Build beautiful: Thomas Heatherwick’s campaign to ‘humanize’ buildings

Thomas Heatherwick’s designs have become icons in his home city of London, including the eye-catching cauldron at the 2012 Olympic Games and the reimagined Routemaster bus. The British designer’s projects have popped up around the world — and not without controversy.

In this week’s edition of Power Play, host Anne McElvoy talks to Heatherwick about his mission to change the way our cities and urban areas are built. His new book “Humanise” implores mayors and town planners around the world to replace “boring” buildings, arguing that they damage our health and the environment. 

Anne is then joined by POLITICO’s “Power Panel” to reflect on the interview. Aitor Hernández-Morales is author of the Living Cities Global Policy Lab at POLITICO Europe, and Jeff Coltin is co-author of POLITICO’s New York Playbook.