Magnus Larsson: Turning dunes into architecture

[crudhousefull]

Give this technology and teaching to the Africans. White people just talk about this crap. White 'aid' has created the only continent that goes backwards in economic development. Stop raping the continent...get the hell out of there...there isn't enough ethics and morals in your societies to stop white society from using 'aid' to rape any country that it's given to

[insomniacgrace]

Indeed, so informative and comprehensive. Thanks for having this video posted.

[vitopetre]

Does anyone what happend to this project? Is there anyone that is going to try it now?

[maranganjoroge]

Way to go Magnus! Absolutely bold and visionary!

[3877michael]

A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

[Ramsez]

why doesn't he just build it? does he need money or something?

[clearmenser]

Did you notice the $0.47 for Urea?

[boxingbox]

Great Idea love it. How can I get in volved in The USA

[Axbent]

/watch?v=jx59OY_7Lsc&feature=r­elated

[Grundalizer]

1:10 it looks like little star fish on his finger tips

[OnePeopleOneChina]

BRILLIANT! This guy is proposing making concrete caves!

[lassek85]

@OnePeopleOneChina

The major energy investments will most likely be in the desert, so why wouldnt there be a need for housing? Look up Cleanenergy industries and what they are doing with the sterling engine - as far as i know itll beat coal.

Even windpower works in a costeffective manner soon, classic wind has got a turbine weight reduction by 20% which will make it alot cheaper. New Turbines like Aerospiral are also entering the market, making windpower available for cities.

[TheOriginalEntz]

They need to employ permaculture in Africa. In fact they need to employ it all over the world. We are wasting the land by current popular farming methods. They are very poor methods.

[486609]

This is amazing!! This is wonderful! i really want him to succeed, I hope he achieves this!

[afthefragile]

Its always the poor who suffer. Be it population control or climate change. We wanna force the poor to use contraceptives and so stop their society from propagating. We wanna force them to buy "clean" energy while they can barely afford to run a wood burning stove. We make energy more and more expensive and unattainable for them.

While we in the west can turn up the heating, waste more food, drive bigger cars, consuming more resources then buy "carbon credits" while the 3rd world starves.

[afthefragile]

The world easily has enough resources to feed a population of more than 10bn. But this would mean developing regions of the world so that they can lead a sustainable lifestyle. The haves need to contribute to the have nots so that everyone gets an equal share of the resources. This will never happen. $700bn to save banks, nothing to save poor!

Its a world where IMF and World Bank sanctions force the 3rd world to export its produce to the developed world. Sustainable development is only a dream.

[JaredHutcheson1]

In the United States alone, if we didn't consume animal products and instead used the farm land for fruits and vegetables, we would not only be able to complete the diets of the underfed people in this country, but we could feed 800 million more people.

[afthefragile]

Actually population control is a very real thing. And yes you will not hear lobbyists talking about such things because all these talks happen behind closed doors.

There is a very deliberate attempt to let the 3rd world starve and die as it'll reduce the "burden" on the planet. The developed world easily has enough resources to feed every single person on this planet but it still keeps 99% of resources for itself while people in africa die by hundreds every day. The world is a business.

[afthefragile]

That is pretty cool.

But i doubt how strong those structures would be. Like I would be scared of it collapsing sometime onto the people inside.

But I think thats just a minor obstacle.

This guys should go ahead and build a few prototypes and see how it goes. If it works then its something the governments should really invest into. It gives shelter for the people and protects arable land.

Governments can spend $700bn to bail a few of bankers but barely a million/bn to progress the 3rd world!

[optimaloptimusprimus]

i think the IBM ad after the ted talk is quite funny. Seeing how IBM is useing cameras to track people movements & send them a bill in the mail, if they enter the downtown city. IBM is really good at keeping track of people , Just ask the Nazi's and Jews. IBM was the company who helped the Nazi's make punch cards, based on age, weight,height,build. So the Nazi's could work them to death, based on there IBM Cards. IT's really SIck. And i don't support Anything IBM does.

[jessejax]

your a dumb fuck. IBM is an american company and at that did not even exist in the era of Nazi germany. Go back to school you idiot.

[slungbungdungclung]

For your information, IBM was started in 1896 as the Tabulating Machine Company. In 1911, in was incorporated as the Computing Tabulating Recording Corporation. In 1916, it became International Business Machines, from which IBM is derived. It is true that IBM provided the goods and services that partially made the logistics of the Holocaust possible. You could argue that it was unethical for IBM to provide Nazi Germany with those machines, but why am I talking about ethics in a Youtube comment?

[dalesun]

A few BIG questions: is there a sample of this sandstone? He showed working in a lab to create some, but didn't show a sample in his presentation. What is its strength and water permeability compared to concrete? His design suggests the stone is stronger and less permeable. Similar structures are built with concrete, but they typically require steel reinforcement. If concrete is nearly nine times more expensive, this would be a revolutionary alternative to this very popular building material.

[biantai888]

You should look into the matter to see if they exist rather than doubt their existence because you have never heard of them.

Check out "Fatal Misconception: The Struggle to Control World Population" by Matthew Connelly. It was a Financial Times Book of the Year in 2008 and an Economist Book of the Year in Science and Technology.

Google for Frank Furedi's Monday, June 18, 2007 column "Really Bad Ideas" column entitled "This month: Population control."

Even Wikipedia could help you. Good luck.

[biantai888]

I am talking about lobbyists pretending to advocate low population that use population arguments to try to manipulate public opinion against medical research.

You are correct that few reasonable people would support allowing preventable death. So now when you see someone arguing against disease prevention because of "overpopulation", that will be a red flag and you can confront them about it.

But really, isn't allowing preventable death normal in human society?

[biantai888]

There are a number of powerful interests wanting to keep life expectancy low. Pension funds will run completely dry if people live on average an extra few years. Life insurance derivatives are now being traded. People stand to make billions of dollars if people die young. They can wage public relations campaigns to make funding life extension technology politically difficult or undesirable.

[bersaba]

"There are a number of powerful interests"

Sources man sources. You can't make a "claim to authority" and expect to be taken seriously without some hard data.

[luiza2166]

Very interesting but i don't think governments and NGOs want misery to end. If it ends, how are the people involved going to get rich raising money for other people's misery? This is such a great money-making industry.

[ragingbetty1]

desertification is a natural accurence, let it happen, move the people.

[Lazerjo2000]

thats pretty grim don't you think? thats like saying "let the world burn to ash,we have the moon"

[ervin2]

I really hope they go through with this. That looks incredible, and desertification is one of the primary causes of Africa's difficulties.

[lotanerve]

Like it or not, I don't think it can be done without a road or at least a camel path.

[FIGHTFANNERD3]

i love architechure omg great vid

[Meejoe27]

If this is as cheap and effective as he claims then there should be no problems creating a small village somewhere along those desert edges.

If the village was habitable, efficient and practical then the villagers themselves would start to create more and more of them until it naturally spread without a central effort or large investment.

In my opinion a more traditional design approach would help to legitimize this idea.

IMO, use the bacteria for creating bricks, then make a wall with them.

[rangedkid]

Why are we trying to save lives when the core to all of our problems has been over population.

[SobaniForce]

hmmm we should come to terms with overpopulation definately, can't stress that enough how serious that problem is and its why we have a lot of other problems - but we can't just let the unfortunate die. Annoyingly though it can be from a purely logical veiwpoint

[rangedkid]

@SobaniForce Ok, here are your options. You either let the unfortunate die, or you enforce legal consequences for human reproducing. If someone decides to have a child, they must pay a price, or start the process gradually. For example, initially you are allowed to have 2 kids without having to pay a price. As time progresses, reduce it to 1, and I think that would at least get us somewhere. People believe they can just have as many kids as they want, it shouldn't be so.

[Crazylalalalala]

i agree with that too.

just look at china they had the one child policy and now they are booming.

The Earth simply cannot support our way of life. So we either drastically lower our life standards or we reduce our number it is impossible to have both indefenetably.

[SobaniForce]

Hey i'm with you and I've been saying for years that people need to just accept the fact that overpopulation is the cause of a lot of massive problems with the way this sick sad little world works. Thing is, I don't agree you should just kill off the unfortunate ones (which is the same as leaving them to die) in order to lower the population. Education, media cooperation, and legislative INCENTIVISING for families to be small is what i believe in. Also stop with the religious more-children! crap

[afthefragile]

More children is not a religious thing, its an economical thing. More children = more chances of survival. The more children you've got the more contribution of income in your family. In a society where the life expectancy is barely 40yrs, having one kid per family and population control is not the first thing on people's mind.

Its food, shelter, work, water and such things that are more important. Hence merely educating and contraceptives will do nothing. You need a sustainable infrastructure.

[jwfcp]

the sand bacteria thing is interesting, but I dont see how it really connects to the problem of people being so poor that they destroy all the vegetation.

how about some infrastructure? miles of solar panels powering dozens of desalinization plants...

[Crazylalalalala]

the idea is that they would have ownership of the tree so they would want to protect it, i guess, probably better if those trees bared fruit or something but it is a stretch of the imagination.

miles of solar panels would cost billions of dollars which is much more then the nations income even if combined.

[jwfcp]

and on further reflection, giving people a muddy hole in the ground to live out of, even if it is a very clever hole in the ground, is kinda insulting. no idea whether its structurally sound or would even function as he expected it to. the dunes eat villages, I expect the same thing to happen to these piles. maybe instead use the bacteria to make proper slabs of rock and make a series of walls? even better, use concrete.

its a prime solar region, doesnt all need to go up at once either.

[Crazylalalalala]

well in this vid he show that this would cost about 1/9 as much as concrete. The material is a natural cement but he doesnt say anything about its structural properties but one would hope that they took that into consideration (although the design he showed here is pretty much impossible even with concrete, it would likely be a very different design in pracitce)

solar panels last anyware from 5-25 years putting a few at a time isnt gonna add up much. besides their problem is food and water 1st

[jwfcp]

yep, and then he finds that when he lets it loose, the big structures he makes are just as riddled with holes as the small structure is and either the sand goes right through or it collapses.

solar runs desalinization -> clean water -> food

[Crazylalalalala]

solar is very expansive and does not last very long.

Also, the equipment that is needed is not exactly on the shelf and is very very expansive.

again these are for the most part land locked third world countries they cannot afford to porches the equipment in significant quantities and create the needed infrastructure, they would have done so if they could have.

[jwfcp]

fifty years ago most things we take for granted today were mere fantasy, dont tell me its not doable just because it hasnt been done.

who's shelf are they bought off of? give a man a solar panel, it will give him electricity for 5 years, teach a nation to make solar panels and it will thrive.

will they have to take on a huge amount of debt to make it happen? sure, thats what the IMF is there for.

[Crazylalalalala]

he would make SOME electricity for 5 years. Solar panals are not all that effective and are most def not economical (that is why we dont all use them.)

i dont think you understand as to how huge this amount would be. besides even if they did manage to somehow get the money and all the jazz they need they still have the problem of the desert taking their land at high rates, and no solar panel is going to stop that.

[creosotegirl]

I'm all for it. What can I do to help?

[gareth450uk]

An excellent solution.  In modern times things that are massive can be constructed far more rapidly than they ever could. Considering that the creation of this would give you homes and tree based farming I think it would certainly have an economical advantage.

[String425]

Does anyone else see more holes in this idea than in his "architecture?" Aside from the fact that sand would just build up on the desert side until it reached a height large enough for it to be blown over he doesn't even touch on the environmental aspect of a 6000 mile barrier.....or introducing a non-native bacteria. To add, his vision of architecture is not ideal for what will be the leeward slope of a hill.

[whatsoever69]

what about the pyramids of the ancient egypts and nubians.

they were built with a material from different ecosystems as well, and brought to the desert.

they were built 2610 BC, and they are still in existance.

just give his idea a chance.

[String425]

That comparison doesn't even relate to a project of this magnitude. I'm not sure what the pyramids still being in existence have to do with anything. The "desertification" is an important geologic process that has and WILL continue to go on despite an ill conceived barrier. i do not see this doing anything but delaying the proess for a short period of time.

[whatsoever69]

you obviousely deleted your comment I was reffering to.

you were talking about the "holes in his idea"

stop changing the topic.

[String425]

WTF? Look above genius....they're still there. And to the below comment.

[whatsoever69]

ps:

Your comment wasn't displayed.

nevermind.

[whatsoever69]

you have to change your view of architecture as being something persistant/long-lasting.

there will always be "problems" in architecture.

but these are, like he mentioned, not "problems", but opportuninies to show your solution.

[String425]

His current idea of trees on a dunes are not going to stop this geologic process. Simple as that. Goodbye.

[whatsoever69]

of course not. nothing can't stop the time.

but it's about providing people homes, and stoping forced migration,...genius.

[Crazylalalalala]

i like that idea also but it seems to assume that the reason the people migrate is that the sand is taking over their house but the issue is that it also takes their farmland which this solution does not prevent stop. without farmland they wont stay there just to maintain the trees.

i think this would be more effective as a transportation corridor then habitation.

[whatsoever69]

I think you're mistaking architecture with ecology.

[Crazylalalalala]

only an opportunity to someone who lives an ocean away its a "problem" to those who live there and a rather large one.

but a very optimistic way of looking at things which has great value.

[whatsoever69]

exactly

[SilentFartx3]

ya, well they will fall within the next 150 year if open to tourist. or will fall i 500 years if kept closes to tourist.

[giftraum]

and i guess that all those caves will be constantly filled with sand

[String425]

Right, that's the nature of a leeward slope. It's why best and sometimes most dangerous places to ski/snowboard are leeward slopes after high winds.

[BaneOfFreeSpeech]

and animals would try to inhabit them. But like he said its just a rough model. Imagine this crazy thing called a DOOR on the entrance of the cave. Then imagine solar panels that are able to provide lighting inside. This is all possible. Probable? Not very likely.

[giftraum]

wow, a door, i never figured out that concept will fit! :) by the way, i agree with you on that probable-possible thing

[imsubha]

Its a great thought... tho it would be a bit difficult to implement. And those who talk abt population being the root cause of all this ... think again. The countries w/ more population are greener than the ones w/ less population. First stop using plastic, second replace paper towels w/ water, use public transport. These little things will save 50 yrs of our planet.

[humaner]

I wonder if an accountant stuck in an endless round of useless audits is happier than an African man living in a thatched hut.

[xxhasudin]

Thats an interesting point. It leads to the aged old question does money equal happiness?

[honeyxbee18]

brilliant

[9886635574]

Yeah that's what I thought... save the tripe for something else, mister.

[biantai888]

Stop listening to people paid to flood message boards with population control spam.

[piprod01]

I love it when subjects converge like this, biology, geography and geology... All subjects I am taking! :D

[planetdarwin]

1. wear black

2. have an accent

3. talk about architecture

4. get a gig at TED

[roidroid]

...You are now aware of the fact that it is impossible for anyone to speak any language without an accent.

[planetdarwin]

once again.... the core problem is overpopulation: an unstable ratio of people per resources. this will always be the core problem.

As soon as you turn a desert into a garden of Eden, it will fill up with more people and the ratio will once again become unstable. humans can't help but put themselves in a position of overpopulation. we might as well get comfortable with this state of affairs rather than constantly try to fix it.

[OGCAries]

actually as a country ( i say country and not continent because I has no data foar continents) gets richer and richer, they tend to have fewer and fewer offspring on average, with the AVG # approaching 2/couple, which is zero population growth. I believe that the current prediction is that the human Pop. will stabilize at approx 11billion, but I'm too lazy to go look up the papers.

Food for thought.

[DeusMortemEst]

Just had the same thought, and yes, that's true and all good. But there's no chance it will happen because the world's wealth would have to be thoroughly re-distributed in order to make, say, African bussinesses even somewhat competable on the global market. And do you think anyone will be willing to do that? Some would, probably, but to think that the super rich, global corporations etc. would sacrifice a large protion of their wealth and risk the monopoly for philantropy sounds improbable.

[er45nie]

the population growth for 3rd world countries has also been decreasing, the population growth for a third world is now down to around 5-6 per woman compared to 7-8 even though half of which don't even make it to adult hood so they are actually closer to a population growth with 1st worlds only when a country starts moving from a 3rd or 2nd world to a 1st world country do you start to see a explosion in population growth.from increase health but not a decrease in the social structure of reproduct

[DeusMortemEst]

I, too realise that overpopulation is a huge problem, but how do you propose that we go forth to limit the population in third world countries? Genocide? Forced Sterilization? Or cut all aid and allow the immense human suffering to commence?

[planetdarwin]

re: Deus

In 3rd world countries: Education and family planning.

In developed countries: Reduce social security payments to parents who choose to have more than 2 children. Every subsequent child reduces their payments a little more. This approach limits population growth by threatening parents with eventual sanctions which will never harm the child, since social security is collected when the children are in theory grown up and on their own.

Why always jump to genocide and forced sterilization?

[fuunguus]

Education and family planning as someone suggested, is the only way to go. In some industrialized countries population even decreases, all because of family planning. Ordinary families that decide (on their own) to not have more than 2 children. I am sure that in an educated world that faces massive over population, the people would take the necessary action and stop having so many kids, especially if they feel the effect of the over population, as I'm sure they would do.

[adamredwine]

Long live Malthus!

[YoLninYo]

this idea is impractical and shows how out of touch the presenter is with desert life ...

, where will you get so much water to keep the bacteria alive (whose natural habitat is ... MARSHLANDS!!!) in the middle of the frikkin desert?

there is a much easier way of creating these barriers and NO BACTERiA needed! lol!

[AbsalomPitchingfork]

There really isn't, and the bacterea only need to be alive for a very short while.

[nemirc]

Jump to 9:35 there's your answer. If you continuously feed the bacteria it will solidify everything in its path.

[cannoir]

@YoLninYo

Frikkin ? lmao! at your spelling

[thruthem]

The desert has no food or water. A better idea is not to live in it.

[AbsalomPitchingfork]

That's not an option for some people.

[crzdude]

Really cool

[ronkini123]

when the sand is lifted by the wind, won't more sand be naturally blown back in?

[roidroid]

The Roman empire was dependant on slavery.

Do you consider this to be "ethical government"?

[klx134sm]

Good idea when I become ruler I will make the Church my main source of slaves being they are so impressionable already.

I never said America had an ethical government. In fact we haven't had a respectable one for 50 years. Its controlled by the banks who also own the media so anyone who cant see past there nose falls for every word coming out of Brian Williams mouth.

[roidroid]

Can you please re-address your points on

"Ethical Governments", Africa and Rome.

With the added information that Rome was dependant on slaves.

Do you think that Africa should be capturing slaves to help them get ahead?

[klx134sm]

Are you implying ethics has anything to do with government?

Yes I am

[roidroid]

>"are you implying..."

You're the one who brought up "Ethical Governments". Don't you remember?

How strange, klx134sm your original comment seems to have gone missing!

I'll try to paraphrase what i remember it saying:

"Why doesn't Africa elect an Ethical government? It's almost like they don't want one.

2000 years ago Rome was still better than modern Africa is today. Why can't Africa get it's shit together?"

[DrInfidel]

I'm sick and tired of these nature freaks who never fail to find a new way to bring bad news about the Earth and blame it on humans.

Global warming, ozone holes, forests dying, acid rain, air pollution, endangered animals, endangered plants, dirty seas, and now desertification... 4.5 billion years the Earth has been around, and they think we, who have not even engaged in industry for more than 200 years are going to make a difference!!

[roidroid]

is it a scientific Conspiracy?

[OregonCoastGhost]

It's like George Carlin said, we're not really killing the planet, we're killing our species.

[doloppost]

@OregonCoastGhost Actually he also said something about "Really enjoying that" too ;)

[mazdaplz]

this guy said george louie borges, it's actually pronounced horgh-ay louise borg-aes (jorge luis borges)

[LeadPaintSandwich]

lightning is an issue for any rooms you might wanna close off form the elements, if you follow the models... but the closer you can get to perpendicular from the ground (on the outer walls) depends highly on the quality of sandstone these bacteria can produce. perhaps, a model more like a traditional house with windows? not exactly the same but using the same principles. (ex: sandstone eaves)

also, he should sell the stuff to arts and crafts stores with a couple of molds and put money to wall.

[tenisplayer]

this its a extremely good idea, the cheap solution always the better.

[nothersheep]

Are you 12? Your Roman argument is irrelevant. I think you meant 'cease' not 'seize'. And evolution in our species was short circuited the moment we started using medicine. You might better serve the debate criticising the manner in which aid was distributed and if it has ever empowered people to take control of their own destinies.

[klx134sm]

Sheep, I think you meant 'criticizing'.

[nothersheep]

No, I meant 'criticising' (the present participle of 'criticise'). I'm simply spelling it the way people outside the States do. Look it up.

[code933k]

@klx134m Can you please enumerate those ethical governments that "we" have and "they" don't?  Perhaps you missed "domination" as a part of geo-political development in your "evolution" classes?

[ziggan]

One thought. Wouldn't the sand just blow over it? haha

[roidroid]

With the trees - it will create a windbreak. Slowing the movement of all sand.

[defect530]

i want to live in one of those! beautiful structures.

[Jayhawkblue]

me too, they would call me dune messiah

[defect530]

i would be called the dune dude :D

[bluesrunthegame]

Novel, visionary and scientifically backed. This talk is a rare treat.

[adj789]

interesting

talk about eco friendly living

[sidexwalk]

this video's title is a bit misleading.

[9886635574]

Haha.. really? ... and what is it that irks you about Al Gore n Richard Dawkins so much that you think their respective governments bow down to their pompous (?) selves?

[norehct]

'To the people whose labors go beyond ideas into the realm of "real materials" - to the dry land ecologists, wherever they may be, in whatever time they work, this effort at prediction is dedicated in humility and admiration'- Herbert

[ProjectBlueBeam]

George Lucas was right! i wonder if he knew or if it is a coincidence

[BrettH123]

This guy's name is Magnus. That is madd godlike

[Hurze]

excellent indeed.

[Organjic]

The ad at the end is 1984 at its best.

[Organjic]

Turning Africa into Tatooine

[norehct]

Arakis!

[Palaflax]

excellent idea!

[cosy18]

i will like to see a prototype of this on real life

[Conundrummy]

lol someone forgot to rename video

[akatsuki5]

indeed

[PrinceVice]

I think its a good place to start, but it would all come down to the cost.

[tetrica]

@PrinceVice It shouldn't ..

[PrinceVice]

In a perfect world, it wouldn't.

But its always gonna come down to politics, money & greed. there's just too many bad people in the world, and not enough good ones working together.

[spanishforfun]

WOW!!! fantastic TED idea!!! Larsson go and build it!!!

[T3rraBahamut]

they have those kind of tunnels in vietnam already - they are nice to live in im sure

[PlayT0E]

clearly one person cannot be in charge of the project if it is to meet the needs of local people.

Just find out how to grow and distribute the bacteria in the path where the sand needs stopped.

People will figure out what sort of structure they need.

[roidroid]

If this is feasible, there's no reason to limit it just to "helping them Africans".

It could be built anywhere there is sand in any country. And it gives an interesting idea that you could continually "seed" the sand underneath your structure with new structure, to be dug down into later. Like an architectural investment for future generations - always new caves to explore

[liquidminds]

just imagine what this tech could do to spacetravel.

building yourself a house on the moon or mars with a bucket full of bacteria..

[roidroid]

oh good idea

[huhnibuhnii]

Eine großartige Idee insbesondere in der Kombination mit Permakultur.

Vielen Dank.

[BaileysBeads]

This is madness.

[Scratch47]

Madness?....THIS IS TEDTALKS

[h0tie]

FEASEBLE!

[Atoyota]

Not a bad Idea, reminded me of the Book DUNE and the fremen, living a desert existence and getting water from air catchers and condensation.

Seems feasible..

[gadzometer]

Is this how the pyramids were built?

[canadianmaple09]

Or, we could encourage people to live somewhere with a climate and geography that are suitable for human life without radical and complicated human intervention.

[Waranoa]

You're volunteering to take up the refugees?

[canadianmaple09]

I'm all for people getting out of Africa and coming to Canada, so yes.

[sheepwshotguns]

fascinating. i wish i could live like an ant... =(

[organdva]

Ants of the world unite! XD

[jwil2570]

Are we suppose to convince them to do it themselves?

[oscarslin]

His voice is really boring, but the idea is original and maybe it could work.

[IdleBystander1]

Damn, this guy's a regular Liet-Kynes. I hope I'm not the only Dune fan geeking out over this.

[gwailogavin]

unconventional, but very intriguing idea! i wish i had known about this sooner

[Shaunt1]

Amazing Idea, if it will work like he explains go for it! The structures look cool too!

[Phyrexious]

Somehow I don't think this is a realistic plan...

[CIVLCenter]

Fantastic Idea, and have no doubt; it can be done!