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TED GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS

Catherine
Lee

TED Global wants to connect those possessing resources
and those who don’t, and wants to encourage a mutual
understanding and social integration. The mission of its
new headquarters facility in Rio de Janeiro is to advocate
for social integration and resource sharing among citi-
zens. TED Global believes that ideas shared among the
young are seeds of hope and positive changes and one way
to accomplish this is to situate themselves near both col-
lege students and the poor kids from the favela.
The program, then, is to create open space to share with
the community while keeping parts of the building more
private for working space. My design concept, inspired
by the Cobogó, a Brazilian brick module invented to deal
with the local climate, is to use layers of porous screens
to flexibly separate public and private areas while max-
imizing ventilation and natural lighting. A communal
space with screens that can be pulled up and down serves
as a buffer between the public space and the work area.
Movable library shelves with embedded desk and bench
furniture showcase TED publications, host volunteer
tutoring sessions, serve as gallery walls, and separate the
public space and working area.

Degrees: National Taiwan University, MBA; University of
California at Berkeley, BBA. catherinecllee@gmail.com

Faculty: Tina Manis and Sean Arrasmith

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