A few people have now sent me this TED talk by architect Débora Mesa Molina. But I watched it for the first time today. I guess my personal brand is pretty closely associated with architecture and design.

In it, she talks about her firm's approach to using overlooked and/or standard building materials in unconventional ways. For example, here, she used stacked precast beams to assemble a house in Madrid (c.2008). The entire structure came together in only 7 days.

My first reaction is that I like the idea and approach -- which is really quite interesting -- more than the final designs. I am also curious if there were any cost savings as a result of using "standard" materials. What are your thoughts?

This is a great TED talk by Edward Glaeser about why it is time to embrace our cities. If you can’t see it below, click here.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILDwnzQNlGc&w=560&h=315]

The talk was filmed in 2012 – right around the time that Triumph of the City was released – but the video was published at the beginning of this year.

It is also a good add-on to yesterday’s post about transportation costs and cities. I love how passionate Glaeser gets about these topics.

There’s a lot of interest right now in micro apartments. Here is a recent example from New York City. Generally speaking the model is driven by a need to increase housing affordability: shrink the apartments; lower the prices. 

To compensate for these smaller units, the buildings are often equipped with larger shared spaces and a desire to create a sense of community.

The below TED talk by architect Grace Kim is an interesting case study of a project that started, first, with a desire for cohabitation. Her thesis is that cohousing can make us happier, less lonely, and more socially connected.

The cohousing community that she profiles is one that she both designed and developed and one that she now lives in and practices architecture out of.

If you can’t see the video below, click here. It’s only 10 minutes. After you’ve watched it, let us know in the comment section below if this is a community you could see yourself being a part of.

https://embed.ted.com/talks/grace_kim_how_cohousing_can_make_us_happier_and_live_longer

A few people have now sent me this TED talk by architect Débora Mesa Molina. But I watched it for the first time today. I guess my personal brand is pretty closely associated with architecture and design.

In it, she talks about her firm's approach to using overlooked and/or standard building materials in unconventional ways. For example, here, she used stacked precast beams to assemble a house in Madrid (c.2008). The entire structure came together in only 7 days.

My first reaction is that I like the idea and approach -- which is really quite interesting -- more than the final designs. I am also curious if there were any cost savings as a result of using "standard" materials. What are your thoughts?

This is a great TED talk by Edward Glaeser about why it is time to embrace our cities. If you can’t see it below, click here.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILDwnzQNlGc&w=560&h=315]

The talk was filmed in 2012 – right around the time that Triumph of the City was released – but the video was published at the beginning of this year.

It is also a good add-on to yesterday’s post about transportation costs and cities. I love how passionate Glaeser gets about these topics.

There’s a lot of interest right now in micro apartments. Here is a recent example from New York City. Generally speaking the model is driven by a need to increase housing affordability: shrink the apartments; lower the prices. 

To compensate for these smaller units, the buildings are often equipped with larger shared spaces and a desire to create a sense of community.

The below TED talk by architect Grace Kim is an interesting case study of a project that started, first, with a desire for cohabitation. Her thesis is that cohousing can make us happier, less lonely, and more socially connected.

The cohousing community that she profiles is one that she both designed and developed and one that she now lives in and practices architecture out of.

If you can’t see the video below, click here. It’s only 10 minutes. After you’ve watched it, let us know in the comment section below if this is a community you could see yourself being a part of.

https://embed.ted.com/talks/grace_kim_how_cohousing_can_make_us_happier_and_live_longer