Justin Davidson: Why glass towers are bad for city life -- and what we need instead
Justin Davidson: Dlaczego błyszczące szklane wieże nie są dobre dla miast
Justin Davidson writes about a broad range of urban, civic, design and arts issues. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
in here this evening,
looked almost exactly the same:
idiosyncratic inner life,
the same blank expression all the time.
that is taking over cities,
powoli opanowuje miasta,
of great individuality and character
o indywidualnym charakterze
splendor of cities.
is that the need for shelter
the human desire for beauty.
give us a touchable city.
które można dotknąć,
over brick and stone.
made of concrete and steel
all over the world --
of high-gloss robots
the full range of available materials.
całej gamy dostępnego budulca.
and limestone and sandstone
and terra-cotta and brick
all of the world's cuisines
like this one in Moscow
and communal aspects of urban living.
dla społecznego aspektu życia w mieście.
to enrich their owners and tenants,
właścicieli i wynajmujących,
the lives of the rest of us,
the spaces between the buildings.
między budynkami,
and killing off public space.
i zabija publiczną przestrzeń.
as being like makeup,
to a building that's effectively complete.
na ukończonym budynku.
affect the way we live in it.
wpływają na styl życia.
sunlight rakes the facades,
przeczesuje fasady,
segments the buildings
of visual activity.
działań wizualnych.
where the generations can meet.
gdzie spotykają się pokolenia.
sprawling on the pavers,
like an opera set.
about the exteriors of buildings,
give texture to our lives,
nadają naszemu życiu kształt,
create the spaces around them,
stwarzają wokół siebie przestrzeń,
with the quality of those exteriors.
z jakością tego zewnętrza.
of the Plaza Mayor in Salamanca
Plaza Mayor w Salamance
ścianami otwarta przestrzeń,
to their cubicles
as little time in as possible.
the architect Philip Johnson
architekt Philip Johnson
European plaza in Pittsburgh.
odtworzyć pełen wdzięku europejski plac.
encircled by commercial buildings
otoczonej biurowcami
with metal trim and bays
elementami metalowymi, wykuszami
through the fountain
of a leisurely hangout.
przyjemnego miejsca spotkań,
you really want to just hang out and chat.
for many different reasons.
wynika z wielu powodów.
bo łączą stare i nowe,
excessively on glass.
from enormous, ultraclear sheets
od ogromnych, przezroczystych tafli
it has the magical power
szkło ma magiczną moc
real estate values by allowing views,
dając widoki,
that developers have to offer
of the Crystal Palace in London,
w Londynie,
of quintessentially modern substances.
które są kwintesencją nowoczesności.
the downtowns of some American cities,
really spectacular office buildings
designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.
projektu Skidmore'a, Owingsa i Merrilla.
advanced to the point
structures so transparent
tak przezroczyste,
of the high-rise city,
miasta wysokich budynków,
powerful reason for that.
converge on cities,
into jerry-built shantytowns.
zapełniają tanie dzielnice nędzy.
potrzebują mieszkań i miejsc pracy
need apartments and places to work
to put up towers
and practical curtain walls.
praktyczne zasłony ścian.
in southern Mexico.
w południowym Meksyku.
of high ritual significance.
znaczenie tego miejsca.
a historical and textural continuity
oraz spójność struktury
the mountains all around
on top of the ruins
even ordinary plaster buildings
nawet zwykłe gipsowe budynki
bright colors, political murals
murali politycznych
would simply wipe out.
that architects and developers
że architekci i deweloperzy
the joys of texture
for old materials like brick
tradycyjnego budulca, jak cegła
like the molded panels that Snøhetta used
np. formowane tafle, jakich użył Snøhetta,
Museum of Modern Art
w San Francisco
even created living facades.
stworzył nawet żyjące fasady.
a pair of apartment towers in Milan,
para wieżowców mieszkalnych w Mediolanie,
for Nanjing in China.
w Nanjing w Chinach.
were as ubiquitous as glass ones
były tak wszechobecne jak szklane,
in Chinese cities would become.
byłoby powietrze chińskich miast.
that these are mostly one-offs,
that have a local significance,
o lokalnym znaczeniu,
from all looking the same.
choć ma długą historię,
to cover the American Copper Building,
by pokryć American Copper Building,
on the East River.
nad rzeką East River.
sunset lights up that metallic facade,
oświetla metalową fasadę,
pod wpływem pogody.
pretty much the same way it did before
have the ability
in Salt Lake City in copper and zinc,
w Salt Lake City miedzią i cynkiem,
in the area for 150 years
against the ochre hills
na tle wzgórz w barwie ochry,
natural history.
naturalną historię rejonu.
Pritzker Prize winner Wang Shu
chiński laureat nagrody Pritzker Prize
a wrapper for the past,
that had been demolished.
and this one by Frank Gehry
a drugi Franka Gehry,
that they toss back and forth
of concentrated variety
and languages and lifestyles
języki i style życia z całego świata
of crushing sameness,
the full range of the urban experience.
pełną gamę możliwości miasta.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Justin Davidson - Architecture criticJustin Davidson writes about a broad range of urban, civic, design and arts issues.
Why you should listen
Justin Davidson is the author of Magnetic City: A Walking Companion to New York (Spiegel & Grau), which leads readers through a portrait of the city told through its history, architecture, music, art and literature.
Davidson has been the architecture and classical music critic at New York magazine since 2007. Before that, he spent 12 years as classical music critic at Newsday, where he also wrote about architecture and was a regular cultural commentator. He won a Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 2002, an American Society of Newspaper Editors criticism (ASNE) award and the 2015 Stephen A. Kliment Oculus Award for Architectural Journalism from the American Institute of Architects, New York Chapter.
A native of Rome, Davidson graduated from Harvard and later earned a doctoral degree in music composition at Columbia University. He has contributed to many publications, including The New Yorker, Smithsonian, W., The New York Times Book Review, Travel & Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler and Pursuits. He was a columnist for the website Wondering Sound and has appeared regularly on WNYC and other radio and television outlets. He has taught at the Design Criticism program at the School of Visual Arts, the Goldring Arts Journalism Program of Syracuse University and NEA Arts Journalism Institutes. He lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Justin Davidson | Speaker | TED.com