'Cities are becoming smooth'

The subject of Davidson's talk is hardly new, but instead of taking the position that traditional design should be favored over glass architecture (a common position in anti-glass screeds), he finds relief in projects that "rediscover the joys of texture without backing away from modernity." These include Stefano Boeri's Bosco Verticale, Snøhetta's SFMOMA Expansion, and Wang Shu's Ningbo History Museum. Twelve minutes may not be long enough to change the course of contemporary architecture, but these and other projects are evidence that architects and their clients are not content in settling for simple variations of all-glass facades.