I came across this video last year, while I was doing my dissertation on “Causal Nexus of Globalization in Architecture”. Globalization, in general terms, is the process of international integration arising from the interchange of world views, ideas and other aspects of culture. The process of connecting different parts of the world to one another began 70,000 years ago when Homo sapiens, gifted with an intellect that allowed for adaptation to an alien environment, walked out of Africa. Over time, we’ve created and destroyed many cities, and cities themselves became the epitome of human achievement. Yet now, we are at a time where cities are losing their charm and essence due to unorganized growth and rapid development to meet the ever growing demand.
This Video by “School of Life” is a manifesto of six key principles behind the design of cities which are interestingly described with examples from all around the world and eye catching illustrations. “We’ve grown good at making many things in the modern world – but strangely the art of making cities has been lost” is the premise behind the video and the six principles are:
- Not too Chaotic, Not too Orderly
- Visible Life
- Compactness
- Orientation and Mystery
- Scale
- Making it Local
The video ends by questioning the idea of beauty itself, do we have the right to say what’s beautiful and what’s not beautiful? – “The intellectual confusions around Beauty.”
Hashtag Urbanism 