You can watch the eighth Parlour LAB here!
It was alarming to learn at Parlour LAB 08 that Australia faces a significant number of potential disasters. And while we have a lot of policy and many guidelines on the topic, but these are not always followed! For example, people in charge pull down buildings immediately after a disaster event before checking if they are important for the community and can be rebuilt, and continue to repeat mistakes such as building in flood zones, not designing to cyclone standards … the list goes on. Dr Temitope Egbelakin (Temi) and Dr Rosemary Kennedy (Rosie) discussed how to do better and build a more resilient architecture.
Parlour LAB 08 helped me re-think and expand my understanding of both resilience and disasters. Disasters can be quick and unexpected, or slow burning and well known: an ageing population without an appropriate built environment, housing inequality rendering many homeless, health epidemics requiring drastic national changes in behaviour, climate change, health impacts of poor infrastructure and overcrowding in dense cities, loss of cultural heritage including buildings, landscapes and natural sites, and mental health implications from poorly managed disasters. How does a successful built environment support a more resilient town, community or city in the face of these disasters that we will most certainly encounter?
I’m sure everyone wants to live in an environment that can adjust to change or recover from disasters. A large part of becoming more resilient is collaborative problem solving, and design has an important role to play. Architects and designers are highly skilled at bringing together disparate agendas and issues to solve complex problems and visualise future possible scenarios - this can provide hope and bring people together. Participatory engagement can help community voices be brought into the mix, and creative activities can help professionals from different disciplines work together to generate more resilient outcomes. Brene Brown, one of my favourite social scientists, says that “joy, collected over time, fuels resilience - ensuring we’ll have reservoirs of emotional strength when hard things do happen.” I hope we can build that joy across disciplines so that we’re practiced at coming together when we need to face hard things in the future.
