After months of planning, organizing and anticipation, Barcelona’s first ever TEDx took place on the night of November 18th, in one of the city’s most prestigious design schools, Elisava. Situated along the Rambla, the heart of the city’s Gothic Quarter, the hall was tucked away inside Elisava’s new building, alongside the school’s beautiful courtyard where we held a fun break with delicious canapés and drinks for everyone.

As the organizer of the event (arkinet), I can only be tremendously grateful to Elisava for their support and expertise, to the wonderful speakers that made the event so special, and to everyone who came to partake in such an exciting and enriching experience. And of course, to TED for creating the TEDx program. I personally felt that the night flew by (despite going slightly overtime!!), and I hope it felt the same for all of you who attended.

This TEDx was especially focused on architecture–a fitting subject for one of the world’s most visited architectural hotspots–and explored a broad range of approaches towards sustainability through the building practice.

Biomimicry Institute founder Janine Benyus’ TEDtalk tied in to our first live speaker Dennis Dollens‘ talk on Biodigital architecture, on how developing software can help architecture model structures, surfaces and components of buildings so that they behave and grow as intelligently as plants do. After that, the architect/filmmaker and playwright duo ¿What is Architecture? transported us to the world of children, revealing the importance of engaging kids to learn about our built environment in order that future generations take better care of it than we have. After that we had a great one hour break filled with food, drinks, conversations, connections, laughs and rencounters out in the Elisava’s beautiful courtyard. The second half of the program was very much focused on socially-oriented and humanitarian architecture, starting of with the founder of Architecture for Humanity, Cameron Sinclair’s TEDtalk, in which he talked about his wish to creat open-source architecture and extend his work through AFH chapters around the world. One of those chapters, the AFH Spain chapter, was recently founded here in Barcelona, the president of which was our next live speaker, Giovanna Carnevali. After a short intro from Cameron which he recorded all the way from (a shady hotel?) in Doha (thank you Cameron!), Giovanna spoke of the importance of humanity in everything we do, the shift towards a more people-focused–rather than jewel-focused, architectural practice, and the immense opportunities out there for architects and all other professionals, to solve problems by working together. Finally, the program ended with another live talk from architect Sergio Palleroni, who zoomed out to remind us of the great imabalances that we as humans have generated on our planet, and how through local, community-generated actions and most importantly, education and the implication of students in real projects, have the power to slowly but surely mend the fabric of socities, preserve indigenous communities and improve the living standards of every human being.

Here’s a selection of pictures, but you can find more on our flickr photostream as we keep adding to the set. Now its time to work on the videos! We’ll keep you updated and please leave us any comments or questions you may have.

THANK YOU!

Ana Cañizares, Dennis Dollens, Ignasi Perez Arnal

Ignasi Perez Arnal

Audience

Dennis Dollens

¿What is Architecture? Jorge Raedó and Eva Serrats

Courtyard

Break

Giovanna Carnevali | Architecture for Humanity Spain

Sergio Palleroni

Thanks to @ethel_baraona for the great pics!

More on flickr

What is TEDx? Take a sneak peek. Watch the video!

arkinet is organizing TEDxArkitects in Barcelona!!

Wednesday | November 18, 2009 | Elisava, BCN | 6-9.30 pm

In the same way that arkinet’s goal is to share architecture and connect architects, the purpose of TEDxArkitects is to bring the architecture community together in our own city to share powerful ideas and experiences that can bring a positive change to the world.

The Theme

Building Ideas for a Better World

Beyond the bounds of glossy design and the architectural star system, there exists an ambitious and socially-driven movement led by hundreds of architects and designers who are paving the way towards a more equitable, brighter and greener future for all.

With each passing moment, the growing urgency of issues like climate change and poverty demands solutions that rise to the challenge. The architecture of excess we have witnessed in the past decades is fastly becoming the architecture of conscience. It is no longer a choice; it is a matter of survival. Architects everywhere are working to build a better future, right now.

What does sustainability in architecture mean? What solutions can architecture offer, and who else besides architects should be involved in the process? Our invited speakers explore these questions with approaches that range from high-tech biomimicry, to recycling, to social intervention, each revealing a particular angle from which to address the act of building and its responsibility towards the preservation of our planet and those living on it.

We will be posting more info as details of the program unfold.

For more information about TED and TEDx, hit the “about” section up top.