#5: All buildings are predictions
Unexpected podcast ah-ha moments, learning about condensation management, and getting organised for 2025 with my favourite wall planner.
“All buildings are predictions. All predictions are wrong.”
(Stewart Brand, ‘How Building Learn: What happens after they’re built’)
I didn’t expect to be learning about building and construction from the Tim Ferriss Show podcast, but it turned out to be the source of my biggest ah-ha moment this week! In this episode with Derek Sivers, Derek shares details of his own home building experiment* - basically he’s building two well insulated rectangles (a living space and a sleeping space) with nothing in them! No toilet (he’ll have an outhouse) or kitchen (he’ll use a portable induction hob), and minimal furniture. His idea is to live in the space first and then make it adapt to him (intentionally deciding what he needs and where), rather than adapting himself to the space. This approach is informed by Stewart Brand’s book ‘How Buildings Learn’ which I wasted no time looking up and purchasing! [*Around the 57min mark if you want to skip ahead.]
The above quote from the book feels both profound and very obvious. When designing your home you’re making a whole heap of predictions about who will live there, the activities you’ll engage in, and the function that you’ll want the space to perform (and where you’ll want the powerpoints to be 😂.) We like to think we can control (or at least accurately predict) these things, but so many things can change - family sizes and compositions, caring for people or pets, illness or injury, study and employment, our hobbies and interests, new furniture, technology, outside factors like COVID shutdowns, government regulations or weather patterns. So the main idea of ‘How Buildings Learn’ is that we should design and construct buildings that are easy to change.
I’m only part way through the book but already it’s shifting my thinking about design and construction. (You can get a good overview of the key points by reading Derek’s notes from the book here). I desperately want some friends/colleagues to read it too so we can discuss and debrief! (Any HOME Method Homees want to do a book club??)
Other learnings this week…
I’ve been doing a bit of a deep dive to understand the NCC 2022 condensation management provisions (particularly in relation to roof ventilation requirements) and have been finding the HIA Guide to Condensation Management a helpful resource.
Sarah Lebner at Cooee Architecture has released a great video demonstration of the Powerhaus app and how to use it to prioritise energy efficiency decisions in home design. This app makes it infinitely easier for homeowners, designers and builders to get immediate feedback on the energy efficiency impact of different design/selection choices, and transforms energy efficiency modelling from a compliance tool to a decision-making one. It’s going to be a game changer!
At 35 South Building Co, we’re really pleased to be part of the Live Life Build ELEVATE community. This week I caught up on a recording of a recent member webinar that Amelia Lee and Duayne Pearce did on What Makes a Builder Truely Successful?. It’s got me doing a lot of thinking about what success means to me and to 35 South, and about the identity I/we need to assume to achieve that success.
Worth sharing:
I loved this Instagram post from Designful Studio - What do values have to do with building or renovating?
Related, this new NGV architecture commission, ‘Home Truth’ by sustainable architecture and design firm Breathe, looks great! [HT to Amelia Lee for sharing this one with the HOME Method Facebook group.]
Not specifically construction related, but it’s the time of year when I’m doing a bit of reflecting and planning for next year - both personally and professionally. I really like being able to see my year visually, so this week I purchased my 2025 wall planner from Sarah Firth. This is my fourth year using these wall planners and I’m yet to find anything better!