Session 8: Formgiving—Giving Form to the Future

Bjarke Ingels
Founding Partner
Bjarke Ingels Group, New York City

Architects and city-makers today find themselves designing for a future that is on track to be drastically different in the next half-century. There is clearly an appetite for “sustainability” in all its dimensions, and we still want buildings that soar, that speak to us, that inspire. The great human migration to cities, particularly in the developed world, is on a collision course with climate change. The forms we are creating now must embrace this paradox, harnessing technology that will make structures and cities timeless, and buildings that are robust and yet adaptable, with the permanence of landscapes and the dynamism of intelligent machines.

What we design today gives form to the future, and what we understand today as our limitations are in fact the driving forces of design. We will design buildings that look “different” because they will perform differently, and because we have no choice. By necessity, our thinking will be more multidimensional, more conscious, and our cities will reflect that thinking.