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[director] Is this going to be
a slapstick comedy? Is it an action film?
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You know, let's have fun with it.
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-Yeah.
-We can do anything.
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Oh yeah, nice.
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So what do you think your movie should be?
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All right, it should be like
the documentary version of Inception.
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[Bjarke] The whole premise
of Inception is that, in real life,
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you can't really realize the dreams
because you have so many constraints,
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but whereas in the dream world,
they could do all these kinds of things.
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And when architecture is at its best,
that's exactly what you're doing,
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you're coming up with
something that is pure fiction.
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Then after all the hard work,
all the permits,
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all the budgeting
and all the construction,
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it now becomes concrete reality.
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[Martinussen] When Bjarke came around,
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Danish architecture was somehow sleeping.
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We had our heydays back
in the '50s, the '60s, the '70s.
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We became world-famous compared to
how small we are, actually.
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At the time Bjarke came around,
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people didn't expect
anything really to happen.
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And I think you could argue
that he really made everybody wake up.
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[dramatic music playing]
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What he was proposing had such a scale
and such revolutionary qualities
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that the Danes got scared.
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[news reporter 1] Bjarke Ingels
is having his moment.
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[news reporter 2] At just 40 years old,
he has established himself
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as one of the world's most inventive
and sought-after architects.
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[news reporter 3]
His designs can be provocative.
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[commentator] He's transforming
the shape of New York as we know it.
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[dramatic music continues]
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[Bjarke] There's no doubt that
in architecture there's this catch-22.
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Nobody will entrust you
to build a building
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until you've already built a building.
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This is the Maritime Youth House
in Copenhagen.
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It's...
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I guess it's our first building.
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I celebrated my 30th birthday
in that space.
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It was just completed.
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Our practice, Bjarke Ingels Group,
or in short BIG,
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started 15 or 16 years ago.
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Our rise has sort of coincided with
the rise of the environmental movement.
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So we came up with this idea
of Hedonistic Sustainability.
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What if sustainability could be part of
actually increasing your quality of life?
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So I think in this case, it's a
beautiful site, but the site was polluted,
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because they had been painting
the underside of boats here.
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A lot of the money in the budget
was reserved for digging up the topsoil...
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and moving it somewhere else.
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So we thought, what if we covered
the entire ground with a wooden deck?
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Then we can leave the soil as it is.
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We put up this sheet.
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If you want more program over here,
we'll just lift the deck here.
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If you want to park some boats here,
we store the boats underneath the...
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So I think it had
this sense of possibility.
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These rolling hills next to the sea,
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it also somehow inspires
movement and playfulness.
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We won the competition
for the Maritime Youth House.
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We found a lot of ways
to solve the problems
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in a completely unproblematic way.
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Even though it's a very small building,
with a small budget,
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I think it had an impact,
and it won a handful of awards.
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And I think it showed
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that even something that is essentially
like a hut for boy scouts,
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which is typically more like
a barrack building,
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like sort of off the shelf,
almost like a trailer,
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that's what it normally is,
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and with the same resources you could get
something that was completely different.
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I think that definitely opened people's
way of thinking about architecture,
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what a building could be
and what it could do.
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[director] So what happened this week?
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[Bjarke] Me and my partner here,
at the New York office, Thomas,
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went to London to Kensington Gardens,
next to the Serpentine Lake.
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For the last 15 years,
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the Serpentine Gallery--
they have been making a pavilion,
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the Serpentine Pavilion.
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So, in the middle of Hyde Park
over the summer,
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from June to end of October.
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The Serpentine Gallery
is almost like an icon
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for miniature architectural manifestos.
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It's always commissioned to an architect
that has never built in England before.
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And today, two thirds of the people
that design these pavilions...
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are Pritzker Prize-winning architects.
They're really at the top of their game.
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For a comedian, it's like performing
at Saturday Night Live or...
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It's a stage where the history
of the people that have performed there
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makes it an honor in itself.
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And we met with
the co-directors of the Serpentine
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and they started the meeting
by telling us that the good news was
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that we would be designing
this year's Serpentine Pavilion.
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I guess that was Tuesday
and today is Friday.
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Without having any sort of design in mind,
imagine this sort of logic
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where you have some kind of undulation,
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so it almost like looks
like a marble curtain,
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and that's what gives it stability.
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Almost like a James Turrell.
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That you're inside this weird translucent,
undulating slice of marble
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and then you're looking up through...
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I think with the dome...
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I mean, it creates that one experience
of being inside,
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and it's probably a beautiful optic
from the outside,
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but that's only that one use.
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You're doing an entire building
within six months.
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Normally a project that goes fast
takes six years,
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so we're going to try to see
how many ideas we can crank out.
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I mean, there was something interesting
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about like making a wall
that morphs to become a pavilion.
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You know, it could be a way
of making a wall
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that creates a cave,
and an auditorium, right?
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[Thomas] Yeah.
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It's more like a magical manipulation
of a conventional element...
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[Thomas] Mm-hmm.
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that then becomes space.
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Cool?
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[in Danish] Let's do it!
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I'm Elisabet Ingels.
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And I'm Knud Bundgaard Jensen.
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And this is Fidel. He's a Bichon Havanese.
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And it's Bjarke
who had given him the name.
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-He's from Cuba.
-Cuba.
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We couldn't call him Cuba,
because there's a Cuba down the street.
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Another dog.
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Yeah another dog, and so it's Fidel.
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[Knud] He was drawing very much.
It was his great interest.
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He was considering making comics
until 18, 19 years.
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[director] What did you think
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when he told you he was
gonna study architecture?
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-Actually--
-It's a family project.
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-Yes--
-[director] So explain.
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We told Bjarke,
"You can later try making comics,
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you can later get a job
at an advertising bureau,
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but I think that you should
study architecture."
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[Bjarke] I went to Architecture school
in Barcelona.
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I wanted to use some of the first years
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where you get some basic education
in drawing to become a better cartoonist.
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You end up in the school,
you want to figure this thing out.
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So I went through this sort of
intellectual, serial-monogamy,
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falling in love with one architect.
then the next, and next...
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And it completely warped my idea
of what architecture could be.
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00:10:03,061 --> 00:10:06,648
And that was definitely the year where
I became the person I am today.
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Getting out of Copenhagen, living in
another city, speaking another language.
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And finally, dropping out of school,
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00:10:14,739 --> 00:10:18,118
starting my own company in Barcelona
with some friends.
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00:10:18,743 --> 00:10:22,705
It was also clear that when I returned
to Copenhagen a year later,
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00:10:22,789 --> 00:10:25,166
with sort of a Spanish suntan,
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I was a completely different person
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00:10:28,086 --> 00:10:33,550
and could somehow do things
and be credible making statements
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that would have been unimaginable
the year before.
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00:10:38,972 --> 00:10:42,433
[Bjarke on video] The qualities of
the spaces and the indoor climate
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doesn't come from the machine room,
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but from the qualities
integrated into the architecture.
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00:10:52,735 --> 00:10:55,238
Rather than architecture
without architects,
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it's sort of engineering without engines,
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or Functionalism 2.0.
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00:11:03,872 --> 00:11:06,374
We started our company
without any clients.
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00:11:07,083 --> 00:11:11,296
But after a very long and winding road,
we finally ended up building a building.
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The VM House.
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00:11:16,175 --> 00:11:19,137
My name is Per Høpfner. I am a developer.
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I meet Bjarke, first time in 2001.
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He said, "We are a new company,
architect company,
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we are so fucking good,
and we are very creative,
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and we are so bright,
and we can build very, very cheap."
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"Okay, how cheap?"
"Oh, you can't imagine."
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Immediately, I like him.
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[upbeat music playing]
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[Høpfner] And at that time,
there was nothing here in this area.
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And if you should attract people,
it should be very cheap,
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and there could be something special.
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[Bjarke] We designed
these buildings for pioneers.
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We got permission
to make the apartments 30% deeper,
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00:12:04,057 --> 00:12:07,477
and we made sure that each apartment
had a double-height space.
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00:12:11,522 --> 00:12:16,569
For every three floors,
there was only one central corridor,
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00:12:17,612 --> 00:12:21,741
so that, instead of having a corridor
at every level that you had to pay for,
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we boiled it down to every third level,
so we could get great efficiencies.
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The beautiful thing is that at this point,
we hadn't built as much as a dog house.
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[Høpfner]
And the day we started to sell here,
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00:12:41,928 --> 00:12:46,099
we have sold 110 flats for one Sunday.
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[Bjarke] It created a lot of noise.
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[Høpfner] And I can tell you one thing.
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A lot of his colleagues,
they don't like him.
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00:13:01,239 --> 00:13:06,411
And they don't like him because
they've been so successful abroad.
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00:13:06,828 --> 00:13:10,957
It's not usual for a Danish
architect company to make money.
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00:13:13,543 --> 00:13:17,213
[Bjarke] We were definitely seen as being
alien in a sort of Danish context.
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00:13:18,631 --> 00:13:24,595
And it is a culture where difference,
or disagreement is almost embarrassing.
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00:13:28,182 --> 00:13:29,267
How's it going?
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00:13:29,350 --> 00:13:31,686
-[woman] Hello, happy New Year!
-[Bjarke] Happy New Year!
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00:13:31,769 --> 00:13:34,689
You never left the office?
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[all laugh]
186
00:13:40,278 --> 00:13:41,112
Yeah.
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00:13:42,196 --> 00:13:43,823
[speaking Danish]
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[Bjarke] Because the time schedule
is so compressed
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00:13:46,576 --> 00:13:48,202
for the Serpentine Pavilion,
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00:13:48,286 --> 00:13:50,204
we have to make decisions absurdly fast.
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00:13:51,831 --> 00:13:55,293
We have been keeping
a series of ideas alive.
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For a while we had three,
then we boiled it down to two.
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00:14:01,132 --> 00:14:03,926
And I think we are looking
at this idea of a wall
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00:14:04,010 --> 00:14:07,263
that is made out of
fiberglass bricks or blocks.
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00:14:07,889 --> 00:14:11,225
And then you're almost pulling it apart,
like a zipper,
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00:14:11,809 --> 00:14:14,937
so that it becomes undulating landscapes
on the exterior,
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00:14:15,021 --> 00:14:16,397
like a valley and a hillside.
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00:14:16,481 --> 00:14:21,277
And then on the inside, it creates
this crevasse, or canyon, or cave.
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00:14:23,071 --> 00:14:24,280
So try to place this...
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00:14:28,242 --> 00:14:31,245
-[colleague 1] This one is lower.
-[colleague 2] That one should fit, yeah.
201
00:14:31,788 --> 00:14:32,955
That's kind of nice.
202
00:14:34,499 --> 00:14:37,502
[Bjarke] There's no doubt that the wall
looks very good, right?
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00:14:37,585 --> 00:14:38,753
[colleagues] Yeah.
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00:14:38,836 --> 00:14:41,714
[Bjarke] And it feels very comfortable.
205
00:14:41,798 --> 00:14:44,342
It's the kind of shit we do.
206
00:14:44,425 --> 00:14:48,054
And I think it's also
the one we have developed the furthest.
207
00:14:48,137 --> 00:14:50,765
There's a couple different ways
we can put it together.
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00:14:52,225 --> 00:14:55,937
I have a feeling that we could do this
and it would be a great success.
209
00:14:57,271 --> 00:14:58,189
Yeah.
210
00:14:58,272 --> 00:15:00,858
There's almost nothing
that wouldn't be cool about it.
211
00:15:01,609 --> 00:15:02,527
Maybe we should just do it.
212
00:15:03,403 --> 00:15:04,695
[all laugh]
213
00:15:10,618 --> 00:15:12,829
[Bjarke] The way you realize
your wildest dreams
214
00:15:12,912 --> 00:15:14,372
is actually one step at a time.
215
00:15:15,456 --> 00:15:17,250
[fast-paced music]
216
00:15:19,210 --> 00:15:22,713
The master plan of this whole neighborhood
217
00:15:22,797 --> 00:15:27,135
was basically saying to build
a stack of apartments
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00:15:27,218 --> 00:15:30,096
and then a big box of parking behind.
219
00:15:34,517 --> 00:15:38,604
So we got this idea:
What if the parking fills the entire site?
220
00:15:38,688 --> 00:15:41,858
And then instead of having
a vertical stack of homes,
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00:15:41,941 --> 00:15:44,819
they become houses with gardens,
222
00:15:44,902 --> 00:15:49,824
like a giant staircase covering
a big sort of mountain of parking.
223
00:15:51,701 --> 00:15:55,872
What we see here
is all the sun-facing gardens,
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00:15:56,914 --> 00:15:59,333
where each home has a garden
225
00:15:59,417 --> 00:16:02,211
that is roughly the same size
as the apartment itself.
226
00:16:02,712 --> 00:16:05,840
And then they sit on
this cave full of cars.
227
00:16:09,302 --> 00:16:11,137
The underside actually becomes
228
00:16:11,220 --> 00:16:14,724
the front door of the homes
of people arriving
229
00:16:14,807 --> 00:16:17,977
so we made the underside
very, very colorful.
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00:16:22,940 --> 00:16:24,775
Whenever we design homes,
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00:16:26,110 --> 00:16:29,906
I'm also thinking about myself:
What would I think would be amazing?
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00:16:31,741 --> 00:16:35,077
And I think in this case,
it's almost like realizing a dream
233
00:16:35,161 --> 00:16:38,456
that an apartment block doesn't have to
look like a big, boxy slab.
234
00:16:38,539 --> 00:16:43,586
It could be like
this sort of man-made mountain.
235
00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:50,551
You don't have to choose
between building a parking structure
236
00:16:50,635 --> 00:16:51,886
or an apartment building.
237
00:16:51,969 --> 00:16:54,388
You don't have to choose
between a house with a garden
238
00:16:54,472 --> 00:16:55,806
or having a penthouse view.
239
00:16:55,890 --> 00:16:57,725
You can actually have both.
240
00:16:57,808 --> 00:17:02,438
And once you force these sort of seemingly
mutually exclusive concepts together,
241
00:17:02,522 --> 00:17:07,360
you actually get a new hybrid
that somehow ends up looking different
242
00:17:07,443 --> 00:17:09,111
because it performs differently.
243
00:17:16,410 --> 00:17:19,497
I think The Mountain is
a quite good example of pragmatic utopia
244
00:17:19,580 --> 00:17:23,042
in the sense that it's done
within one city block,
245
00:17:24,710 --> 00:17:28,965
so it becomes a very pragmatic realization
of something utopian
246
00:17:29,048 --> 00:17:30,716
but, like, one block at a time.
247
00:17:35,846 --> 00:17:38,140
When I think
just that The Mountain is here,
248
00:17:38,224 --> 00:17:41,352
it means that there is another way,
there is another possibility.
249
00:17:41,435 --> 00:17:44,397
And therefore
it makes the utopia more possible.
250
00:17:47,608 --> 00:17:50,194
And that's what we mean with Yes Is More.
251
00:17:52,738 --> 00:17:56,033
At that point,
I'd never really written it down,
252
00:17:56,117 --> 00:18:00,037
so it existed in the form of lectures,
verbal tradition.
253
00:18:00,121 --> 00:18:01,581
[inaudible dialogue]
254
00:18:01,664 --> 00:18:04,625
Yes Is More is presented
in the form of a comic book.
255
00:18:06,877 --> 00:18:10,047
It's not like you have the text first,
and then you get the pictures.
256
00:18:10,131 --> 00:18:14,594
You have the things intertwined
so it becomes more conversational.
257
00:18:15,469 --> 00:18:17,179
So then of course, in retrospect,
258
00:18:17,263 --> 00:18:18,389
it feels quite logical,
259
00:18:18,472 --> 00:18:20,850
because I wanted
to become a graphic novelist
260
00:18:20,933 --> 00:18:24,312
and I kind of deviated
from that trajectory at some point,
261
00:18:24,395 --> 00:18:25,730
it's kind of a return to home.
262
00:18:28,149 --> 00:18:33,779
[Martinussen] The book very rapidly
gave him the position as a rising star.
263
00:18:33,863 --> 00:18:37,283
He was... Suddenly, he was there.
And quite massive.
264
00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:42,038
Which changed
the culture of young architects.
265
00:18:46,042 --> 00:18:51,130
Bjarke took up the idea of, I think,
asking the Danes:
266
00:18:52,214 --> 00:18:54,508
what is it actually that we want to do
267
00:18:54,592 --> 00:18:58,304
from having had
this spectacular tradition?
268
00:18:59,764 --> 00:19:01,682
How can we be revolutionary,
269
00:19:01,766 --> 00:19:05,645
but in such a manner that you would not
forget your tradition?
270
00:19:06,479 --> 00:19:09,649
So for instance, the building
that we are standing in right now
271
00:19:09,732 --> 00:19:12,360
is actually a building which is,
in itself, a merger.
272
00:19:15,780 --> 00:19:17,281
[Bjarke] The 8 House.
273
00:19:18,157 --> 00:19:19,533
[digital music plays]
274
00:19:21,744 --> 00:19:24,914
500 homes, shops and offices
and kindergartens.
275
00:19:25,706 --> 00:19:28,042
Classic apartments and more town houses.
276
00:19:28,584 --> 00:19:32,630
And we've actually created
a giant mountain path
277
00:19:33,214 --> 00:19:35,049
with an ADA-accessible slope.
278
00:19:35,841 --> 00:19:38,594
So it sort of becomes like
a three-dimensional community.
279
00:19:40,596 --> 00:19:44,600
I like big ideas and the BIG Group
when it makes a big building,
280
00:19:44,684 --> 00:19:46,018
that's just for me.
281
00:19:46,102 --> 00:19:46,936
[laughs]
282
00:19:51,816 --> 00:19:55,152
We feel like we are living in a village.
283
00:19:55,236 --> 00:20:01,033
We have the beautiful rooms in common
where we make parties and eat together,
284
00:20:01,117 --> 00:20:02,785
and a path that you can walk.
285
00:20:03,953 --> 00:20:07,248
The children out here,
they really enjoy it,
286
00:20:07,331 --> 00:20:10,000
and I can see it from our balcony.
287
00:20:10,084 --> 00:20:11,752
It's just beautiful to see.
288
00:20:15,673 --> 00:20:18,801
[Bjarke] In the big picture,
architecture is the art and science
289
00:20:18,884 --> 00:20:21,595
of creating the framework of our lives.
290
00:20:21,679 --> 00:20:25,433
And the buildings that we built,
they either open possibilities
291
00:20:25,516 --> 00:20:29,145
or they hinder encounters or connections.
292
00:20:32,356 --> 00:20:35,818
With the 8 House, it really has become
a three-dimensional community
293
00:20:35,901 --> 00:20:38,487
and you can see it
in the people living here.
294
00:20:38,571 --> 00:20:41,782
There are so many initiatives,
a lot of the people know each other.
295
00:20:43,159 --> 00:20:44,785
[in French] Gabrielle? How's it going?
296
00:20:44,869 --> 00:20:46,370
[laughs]
297
00:20:47,246 --> 00:20:48,581
[in French] Is that beautiful Hélène?
298
00:20:50,124 --> 00:20:51,333
[Gabrielle] Good to see you!
299
00:20:51,417 --> 00:20:52,918
[both laugh]
300
00:20:53,544 --> 00:20:59,091
Actually the funny thing is Gabrielle
and I and her husband were doing...
301
00:20:59,175 --> 00:21:01,260
I think you were both
students at the time.
302
00:21:01,343 --> 00:21:02,178
-Yeah.
-Or--
303
00:21:02,261 --> 00:21:03,763
-Interns, yes.
-Interns.
304
00:21:03,846 --> 00:21:07,224
So we were working on
our first book and exhibition,
305
00:21:07,308 --> 00:21:11,437
so we were doing sort of
24-hour work days--
306
00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:15,483
-Yeah, Yes Is More!
-for a month and a half.
307
00:21:15,566 --> 00:21:21,030
So we ended up resulting in this
amazing comic book and exhibition,
308
00:21:21,113 --> 00:21:23,199
but also I think
that was actually the time
309
00:21:23,282 --> 00:21:26,452
when we suddenly noticed that
they were hanging out more and more,
310
00:21:26,535 --> 00:21:28,078
even after the deadline was over.
311
00:21:28,162 --> 00:21:29,079
Exactly.
312
00:21:29,914 --> 00:21:35,419
Yeah, so Hélène is a little bit part
of BIG as well, yeah.
313
00:21:35,503 --> 00:21:36,962
For sure.
314
00:21:37,713 --> 00:21:41,133
And one of the smallest BIGsters. Okay.
315
00:21:46,555 --> 00:21:49,725
[Rice] Bjarke started off doing
sort of affordable housing.
316
00:21:50,851 --> 00:21:55,981
And he was so young, by the standards
of a world-renowned architect,
317
00:21:56,065 --> 00:22:01,237
that he had to go from being
a scrappy, young architect
318
00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:04,698
to a large-scale, almost corporate firm.
319
00:22:05,574 --> 00:22:08,244
And he's had to ramp that up
very, very quickly.
320
00:22:09,495 --> 00:22:12,623
[Bjarke] Some of the criticisms have been
that our buildings are too cheap,
321
00:22:12,706 --> 00:22:15,417
but that's because, honestly,
they have been cheap buildings.
322
00:22:17,753 --> 00:22:20,297
But somehow we manage to
turn that into architecture
323
00:22:20,381 --> 00:22:24,385
that actually points in new directions,
opens up new possibilities,
324
00:22:24,468 --> 00:22:27,137
but in a field where
there is almost zero innovation.
325
00:22:30,307 --> 00:22:33,143
The Maritime Museum,
is our first museum.
326
00:22:34,395 --> 00:22:38,524
That has found much more universal praise
simply because it's a museum
327
00:22:38,607 --> 00:22:43,028
and therefore it came with the budgets
where you can do a little bit more.
328
00:22:45,614 --> 00:22:47,491
[Rice] He wants to do everything.
329
00:22:47,575 --> 00:22:50,119
He wants to build 1,000-foot skyscrapers,
330
00:22:50,202 --> 00:22:52,955
I think he wants to build,
you know, museums,
331
00:22:53,038 --> 00:22:55,207
I think he wants to build
football stadiums.
332
00:22:56,292 --> 00:22:59,503
The issue is he doesn't feel
that he needs to make a choice.
333
00:23:00,421 --> 00:23:02,590
[church bell rings]
334
00:23:05,676 --> 00:23:07,511
[piano music playing]
335
00:23:08,596 --> 00:23:10,347
[Høpfner] Danes hate big scales.
336
00:23:12,850 --> 00:23:15,019
But Bjarke brought in the big scale.
337
00:23:17,271 --> 00:23:21,900
And they were very skeptic
and, I would say, quite hateful.
338
00:23:26,238 --> 00:23:31,452
[Knud] There were one or two old
professors at the School of Architecture
339
00:23:33,454 --> 00:23:36,415
that were very skeptical and critical.
340
00:23:38,083 --> 00:23:43,631
It is easy to understand
if you consider how young he was.
341
00:23:47,926 --> 00:23:49,553
[Høpfner] He never follows the rules.
342
00:23:49,637 --> 00:23:56,268
And a lot of my fellow developers said,
"Per, how can you build with this guy?"
343
00:24:01,065 --> 00:24:02,941
[Bjarke] Whenever we talk
about architecture,
344
00:24:03,025 --> 00:24:05,235
and whenever people have
opinions about architecture,
345
00:24:05,319 --> 00:24:08,280
the most typical argument is:
346
00:24:08,364 --> 00:24:10,949
something is bad
because it doesn't fit in.
347
00:24:11,033 --> 00:24:12,576
[piano music continues]
348
00:24:15,663 --> 00:24:17,915
And maybe in Copenhagen,
if you would look out,
349
00:24:17,998 --> 00:24:21,001
you would think that it's red brick
and red tiles.
350
00:24:21,710 --> 00:24:24,588
Six stories, end of story, pitched roof.
351
00:24:26,215 --> 00:24:28,008
But when you think about the things
352
00:24:28,092 --> 00:24:30,219
that people really associate
with Copenhagen,
353
00:24:30,302 --> 00:24:33,722
that the Copenhageners think
are unique to their city,
354
00:24:33,806 --> 00:24:36,475
they always think about
those historical spires.
355
00:24:38,435 --> 00:24:42,481
If everybody followed the rules,
Copenhagen wouldn't look like Copenhagen.
356
00:24:45,651 --> 00:24:49,363
And I think it's going to be interesting
to see, like how...
357
00:24:50,823 --> 00:24:53,492
what's going to happen
with Danish architecture,
358
00:24:53,575 --> 00:24:56,495
but, of course, we also kind of migrated
to America.
359
00:24:57,579 --> 00:24:59,498
[upbeat music playing]
360
00:25:08,507 --> 00:25:11,802
The city is an experiment and Manhattan
is the perfect example of that.
361
00:25:14,263 --> 00:25:16,765
It's about accommodating diversity.
362
00:25:19,685 --> 00:25:24,064
And after five years at BIG,
we were in a pretty good spot,
363
00:25:24,148 --> 00:25:27,568
but New York felt like
it could be a real adventure.
364
00:25:31,530 --> 00:25:33,115
[Knud] It was a great opportunity.
365
00:25:34,199 --> 00:25:37,369
He needed more space
366
00:25:37,453 --> 00:25:40,247
because he wanted
to make big architecture.
367
00:25:45,252 --> 00:25:47,379
[Bjarke] Things that evolved
in one context
368
00:25:47,463 --> 00:25:51,675
suddenly find their true potential
when they move into another context.
369
00:25:53,135 --> 00:25:54,678
To begin with such a big canvas
370
00:25:54,762 --> 00:25:58,682
like a city block
on the waterfront of Manhattan,
371
00:25:59,558 --> 00:26:04,188
this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,
we cannot mess it up.
372
00:26:13,113 --> 00:26:15,574
The Courtscraper is this hybrid
373
00:26:15,657 --> 00:26:18,452
of an American skyscraper
and a Copenhagen courtyard.
374
00:26:20,370 --> 00:26:23,582
[Martinussen] When you get into
that league, everything changes.
375
00:26:23,665 --> 00:26:27,961
New York is the city of the world,
so it can't get more wild.
376
00:26:34,176 --> 00:26:36,595
[Bjarke] There was
a certain energy and pioneering
377
00:26:36,678 --> 00:26:40,599
and maybe I just felt like
feeling that energy again.
378
00:26:49,900 --> 00:26:54,404
The Royal Parks are our landlords
and this is their beautiful park
379
00:26:54,488 --> 00:26:59,117
and they stipulate that the architecture
380
00:26:59,201 --> 00:27:02,120
cannot come
within three meters of the tree.
381
00:27:02,204 --> 00:27:05,249
Now that of course
is not a problem in principle,
382
00:27:05,332 --> 00:27:06,834
but it is a problem in practice.
383
00:27:06,917 --> 00:27:09,503
So the question is,
is this three meters?
384
00:27:09,586 --> 00:27:14,174
This is like, one, two, three.
In my mind, we can nudge it.
385
00:27:16,844 --> 00:27:20,264
-I think we can nudge it a meter over.
-You think a whole meter?
386
00:27:20,347 --> 00:27:21,473
Yeah.
387
00:27:21,557 --> 00:27:22,975
So you need another meter?
388
00:27:23,058 --> 00:27:24,143
I think if we just--
389
00:27:24,226 --> 00:27:26,770
And then we don't take it
a meter away from the fence?
390
00:27:26,854 --> 00:27:29,940
Take it a meter away from the fence
and move it closer to the signature line.
391
00:27:30,858 --> 00:27:33,735
But the other thing
that I am seriously curious about
392
00:27:33,819 --> 00:27:35,529
is actually when you're standing here
393
00:27:35,612 --> 00:27:40,075
and you imagine that you would
basically take the two yellow outlines
394
00:27:40,159 --> 00:27:42,327
and literally flip them,
395
00:27:42,411 --> 00:27:44,913
and I think we simply turn the other way.
396
00:27:44,997 --> 00:27:46,915
-And then we move it--
-So it comes out...
397
00:27:46,999 --> 00:27:48,500
It grazes the path
398
00:27:48,917 --> 00:27:51,795
and then the entire hill is gonna be
in the sun, which is also nice.
399
00:27:51,879 --> 00:27:54,965
-Perfect, lovely.
-That could be nice, it's so exciting.
400
00:28:07,060 --> 00:28:11,315
[Bjarke] The Serpentine, right now,
is massively under construction.
401
00:28:13,901 --> 00:28:16,695
Fiberline, the company
that makes the boxes,
402
00:28:16,778 --> 00:28:21,533
is plowing ahead and is shipping
the first shipment to go to London.
403
00:28:28,373 --> 00:28:31,376
Obviously we don't have
any wiggle room from the beginning.
404
00:28:31,460 --> 00:28:34,546
So we're now finding ways to catch up.
405
00:28:39,009 --> 00:28:42,471
The beauty of it
is you can take a single material,
406
00:28:42,554 --> 00:28:44,473
a single technique, a single idea,
407
00:28:44,556 --> 00:28:47,976
and you can make very clear statements,
408
00:28:48,060 --> 00:28:52,522
undiluted by those thousands
of constraints and compromises
409
00:28:52,606 --> 00:28:55,234
and negotiations, which take so long.
410
00:28:58,570 --> 00:29:02,991
Over the last 15 years,
we've completed 12 or 13 buildings.
411
00:29:05,786 --> 00:29:08,914
But right now,
we have 17 construction sites.
412
00:29:12,834 --> 00:29:17,256
Right where this new green promenade
touches downtown,
413
00:29:17,339 --> 00:29:19,132
it's going to create a new urban oasis,
414
00:29:19,216 --> 00:29:21,551
which is going to become
our new neighborhood.
415
00:29:21,635 --> 00:29:23,679
[inspirational music playing]
416
00:29:34,606 --> 00:29:36,650
In our work, Yes Is More.
417
00:29:38,277 --> 00:29:41,488
We try to come up with this
inclusive approach to architecture,
418
00:29:41,571 --> 00:29:43,991
of getting everybody's input
to the extreme,
419
00:29:44,491 --> 00:29:47,286
where suddenly it becomes
the driving force.
420
00:29:49,037 --> 00:29:50,289
We're not gonna stop
421
00:29:50,372 --> 00:29:53,667
until we have incorporated
every single concern, no matter how small.
422
00:29:53,750 --> 00:29:55,877
[inspirational music continues]
423
00:29:56,962 --> 00:29:59,214
This obsession
about making everybody happy
424
00:29:59,298 --> 00:30:03,051
becomes a recipe for making
something that is really extraordinary,
425
00:30:03,135 --> 00:30:06,305
because it has to perform
in so many different ways.
426
00:30:11,351 --> 00:30:15,355
These buildings become like
interesting scales in your own life.
427
00:30:16,148 --> 00:30:17,274
You have to ask yourself:
428
00:30:17,357 --> 00:30:20,319
is this going to be worth
the next seven years of my life?
429
00:30:20,402 --> 00:30:26,950
And if you're not realizing a dream,
then seven years is a really long time.
430
00:30:28,118 --> 00:30:30,829
[man in Danish] Some things are missing.
That's one thing.
431
00:30:30,912 --> 00:30:33,040
There are things
that aren't placed right, either.
432
00:30:34,082 --> 00:30:35,834
[Bjarke in Danish]
How wrongly are they placed?
433
00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:41,048
[man]
It touches, so that there isn't room...
434
00:30:41,131 --> 00:30:42,924
-[Bjarke] Oh, funny.
-Look.
435
00:30:44,718 --> 00:30:47,804
[Rice in English] Is he doing
too many projects at once?
436
00:30:47,888 --> 00:30:49,556
Is he spread too thin?
437
00:30:50,432 --> 00:30:53,810
If you're the architect who says yes
to everything, including every commission,
438
00:30:53,894 --> 00:30:55,228
do you, at some point,
439
00:30:55,312 --> 00:30:58,315
have to start making compromises
in your vision?
440
00:30:58,398 --> 00:31:00,108
Do you start repeating yourself?
441
00:31:03,195 --> 00:31:06,156
[podcast host 1] Should we take a look
at what some people think of Bjarke?
442
00:31:06,239 --> 00:31:07,282
[podcast host 2] Let's hear it.
443
00:31:07,949 --> 00:31:10,118
[podcast host 1] "BIG's projects
all repeat similar traits:
444
00:31:10,202 --> 00:31:13,497
stacked, banal glass volumes
with roof gardens,
445
00:31:13,580 --> 00:31:15,791
cheaply made for developer satisfaction."
446
00:31:15,874 --> 00:31:17,250
Another comment is:
447
00:31:17,334 --> 00:31:21,630
"BIG sucks. My nine-year-old
does more interesting shit in Minecraft."
448
00:31:23,632 --> 00:31:25,675
[Rice] The issue is he can
sort of freely take
449
00:31:25,759 --> 00:31:28,178
from all sorts of aesthetic traditions
450
00:31:28,261 --> 00:31:31,473
and create things that are
aesthetic promiscuity.
451
00:31:32,265 --> 00:31:34,267
In that he can, to put it crassly,
452
00:31:34,351 --> 00:31:39,106
market in a way that's
elegant, innovative and fun.
453
00:31:43,944 --> 00:31:46,154
[Bjarke] If you go beyond indifferent,
454
00:31:46,238 --> 00:31:49,366
you will awaken a response
in both extremes, right?
455
00:31:54,955 --> 00:31:56,623
Especially in the age of the internet.
456
00:31:57,916 --> 00:32:03,296
If you read the comments on blogs
as if they are valid criticisms,
457
00:32:03,380 --> 00:32:05,048
then you're going to have a rough time.
458
00:32:07,634 --> 00:32:09,094
I really grew a thick skin.
459
00:32:13,265 --> 00:32:15,100
When you're doing something like this,
460
00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:17,853
even though it's carefully crafted,
461
00:32:17,936 --> 00:32:21,189
and premeditated and discussed
and designed and tested,
462
00:32:22,149 --> 00:32:25,360
when you see it,
it has to feel effortless.
463
00:32:26,570 --> 00:32:28,822
-[man in Danish] This is the bar.
-That's the bar?
464
00:32:28,905 --> 00:32:30,282
[man] So these gratings
are going in afterwards.
465
00:32:30,365 --> 00:32:31,867
[Bjarke] The bar up there, right?
466
00:32:33,452 --> 00:32:35,036
It will be quite cool with the gratings.
467
00:32:35,537 --> 00:32:36,371
[laughs]
468
00:32:36,455 --> 00:32:38,498
[Bjarke in English]
All the things that end up
469
00:32:38,582 --> 00:32:40,375
becoming the values
that somehow define you
470
00:32:40,459 --> 00:32:42,586
are all the things you take for granted,
right?
471
00:32:46,089 --> 00:32:49,551
I grew up in a tiny house
with a giant garden.
472
00:32:53,180 --> 00:32:55,557
It's not my self-image
to be an environmentalist
473
00:32:55,640 --> 00:32:58,685
and it's not my self-image
to be a social activist.
474
00:32:58,768 --> 00:33:01,104
But you can't see the forest
for all the trees.
475
00:33:04,900 --> 00:33:05,984
This is due west.
476
00:33:06,067 --> 00:33:12,949
So the sun actually sets, and that means
that the last 30 minutes before it's gone,
477
00:33:13,033 --> 00:33:14,034
or let's say an hour,
478
00:33:14,117 --> 00:33:17,412
you have two shadows
on the walls in the back
479
00:33:17,496 --> 00:33:22,667
because the sun is there above the trees,
and it's also right there below the wheat.
480
00:33:23,168 --> 00:33:25,754
And both suns throw shadows,
481
00:33:25,837 --> 00:33:28,965
so you have this amazing moment
where the sky has two suns.
482
00:33:29,049 --> 00:33:32,511
Or at least the view has two suns,
which is quite nice.
483
00:33:34,095 --> 00:33:38,517
And then actually another funny thing,
in the winter, the water freezes.
484
00:33:39,017 --> 00:33:43,855
And suddenly the lake,
which was normally the end of the garden,
485
00:33:43,939 --> 00:33:45,899
became this public square
486
00:33:45,982 --> 00:33:49,194
where every single kid,
touching on the lake from all sides,
487
00:33:49,277 --> 00:33:50,278
would come and ice skate.
488
00:33:51,404 --> 00:33:56,326
So just like this interesting idea
that maybe just the seasonality of things,
489
00:33:56,409 --> 00:34:00,664
or that suddenly something
that was a barrier became a meeting point.
490
00:34:04,834 --> 00:34:08,463
What changes over time
is that naïveté fades away,
491
00:34:08,838 --> 00:34:12,050
but it's replaced by another kind
of confidence
492
00:34:12,133 --> 00:34:15,679
that will make you better
at seizing the moment
493
00:34:16,555 --> 00:34:18,265
and grasping what's important.
494
00:34:20,225 --> 00:34:21,977
Okay, let's-- let's sit down.
495
00:34:22,060 --> 00:34:23,562
[director] Doc, anything else?
496
00:34:25,021 --> 00:34:27,190
My mom has made, like, 500 meatballs.
497
00:34:27,274 --> 00:34:28,441
[laughs]
498
00:34:31,736 --> 00:34:32,862
-[knocks]
-[dog barks]
499
00:34:32,946 --> 00:34:35,699
[Knud in Danish]
Do we have microphones on?
500
00:34:35,782 --> 00:34:38,660
[Bjarke in Danish] Yes, but I don't think
they will use them.
501
00:34:38,743 --> 00:34:41,371
[Knud]
Can't you ask him to shut up?
502
00:34:41,454 --> 00:34:42,330
[all laugh]
503
00:34:42,414 --> 00:34:46,042
[Bjarke] Oh, Fidel.
Can you shut the fuck up, dear Fidel?
504
00:34:53,550 --> 00:34:56,720
[Bjarke in English] There's a sense
it's hard to make it in your own village,
505
00:34:56,803 --> 00:34:59,431
but if you go to the big city
and make it there,
506
00:34:59,514 --> 00:35:02,225
then, "Ah, it's one of us. He did it."
507
00:35:05,020 --> 00:35:09,566
I think we also changed
people's mindset of what's possible,
508
00:35:10,066 --> 00:35:15,280
so I think Copenhageners
got used to more crazy ideas,
509
00:35:15,363 --> 00:35:17,073
so when we actually presented
510
00:35:17,157 --> 00:35:21,119
the idea of putting a giant ski slope
on the roof of a power plant,
511
00:35:21,202 --> 00:35:23,330
I think it was in an environment
512
00:35:23,413 --> 00:35:27,000
that we had already influenced
a little bit over the last decade,
513
00:35:27,083 --> 00:35:32,631
so that it was receptive
to that kind of thinking.
514
00:35:37,093 --> 00:35:40,347
We felt that we could propose
something seemingly insane
515
00:35:40,430 --> 00:35:42,098
and actually get away with it.
516
00:35:43,516 --> 00:35:44,351
Copenhill.
517
00:35:45,977 --> 00:35:49,439
A waste-to-energy power plant that has
a giant public park on the roof
518
00:35:49,522 --> 00:35:50,565
where you can ski.
519
00:35:53,568 --> 00:35:56,321
It's the tallest and biggest building
in Copenhagen.
520
00:35:58,198 --> 00:36:00,367
It's, again, this idea
of environmental thinking,
521
00:36:00,450 --> 00:36:03,370
that if you have a power plant
that is so clean
522
00:36:03,453 --> 00:36:05,955
that you only have a little bit of CO2
523
00:36:06,039 --> 00:36:09,167
and a little bit of steam coming out
of the chimney, but no toxins,
524
00:36:10,001 --> 00:36:12,545
you literally have clean mountain air.
525
00:36:15,548 --> 00:36:18,968
And instead of having to be
far away from it, you can enjoy it.
526
00:36:20,762 --> 00:36:24,224
[in Danish] It's quite amazing
that this will be the children's hill.
527
00:36:24,307 --> 00:36:26,017
It begins all the way up there!
528
00:36:26,101 --> 00:36:28,228
[builder 1 in Danish] It's high up,
even though it's the children's hill.
529
00:36:28,311 --> 00:36:29,604
[builder 2 in Danish] Yeah, that's right.
530
00:36:29,896 --> 00:36:31,481
It's too cool!
531
00:36:36,069 --> 00:36:37,737
[Bjarke in English] Of course you can say
532
00:36:37,821 --> 00:36:40,782
you put an Alpine ski slope
on the roof of a building.
533
00:36:40,865 --> 00:36:42,742
It's a building, it's not a mountain.
534
00:36:44,911 --> 00:36:50,458
I think, to my relief, it feels
much more like being on a mountainside
535
00:36:50,542 --> 00:36:51,793
than being on a roof.
536
00:36:54,087 --> 00:36:58,174
This is around 130 feet
and the top is 300.
537
00:37:07,976 --> 00:37:10,895
The elevator arrives there
so that when you come out,
538
00:37:10,979 --> 00:37:13,523
you have almost like a flat area here.
539
00:37:14,232 --> 00:37:16,901
And then you sort of...
540
00:37:18,319 --> 00:37:19,612
Then you just take off.
541
00:37:24,993 --> 00:37:29,831
I think a project like this can be
sort of a beacon in showing the world...
542
00:37:31,207 --> 00:37:34,544
clean tech presents
almost utopian possibilities.
543
00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:40,091
And I think the Steam Ring
is a powerful symbol of exactly that.
544
00:37:44,763 --> 00:37:47,557
The chimney, instead of being
a symbol of pollution,
545
00:37:47,640 --> 00:37:49,392
it becomes a celebration.
546
00:37:51,811 --> 00:37:55,190
We've worked with Realities United
to design the chimney
547
00:37:55,273 --> 00:37:57,275
so that it puffs rings of steam.
548
00:37:59,194 --> 00:38:02,113
And it's also like somehow, like,
when you start this kind of journey,
549
00:38:02,197 --> 00:38:04,741
it's, like, you know
what's important for you...
550
00:38:06,993 --> 00:38:10,121
but you don't necessarily know
where you're going.
551
00:38:10,872 --> 00:38:14,209
But you know that,
if you make the decision
552
00:38:14,292 --> 00:38:16,920
based on these things
that you know matter to you,
553
00:38:17,420 --> 00:38:21,049
wherever you're gonna end up,
it's where you need to go.
554
00:38:23,301 --> 00:38:26,721
Of course, I couldn't have predicted this
when we did this,
555
00:38:27,847 --> 00:38:30,433
but they're definitely
sort of a similar spirit.
556
00:38:32,894 --> 00:38:35,104
[director] Where's the Maritime
Youth House from here?
557
00:38:35,188 --> 00:38:36,439
It's basically like...
558
00:38:38,066 --> 00:38:40,360
You can see it
where the trees are, exactly.
559
00:38:41,444 --> 00:38:42,821
And then you can see...
560
00:38:44,739 --> 00:38:49,577
the Mountain and the VM are right there.
561
00:38:50,119 --> 00:38:51,663
[director] What about the chapel?
562
00:38:52,330 --> 00:38:55,208
That's right there.
563
00:38:59,629 --> 00:39:02,882
This is probably
the most spectacular toilet experience
564
00:39:02,966 --> 00:39:04,717
you can get in Copenhagen at this point.
565
00:39:04,801 --> 00:39:06,761
[laughs]
566
00:39:12,475 --> 00:39:16,020
You can take things
that are considered infrastructure:
567
00:39:16,104 --> 00:39:18,314
highways, bridges, power plants...
568
00:39:18,898 --> 00:39:21,484
and crossbreed it,
569
00:39:21,568 --> 00:39:25,488
so that it actually has positive
social and environmental side effects,
570
00:39:26,406 --> 00:39:27,532
like the power plant.
571
00:39:29,659 --> 00:39:33,955
Those combinations are very powerful
because it's taking a very strong force,
572
00:39:34,038 --> 00:39:36,958
which is necessity, utility,
573
00:39:38,543 --> 00:39:42,463
and giving it poetry and possibility.
574
00:39:45,383 --> 00:39:48,845
There's something there
that can be taken much further.
575
00:40:10,909 --> 00:40:12,952
-[photographers chattering]
-[cameras clicking]
576
00:40:22,253 --> 00:40:26,090
[Peyton-Jones] For Bjarke to have
achieved this incredible prominence
577
00:40:26,507 --> 00:40:27,759
at 41 years old
578
00:40:27,842 --> 00:40:29,802
is nothing short of extraordinary.
579
00:40:30,595 --> 00:40:34,182
Because in order to do that,
an architect has to have built.
580
00:40:37,310 --> 00:40:43,149
[Bjarke] There is this kick of seeing
a completely novel thing come to life.
581
00:40:43,232 --> 00:40:44,525
[clapping]
582
00:40:44,609 --> 00:40:45,735
Thank you.
583
00:40:46,361 --> 00:40:49,572
It is such a tremendous honor to play
in the middle of a royal park,
584
00:40:49,656 --> 00:40:52,367
and especially since
it's the Serpentine Pavilion...
585
00:40:53,701 --> 00:40:55,870
[director] Are you surprised
by how far your son's gone?
586
00:40:55,954 --> 00:40:57,330
And how quickly he's done it?
587
00:40:58,206 --> 00:41:03,127
Yes. Frankly speaking,
we had not expected that.
588
00:41:03,211 --> 00:41:04,128
[laughs]
589
00:41:04,212 --> 00:41:06,422
It's... special.
590
00:41:09,300 --> 00:41:12,011
We live in a time
where we need to pull all disciplines
591
00:41:12,095 --> 00:41:14,681
to address the big questions
of the 21st century.
592
00:41:14,764 --> 00:41:16,391
And Bjarke never really shied away
593
00:41:16,474 --> 00:41:19,936
from really addressing topics
which are found beyond architecture.
594
00:41:22,271 --> 00:41:27,026
[Bjarke] I am longing to discover things
that I hadn't even thought about.
595
00:41:28,611 --> 00:41:32,865
There's this real genuine moment
of immaculate inception,
596
00:41:32,949 --> 00:41:34,492
where you're sort of...
597
00:41:35,368 --> 00:41:37,996
"This is brilliant.
I never thought about this before.
598
00:41:38,079 --> 00:41:39,998
This would be amazing. It's beautiful."
599
00:41:40,581 --> 00:41:41,791
And two seconds after,
600
00:41:41,874 --> 00:41:45,586
you can't think of the world without
thinking of this being a part of it.
601
00:41:45,670 --> 00:41:47,797
[piano music playing]
602
00:41:50,383 --> 00:41:54,721
From Tribeca, it will appear like
a vertical village of singular buildings,
603
00:41:54,804 --> 00:41:57,473
each tailored
to their individual activities,
604
00:41:57,557 --> 00:42:01,185
stacked on top of each other,
forming parks and plazas in the sky.
605
00:42:01,269 --> 00:42:02,645
[piano music continues]
606
00:42:32,216 --> 00:42:37,346
[Bjarke] I like this idea
about architecture being a way
607
00:42:37,430 --> 00:42:43,102
to manifest your dreams
into the real world.
608
00:42:44,896 --> 00:42:47,607
It's almost like a shaman
with brick and mortar.
609
00:42:49,609 --> 00:42:53,404
That is the true power
that we as humans have.
610
00:42:53,488 --> 00:42:57,408
We actually have such a massive
impact on our environment.
611
00:42:57,492 --> 00:42:59,243
So now that we have this power,
612
00:42:59,327 --> 00:43:05,666
we can either use it to create a nightmare
or we can use it to realize our dreams.
613
00:43:06,751 --> 00:43:09,212
And, of course,
the latter is much more interesting.
614
00:43:13,216 --> 00:43:14,675
[director] Do you dream of buildings?
615
00:43:15,551 --> 00:43:18,971
I never dream about my work, actually,
interestingly enough.
616
00:43:19,055 --> 00:43:21,140
[director] There goes the end
of the documentary.
617
00:43:21,224 --> 00:43:22,350
[Bjarke laughs]
618
00:43:24,185 --> 00:43:25,061
[director] Cut!
619
00:43:25,144 --> 00:43:26,062
[upbeat music playing]