'Humanise is a masterwork. It's quietly furious, impassioned, rigorous and forensic in all the right doses. It leaves me very hopeful indeed about how things could go from here' ALAIN DE BOTTON In this manifesto for change, one of the world's pre-eminent designers explores how buildings and cities around the world lost their soul - and what we can do about it. Thomas Heatherwick shows how design has a profound effect on our mental and physical health, the climate, as well as the peace and cohesion of societies. He shows how a flawed idea of utility and 'efficiency' has engulfed our towns and cities and hardened into a form of bland minimalism. But it doesn't have to be this way: there are other ways to build - with the power to lift our spirits, engage and connect us. Heatherwick draws on his own work, the ideas of other experts in the field, and recent advances in neuroscience and cognitive psychology to offer both a case against the inhumanity of modernist design and a rallying cry to everyone to imagine the world anew. Looking through his eyes, we take in places around the world, old and new, famous and obscure, that can sap the life out of us - or nourish our senses and our psyche. Humanise is a tautly argued provocation and an urgent call-to-arms to make the world around us a far better place for everyone to live. 'This book is a super accessible guide as to why we shouldn't put up with soulless buildings and how we might change that' GRAYSON PERRY 'Thomas Heatherwick brings a velvet sledgehammer to the way we think about buildings and how they change our lives. In simple, elegant words, he demands that we put people first. Not developers, politicians or architects. I want to live in the kind of city Heatherwick imagines! Vive la revolution!' Simon Sinek, Optimist and New York Times-bestselling author of Start with Why and The Infinite Game

Few things are as synonymous with London as its famous red buses, thousands of which carry millions of passengers a year on hundreds of separate routes. Yet since the withdrawal from service of the much-loved Routemaster in the mid-2000s, none of its replacements has succeeded in generating the same kind of affection among the travelling public. Now, however, the stylish, Thomas Heatherwick-designed New Routemaster looks set to recapture the imagination of Londoners and visitors alike. In The New Routemaster, automotive expert Tony Lewin tells the remarkable and compelling story of this, the latest incarnation of the London bus, from its very public genesis in 2008 to its first scheduled journey in 2012. Contributions from key personnel provide a unique insight into the detailed thinking behind this innovative vehicle, which is notable as much for its stunning design as its precision engineering, while an illustrated survey of London's buses down the ages places it in context. Beautifully designed and richly illustrated throughout, The New Routemaster is the fitting and must-have account of the most significant London bus since the 1960s - a Routemaster for the twenty-first century.

From one of the world's most innovative designers comes a fiercely passionate manifesto on why so many places have become miserable and boring and how we can make them better for everyone--featuring hundreds of photographs and illustrations that will change how you see the world around you. We are living through a global catastrophe. Buildings affect how we feel, moment by moment, day by day. They have the power to lift us up and make us feel awestruck, playful, safe, and inspired, just as they can make us feel alienated and sad. But many of the places where we live, work, learn, and heal have become monotonous and disposable. We're surrounded by cheap, boring buildings that make people stressed, sick, and unhappy. In short, much of our world has been crafted in a way that is hostile to human experience. Now, drawing on his experience of the last thirty years in making bold, beautiful objects and buildings, Thomas Heatherwick offers both an informed critique of the inhumanity in most of today's contemporary building design, and a rousing call for action. Looking through Heatherwick's eyes, we see familiar landmarks and cityscapes around the world, from London, Paris, Barcelona, Singapore, New York, Vancouver, and beyond, both old and new, famous and obscure, to learn how places can either sap the life out of us--or nourish our senses and our psyche. The time has come, he says, to put emotion back at the heart of the design process, and the reasons to do so could not be more urgent. Design is not superficial: it has an impact upon economics, climate change, our mental and physical wellbeing--even the peace and cohesion of our societies. As citizens and users, we need a world full of architectural diversity that delights and unites us. And as makers and designers, we can help create a world where cities reconnect with their essential mission: to provide human spaces where people mix, meet, inspire each other, and live out their full potential. Elegantly crafted by Heatherwick's own studio, and fully illustrated with hundreds of black-and-white photos, Humanize is an urgent call-to-arms for making our world a better place for everyone to live, and provides the vision and tools for us to make it a reality.

Biophilic design brings positive experiences of nature into the built environment - whether in a domestic, work, leisure, healthcare, education or retail setting. Written by proponents, who are also leading expert practitioners, this book is the first design guide to biophilia for architects and interior designers. By raising awareness of biophilic design as a strategy to support psychological and physiological wellbeing, Nature Inside illustrates how it can be implemented, across a range of international case studies. It offers a plethora of practical insight and real-world solutions for all designers. Starting with the principles and processes of biophilic design in practice, it showcases a variety of interior spaces - residential, retail, workplace, hospitality, education, healthcare and manufacturing. The final chapter looks 'outside the walls', by providing a case study at the campus and city scale, concluding with an essential practical toolkit. Featured projects include: The London home of Kelly Hoppen MBE Seesaw Coffee, Beijing, by nota architects The Assemblage, New York, by Meyer Davis Studio Central Library, Calgary, Canada, by Snohetta Bank of America Tower, New York, by COOKFOX TRi Restaurant, Hong Kong, by IBUKU