Bjarke Ingels Makes the Case for Hedonistic Sustainability | Anne Calls Ingels a Smart Sensuality Architect

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Young starchitect Bjarke Ingels talks manifestation, midwifery and shamanism while riding down the Venice canals in this short by Kelly Loudenberg. Known for his impressive architectural endeavors like a state-of-the-art waste-to-energy power plant in Copenhagen that will be outfitted with an outdoor ski slope for use during Nordic winters, and the 8 House apartment complex just outside the Danish capital that allows residents to bike all the way up to their top floor apartments, Ingels is a vocal advocate for “hedonistic sustainability” and was recently profiled in The New Yorker. “Find a job you love and you won’t have to work another day in your life again,” advises the young creative. “If you let your desire guide you, if you take decisions with your heart and with a smile on your face, they are probably wiser decisions in the long run.” In Venice as a contributor to the Danish pavilion exploring future visions of Greenland, Ingels together with his firm BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) proposed Air + Port, a mixed-use air and sea hub on the island of Angisunnguaq. Now based in New York, Ingels is currently working on his first American project, a residential building in Hell’s Kitchen called W57 that will occupy an entire block and add a distinct, sloped pyramid-shaped silhouette to the Manhattan skyline. Here the dynamic Dane considers alternate career paths, architectural envy, and kittens.

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Anne Enke has studied the intersection of Cultural Creatives, with their emphasis on protecting the environment and championing progressive values in a 21st century world, and Moderns, who remain the prevailing — although declining — values majority worldwide.

Many of the tenets of the Cultural Creatives represent a rejection of Modern values, a distinctly American approach in which the best man wins and the concept of accumulation of everything signals outwardly that one has achieved success in life.

Anne’s focus on the Smart Sensuality woman targets the Cultural Creative person (65% women) who embraces the values but also appreciates luxury, style and sensuality. Cultural Creative values rarely — if ever — mention sensuality. And for Moderns, sensuality is highly superficial and defined by fast cars, sexy lingerie and edgy lifestyle innuendos.

Anne believes that a keen awareness of sensuality in self and in nature will likely trigger an embrace of the core values of the Cultural Creative mindset.

Reading more about maverick architect Bjarke Ingels’ concept of Hedonistic Sustainability sounds like Anne’s vision of Smart Sensuality. Both are hybrid concepts that acknowledge the prevalence of Modern values but commit themselves to creating a sustainable life path in concert with the Cultural Creatives — many of whom reject consumption in almost every form.

Sustainability should not be about painful deprivation, says Bjarke Ingels in this TED talk. Instead, uplifting design principles can reduce CO2 while improving social cohesion.

Read on Values | An Overview of Traditionals, Cultural Creatives and Moderns