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: Há uma maneira melhor de morrer, e a arquitetura pode ajudar

Filmed:
1,316,847 views

Nesta curta e provocativa palestra, a arquiteta Alison Killing analisa construções onde a morte e a sua chegada acontecem: cemitérios, hospitais, nosso próprio lar. O modo como morremos está mudando, e os lugares construídos para a morte... bem, talvez devessem mudar também. É um olhar surpreendentemente fascinante quanto aos aspectos escondidos de nossas cidade e nossas vidas.
- 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 story
about death and architecture.
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Gostaria de contar uma história
sobre morte e arquitetura.
00:16
A hundred years ago, we tended to die
of infectious diseases like pneumonia,
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Há 100 anos, tendíamos a morrer
de doenças infecciosas como pneumonia,
00:21
that, if they took hold,
would take us away quite quickly.
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que, se tomassem conta,
levariam-nos rapidamente.
00:24
We tended to die at home,
in our own beds, looked after by family,
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Morríamos em casa, em nossas
próprias camas, aos cuidados da família,
embora esta fosse a opção convencional,
00:28
although that was the default option
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00:30
because a lot of people
lacked access to medical care.
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já que poucas pessoas
tinham acesso à assistência médica.
00:33
And then in the 20th century
a lot of things changed.
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E então, no século 20,
muitas coisas mudaram.
Desenvolvemos novos remédios
como a penicilina,
00:36
We developed new medicines like penicillin
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00:38
so we could treat
those infectious diseases.
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então, poderíamos tratar
aquelas doenças infecciosas.
00:40
New medical technologies
like x-ray machines were invented.
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Novas tecnologias médicas como as máquinas
de raio X foram inventadas.
00:44
And because they were
so big and expensive,
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Mas como elas eram muito grande e caras,
00:46
we needed large, centralized
buildings to keep them in,
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precisávamos de locais grandes
e centralizados para mantê-las,
00:49
and they became our modern hospitals.
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então vieram nossos hospitais modernos.
Após a Segunda Guerra Mundial,
00:51
After the Second World War,
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00:53
a lot of countries set up
universal healthcare systems
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muitos países criaram
sistemas de saúde universais,
então, todos que precisavam
de tratamento poderiam obtê-lo.
00:55
so that everyone who needed
treatment could get it.
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00:58
The result was that lifespans extended
from about 45 at the start of the century
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Como resultado, a expectativa de vida
subiu de 45 anos, no início do século,
01:02
to almost double that today.
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para quase o dobro hoje em dia.
01:04
The 20th century was this time of huge
optimism about what science could offer,
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O século 20 foi bastante otimista
sobre o que a ciência poderia oferecer,
01:09
but with all of the focus on life,
death was forgotten,
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mas todo o foco estava na vida,
a morte foi esquecida,
01:12
even as our approach to death
changed dramatically.
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assim como a nossa abordagem
à morte mudou drasticamente.
01:15
Now, I'm an architect,
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Bom, eu sou arquiteta,
01:16
and for the past year and a half
I've been looking at these changes
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e há um ano e meio tenho
observado estas mudanças,
e o que elas significam para a arquitetura
relacionada à morte e a sua chegada.
01:20
and at what they mean for architecture
related to death and dying.
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01:23
We now tend to die
of cancer and heart disease,
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Agora tendemos a morrer
de câncer e doenças cardíacas,
01:26
and what that means is that many of us
will have a long period of chronic illness
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ou seja, muitos de nós passaremos
por um longo período de doenças crônicas
01:30
at the end of our lives.
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ao fim de nossas vidas.
Durante este período,
01:32
During that period,
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01:33
we'll likely spend a lot of time
in hospitals and hospices and care homes.
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provavelmente, ficaremos muito tempo
em hospitais e asilos.
Bem, todos nós já estivemos
num hospital moderno.
01:38
Now, we've all been in a modern hospital.
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01:40
You know those fluorescent lights
and the endless corridors
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Conhecemos aquelas luzes fluorescentes,
os corredores sem fim
01:44
and those rows of uncomfortable chairs.
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e aquelas fileiras
de cadeiras desconfortáveis.
01:47
Hospital architecture
has earned its bad reputation.
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A arquitetura hospitalar
mereceu sua má reputação.
01:50
But the surprising thing is,
it wasn't always like this.
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Mas, surpreendentemente,
nem sempre foi assim.
01:54
This is L'Ospedale degli Innocenti,
built in 1419 by Brunelleschi,
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Este é o L'Ospedale degli Innocenti,
construído em 1419 por Brunelleschi,
01:58
who was one of the most famous
and influential architects of his time.
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que foi um dos mais famosos
e influentes arquitetos de sua época.
02:02
And when I look at this building
and then think about hospitals today,
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Quando olho para esta construção
e penso nos hospitais de hoje,
02:05
what amazes me is
this building's ambition.
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o que me espanta
é a ambição desta construção.
02:08
It's just a really great building.
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É realmente uma grande construção.
02:10
It has these courtyards in the middle
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Tem esses pátios no centro,
então, todos os quartos
recebem a luz do dia e ar fresco;
02:12
so that all of the rooms
have daylight and fresh air,
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02:14
and the rooms are big
and they have high ceilings,
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os quartos são grandes
e têm pés-direitos altos,
02:17
so they just feel
more comfortable to be in.
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então, parecem ser mais confortáveis.
02:19
And it's also beautiful.
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E também é belo.
02:21
Somehow, we've forgotten
that that's even possible for a hospital.
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De certo modo, nós nos esquecemos
que isto é possível para um hospital.
02:25
Now, if we want better buildings
for dying, then we have to talk about it,
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Agora, se quisermos locais melhores
para morrer, temos que falar a respeito,
02:29
but because we find the subject
of death uncomfortable,
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mas como achamos
o tema "morte" desconfortável,
02:31
we don't talk about it,
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não falamos sobre ele,
02:33
and we don't question how we
as a society approach death.
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e não questionamos como nós,
como sociedade, abordamos a morte.
02:36
One of the things that surprised me
most in my research, though,
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Uma das coisas que mais
me surpreenderam na minha pesquisa
02:39
is how changeable attitudes actually are.
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é como as atitudes são realmente mutáveis.
02:42
This is the first crematorium in the U.K.,
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Este é o primeiro
crematório do Reino Unido,
02:44
which was built in Woking in the 1870s.
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que foi construído
em Woking nos anos 1870.
02:47
And when this was first built,
there were protests in the local village.
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E quando foi construído,
houve protestos na vila local.
A cremação não era socialmente aceitável,
e 99,8% das pessoas eram enterradas.
02:50
Cremation wasn't socially acceptable,
and 99.8 percent of people got buried.
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02:55
And yet, only a hundred years later,
three quarters of us get cremated.
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Porém, apenas uma centena de anos depois,
três quartos de nós somos cremados.
As pessoas são, de fato,
bem abertas às mudanças das coisas,
02:59
People are actually really open
to changing things
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03:02
if they're given the chance
to talk about them.
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desde que tenham a chance
de conversar a respeito.
03:04
So this conversation
about death and architecture
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Então, esta conversa
sobre morte e arquitetura
03:07
was what I wanted to start
when I did my first exhibition on it
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era o queria propor quando fiz
minha primeira exposição,
03:10
in Venice in June,
which was called "Death in Venice."
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em Veneza, em junho,
que se chamava "Morte em Veneza".
03:14
It was designed to be quite playful
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Foi projetada para ser bem interativa,
então as pessoas, literalmente,
se envolveriam com ela.
03:17
so that people would
literally engage with it.
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03:19
This is one of our exhibits,
which is an interactive map of London
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Esta é uma das nossas exposições,
é um mapa interativo de Londres
03:22
that shows just how much
of the real estate in the city
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que mostra a quantidade
de imóveis da cidade
03:25
is given over to death and dying,
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que é dedicada à morte e a sua chegada;
03:27
and as you wave your hand across the map,
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e conforme você desliza a mão pelo mapa,
03:29
the name of that piece of real estate,
the building or cemetery, is revealed.
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o nome do imóvel, construção
ou cemitério é revelado.
Outra de nossas exibições
foi uma série de cartões-postais
03:34
Another of our exhibits
was a series of postcards
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03:37
that people could take away with them.
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que as pessoas podiam levar com elas.
03:39
And they showed people's homes
and hospitals
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Eles mostravam as casas
das pessoas, hospitais,
03:41
and cemeteries and mortuaries,
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cemitérios e mortuários,
03:44
and they tell the story
of the different spaces
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e contavam a história
de diferentes espaços
03:46
that we pass through
on either side of death.
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que atravessamos
em ambos os lados da morte.
03:49
We wanted to show
that where we die
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Queríamos mostrar que onde morremos
03:51
is a key part of how we die.
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é uma parte fundamental de como morremos.
03:54
Now, the strangest thing was the way
that visitors reacted to the exhibition,
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Agora, o mais estranho era o modo
como o público reagia à exposição,
03:59
especially the audio-visual works.
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especialmente às obras audiovisuais.
04:02
We had people dancing
and running and jumping
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Havia pessoas dançando,
correndo e pulando,
04:05
as they tried to activate
the exhibits in different ways,
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conforme tentavam acionar
as exposições de diferentes maneiras
04:08
and at a certain point
they would kind of stop
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e, num certo momento, elas paravam,
e se lembravam de que estavam
numa exposição sobre a morte,
04:11
and remember that they were in
an exhibition about death,
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04:13
and that maybe that's not
how you're supposed to act.
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e que talvez essa não fosse
a maneira adequada de agir.
04:16
But actually, I would question
whether there is one way
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Mas, na verdade,
eu questiono se há um jeito
04:19
that you're supposed to act around death,
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certo de agir perante a morte,
04:21
and if there's not, I'd ask you to think
about what you think a good death is,
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e se não há, peço a vocês que pensem
sobre o acham que é uma boa morte
04:26
and what you think that architecture
that supports a good death might be like,
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e o que você acham que a arquitetura
associada a uma boa morte deveria ser;
04:29
and mightn't it be a little less like this
and a little more like this?
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e não poderia ser menos assim
e um pouco mais deste jeito?
04:34
Thank you.
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Obrigada.
(Aplausos)
04:36
(Applause)
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Translated by Fernando Gonçalves
Reviewed by Leonardo Silva

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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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