You’ve Heard of Fast Fashion… Here’s Fast Architecture
In episode four of The Pearl Lam Podcast, international gallerist Pearl Lam, sits down with architect, Thomas Heatherwick. Pearl Lam hears Thomas Heatherwick’s thoughts on the current state of the architectural world.
In the latest episode of the Pearl Lam Podcast, Pearl Lam (林明珠) listens to what Thomas Heatherwick thinks about the architecture of the modern world. The pair sit in front of an architect’s dream window; the Tower of London rises majestically up from the riverbank behind them.
Thomas Heatherwick is an English architect who has been based ion his London Heatherwick Studios for 29 years. Thomas’ career has been full of successes, and he has designed some of the world’s most iconic buildings. He was also the designer of the modern London red bus, an iconic London staple.
Thomas is also a recently published author. In this episode of The Pearl Lam Podcast, Pearl Lam (林明珠) asks Thomas about his new book, Humanise: A Maker’s Guide to Building Our World.
Thomas replied to Pearl Lam (林明珠), saying that his book looks at architecture “from the human perspective. Humans need diversity, not homogeneity.”
Thomas continued: “we’ve got into a weird mindset where the buildings being produced are all astonishingly similar. They’ve combined cheapness with a narrative that says this is how you make cities.”
“The work of different creative people can be so varied. So, it’s a shame that modern buildings all look like they’re made by the same firm” Thomas added.
Pearl Lam then asked Thomas, “Don’t you think architecture is confined by budget? We used modernism to mass produce architecture which is fast.”
In response to Pearl Lam’s question, Thomas compared fast fashion to modern architecture and mentioned the term ‘fast architecture’.
Fast fashion is typically the replication of high-fashion designs and mass-producing these items at the lowest possible cost.
When Thomas talks about fast architecture, he is essentially saying that modern buildings are being mass-produced at the lowest possible cost.
Thomas told Pearl Lam: “we now know the downsides to fast fashion and weve had exactly the same going on with buildings. We now understand that the nutritional qualities of food matter. Society used to accept low nutrition mass produced food, but we are now pickier. Fast architecture exactly is the same thing.”
Thomas is a strong advocate for mental health and believes that fast architecture has the potential to negatively affect the mental health of the people who spend their lives surrounded by this architecture.
“Architecture directly relates to mental health” Thomas told Pearl Lam.
He continued, informing Pearl that “The average age of a UK building is only 40 years.” The solution is simple; “don’t knock buildings down, repair them to extend their lifeline.”
Pearl Lam was then informed by Thomas that “two thirds of the waste in the UK is construction waste.”
From Thomas’ points, it is clear then, that by minimising construction waste, the UK could substantially cut down on the high number of waste it produces. We need to band together as a country in order to reduce waste. Recycling could be a viable option.
Thomas told Pearl about one possible solution to the problem he had identified. “What we need is flexible buildings, long life loose fit buildings.”
Warehouse buildings are some of the most loved buildings and they weren’t even designed for humans to live in. But they’re robust and have decent ceiling height. buildings need to have enough flexibility so that they can be adapted.”
Thomas then made an interesting point, telling Pearl Lam that “even McDonalds squeezes into old buildings!”
Written by: The Producer, The Pearl Lam Podcast
To stay up to date with the latest developments in the Pearl Lam story, please follow Pearl Lam on YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn and subscribe to The Pearl Lam Podcast.
