew4818]

Brilliant.

[@iiree1764]

Amazing as always 👌 thank u so much for ur videos cuz it helps me alot .. nd i'm so proud to be 25like nd 3th comment :3 😂😂

[@belikeprateek]

amazing

[@83PHK]

Great clip

[@georgewu5]

My idea of architecture is never just vertical ( Vertical City ) nor jus horizontal ( like this one); but horizontal-vertical. Because the land is never dead flat, land is ups and downs. But they don't manufacture land any more, therefore we are forced to go vertically. Therefore, I have been working on a container housing project for over 18 years by now, called Great Wall Village. Facebook / George Wu, 2019-7-1, George Wu, ARCHITECT, A.I.A., NCARB.

[@joodradwan3517]

i loooovvveee this

[@СергійТіток]

Architecture jet.net.ua/category/architecture/

[@TrangNguyen-ql8ox]

I like most of his work that he designed except for the floating cinema in Thailand. I strongly disagree that he should have built a cinema on an island because it is disruptive to nature and unnecessary. I believe that the island is beautiful as it is and it should be preserved for its natural beauty. Even though he used recycled plastic to build the cinema, I still believe that a movie theater should have its own building that is not around an island.

[@sawomirjanusz]

great , what impact has the architecture of the city on my private apartment ?

[@MissSudangirl]

Wow he is really inspiring. He has the same architectural style and values as me. The concept of hybrid architecture

[@CaptureAsia]

The Interlace building is not selling well from what i heard, the design is out of the box from a design perspective. but honestly i heard a lot of feedbacks and this building is not well-received by the locals. Great design architecture may not be the most functional architecture.

[@ViniciusVaccari]

I think we shoud to look for a new way to live and the architecture of the nowdays is helping us to do that. Of couse, everything sounds good when he's talking or when we see the pics but I wished know the opinions of the people that live right there! Everything really works? When he said that in "the interlace" all departaments have a natural light or ventilation I trhoug... "all?" Btw, Its very beatiful see new buildings like that around the city. JUST GIVE ME A JOB PLEASEEEE, OLE!

[@AzuliManni]

I'm no expert but I doubt adding up those 'green' numbers are as easy as he made it seem.

[@IDislikeTheNewYoutube]

The "greatness" of a thing is implicit within it's usefulness. Simply having form has it's place, in a fucking gallery and for the exclusively rich.

[@letsgoiowa]

Great architecture is functional architecture.

[@Mezurashii5]

+letsgoiowa Exactly. I'm all for open spaces integrated in buildings, aspecially huge ones, but the ones shown in the presentation are confusing for the user and the open spaces were forced in, not serving any purpose, simply making the maintenance way more difficult.

[@TheAnnoyingGunner]

+letsgoiowa While I found his first example to be a pretty much pointless architecture, the second one with the stacked buildings seems to be pretty much functional and probably the apex of his (?) work. The third one (the "cloud") was somewhat of a downgrade from that as there are still way too much rooms in it's core away from the sunlight and the last one is a nightmare for every visitor as it is clearly hard to navigate. Is the second one a one hit wonder?

[@Mezurashii5]

TheAnnoyingGunner Sure, have fun navigating through a hexagonal, three-dismentional maze EVERY TIME coming back home. Imagine if you were drunk or needed to use a different entrance than usual (I would assume that there are more than a handful of them).

[@TheAnnoyingGunner]

Mezurashii5 In the beginning it will be a bit confusing, but as you live there, you will become accustomed to the architecture pretty fast. If you use an architecture that is equally unintuitive for a public service building, then it is simply bad design...

[@Mezurashii5]

TheAnnoyingGunner I'd say it's not a difference of good and bad, it's not too great and awful, but yeah.

[@VideoGameArchitect]

I'm still not sold on narrative as the basis for good design. I understand programmatic relationship is important but the idea that it should be based off of a fictional narrative as Bernard Schumi suggests seems arbitrary. Regardless, I do love OMA's thorough approach to architecture.

[@olgayadchuk8098]

thanks

[@sorsamnang6280]

Thank for this video I like it.

[@Misanthr6py]

ooo, the comment section is totally something else, other than that I thought this video was beautiful, and well spoken