Why Originality In Architecture Is OVERRATED

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👉 In this video, we discover what is leading to the ever-crazier buildings we see in our cities: the pursuit of originality and novelty. Where does it come from, is it any good an how can we deal with it so it leads to better outcomes? We will find out that and a lot more!

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Special thanks:
- Bart Urban for his support
- Mark Wilson Jones for his insights
- Our amazing Patrons!
- Surfshark for sponsoring this video

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Tags:
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[neotradnous]

My modernist architecture school shoves the idea of “the concept” on us from day one. Every single building and project must have some hyper innovative, unique and interesting “concept” that can describe the project in a sentence or two.

The problem is that the concept tends to be some completely whacky formal move that makes the entire project a gimmick. Something that stands out like a sore thumb. “The roof is lifted 20 feet with a glass core inside”, “a huge staircase spirals around the building”, “one half of the building is glass and the other half is concrete”, and so on.

The problem with this concept idea is that the university has yet to justify its necessity in our projects, at least over other forms of design.

I very quickly realized what type of scam this concept idea is, when I would observe old traditional buildings and wonder to myself… “what exactly was the ‘concept’ of a Victorian era house?” Or “how did architects arrive to the concept of a Japanese pagoda?”
And then I realized that they didn’t. There was no concept. Building was based on function and the vernacular.

The concept idea is truly a poison to architectural academia

[RoachChaddjr]

Be original was the worst advice I was berated with at university. Stressed myself out and convinced myself I wasn't a designer more times than I know.

[JulioCesarZambonin]

I am inheriting a property over 100 years old in southern Brazil, built by Italian immigrants. A mansion with a stone basement in a colonial style. I hope to be able to find an architect who will help me renovate the space and perhaps do something similar to what was done in Guatemala.

[strongbad]

The most understandable way of explaining modernism as a philosophy is "buildings are meant to exist as objects" instead of "buildings are meant to create places"

[ruben]

Originality is good but not when its used separately from beauty. Beauty is not just a specific style of architecture. There are only some ground rules to beauty such as symmetry or the golden ratio. With those you can invent infinte types of original architecture that is also beautiful. But modern architecture only focuses on the originality aspect and not on using the ground rules of beauty together with originality.

[troublemakr]

I love how architects say that traditional buildings are too expensive nowadays yet splurge money on things like this: 6:15

[mbathroom]

Totally agree, I am so glad someone is finally covering this! I can't stand all the ugly buildings you see everywhere and the ironic part is the more they try to be different, the more things stay the same. Almost every major city's skyline outside Europe, especially in East Asia and North America, look so similar that i can't tell almost any of them apart. It all leads to an ugly homogenised horrible world where nothing beautiful or actually original remains

[guardianangel]

Great video as usual! I like the end note. It's important that more people demand a more "down to earth" construction (figurativly and literally), instead of absurd mega projects.
I'd love to see a video about traditional materials and cradle2cradle materials in general. "We should see buildings as material storage" is also a great concept that deserves a video

[AverytheCubanAmerican]

An example of an original and creatively designed building that served its purpose well and didn't ruin the harmony of its location is the Big Duck on Long Island. A building shaped like a 6.1-meter-tall duck! The Big Duck isn't new at all, it was built in 1931 by farmer Martin Maurer in Riverhead. Long Island once had a big duck farming industry, specifically farming Pekin ducks which are also known as Long Island ducks. Mauer was selling ducks and duck eggs and so to stand out among the different farmers, he built a duck-shaped building to house his store! In 1937, Martin moved the building four miles southeast to Flanders, where it occupied a prominent location near the duck barns and marshes of Maurer's then new duck ranch.

During the 1970s, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation began imposing restrictions due to the runoff from the farms which, on an island, can obviously lead to very bad things. The Big Duck closed as a duck egg store in 1984. In 1988, Suffolk County Department of Parks and Recreation acquired it and moved it closer to Hampton Bays but moved it back to its Flanders location in 2007. Suffolk County continues to own it, maintains its interior and pays for staffing while Southampton Town maintains the exterior. The original 27-acre duck farm was purchased by the town in 2006. Today the Big Duck houses a gift shop selling memorabilia.

[rachelnidhugain]

Couldn't agree more with the point of distinguishing originality in architecture with necessity in architecture for public health. We live in a society where so kuch focus has been to allow artistic-genius freedom to architects with little reflection for the impact on public life. There is a huge need for reform in how oroginality of concept and design is encouraged, but instead to look towards byildinng standards as mentioned in this video.
Always love your videos 💚💚

[SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

Two of my favorite original modern buildings with a stunning design that fit so nice are right next to each other: The Bird's Nest Stadium (Beijing National Stadium) and the Water Cube. The Bird's Nest Stadium was a joint venture among architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron of Herzog & de Meuron, project architect Stefan Marbach and CADG, which was led by chief architect Li Xinggang. It's a combination of the crackle glazed pottery that is local to Beijing, and the heavily veined Chinese scholar stones. This inspiration shows just how passionate the Chinese are with their history and culture. And while not being a bird's nest, Li Xinggang said it's still a compliment as eating bird's nest is something for special occasions.

For the Water Cube, Chinese partners felt a square was more symbolic to Chinese culture and its relationship to the Bird's Nest stadium while the Sydney-based PTW Architects came up with the idea of covering the cube' with bubbles, symbolizing water. Contextually, the Cube symbolizes Earth, while the circle (represented by the elliptic stadium) represents heaven, a common motif in ancient Chinese art. Using the Weaire–Phelan geometry, the Water Cube's exterior cladding is made of 4, 000 ETFE bubbles. The ETFE cladding, supplied and installed by the firm Vector Foiltec, allows more light and heat penetration than traditional glass, resulting in a 30% decrease in energy costs. The venue was also designed to capture and recycle 80% of the water falling on the roof or lost from the pools.

[dutchbuildings]

Excellent video! Something that could also be considered is that modern architects focus on "originality" because they are simply incapable of producing anything beautiful and grand. To me it seems much easier to create something unique than to create something beautiful.

[DrOktobermensch]

Buildings that are liked by people are preserved and find new uses. Unwanted ones get abandoned. Form that only ever follows function leads to obsolescence quicker than if buildings were designed with intention of delivering desirable environment.

[KittyXCross]

Brilliant analysis. Excellent channel!

[Game_Hero]

Love your videos as a subscriber because they are considerate and don't dehumanize those you're criticizing, showing your views are not some reactionnary dogmatism but a well-thought inclusive philosophy. Would really love one on when modern architecture or building materials DO work and especially why, since you mention it sometimes but I'd really like you going deeper into it.

[are]

There's a highrise tower thats now one of the tallest buildings in my town and my jaw dropped the first time I saw it in the horizon when it was built, had to check if it was real with how weird and asymmetrical it was

[MelvinLim]

great video. I share your perspective, which is why I've been studying more about classical architecture and trying to get more hands on in construction.

[duncanweller]

There is a desperate need for certain people to be, or at least believe they are, our intellectual masters. They need to intellectual signal their superiority to the rest of us and to claim allegiance to their like-minded group. Contemporary art and architecture quickly and easily act as devices to divide people. The democratic value we hold dear in politics does not exist in our current art world. Consciously or unconsciously, the rich and a self-proclaimed intellectual class want to create class divisions so they can feel superior. And an easy way to signal their status is to be allies with contemporary art, even though the work itself doesn't perform any of the functions that art has performed for thousands of years. This is why the technique of inversion is used so often by contemporary artists and architects. It's the fastest way to appear modern and allows the artist and architect to claim they have done something original. Artists who have no talent can become great artists if they support this new intellectual class-making idea. This is happening in literature as well with poetry and novels. The public can't stand them, but the contemporary books win all kinds of awards. A new class is developing that include people who are rich and poor, sharing their hatred of traditional and popular art. Maybe they could be called the Signallers or Fake Intellectual Class or... ???. To use the term art or artist in regards to this type of thinking is wrong. It's a new ideology. Someone came up with the term, Luxury Ideology. I think that is apropos.

[bryanhaycock]

Often times, originality is just rebelliousness disguised as a virtue.

[saranbhatia]

I am a Architect Urban Designer and always believe in doing something which no one has done before and that keeps me going. Creativity has no limits. We must know what is in the box to come out with out of box creation. Having said this I fully agree to the fact that we must keep the context in mind which is for the larger good and in the best interest of humanity and world at large.