Rion Willard’s Archi-Travels

In this podcast I describe some of the most banal everyday experiences of zero architectural merit.

Im often visiting the United Arab Emirates as my parents have lived there for a number of years. I find it a fascinsting place which is in its infancy in terms of cities and you can witness it discovering and creating its own identity. What is fascinating is not the deliberate controlled attempts at creating city and nation identity by rather what happens with the unplanned areas and how these develop organically and intersect with the rest of the city. Join me as I explore districts in Dubai and Abu Dhabi from a selection of visits.

Architecture is a way of seeing. Our built wnvironment has the power to colour, shape, impact and influence the way we behave and perceive. In this episode I begin to introduce this idea through a series of thought pieces looking at architecture as a conversational system. A dynamic and performative form of communication rather than a static inert object that is passively occupied. Viewing architecture as something that is alive and with which we interact with we can start to see architecture in a new light and as something fundamental to human society and culture.

Architects must embrace entrepreneurship, it is the key to regaining stewardship of the built environment and the key to running a profitable and impactful architectural practice. The entrepreneur mindset is akin to the architectural way of thinking but rarely do architects spend the time designing their organisations and businesses with the same disciplined and iterative processes they design their buildings. In this podcast is a selection of thought pieces exploring ans defining the power of the entrepreneurial architect.

In this episode is a selection of visits to numerous spiritual sites, places of worship and prayer and spaces of contemplation and meditation. I'll look at the unique architectural qualities of these places ans the human activities that they embrace.