Hassell Talks

From a powerful example of design’s crucial role of healing in post-genocide Rwanda to a city’s solution to homelessness, this episode of HassellTalks examines how deploying, measuring and demonstrating the value of design is critically important to addressing the most pressing humanitarian challenges of our time.

Designers have “freaking superhero” skills, says architect Bryan Bell of the Public Interest Design Movement, and South Carolina’s Design Corps.

They rapidly visualise multiple solutions and design assets, creating countless – limitless – ideas in a single day. But they’re not so great at measuring and articulating that value - meaning they sometimes get sidelined. With our world facing the complex challenges of climate, inequality, food, water and political insecurity: a superhero is what the world needs right now.

As part of Humanitarian Architecture Week we recorded a panel conversation in our Melbourne studio between Dr Esther Charlesworth from Architects Without Frontiers, Bryan Bell from Design Corps and Hassell Principal Mark Loughnan.

Acknowledgement:

This episode of Hassell Talks was recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders past and present. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land where we live, work, and learn.

Credits:

Edited & Produced by Prue Vincent

Sydney today faces the same pressures as all modern cities – growth, resources, infrastructure and resilience.

The interpersonal fabric of modern-day Sydney contrasts to its healthy past – the challenges of isolation and a vast mental health crisis in our communities, pervasive social media, our collective response to climate change and biodiversity emergencies, and the pressures on housing and equity in a rapidly growing metropolis.

Do the answers to these current challenges lie more with the community itself than governments? Have we forgotten how to design for love and belonging?

Ross de la Motte invited Ralph Ashton, founder of the Australian Futures Project to talk about short-termism in city shaping, how Australians really feel about what’s going on in their cities, and how everyone – from the top down – has a role to play in imagining a better future for ourselves.

Acknowledgement:

This episode of Hassell Talks was recorded on the lands of the Gadigal people. We pay our respects to elders past and present. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land where we live, work, and learn.

Credits:

Edited & Produced by Prue Vincent

Fact: People are willing - happy even - to pay more for their scrambled eggs if they're eating them in a 'cool' cafe. The value of 'cool' to business is undisputed.

But if we take it a step further, can large organisations really embody 'cool' - and attract talent - when it comes to designing their workplaces?

Here's where the advertising industry really excels. They've had the jump on designers and developers when it comes to understanding people and grabbing their attention. They know how to make audiences feel, think and behave - all invaluable to creating exceptional places to work.

Our designer Andy Low joined brand strategist Adam Ferrier, who's been behind some of Australia's best known advertising campaigns. Tune in for a lively conversation on the power of brand thinking and the value of 'cool' in design.

This episode of Hassell Talks was recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders past and present. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land where we live, work, and learn.

It’s a brave dean that tests out a new way of working on academics and research staff - and yet that’s exactly what the School of Engineering at the University of Melbourne did.

The future workspace at the Melbourne School of Engineering (MSE) will need to accommodate over 1800 users across three locations by 2025.

To provide for its people and its industry collaborators – its workplace would need to become quite different. Anticipating the challenge that comes with a new way of working, the school commissioned a pilot workplace study called 'Space Lab' – a reference to a living lab, where ‘researcher’ becomes the ‘researched’.

Principal Evodia Alaterou invited MSE’s Professor Andrew Western from the Department of Infrastructure Engineering in to step through the experiment. 

Acknowledgement

This episode of Hassell Talks was recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders past and present. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land where we live, work, and learn.

Credits

Edited and Produced by Prue Vincent

A glance at any Australian town or city shows one of the world’s oldest continuous cultures is largely absent. A side note, rarely the headline.

And is it any wonder, with only around 20 Indigenous Australian architects practicing in 2019? It’s not just an Australian story.

There’s a lot to be learned from other experiences too. In the first episode of our Hassell Talks podcast, we hear from Elisapeta Heta, Māori Design Leader from New Zealand’s Jasmax.

She tells us about her journey in embedding a Māori perspective into New Zealand’s design industry – and the long game of helping designers and communities create the kind of cultural safety that supports indigenous engagement.

Acknowledgement:

This episode of Hassell Talks was recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders past and present. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land where we live, work, and learn.

Credits:

Production by Prue Vincent and Jessica van Hecke