Architecture's ripple effect: Designing for big impact | Thomas Bryans | TEDxGuildford

Summary

This script discusses the profound impact of architecture on individuals, communities, the economy, and the environment. It highlights how modernism's legacy has led to negative externalities, such as high CO2 emissions from buildings. The speaker advocates for designing with the 'ripple effect' in mind, sharing examples of projects that enhance community, support local economies, and improve health and biodiversity. The talk concludes with the idea that architecture can be a force for good when designed with a holistic approach.

Takeaways

• 🏗️ Buildings have a profound impact on individuals, communities, the economy, and the environment, extending beyond their physical presence.
• 🌐 Modern architecture, emerging from the Industrial Revolution, has led to designs that sometimes neglect the long-term environmental consequences.
• 🔥 Large glass skyscrapers and other modern buildings can contribute to significant CO2 emissions and have negative climate impacts.
• 🌿 Incorporating greenery and urban forestry in architecture can improve mental health and reduce the risk of urban flooding.
• 🌱 Historical practices like barn raisings demonstrate the social interdependence and community support that architecture can foster.
• 💡 Designing with the 'ripple effect' in mind can lead to buildings that strengthen local communities and connect people.
• 🌟 A small architectural intervention, like 'The Smile' in London, can transform a building into a vibrant community asset with a minimal budget.
• 👥 Engaging diverse stakeholders is essential for creating spaces that serve the community's needs, such as co-working and job support centers.
• 🏫 Schools can use architectural projects as educational tools, teaching students about sustainability and the impacts of buildings.
• 🌳 Green roofs, solar panels, and biodiversity enhancements can make buildings carbon neutral and beneficial to the local ecosystem.
• 🌍 A holistic approach to architecture considers social, economic, and environmental impacts to create sustainable and contextually responsive designs.

Q & A

What is the fundamental purpose of buildings?

The fundamental purpose of buildings is to provide shelter.

How do buildings impact individuals and society beyond their walls?

Buildings affect communities, the economy, and the environment, with these ripple effects potentially lasting for decades or centuries.

What is modernism in architecture and how did it emerge?

Modernism in architecture emerged at the beginning of the 20th century out of the Industrial Revolution, liberating architecture from its past through cheap fossil fuels.

What are the negative externalities of industrialization on the built environment?

The negative externalities include large glass skyscrapers that can burn and contribute to climate change, with a third of global CO2 emissions coming from the built environment.

How do buildings contribute to global energy and resource consumption?

Buildings use 40 percent of global energy, 40 percent of global resources, and around a quarter of the world's water supply.

What is the concept of 'barn raisings' and how does it relate to architecture?

'Barn raisings' refers to a practice in rural Europe and the United States where communities would come together to build barns, demonstrating the social interdependence and support that buildings can foster.

What are the benefits of urban greenery mentioned in the script?

Urban greenery has financial and psychological benefits, increases biodiversity, reduces rainwater runoff, mitigates storm effects, and improves mental health.

How did the Waterloo project transform a temporary building into a community asset?

The Waterloo project transformed a temporary building by adding a vibrant visual asset to the streetscape and creating a co-working space that supports startups and job seekers.

What is the educational aspect of the Sint Teresa School project?

The Sint Teresa School project uses the design and building process as an educational tool for students, teaching them about architecture, sustainability, and the impacts of buildings.

How does the Joseph Walsh project in County Cork aim to be holistically sustainable?

The Joseph Walsh project aims for holistic sustainability by implementing a closed-loop water cycle, using renewable biomass for heating, and enhancing biodiversity with large photovoltaic arrays and tree planting.

What is the significance of designing with the 'big picture' in mind?

Designing with the 'big picture' in mind allows architects to maximize the positive social, economic, and environmental impacts of buildings, benefiting everyone.

Outlines

00:00

🏗️ The Broad Impact of Architecture

The paragraph discusses the profound influence of architecture on individuals and society. It emphasizes that buildings not only provide shelter but can also enhance experiences and improve lives. The speaker highlights how architecture affects communities, economies, and the environment, with long-lasting effects due to the lengthy design and construction process and the enduring nature of buildings. The narrative then shifts to critique modern architecture, which emerged from the Industrial Revolution, for its negative externalities such as contributing to climate change and resource consumption. The speaker advocates for a design approach that considers the ripple effects of buildings, drawing on historical examples like barn raisings in rural communities to illustrate the social interdependence and support that architecture can foster. The paragraph concludes with the idea that urban greenery, such as green roofs and trees, can have financial and psychological benefits, improving health and well-being.

05:02

🌿 Designing for Community and Environment

This paragraph focuses on the practical application of architectural design that benefits the community and the environment. The speaker shares three examples from their practice. The first is a small project in Waterloo, London, where a temporary building was transformed into a vibrant community asset with a smiling facade and a co-working space that supports local startups and job seekers. The second example involves a school project in Surrey, where the design and construction process is used as an educational tool for students, teaching them about architecture, sustainability, and the impact of buildings. The school's new set form center is designed to be carbon neutral, with solar panels, green roofs, and biodiversity enhancements. The third example is a sustainable project in County Cork, Ireland, for a furniture designer's studio and workshop. The project aims to grow the campus while furthering social and environmental ambitions, with a focus on renewable energy, water recycling, and local materials, creating a strong connection to the surrounding landscape.

10:04

🌱 Creating Contextual and Sustainable Architecture

The final paragraph delves into the concept of creating architecture that is deeply connected to its social, environmental, historical, and physical context. The speaker describes a project with a furniture designer in Ireland, where the challenge was to expand the workshop while maintaining its social and environmental values. The solution involved an environmental strategy with photovoltaic arrays, closed-loop water systems, and renewable biomass heating. The architecture was designed to create a sense of place using local materials and ensuring views of the surrounding nature for the workers. The speaker concludes by emphasizing the potential of architecture to benefit everyone when designed with a holistic approach, considering the broader impacts both locally and globally.

Keywords

💡Architecture

Architecture refers to both the process and the product of planning, designing, and constructing buildings and other physical structures. In the video, architecture is discussed as having profound effects on individuals, communities, and the environment. It's highlighted that buildings can enrich experiences and improve lives, affecting the economy and environment for generations.

💡Ripple Effects

Ripple effects describe the indirect and often long-lasting consequences that actions or events can have on various aspects of society. The video emphasizes that buildings have far-reaching impacts beyond their physical presence, influencing communities, economies, and the environment over time.

💡Modernism

Modernism is an architectural movement that emerged in the early 20th century, characterized by simplicity, minimal ornamentation, and the use of new materials and technologies. The script discusses how modernism, born out of the Industrial Revolution, liberated architecture but also led to negative externalities such as energy inefficiency and environmental impact.

💡Sustainability

Sustainability in architecture refers to the design and operation of buildings in a way that minimizes negative environmental impacts, conserves resources, and considers the long-term health and well-being of occupants. The video mentions designing buildings to be carbon neutral and to enhance biodiversity as part of a sustainable approach.

💡Community

Community in the context of the video refers to the social groups and local populations that are directly or indirectly affected by architecture. It highlights how buildings can strengthen local communities, as seen in the example of 'barn raisings' and the creation of co-working spaces that support startups and job seekers.

💡Economy

Economy in this script pertains to the financial aspects and economic impacts of architecture, including the cost of building materials, energy use, and the economic value that buildings bring to their communities. The video discusses how buildings can support local economies through job creation and the export of high-value products.

💡Environment

Environment, as used in the video, refers to the natural world and ecosystems affected by architectural practices. It underscores the importance of designing buildings that have a positive impact on the environment, such as those that filter air, increase biodiversity, and reduce water usage.

💡Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the variety of life in an area, including the number of species and their genetic variation. The video discusses how architecture can contribute to biodiversity by incorporating green roofs, trees, and other natural elements that support a variety of species.

💡Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency in architecture is about designing and constructing buildings to use less energy for heating, cooling, and lighting. The script mentions buildings using 40 percent of global energy, implying a need for more energy-efficient designs to reduce this figure.

💡Social Interdependence

Social interdependence refers to the mutual reliance and cooperation among individuals or groups within a community. The video uses the historical example of 'barn raisings' to illustrate how architecture can foster social interdependence by requiring community collaboration in construction.

💡Urban Greenery

Urban greenery encompasses the planting of trees, grass, and other vegetation in urban environments. The video discusses the financial and psychological benefits of urban greenery, including reduced stormwater runoff, improved mental health, and faster recovery from illnesses.

Highlights

Buildings provide shelter and enrich people's experiences.

Architecture affects communities, economy, and the environment.

The impact of buildings can last for decades or centuries.

Modernism in architecture emerged from the Industrial Revolution.

Industrialization enabled healthier, longer, and more comfortable lives but had negative externalities.

A third of global CO2 emissions come from the built environment.

Buildings use 40% of global energy and resources, and a quarter of the world's water supply.

Designing for the ripple effect can create social interdependence and support communities.

Urban greenery has financial and psychological benefits.

Green roofs increase biodiversity and reduce rainwater runoff.

Views of trees and plants improve mental health and recovery rates.

Designing buildings to include greenery benefits individuals and the community.

A small project in Waterloo transformed a temporary building into a vibrant visual asset.

The Waterloo project created a co-working space and job support organization.

The ripple effect of architecture starts from the beginning of a project.

Designing and building can be an educational tool for students.

A school project in Surrey will be carbon neutral and enhance biodiversity.

In Ireland, a project aims to create a holistically sustainable campus over 10 years.

The Irish project includes a closed-loop water cycle and renewable biomass heating.

Architecture can be deeply contextual, responding to social, environmental, historical, and physical contexts.

Designing with the big picture in mind can create buildings that benefit everyone.

Transcripts

at their most fundamental buildings

provide shelter at their best they

enrich people's experiences and improve

lives but the effect of architecture on

both individuals in wider society is far

broader than that for buildings have

ripple effects beyond their walls

their immediate site and the people that

use them every day

buildings affect the communities around

them they affect the economy and they

impact the environment and these ripple

effects can go on for a very long time

buildings take years to design and build

and they're around for decades sometimes

centuries

so the impact that buildings have on the

world around them really matters too

often however these aspects of

architecture the wider impacts of

buildings are not considered with really

unfortunate results to understand why

this is we have to look at the

development of architecture over the

past hundred and fifty years a lot of

the built environment around us is the

legacy of modernism which emerged at the

beginning of the 20th century out of the

Industrial Revolution and industrial

society modernism liberated Architecture

from its past largely through cheap

fossil fuels suddenly we were able to

light our homes with electricity we were

able to warm them up and cool him down

this meant that walls could get thinner

and we could use more glass and it

didn't really matter back then if

buildings leaked heat or not materials -

were much more readily available

architects and builders were no longer

restricted by what was available to them

locally or regionally and the revolution

in transport particularly the car

fundamentally changed the way we build

design and navigate our cities so while

industrialization brought huge progress

it has enabled us to lead healthier

longer and more comfortable lives as a

result the impact that it has had on the

evolution of our built environment

has had some negative externalities and

some unfortunate consequences sometimes

those consequences are obvious large

glass skyscrapers some of which have

literally burnt things and some of those

architects have managed that more than

once on a far bigger scale however the

way we've built our buildings and

designed our cities is affecting the

climate around a third of global co2

emissions come from our built

environment and this pollution will be

around for far longer than any

individual building affecting people

worldwide for generations to come

buildings use 40 percent of global

energy 40 percent of global resources

and around a quarter of the world's

water supply so the impact that

buildings have is huge and the ripple

effect really matters but what if we

designed for this ripple effect rather

than just ignoring or accepting its

unintended consequences

well again history has some interesting

examples in rural Europe and the United

States barn raisings

created social interdependence bonds

required a lot of hands to build them

and if a barn was being built for one

individual of the member one member of

the community it would be built by

everyone else it was a network of social

support knowing that that favour would

be repaid this was not by design this

was out of necessity but it demonstrates

the power that buildings can have to

support the society around them today

there's significant evidence in the

financial and psychological benefits of

urban greenery green roofs increased

biodiversity and reduce rainwater runoff

mitigating the effect of storms and

reducing the risk of urban flooding and

views of trees and plants have been

shown to make the sick recover more

quickly and to improve mental health in

London research has demonstrated that in

areas with higher dead

cities of urban trees there are lower

rates of antidepressant prescriptions so

if we can design our buildings to

include plants and trees and greenery

we're not only benefiting individuals

but we're supporting the community at

large so when these ideas become

intrinsic to the design process when we

think about the big picture we can

create buildings that do extraordinary

things buildings that strengthen the

local community and connect people to

one another buildings that support the

local economy both in how they are built

and in how they work

buildings that filter the air that

increase biodiversity that improve

health and well-being and that support

the environment two and a half years ago

two friends and I set up a new

architecture practice to investigate

some of these ideas and I've got three

examples to show you today I would start

with a really small one in Waterloo in

central London the local council and a

Community Interest company called

meanwhile space approached us to help

transform a temporary building that was

put up 20 years ago

the library it had been built to

accommodate had been relocated and the

building the site was going to be

redeveloped in a few years time so the

question was rather than allowing the

building to sit empty how do we use a

very small amount of money to make use

of the building before it was demolished

how do we maximize the benefit of what's

already there essentially what more can

we make this building do for the local

community to begin with we wanted to

bring some joy to the streetscape to

help transform the outside of a pretty

rundown building so we made it smile

it's a relatively light touch solution

recognizing the temporary nature of the

project just a lick of paint and a

lightweight timber screen but it's

enough to transform a relatively ugly

building into a vibrant visual asset

more important though is what happened

inside the building and it was essential

to the project

that it be a place that brought the

community together so we worked with a

diverse range of stakeholders to create

a co-working space that provides a

low-cost accommodation to startups as

well as housing an organization that

supports people in finding jobs training

or apprenticeships the building today is

nurturing companies that wouldn't

otherwise have the opportunity to be in

such a central location allowing them to

grow and establish themselves over the

coming years so the project encapsulate

s' the benefits of such projects it

takes a building that would have been

sitting empty and transforms it into a

social and economic asset for that

community the smile creates pride in

everyone who uses that building from the

entrepreneurs who are working in the

co-working space to individuals going to

the job shop looking for employment or

advice for us though the ripple effect

of architecture doesn't just start from

when the building is built it starts

right at the beginning of a project how

can the very fact of designing a

building support the community around it

in July last year a chance encounter led

to a conversation with the headmaster of

Sint Teresa School in Effingham Surrey

he was looking for an architect to

design a new set form Center the project

was going to take about two years to

design and build and in that time the

school was going to be investing a huge

amount of effort and money in the

process so the question we asked right

at the beginning is what more can this

investment do how can we use the

school's investment in design to help

the students so as part of the project

we're using the whole process of

designing and building the building as

an educational tool for the pupils

teaching them about architecture and

sustainability about how buildings are

made and the impacts they have and

importantly we're opening their eyes to

a range of jobs and professions that

they may not have considered or even

known about when the building is built

it will benefit the school in many other

ways as well it will be carbon neutral

with enough solar panels on

Rufe to power not just itself also to

power back to the rest of the school

network and a series of green roofs new

trees and built-in burden bat boxes will

enhance the biodiversity of the

immediate site so while the project will

deliver much-needed social and

educational spaces to the school it also

gives so much more to the center eases

community and it's been intentionally

designed to link that community and Link

the students to the wider landscape and

woodland around it in County Cork in

Ireland we've been working with a

fantastic client to create a

holistically sustainable project over

the next 10 years

Joseph Walsh is an internationally

renowned furniture designer and maker

but his studio and workshop is deeply

rooted in its context it's based in the

old family farm around this old cottage

that was once the family home it's a

place that has generated enormous social

value bringing highly skilled people

from all around the world creating a

diverse cultural and creative

environment in this small town in rural

Ireland and it's a place that has great

economic value to its community with

high skilled high paying rural jobs and

the export of high-value products and

having a positive environmental impact

is inherent in what they do they invest

hugely in tree planting and biodiversity

programs to increase to improve the

landscape and the ecosystem around them

but when we started working with them

they were facing some pretty serious

challenges the scale of their work had

grown and while they wanted to stay

where they were the physical limitations

of their buildings was preventing that

pieces were literally too big for their

buildings so the challenge that we had

was how to enable the campus to grow and

develop but at the same time also

further their social and environmental

ambitions so with the enlargement of the

buildings and the streamlining of the

production process there's a

environmental strategy that underpins

the whole design large photovoltaic

arrays will provide operational energy

to the site boreholes and reedbeds will

create a closed-loop water cycle that

filters the wastewater on-site and waste

wood and coppiced fast-growing woodland

will provide zero mile renewable biomass

for all of their heating all combined

with in a holistic site strategy the

architecture itself has been designed to

create a sense of place natural lime

render and corrugated roofing from the

local vernacular with paving that were

extracting from the farms own quarry

less than half a mile away

it's the quarry that produced the stone

to build the original farmhouse the

workshops have been designed by driven

by the needs of their program but

they've been designed so that everyone

has a view out to the surrounding

environment so that everybody who works

there will have a visual link to trees

or plants in the surrounding landscape

so in thinking deeply about the wider

impacts that architecture has both

locally and globally it results in an

architecture that is deeply contextual

an architecture that responds both to

its social and environmental context as

much as its historical and physical one

so when we design to maximize the

positive social economic and

environmental ripples of architecture

when we design with the big picture in

mind we can create buildings that

benefit everyone our buildings can do so

much let's make them more

[Applause]