ORIGINAL: TED
When TED Fellow Xavier Vilalta was commissioned to create a multistory shopping mall in Addis Ababa, he panicked. Other centers represented everything he hated about contemporary architecture: wasteful, glass towers requiring tons of energy whose design had absolutely nothing to do with Africa. In this charming talk, Vilalta shows how he champions an alternative approach: to harness nature, reference design tradition and create beautiful, modern, iconic buildings fit for a community.
Barcelona-based architect Xavier Vilalta works in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. He adopts and updates traditional design principles to construct modern buildings that truly suit their environment.
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| Xavier Vilalta: Architect and urbanist. Photo: TED |
Why you should listen to him:
Named young architect of the year at the Leaf Awards in 2008, Xavier Vilalta is the founder of XVA, a Barcelona-based design team operating in the fields of architecture, urbanism and research.
The TED Fellow and his team have worked on more than 60 projects, including homes, schools, cultural institutions and commercial buildings everywhere from Africa to the Middle East. Declaring that "we love nature and we care about people," the team's design philosophy is to connect the old and the new, co-opting and updating the best thinking of past traditions to create modern buildings that are both deeply respectful of the past and searingly contemporary.
Recent projects include the Lideta Mercato shopping mall in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and a concept for a series of urban gardens in Qatar.
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