when I was on the way to the airport
in Bangkok I was fascinated by a massive
billboard next to the highway it was an
airplane ad an airplane flying over a
collection of global architectural icons
the usual suspects the Statue of Liberty
BIGBANG Eiffel Tower colloseum the
Leaning Tower of Pisa the pyramids that
harsh Mahal the Great Wall of China
Sydney Opera House it was beautiful
something like this not exactly the ad
it was beautiful
uplifting but then I thought there was
something hidden a hidden message in the
ad it was a profound story about our
lives about our modern lives about the
life of modern nomads that we are in a
frictionless borderless world where we
can travel enormous distances in a
matter of hours and days we are global
citizens in ways our grandfathers and
grandmothers were not in a nutshell the
ad was an homage to globalization or a
flat world to cite Thomas Friedman’s
yet I kept thinking about the ad and
complicated not that innocent world that
we inhabit as we become global citizens
as we overcome all barriers and
divisions there has been a paradoxical
opposite reaction the fear of losing
identity in a world where all lines are
in a continual flux where the world
appears homogenized now the question is
what is identity by identity I mean how
we see ourselves in a world of
communities how we define ourselves as a
people how we fortify our position
by certain cultural traits Geographic
attachments social attitudes lifestyles
eating habits and many more we seduced
ourselves to believe that these rather
preordained qualities define us give us
our identity we seek to reinforce these
identities in our daily lives everything
in we do in our daily lives the fear of
sacrificing people sacrificing identity
can provoke people to do all sorts of
things some exclusionary some self
exclusionary some elitist some
separatists some nativist some
nationalists some militant some even
violent considered ongoing us gun
control debate in the US as much as it
is about rights the debate is also a
great deal about identity or rather
about constructing identity in our
anxious world today refugees migrants
the rich the poor black white brown all
people enter into a perpetual cultural
vortex producing all kinds of chemical
reactions and social effects the anxiety
of loss of identity could morph into a
perceived sort of existential threat and
ultimately produce the next generation
of walls and divisions one of the ironic
effects of globalization the global
movement of ideas capital people is the
fear of losing identity induced by an
alleged loss of the original the
authentic the pure the national the
ethnic this fear has provoked
reactionary sentiments repurposed to
restore some form of idealized racial
ethnic national religious purity think
of the proposed Mexico
u.s. wall mega wall rather is it a
physical object an idea a metaphor or a
modern reincarnation of a persistent
human fantasy of isolationism
protectionism across history we can
debate this forever consider Trayvon
Martin’s dead body on the sidewalk of a
gated community at Sanford Florida let’s
not forget in a gated community he was
murdered in a gated community crossing
the wrong gate could spur a fierce
debate about our identity racial
identity and the politics of
self-defense in your own town you may
have seen a gated Golf Club fortified in
its aromatic exclusivity or a high-end
resort meant only for certain economic
classes or a beautifully designed school
where you can send your children because
it’s expensive there are too many
visible invisible walls in our cities in
our societies consider some of the grim
suburbs of Paris they’re called banjos
this some claim that desert values are
dystopia ghettos where many immigrants
North African immigrants and their
French born children live often without
jobs according to recent observers Paris
has become a classic tale of two cities
two antagonistic cities one is French
the other not quite French when they
collide when these two Paris’s collide
we see the tragedies of Charlie Hebdo as
we cross many borders are we not
building more walls we have seen the
collapse of Berlin Wall in 1989 in 2018
more walls are rising in the USA Saudi
Arabia Hungary Israel India and many
other places
some visible some invisible some are
uber visible the social pathology of
identity loss has become a key driver of
policies unfortunately but mostly in
cities the proverbial melting pot of
civilization globalization and
ideologies the fear of identity had
direct or indirect special implications
in our cities producing a range of
architectures of exclusion so what can
we do about it what can we do about our
cities the social hazards of
exclusionary identity is best mitigated
in diverse dynamic and accessible public
places where people of all economic
classes all economic strata come
together to celebrate the idea of
greater social good it is time to
rediscover some old-fashioned faith in
the power of enlightened people centric
design as a bulwark against isolationism
city planners can significantly reduce
the exclusion of people by alleviating
social inequality they must create one
city not fractured into unequal economic
zones and gated privileged communities
the human story is best celebrated in
the spaces of robust public engagement
and culture here
Giavanna in Marrakech Morocco one of the
most fascinated places I have ever
visited where I found people of many
nationalities we must protect and
cherish our public plazas piazzas
tsoukalos malls promenade sand my dance
because they are the best expression of
our democratic values this is where we
learn to become public and civic we must
continue the great humanness tradition
of our public plazas here
the National Mall becomes the site of an
anti genocide platform 1 million bones
the urbanist William white study of
pedestrian behavior in 1960s New York
tells us an interesting story
he concluded that strangers start
imagining themselves as a community when
they have the opportunity to freely
access public places with others which
we can and should celebrate our
differences while we remain engaged with
others irrational fear dehumanizes us it
is not necessary we don’t need that kind
of fear
we need empathy for ourselves and others
most of all we need to be curious about
others we can rejoice our differences
only when we remain curious about others
there is no greater more profound more
enlightening power than empathetic
curiosity imagine yourself in the
spacesuit of nail Neil Armstrong on July
20 1969 the eagle has just landed and
you said that’s one small step for a man
one giant leap for mankind
yes this statement has become an
artifact of American folklore even a bit
cliched but there is still a lesson to
be learned Neil Armstrong offered the
greatest verdict against insularity
and most transcendental an almost
spiritual statement about curiosity as a
driver of human imagination in this case
space exploration to be curious is to be
human and humane thank you [Music]
in Bangkok I was fascinated by a massive
billboard next to the highway it was an
airplane ad an airplane flying over a
collection of global architectural icons
the usual suspects the Statue of Liberty
BIGBANG Eiffel Tower colloseum the
Leaning Tower of Pisa the pyramids that
harsh Mahal the Great Wall of China
Sydney Opera House it was beautiful
something like this not exactly the ad
it was beautiful
uplifting but then I thought there was
something hidden a hidden message in the
ad it was a profound story about our
lives about our modern lives about the
life of modern nomads that we are in a
frictionless borderless world where we
can travel enormous distances in a
matter of hours and days we are global
citizens in ways our grandfathers and
grandmothers were not in a nutshell the
ad was an homage to globalization or a
flat world to cite Thomas Friedman’s
yet I kept thinking about the ad and
complicated not that innocent world that
we inhabit as we become global citizens
as we overcome all barriers and
divisions there has been a paradoxical
opposite reaction the fear of losing
identity in a world where all lines are
in a continual flux where the world
appears homogenized now the question is
what is identity by identity I mean how
we see ourselves in a world of
communities how we define ourselves as a
people how we fortify our position
by certain cultural traits Geographic
attachments social attitudes lifestyles
eating habits and many more we seduced
ourselves to believe that these rather
preordained qualities define us give us
our identity we seek to reinforce these
identities in our daily lives everything
in we do in our daily lives the fear of
sacrificing people sacrificing identity
can provoke people to do all sorts of
things some exclusionary some self
exclusionary some elitist some
separatists some nativist some
nationalists some militant some even
violent considered ongoing us gun
control debate in the US as much as it
is about rights the debate is also a
great deal about identity or rather
about constructing identity in our
anxious world today refugees migrants
the rich the poor black white brown all
people enter into a perpetual cultural
vortex producing all kinds of chemical
reactions and social effects the anxiety
of loss of identity could morph into a
perceived sort of existential threat and
ultimately produce the next generation
of walls and divisions one of the ironic
effects of globalization the global
movement of ideas capital people is the
fear of losing identity induced by an
alleged loss of the original the
authentic the pure the national the
ethnic this fear has provoked
reactionary sentiments repurposed to
restore some form of idealized racial
ethnic national religious purity think
of the proposed Mexico
u.s. wall mega wall rather is it a
physical object an idea a metaphor or a
modern reincarnation of a persistent
human fantasy of isolationism
protectionism across history we can
debate this forever consider Trayvon
Martin’s dead body on the sidewalk of a
gated community at Sanford Florida let’s
not forget in a gated community he was
murdered in a gated community crossing
the wrong gate could spur a fierce
debate about our identity racial
identity and the politics of
self-defense in your own town you may
have seen a gated Golf Club fortified in
its aromatic exclusivity or a high-end
resort meant only for certain economic
classes or a beautifully designed school
where you can send your children because
it’s expensive there are too many
visible invisible walls in our cities in
our societies consider some of the grim
suburbs of Paris they’re called banjos
this some claim that desert values are
dystopia ghettos where many immigrants
North African immigrants and their
French born children live often without
jobs according to recent observers Paris
has become a classic tale of two cities
two antagonistic cities one is French
the other not quite French when they
collide when these two Paris’s collide
we see the tragedies of Charlie Hebdo as
we cross many borders are we not
building more walls we have seen the
collapse of Berlin Wall in 1989 in 2018
more walls are rising in the USA Saudi
Arabia Hungary Israel India and many
other places
some visible some invisible some are
uber visible the social pathology of
identity loss has become a key driver of
policies unfortunately but mostly in
cities the proverbial melting pot of
civilization globalization and
ideologies the fear of identity had
direct or indirect special implications
in our cities producing a range of
architectures of exclusion so what can
we do about it what can we do about our
cities the social hazards of
exclusionary identity is best mitigated
in diverse dynamic and accessible public
places where people of all economic
classes all economic strata come
together to celebrate the idea of
greater social good it is time to
rediscover some old-fashioned faith in
the power of enlightened people centric
design as a bulwark against isolationism
city planners can significantly reduce
the exclusion of people by alleviating
social inequality they must create one
city not fractured into unequal economic
zones and gated privileged communities
the human story is best celebrated in
the spaces of robust public engagement
and culture here
Giavanna in Marrakech Morocco one of the
most fascinated places I have ever
visited where I found people of many
nationalities we must protect and
cherish our public plazas piazzas
tsoukalos malls promenade sand my dance
because they are the best expression of
our democratic values this is where we
learn to become public and civic we must
continue the great humanness tradition
of our public plazas here
the National Mall becomes the site of an
anti genocide platform 1 million bones
the urbanist William white study of
pedestrian behavior in 1960s New York
tells us an interesting story
he concluded that strangers start
imagining themselves as a community when
they have the opportunity to freely
access public places with others which
we can and should celebrate our
differences while we remain engaged with
others irrational fear dehumanizes us it
is not necessary we don’t need that kind
of fear
we need empathy for ourselves and others
most of all we need to be curious about
others we can rejoice our differences
only when we remain curious about others
there is no greater more profound more
enlightening power than empathetic
curiosity imagine yourself in the
spacesuit of nail Neil Armstrong on July
20 1969 the eagle has just landed and
you said that’s one small step for a man
one giant leap for mankind
yes this statement has become an
artifact of American folklore even a bit
cliched but there is still a lesson to
be learned Neil Armstrong offered the
greatest verdict against insularity
and most transcendental an almost
spiritual statement about curiosity as a
driver of human imagination in this case
space exploration to be curious is to be
human and humane thank you [Music]
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