ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Brandon Clifford - Ancient technology architect
TED Fellow Brandon Clifford mines knowledge from the past to design new futures.

Why you should listen

Brandon Clifford is best known for bringing megalithic sculptures to life to perform tasks. He is the director and cofounder of Matter Design, where his work focuses on advancing architectural research through spectacle and mysticism. He creates new ideas by critically evaluating ancient ways of thinking and experimenting with their value today. This work ranges from an award-winning play structure for kids to a colossal system of construction elements that can be guided into place with ease by mere mortals. He is dedicated to reimagining the role of the architect, and his speculative work continues to provoke new directions for design in the digital era.

Clifford is also an assistant professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His most recent authored work, The Cannibal's Cookbook, demonstrates his dedication to bringing ancient knowledge into contemporary practice with theatrical captivation. He received his Master of Architecture from Princeton University and his Bachelor of Science in Architecture from Georgia Tech.  For his work as a designer and researcher, he has received recognition with prizes such as the American Academy in Rome Prize, the SOM Prize, the Design Biennial Boston Award and the Architectural League Prize for Young Architects & Designers.

More profile about the speaker
Brandon Clifford | Speaker | TED.com
TED2019

Brandon Clifford: The architectural secrets of the world's ancient wonders

Brandon Clifford: Rahasia arsitektur keajaiban kuno dunia

Filmed:
642,791 views

Bagaimana peradaban kuno berhasil memindahkan batu-batu raksasa untuk membangun Stonehenge, Piramida dan patung-patung Pulau Paskah? Dalam pembicaraan singkat dan sarat makna ini, "TED Fellow" Brandon Clifford, menguak tabir rahasia arsitektur masa lalu dan menggunakan teknik kreatif ini untuk membangun arsitektur di masa depan. Menurut Brandon, "Di era ketika bangunan dirancang hingga mampu bertahan sampai 30 tahun, bahkan 60 tahun, Saya ingin belajar membuat sesuatu yang bisa menghibur selamanya."
- Ancient technology architect
TED Fellow Brandon Clifford mines knowledge from the past to design new futures. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
Do you think the things we buildmembangun todayhari ini
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Apakah Anda pikir sesuatu yang
kita bangun hari ini,
00:15
will be considereddianggap wonderskeajaiban in the futuremasa depan?
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akan menjadi sebuah keajaiban di
masa depan?
00:19
Think of StonehengeStonehenge,
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Perhatikan Stonehenge,
00:20
the PyramidsPiramida,
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Piramida,
00:22
MachuMachu PicchuPicchu and EasterPaskah IslandPulau.
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Machu Picchu dan Pulau Paskah.
00:26
Now, they're all prettycantik differentberbeda
from what we're doing todayhari ini,
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Mereka sangat berbeda dengan
bangunan yang ada saat ini.
00:30
with those massivebesar stonesbatu,
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Batu-batu raksasa,
00:32
assembleddirakit in complexkompleks
but seeminglytampaknya illogicalLogis wayscara,
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dirakit sangat rumit,
tetapi tampak tidak masuk akal,
00:38
and all tracesjejak of theirmereka constructionkonstruksi
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dan seluruh jejak konstruksinya
00:41
eraseddihapus,
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punah,
00:43
shroudingmenyelubungi them in mysteryMisteri.
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terselubung dalam misteri.
00:47
It seemsSepertinya like people could not
have possiblymungkin builtdibangun di these things,
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Sepertinya tidak ada yang mampu
membuat bangunan seperti itu,
00:52
because people didn't.
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karena memang tidak.
00:54
They were carefullyhati-hati crafteddibuat
by a primordialpurba raceras of giantsraksasa
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Bangunan tersebut dibangun
oleh ras primordial raksasa,
00:59
knowndikenal as CyclopsCyclops.
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yaitu "Cyclops".
01:00
(LaughterTawa)
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(Tertawa)
01:01
And I've been collaboratingberkolaborasi
with these monstersmonster
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Saya telah berkolaborasi
dengan monster ini,
01:04
to learnbelajar theirmereka secretsrahasia
for movingbergerak those massivebesar stonesbatu.
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untuk mempelajari rahasia mereka
memindahkan batu-batu raksasa itu.
01:08
And as it turnsberubah out,
CyclopsCyclops aren'ttidak even that strongkuat.
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Ternyata, kekuatan "Cyclops"
tidak begitu besar.
01:13
They're just really smartpintar
about gettingmendapatkan materialbahan to work for them.
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Mereka hanya sangat pandai
memanfaatkan bahan-bahan untuk bekerja.
01:19
Now, the videosvideo you see behinddibelakang me
of largebesar, stone-likeseperti batu, wobblygoyah creaturesmakhluk
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Dalam video ini Anda lihat
makhluk besar, mirip batu yang bergoyang.
01:23
are the resultshasil of this collaborationkolaborasi.
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Mereka adalah hasil kolaborasi.
01:26
OK, so CyclopsCyclops mightmungkin be
a mythicalmitos creaturemakhluk,
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Oke, jadi "Cyclops" mungkin
hanya makhluk mitos,
01:30
but those wonderskeajaiban are still realnyata.
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tetapi keajaiban itu memang ada.
01:33
People madeterbuat them.
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Orang-orang membuatnya.
01:35
But they alsojuga madeterbuat the mythsmitos
that surroundmengelilingi them,
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Tetapi mereka juga membuat mitos
yang melingkupinya,
01:39
and when it comesdatang to wonderskeajaiban,
there's this thicktebal connectivepenghubung tissuetisu
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dan ketika kita melihat keajaiban,
ada hubungan yang erat
01:43
betweenantara mythologymitologi and realityrealitas.
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antara mitologi dan kenyataan.
01:47
Take EasterPaskah IslandPulau, for examplecontoh.
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Sebagai contoh, Pulau Paskah.
01:49
When the DutchBelanda explorerspenjelajah
first encounteredditemui the islandpulau,
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Ketika penjelajah Belanda pertama
kali menemukan pulau tersebut,
01:53
they askedtanya the people of RapaRapa NuiNui
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mereka bertanya kepada
bangsa Rapa Nui
01:55
how theirmereka ancestorsnenek moyang could have possiblymungkin
movedterharu those massivebesar statuespatung.
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bagaimana nenek moyang mereka
memindahkan patung-patung raksasa itu.
01:59
And the RapaRapa NuiNui said,
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Dan bangsa Rapa Nui menjawab,
02:01
"Our ancestorsnenek moyang didn't movepindah the statuespatung,
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"Nenek moyang kami tidak memindahkan
patung-patung itu,
02:05
because the statuespatung walkedberjalan themselvesdiri."
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karena patung-patung itu berjalan sendiri"
02:09
For centuriesabad, this was dismisseddiberhentikan,
but actuallysebenarnya it's truebenar.
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Telah lama sekali hal ini diabaikan,
padahal benar adanya.
02:13
The statuespatung, knowndikenal as moaiMoai,
were transporteddiangkut standingkedudukan,
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Patung-patung "moai",
dipindahkan dengan posisi berdiri,
02:18
pivotingmemutar from sidesisi to sidesisi.
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berputar dari sisi ke sisi.
02:21
OK?
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Oke?
02:23
As spectacularspektakuler as the moaiMoai are
for visitorspengunjung todayhari ini,
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Seperti kesan spektakuler "moai"
bagi pengunjung saat ini,
02:27
you have to imaginemembayangkan beingmakhluk there then,
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Anda harus membayangkan berada di sana,
02:29
with colossalkolosal moaiMoai
marchingberbaris around the islandpulau.
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dengan "moai" raksasa berbaris
mengelilingi pulau.
02:32
Because the realnyata memorialperingatan
was not the objectsbenda themselvesdiri,
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Karena nilai sejarah yang sebenarnya
bukan berasal dari benda itu sendiri,
02:38
it was the culturalkultural ritualupacara
of bringingmembawa a stonebatu to life.
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tetapi dari ritual budaya
yang membuat batu itu menjadi hidup.
02:43
So as an architectarsitek,
I've been chasingpengejaran that dreammimpi.
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Sebagai seorang arsitek,
saya ingin mengejar mimpi itu.
02:47
How can we shiftbergeser our ideaide of constructionkonstruksi
to accommodatemenampung that mythicalmitos sidesisi?
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Bagaimana mengubah ide konstruksi
untuk mendukung unsur mistis itu?
02:53
So what I've been doing
is challengingmenantang myselfdiri
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Saya menantang diri sendiri,
02:55
with puttingmenempatkan on a seriesseri of performancespertunjukan
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dengan menempatkan serangkaian pertunjukan
02:58
of the ancientkuno but
prettycantik straightforwardmudah tasktugas
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tentang tugas kuno yang sangat mudah,
03:01
of just movingbergerak and standingkedudukan
bigbesar heavyberat objectsbenda,
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hanya menggerakkan dan menahan
benda berat dan besar,
03:05
like this 16-foot-tall-kaki-tinggi megalithmegalitikum
designeddirancang to walkberjalan acrossmenyeberang landtanah
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seperti megalit setinggi 5 meter,
dirancang untuk berjalan melintasi daratan
03:09
and standberdiri verticallyvertikal;
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dan berdiri vertikal;
03:12
or this 4,000-pound-pound behemothRaksasa
that springsmata air itselfdiri to life
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atau "behemoth" raksasa seberat 1.800 kg
yang tiba-tiba muncul ini,
03:16
to dancemenari onstagepanggung.
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menari di atas panggung.
03:19
And what I've foundditemukan is
that by thinkingberpikir of architectureArsitektur
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Saya menemukan pemikiran, bahwa arsitektur
03:23
not as an endakhir productproduk but as a performancekinerja
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bukan hanya sebagai produk akhir
tetapi sebagai pertunjukan
03:26
from conceptionpembuahan to completionpenyelesaian,
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dari pembuatan konsep hingga
tahap penyelesaian,
03:30
we endakhir up rediscoveringmenemukan kembali some really smartpintar
wayscara to buildmembangun things todayhari ini.
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kita akhirnya kembali menemukan keahlian
untuk membangun sesuatu saat ini.
03:35
You know, so much of the discussiondiskusi
surroundingsekitarnya our futuremasa depan
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Anda tahu, banyak diskusi
tentang masa depan kita
03:38
focusesfokus on technologyteknologi,
efficiencyefisiensi and speedkecepatan.
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berfokus pada teknologi,
efisiensi dan kecepatan.
03:42
But if I've learnedterpelajar anything from CyclopsCyclops,
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Tetapi yang saya pelajari dari "Cyclops",
03:44
it's that wonderskeajaiban
can be smartpintar, spectacularspektakuler
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keajaiban itu memang
cerdas, spektakuler
03:48
and sustainableberkelanjutan --
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dan berkesinambungan --
03:50
because of theirmereka massmassa and theirmereka mysteryMisteri.
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karena adanya nilai ritual dan misteri.
03:54
And while people still want to know
how those ancientkuno wonderskeajaiban were builtdibangun di,
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Ketika sebagian orang ingin mengetahui
bagaimana keajaiban kuno itu dibangun,
03:57
I've been askingmeminta CyclopsCyclops
how to createmembuat the mysteryMisteri
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Saya berguru kepada "Cyclops"
untuk menciptakan misteri,
04:00
that compelsmemaksa people
to askmeminta that very questionpertanyaan.
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sehingga memaksa orang
bertanya hal penting itu.
04:04
Because in an eraera
where we designDesain buildingsbangunan
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Karena di era, ketika
bangunan dirancang
04:06
to last 30, maybe 60 yearstahun,
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untuk bertahan 30, bahkan 60 tahun,
04:09
I would love to learnbelajar
how to createmembuat something
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Saya ingin belajar
menciptakan sesuatu
04:12
that could entertainmenghibur for an eternitykeabadian.
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yang dapat menghibur untuk selamanya.
04:15
Thank you.
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Terima kasih.
04:16
(ApplauseTepuk tangan)
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(Tepuk tangan)
Translated by Nur Shabrina
Reviewed by Emi Kurnia

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Brandon Clifford - Ancient technology architect
TED Fellow Brandon Clifford mines knowledge from the past to design new futures.

Why you should listen

Brandon Clifford is best known for bringing megalithic sculptures to life to perform tasks. He is the director and cofounder of Matter Design, where his work focuses on advancing architectural research through spectacle and mysticism. He creates new ideas by critically evaluating ancient ways of thinking and experimenting with their value today. This work ranges from an award-winning play structure for kids to a colossal system of construction elements that can be guided into place with ease by mere mortals. He is dedicated to reimagining the role of the architect, and his speculative work continues to provoke new directions for design in the digital era.

Clifford is also an assistant professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His most recent authored work, The Cannibal's Cookbook, demonstrates his dedication to bringing ancient knowledge into contemporary practice with theatrical captivation. He received his Master of Architecture from Princeton University and his Bachelor of Science in Architecture from Georgia Tech.  For his work as a designer and researcher, he has received recognition with prizes such as the American Academy in Rome Prize, the SOM Prize, the Design Biennial Boston Award and the Architectural League Prize for Young Architects & Designers.

More profile about the speaker
Brandon Clifford | Speaker | TED.com