How Buildings Learn – The 6-part Video Series

If you’ve ever watched Gary Hustwit’s Helveticaor Objectified, and can relate to the uber-geek sensibility of how design affects the way people live, you should also watch Stewart Brand’s series on “How Buildings Learn”, which incidentally is also a a book of the same name. I’ve even embedded all six episodes below for your convenience.

This says so much more than some overly-polished, high-profile, consultant friendly, overpriced user experience books I know.

Here’s a quote from the author, writer, and presenter himself, Stewart Brand. Simply amazing:

This six-part, three-hour, BBC TV series aired in 1997. I presented and co-wrote the series; it was directed by James Muncie, with music by Brian Eno. The series was based on my 1994 book, HOW BUILDINGS LEARN: What Happens After They’re Built. The book is still selling well and is used as a text in some college courses. Most of the 27 reviews on Amazon treat it as a book about system and software design, which tells me that architects are not as alert as computer people. But I knew that; that’s part of why I wrote the book. Anybody is welcome to use anything from this series in any way they like. Please don’t bug me with requests for permission. Hack away. Do credit the BBC, who put considerable time and talent into the project. Historic note: this was one of the first television productions made entirely in digital— shot digital, edited digital. The project wound up with not enough money, so digital was the workaround. The camera was so small that we seldom had to ask permission to shoot; everybody thought we were tourists. No film or sound crew. Everything technical on site was done by editors, writers, directors. That’s why the sound is a little sketchy, but there’s also some direct perception in the filming that is unusual.

Part 1: Flow

Part 2: The Low Road

Part 3: Built for Change

Part 4: Unreal Estate

Part 5: The Romance of Maintenance

Part 6: Shearing Layers