TED Talk: Watch Here.

Architecture can bring people together, or divide them — witness the skyscraper, costly, inefficient, and only serving small portions of the community. At TEDxPortofSpain, Mark Raymond encourages city governments to let go of their old notions of success and consider the balance of environment, economy, and society to design cities for social change.

Mark Raymond is the president of the The Trinidad and Tobago Institute of Architects — a firm dedicated to safeguarding sustainable, ethical and artistic design throughout the islands. He studied at the Architectural Association in London and worked for Norman Foster and DEGW before returning to Trinidad. Mark works on a wide variety of architectural, urban design and landscaping projects. He has also lectured in the US, UK and throughout the Caribbean.