Day: October 24, 2010
Architecture is a story
Daniel Libeskind uses 17 words to argue that architecture is a story; a story against improbability in this inspiring TED Talk.
This is a great construct for design and innovative thought. Some of the key themes which relate to the 10 City Bridge Run:
- You have to believe in the future to be a successful architecture.
- Design is visceral, not intellectual.
- Power comes from good design and through it leverage to transformation.
- It is about creating a space that has never been.
Watch the talk here:
Here are his 17 words. Listen to his description- well worth finding 19 minutes for this:
- Optimism
- Expression
- Radical
- Emotional
- Inexplicable
- Hand
- Complex
- Political
- Real
- Unexpected
- Raw
- Pointed
- Memorable
- Communicative
- Risky
- Space
- Democratic
Tinkering…Come play!
Gever Tulley teaches life lessons through tinkering on this TED Talk. Watch it here:
Tinkering…that sort of describes where I have reached this point with the 10 City Bridge Run. Here are a couple of reflections from Gever which relate to what has been my vision:
- Building is at the heart of the experience.
- Hands on.
- Failures are celebrated.
- Problems become puzzles.
- “…can become a bridge stronger than anyone could imagine.”
Starting tonight, it is time to turn much of this design work from this side of the keyboard to the the collaboration of collective action. I can’t do this on my own. I always said that my ability to act is influenced by the participation of others.
I need your help. Don’t just stand there and watch…start tinkering!
Two’s company, three’s a crowd
As I enter the final two weeks (yes, this time for real…) before commencing the running part of the 10 City Bridge Run, talking things over with other people would be really helpful.
Besides, everyone enjoys coffee. Check out this video from Sam Thompson from Single Origin:
Starting this Friday, join me somewhere around Sydney for “10 cafes in 10 days”. I haven’t worked out where all of the cafes will be, so if you think there is somewhere worth meeting drop me a line and we can add it to the list. The meet-ups don’t need to be big. After all, two’s company and three’s a crowd!
Plus gives me a chance to work out how best to use ‘bridge-cam!’ Yes, expect to be filmed.
Here is the schedule as it stands:
- Friday 29 October: Single Origin, 64 Reservoir St, Surry Hills (I will be there at 9 am…kudos to Gavin Heaton and Sydney Coffee Mornings!
- Saturday 30 October: Coogee after a morning run with friends to North Bondi and back
- Monday 1 November: Uliveto, Bayswater Road Kings Cross at 10.00 am
- Tuesday 2 November:
- Wednesday 3 November:
- Thursday 4 November:
- Friday 5 November:
- Saturday 6 November:
- Monday 8 November:
- Tuesday 9 November: Bambini Wine Room, Elizabeth Street, City (meeting of Oddfellows from 7.30 am. RSVP separately)
We failed them
Is this what we will be saying in 2015 about the millions of children under the age of five who continue to die of preventable disease in situations of extreme poverty?
This week the (Australian) Northern Territory’s Minister for Children and Families admitted he will have to tear down the system for protecting Aboriginal children from abuse and neglect and start again. He described it this way in a Sydney Morning Herald report:
“The department has been demoralised … we are now going to rebuild from scratch and we have to leave the old ideologies [of child protection] at the door.”
His was a startling admission of failure. In the three years since the biggest federal intervention in 50 years of government in the territory, agencies are struggling to come to terms with endemic mistreatment of children.
Can we as a global community really reduce child mortality by two-thirds by 2015 from a 1990 level? Is the seemingly impossible possible?
If not – if we can’t achieve this – it represents yet another “great moral challenge of our time” which we are impotent to act to change. Failure is not an option.
Charity Doesn’t Solve Anything
Can we criticise Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim (the Mexican billionaire listed by Forbes as the world’s richest man) for his perspective on what makes change happen:
The only way to fight poverty is with employment. Trillions of dollars have been given to charity in the last 50 years, and they don’t solve anything. … To give 50 percent, 40 percent, that does nothing. There is a saying that we should leave a better country to our children. But it’s more important to leave better children to our country.
His comment was in relation to the “Giving Pledge” promoted by Bill and Melinda Gates (that those with loads of money should give away half). Carlos has given a considerable amount already to the Gates Foundation. This was reported in the Wall Street Journal after Carlos’ comments in Sydney recently, and commented as a post on the blog Good by Patrick James.
I don’t think it is a simple as saying he is right or wrong, or that rich people should give more because they have more to give. Ethically, can we determine how someone should use their discretionary money any more than we should with each of our time (the one resource we all have in common).
Personally, I disagree with the proposition. We have confused the word ‘charity’ which is supposed to be a verb meaning to help others with its more contemporary use as a noun defining an organisational status. “A charity” doesn’t solve anything. People do. And how do people do this? Through charity. By being charitable, by showing love to others less fortunate than themselves. This is the only way to change the world.
Money is just a means to an end.
Building Bridges 