ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Alison Killing - Architect
An architect and urban designer, Alison Killing uses journalism, filmmaking and exhibitions to help people better understand the built environment.

Why you should listen

Alison Killing is an architect and urban designer working to engage people with their built environment, via design of buildings and urban strategies, film making, exhibitions and events. She explores the relationship between death and modern architecture, looking at how cities are rebuilt after disaster.

Recent projects include Death in the City (and its first iteration, Death in Venice, which was shown as an independent event during the opening week of the Venice Architecture Biennale), a touring exhibition about death and modern architecture; work with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies on better rebuilding after disaster and how to integrate relevant urban design tools into humanitarian response; and a study of financial models for arts and community projects temporarily using vacant buildings to help these projects become self-sustaining.

More profile about the speaker
Alison Killing | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2014

Alison Killing: There’s a better way to die, and architecture can help

Alison Killing: Hi ha una manera millor de morir i l'arquitectura hi pot ajudar

Filmed:
1,316,847 views

En aquesta xerrada breu i provocadora, l'arquitecta Alison Killing parla dels edificis relacionats amb la mort: cementiris, hospitals, cases. La manera com morim està canviant i els espais que construïm per morir... potser també haurien de canviar. És una manera sorprenent i fascinant de veure una part amagada de les nostres ciutats i de les nostres vides.
- Architect
An architect and urban designer, Alison Killing uses journalism, filmmaking and exhibitions to help people better understand the built environment. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
I'd like to tell you a storyhistòria
about deathmort and architecturearquitectura.
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M'agradaria explicar-vos una història
sobre la mort i l'arquitectura.
00:16
A hundredcent yearsanys agofa, we tendedtendit to diemorir
of infectiousinfeccioses diseasesmalalties like pneumoniapneumònia,
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Fa cent anys, ens moríem
d'infeccions, com la pneumònia,
00:21
that, if they tookva prendre holdaguantar,
would take us away quitebastant quicklyràpidament.
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que, si ens agafaven fort
se'ns enduien ben de pressa.
00:24
We tendedtendit to diemorir at home,
in our ownpropi bedsLlits, lookedmirava after by familyfamília,
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Normalment ens moríem a casa,
al llit, cuidats per la família,
00:28
althoughencara que that was the defaultper defecte optionopció
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això era la opció més normal
00:30
because a lot of people
lackedno tenien accessaccés to medicalmèdic carecura.
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perquè la majoria
no tenia accés a la medicina.
00:33
And then in the 20thth centurysegle
a lot of things changedha canviat.
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Al segle XX van cambiar
molt les coses.
00:36
We developeddesenvolupat newnou medicinesmedicaments like penicillinpenicil·lina
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Noves medecines, com la penicil·lina,
00:38
so we could treattractar
those infectiousinfeccioses diseasesmalalties.
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permetien curar
les malalties infeccioses.
00:40
NewNou medicalmèdic technologiestecnologies
like x-rayradiografia machinesmàquines were inventedinventat.
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Es van inventar noves tecnologies,
com els raigs X.
00:44
And because they were
so biggran and expensivecar,
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I com que eren tan grans i cares,
00:46
we needednecessari largegran, centralizedcentralitzat
buildingsedificis to keep them in,
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calia construir grans edificis
on posar-les,
00:49
and they becamees va convertir our modernmodern hospitalshospitals.
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que es van convertir
en els hospitals moderns.
00:51
After the SecondSegon WorldMón WarGuerra,
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Després de la Segona Guerra Mundial,
00:53
a lot of countriespaïsos setconjunt up
universaluniversal healthcareatenció sanitària systemssistemes
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molts països van crear
sistemes de sanitat universals
00:55
so that everyonetothom who needednecessari
treatmenttractament could get it.
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perquè tothom pogués accedir
al tractament necessari.
00:58
The resultresultat was that lifespanslifespans extendedestès
from about 45 at the startcomençar of the centurysegle
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I com a resultat, l'esperança de vida
va passar dels 45 anys a principi de segle
01:02
to almostgairebé doubledoble that todayavui.
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a gairebé el doble avui en dia.
01:04
The 20thth centurysegle was this time of hugeenorme
optimismoptimisme about what scienceciència could offeroferta,
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El segle XX va ser un temps d'optimisme
sobre el que la ciència ens podia oferir,
01:09
but with all of the focusenfocament on life,
deathmort was forgottenoblidat,
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però amb tota aquesta atenció en la vida,
ens vam oblidar de la mort,
01:12
even as our approachenfocament to deathmort
changedha canviat dramaticallydramàticament.
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inclús quan canviava totalment
com veiem la mort.
01:15
Now, I'm an architectarquitecte,
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Jo sóc arquitecta
01:16
and for the pastpassat yearcurs and a halfla meitat
I've been looking at these changescanvis
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i durant l'últim any i mig
he investigat aquests canvis
i el que signifiquen per l'arquitectura
relacionada amb la mort.
01:20
and at what they mean for architecturearquitectura
relatedrelacionat to deathmort and dyingmorint.
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Avui en dia ens morim
de càncer o malalties del cor,
01:23
We now tendtendeix to diemorir
of cancercàncer and heartcor diseasemalaltia,
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01:26
and what that meanssignifica is that manymolts of us
will have a long periodperíode of chroniccrònica illnessmalaltia
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per tant, molts patirem
un llarg període de malaltia crònica
01:30
at the endfinal of our livesvides.
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al final de la vida.
Durant aquest període,
01:32
DuringDurant that periodperíode,
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01:33
we'll likelyprobablement spendGastar a lot of time
in hospitalshospitals and hospicesHospices and carecura homesllars.
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passarem molt de temps
en hospitals, hospicis i residències.
01:38
Now, we'vetenim all been in a modernmodern hospitalhospital.
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Tots hem estat en un hospital modern.
01:40
You know those fluorescentfluorescents lightsllums
and the endlessinterminable corridorspassadissos
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En coneixem els fluorescents
i els passadissos interminables
01:44
and those rowsfiles of uncomfortableincòmode chairscadires.
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i les cadires incòmodes.
01:47
HospitalHospital architecturearquitectura
has earnedguanyat its baddolent reputationreputació.
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L'arquitectura dels hospitals
s'ha guanyat la mala reputació que té.
01:50
But the surprisingsorprenent thing is,
it wasn'tno ho era always like this.
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Però el que sorprèn és que
no sempre havia estat així.
01:54
This is L'OspedaleL'Ospedale deglidegli InnocentiInnocenti,
builtconstruït in 1419 by BrunelleschiBrunelleschi,
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Aquest és L'Ospedale degli Innocenti,
construït el 1419 per Brunelleschi,
01:58
who was one of the mostla majoria famousfamós
and influentialinfluent architectsarquitectes of his time.
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un dels arquitectes més famosos
i influents del seu temps.
02:02
And when I look at this buildingedifici
and then think about hospitalshospitals todayavui,
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I quan mires aquest edifici i
penses en els hopitals d'avui,
02:05
what amazessorprèn me is
this building'sedifici ambitionambició.
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el que em sorprèn és
l'ambició d'aquest edifici.
02:08
It's just a really great buildingedifici.
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És ben bé un gran edifici.
02:10
It has these courtyardspatis in the middlemig
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Té aquests patis al mig
02:12
so that all of the roomshabitacions
have daylightllum natural and freshfresc airaire,
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perquè les habitacions
tinguin claror i aire fresc,
02:14
and the roomshabitacions are biggran
and they have highalt ceilingssostres,
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i les habitacions són grans
amb els sostres alts,
02:17
so they just feel
more comfortablecòmode to be in.
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perquè siguin més acollidores
per als pacients.
02:19
And it's alsotambé beautifulbonic.
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I és bonic també.
02:21
SomehowD'alguna manera, we'vetenim forgottenoblidat
that that's even possiblepossible for a hospitalhospital.
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Sembla que ens haguem oblidat
que això és possible en un hospital.
02:25
Now, if we want better buildingsedificis
for dyingmorint, then we have to talk about it,
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Si volem millors edificis
on morir, n'hem de parlar,
02:29
but because we find the subjectassignatura
of deathmort uncomfortableincòmode,
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però com que el tema de la mort
no ens resulta fàcil
02:31
we don't talk about it,
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no en parlem,
02:33
and we don't questionpregunta how we
as a societysocietat approachenfocament deathmort.
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i no qüestionem com la societat
ens plantegem la mort.
02:36
One of the things that surprisedsorprès me
mostla majoria in my researchrecerca, thoughperò,
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Una de les coses que més em va sorprendre
de la investigació
02:39
is how changeablecanviant attitudesactituds actuallyen realitat are.
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és la facilitat amb què canvien
les actituds.
Aquest és el primer crematori
del Regne Unit,
02:42
This is the first crematoriumcrematori in the U.K.,
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02:44
whichquin was builtconstruït in WokingWoking in the 1870s.
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construït a Woking als voltants del 1870.
02:47
And when this was first builtconstruït,
there were protestsprotestes in the locallocal villagepoble.
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Quan el van construir, hi va haver
protestes a la localitat.
La cremació no era acceptable socialment,
el 99,8 % de la gent s'enterrava.
02:50
CremationCremació wasn'tno ho era sociallysocialment acceptableacceptable,
and 99.8 percentpercentatge of people got buriedenterrat.
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02:55
And yetencara, only a hundredcent yearsanys latermés tard,
threetres quartersquarts of us get crematedcremat.
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Ara, cent anys després, es crema
en el 75 % dels casos.
02:59
People are actuallyen realitat really openobert
to changingcanviant things
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De fet la gent està oberta al canvi
03:02
if they're givendonat the chanceoportunitat
to talk about them.
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si hi ha l'oportunitat de parlar-ne.
03:04
So this conversationconversa
about deathmort and architecturearquitectura
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Aquesta conversa sobre la mort
i l'arquitectura
03:07
was what I wanted to startcomençar
when I did my first exhibitionexposició on it
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és el que volia iniciar quan
vaig fer la meva primera exposició
03:10
in VeniceVenècia in JuneJuny,
whichquin was calledanomenat "DeathMort in VeniceVenècia."
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a Venècia el juny,
que es titulava "Mort a Venècia".
03:14
It was designeddissenyat to be quitebastant playfullúdic
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La idea era que fos divertida
03:17
so that people would
literallyliteralment engageenganxar with it.
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perquè la gent s'hi pogués implicar.
03:19
This is one of our exhibitsexposicions,
whichquin is an interactiveinteractiu mapmapa of LondonLondres
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Aquí hi ha un dels objectes exposats,
un mapa interactiu de Londres
03:22
that showsespectacles just how much
of the realreal estatefinca in the cityciutat
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que mostra la quantitat del sòl
a la ciutat
03:25
is givendonat over to deathmort and dyingmorint,
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que es dedica a la mort,
03:27
and as you waveonada your hand acrossa través de the mapmapa,
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i quan hi passes la mà per sobre,
03:29
the namenom of that piecepeça of realreal estatefinca,
the buildingedifici or cemeteryCementiri, is revealedrevelat.
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el nom del terreny, de l'edifici
o del cementiri apareix.
03:34
AnotherUn altre of our exhibitsexposicions
was a seriessèrie of postcardspostals
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Un altre dels objectes exposats
és una sèrie de postals
03:37
that people could take away with them.
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que la gent es pot endur.
03:39
And they showedva mostrar people'spersones homesllars
and hospitalshospitals
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Mostren habitatges, hospitals,
03:41
and cemeteriescementiris and mortuariesdipòsits de cadàvers,
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cementiris i tanatoris,
03:44
and they tell the storyhistòria
of the differentdiferent spacesespais
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i expliquen la història
dels diferents espais
03:46
that we passpassar througha través
on eithertampoc sidecostat of deathmort.
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pels quals passem
abans i després de la mort.
03:49
We wanted to showespectacle
that where we diemorir
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Volíem demostrar que
on morim
03:51
is a keyclau partpart of how we diemorir.
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és una part clau de com morim.
03:54
Now, the strangestmés estrany thing was the way
that visitorsvisitants reactedva reaccionar to the exhibitionexposició,
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El més extrany és com la gent
va reaccionar a l'exposició,
03:59
especiallyespecialment the audio-visualaudiovisual worksfunciona.
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especialment a les parts audiovisuals.
04:02
We had people dancingballar
and runningcorrent and jumpingsaltant
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Hi havia gent que ballava, corria, saltava
04:05
as they triedintentat to activateactivar
the exhibitsexposicions in differentdiferent waysmaneres,
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intentant activar els objectes
de maneres diferents
04:08
and at a certaincert pointpunt
they would kindamable of stop
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i hi havia un moment en què paraven
04:11
and rememberrecorda that they were in
an exhibitionexposició about deathmort,
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i recordaven que estaven en una exposició
sobre la mort,
04:13
and that maybe that's not
how you're supposedsuposat to actactuar.
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i que potser no era així com
s'havien de comportar.
04:16
But actuallyen realitat, I would questionpregunta
whetherja sigui there is one way
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Però de fet, em pregunto
si hi ha una manera
04:19
that you're supposedsuposat to actactuar around deathmort,
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d'actuar envers la mort.
04:21
and if there's not, I'd askpreguntar you to think
about what you think a good deathmort is,
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I si no, voldria saber
què creieu que és una bona mort,
04:26
and what you think that architecturearquitectura
that supportssuports a good deathmort mightpotser be like,
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i com hauria de ser l'arquitectura
que l'acompanya,
04:29
and mightn'tmightn't it be a little lessmenys like this
and a little more like this?
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i si hauria de ser una mica menys així
i una mica més així.
04:34
Thank you.
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Gràcies.
(Aplaudiments)
04:36
(ApplauseAplaudiments)
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2020
Translated by Anna Comas-Quinn
Reviewed by Òscar Aznar Alemany

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Alison Killing - Architect
An architect and urban designer, Alison Killing uses journalism, filmmaking and exhibitions to help people better understand the built environment.

Why you should listen

Alison Killing is an architect and urban designer working to engage people with their built environment, via design of buildings and urban strategies, film making, exhibitions and events. She explores the relationship between death and modern architecture, looking at how cities are rebuilt after disaster.

Recent projects include Death in the City (and its first iteration, Death in Venice, which was shown as an independent event during the opening week of the Venice Architecture Biennale), a touring exhibition about death and modern architecture; work with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies on better rebuilding after disaster and how to integrate relevant urban design tools into humanitarian response; and a study of financial models for arts and community projects temporarily using vacant buildings to help these projects become self-sustaining.

More profile about the speaker
Alison Killing | Speaker | TED.com

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