This week we are shining the spotlight on the brilliant Dylan Brady - Conductor (owner) at Decibel Architecture . Dylan is whip-smart, courageous, and wholly focused on creating a better future for the coming generations. Together, he and I discuss the importance of ratings and celebrating outstanding design, how we can bring others on board to believe in the things that don't yet exist, calling out outdated structures of education and vocational hierarchies, and the power and beauty of curiosity.
View the episode above and show notes below to hear from one of Melbourne's most innovative and thoughtful design minds.
Resources:
Designing the Future with Brians Collins - A Bit of Optimism with Simon Sinek | Youtube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts
Quotes:
Dylan
rating tools are to sustainability as religion is to spirituality... they are dogma and a structure and a tool that is designed to drag people who don't know about sustainability up to a line that says 'okay, it's 5 stars, it must be good'
standards are also very important because they give the non-specialist the secure knowledge around what has been done to achieve the certified level
it is my job to make people believe in things that don't exist yet, and if I can't do that then all I can do is what has already been done
the risk of not innovating, not exploring, and not pushing boundaries is far larger than the risk of not doing what we know worked yesterday
I would like when I die, as an architect, to see that the industry I love so much... has been vastly improved, and if I can improve it by a notch then that's awesome
being able to differentiate between the needs of the Now and the Next is something important, and something that we try and build into the projects we do
the future is already here, it's just unevenly distributed - William Gibson
what seems impossible is always possible, it just takes continuous effort
we can change the world if we design the right buildings that change the rules
we need to stop teaching everybody the same sh*t
we [men] don't value the other half of the economy of work that is done in raising children, preparing food... we just call it housework... that is engendered into the very economic structure that we see around us of 'good' jobs and 'bad' jobs
there is a punitive framework put on to the structure of jobs that benefits the rich and discounts the disenfranchised
we still fail to recognise nascent vocational talent
whether it's burning countries or pandemics or loss of species or global climate fractures, that issue has to affect the powerful and wealthy on the planet for there to be change
imagine if what we learned at school was how to explore and how to be curious
Mark
I'm often concerned that we [as a society] are getting down to these granular parametres rather than the big picture
if architecture is done well, it actually sets up a whole new purpose and platform for what an enclave of buildings will become