Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hugh. Every minute somewhere in Europe, a house is demolished and with it, the memories and sense of community it holds. Architect Olaf Gravert exposes the human and environmental cost of demolition for profit.
highlighting a bold alternative that could address the growing housing crisis and create sustainable, affordable homes to reshape the future of cities.
So on January 10, Paris Hilton shared a video of her house destroyed in the LA fire. Walking through the ruins, heartbroken, she said, what breaks her heart even more is knowing that this isn't just her story. Because so many people have lost everything. And it's not just walls and roofs that the fire demolished. It's the memories and the stories that made those houses homes.
Over one million people liked her post, showing sympathy and support not only for her loss, but for the very idea behind it. Yet, there's something that most of us don't realize, which is that every minute, somewhere in Europe, a house is demolished. Every minute. And it's not by wind, floods or fire, but by human hands.
Chapter 2: Why are homes being demolished during a housing crisis?
And honestly, this is something I don't get, because it's not only the walls and the roofs that we demolish, it's the memories, the communities and the sense of belonging that we demolish too. And all of it at the cost of the people and the planet. So the question is, why do we even demolish buildings?
As an architect who works on renovation, I can tell you it's not because these buildings are broken and it's not because they cannot be renovated or fixed. It's also not because we want to save energy or build better buildings for those who currently live there. In one word, profit. Today, real estate is the most valuable asset in the world.
So a majority of the global money flows into the buying and selling of property.
Chapter 3: What are the human and environmental costs of demolition?
And I ask you, what promises most profit? New buildings, central apartments and trophy offices. In the logic of money, the old can never beat the new. And this fuels a constant cycle of demolition for new construction. Because in the logic of real estate speculators, every building is up for demolition. And this is something you have to understand. No, really.
Every house in which you live that promises more profit is up for demolition. Why? Because to speculators, your house is a commodity. It's a good. And just like an old toaster, you don't fix it, you replace it. So why is demolition so profitable? Well, essentially, it's a question of values. So in our current system, the value of a building is measured only by its price.
So in our real estate system, value and price are the same. So if I ask you, what is the value of a house? What is the value of this building? What would be the answer? Well, in a world in which value and price are the same, the answer shrinks to a few economic factors. It's very simple. It's square meters and land, location and market potential.
So this is the base how real estate speculators calculate. It's the base for the strategy. So they would buy a land, they pay the price for the building, they clear the land, which means they demolish the building, they build anew, so they add the construction costs, and they divide it by the square meters. Essentially, this is what real estate speculation is about.
How much profit you can extract from an existing building and how much money you can make once the old building is gone and the new one is built. It's a shockingly cold calculation that turns the profit of tomorrow into a wrecking ball today. And it's based on a spreadsheet that only counts money. And it never asks what a building holds and who lives there.
But value and price are actually not the same. There is a difference. So the question shouldn't only be, what is the value of a house? But the question should also be, what is the price to your home? What is the price of the memories and the stories? So which price do we give to family bonds, to birthday celebrations, to also the fights with our partners and these moments of forgiveness?
And what price tag do we also put on community, on the neighborhoods that raise us, on the familiar faces in the hallway, on friendship, or on the larger scale, on the freedom of a next generation to live together? And these are the hidden costs of demolition that no one speaks about. The hidden costs that you will never find in a budget or in a spreadsheet.
All of it happening in an era of severe housing crisis, where we all agree, no? Where millions are struggling to find an affordable home, where young people cannot move out of their parents' apartments, where working people are struggling to keep a roof over their head, and where even the middle class cannot afford property any longer.
And beyond these struggles, homelessness is rising in almost every country. But it's not only the people who suffer, the planet suffers too. Because the building sector is the biggest CO2 emitter on Earth, yet no one speaks about it. 38% come from the building industry, compared to roughly 3% for flying, a number that we discuss a lot, for instance.
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Chapter 4: How does profit drive the demolition of buildings?
You create generosity for those who didn't have it before and amazing views. And the numbers behind it are really stunning. Half a day to place the prefabricated element, Two days to cut open the old facade, two days to plug in the new facade and one week to renovate the interior.
So it takes two weeks to improve everybody's life, to cut down the heating bills and to boost local businesses working on renovation. And all of it at a third of the costs of a standard new apartment. So 55,000 euros for the renovation of one apartment compared to 165 for new construction.
And a standard new apartment would never have the winter gardens and it would never have the generosity that they can provide in their work. which is a proof that the most sustainable house is the one already built. And that's also the moment where I invite everybody to imagine that this could happen all over Europe.
This could happen all around the world because it is a real systemic alternative that actually could function anywhere. So now some of you might think, well, that's a nice story, but it won't work for my house because I live in a single-family home, because I own an old apartment in a block, in a city block. And this might be true. This might not be your way.
But I can guarantee you as an architect that there's almost for every building a way to be renovated and transformed. So this can be your story. But, and here is a but, Only if we manage to change the legal system that keeps the old value system in place. We have to understand that the real innovation and real evolution is finding and recognizing the value in the existing.
Because the demolition of buildings is just as outdated as food waste, animal testing or single-use plastics. All things that we as a society already agree on and have an understanding for. And this is why we say we have to create a new system. We have to create a common path and focus on one collective goal, which is to house Europe in the existing.
This is why we started an initiative, a European Citizens Initiative, which is a pan-European project, which has a clear mission, renovate, don't speculate.
Our movement aims to become the largest architectural initiative advocating for new laws to make renovation and transformation the new norm, a social, ecological, but also economic alternative to demolition and new construction, and all with the support of one million citizens across the EU.
And one million is not only the number of supporters we need, it's also the number of likes Paris Hilton got for her post. So I ask everyone, if that many people can show support for one home lost in fire, imagine the impact that we can make together for the millions of homes that are up for demolition right now. Thank you.
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