Nike’s Post

Year-end Lights Out? Let’s Light a Candle; Reflect & Talk (more) About Spaces   As we rapidly approach the end of another year, we are presented with an opportunity to pause; to reflect on the past & contemplate the future.   In South Africa and across the globe, the lingering effects of the pandemic persist, posing challenges related to resource availability and escalating energy costs.   Despite these obstacles, a moment of unity and upliftment emerged in the form of our consecutive victories at the Rugby World Cup. While rugby may not resonate with everyone, the principles of resilience and teamwork showcased during those victories were undeniably and universally inspiring. Many members of the team expressed that if these same principles could be applied to other areas, our country, and the world, would undoubtedly be better off.   At Xperiencemakers, this year has been marked by our involvement in two significant, and vastly different, project concepts. Similar to actors finding joy in learning new skills for a role, our profession allows us to perceive the world through our clients' eyes. Over time, we've delved into fascinating details about wine-making; explored the rich history of Rooibos & deepened our understanding of the Khoisan culture.   Whilst we look forward to new developments in the coming year; we are equally excited to unveil the recently completed Rallim Secondary School expansion. It afforded us the opportunity to dive deeper into one of our favourite fields; the sub-specialities of neuroscience and neuro-design. This is also one of the topics we passionately delve into on our new dedicated wellness and business-of-design platform: www.talkaboutspaces.com   Additionally, we are embarking on a hospitality expansion in the breath-taking Cederberg region; turning the creative vision (as defined in our E.S.P. Creative Audit) into reality: showcasing the fusion of design with nature. Keep an eye on this space; as it unfolds in 2024.   As we bid farewell to this year, I encourage you to take a moment — whether by choice or enforced by load-shedding — to light a candle. Let it serve as a beacon of remembrance for those we've lost; a symbol of gratitude for those by our side; and a flicker of hope for our resilient spirits.   In Connectedness, Renée #YearEndReflections #LightACandle #ConnectedDesigns

🏙️ A few years ago, a study by a group of Sociologists in Vienna showed that girls stopped going to parks from the age of nine (Ghisleni, 2022). Understanding the causes behind it, a project was developed to renovate the park by adding new accesses, separating open areas into private spaces with benches for interaction, and adding courts for sports like volleyball and badminton. After that rapidly, it has been observed that more girls and individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community began using the park. This shows that accessibility today means everyone can freely, easily, and comfortably use public spaces. Beyond Vienna, gender-inclusive urban planning includes gender-neutral public bathrooms, diaper-changing spaces in all restrooms, and menstrual product disposal systems. Let's strive for gender-inclusive cities where everyone feels welcome! 💪💖 #MAATProject #InclusiveCities #Erasmus #UrbanGreening #SocialJustice #GenderEquity

National Sports Museum for #Christchurch: With the Anglican church considering selling the site of Christchurch's 'cardboard cathedral', I wonder if it would consider doing so to the #NationalSportsMuseumTrustofNewZealand ? I'm afraid the church will sell pronto to a hotel developer. Boring! I attach a link below to an article about the proposed museum. Funnily enough the architectural design incorporates a large triangular façade, therefore echoing the cardboard cathedral but with much longer-lasting materials. A frank discussion between the church, the museum backers, Christchurch City Council Council and stadium Te Kaha Stadium leadership could see the museum complement the city's new world-class stadium and keep that part of the city centre 'activated' daily as well as drawing visitor money to the city's overall ecomomy. Central government could pledge to fund part or all of the land cost and/or building cost. How about it, Chris Hipkins, James Shaw, Raf Manji, Rawiri Waititi etc.? Sir Richard Hadlee is a supporter of the museum proposal. I'd be keen for Christchurch's chief newspaper, the Press, Kamala Hayman, to intervew the various parties & report on it to seed ratepayers' minds with the idea and prompt a civic and potentially nationwide discussion:

#Paris2024 has transformed the concept of sports venues by integrating the city's landmarks into the event's design. This innovative approach not only provides a unique stage for athletic excellence but also celebrates Paris' distinctive character and cultural richness. Sports #precincts offer so much more than just a place for competition. They are dynamic hubs where people can come together for work, training, adventure, relaxation, play, community and cultural events. Jacobs' integrated "three leads" approach to integrating #sports and #culture into the urban landscape brings placemaking, engineering and environment teams together around the table with clients to: - Understand the needs of public, private and sporting stakeholders to develop symbiotic, balanced and flexible solutions. - Minimise infrastructure footprint and maximise space for nature and people. - Develop staged implementation approaches that enable short term needs to be delivered within a vision and framework for future legacy expansion. - Seamlessly integrate event overlay requirements with public realm design. - Integrate active recreation experiences that support community wellbeing. - Design with nature, topography, context and views to create memorable experiences for athletes and spectators, before, during and after the event. #CitiesandPlaces #Placemaking

Ads and other communication regarding International Women's Day 2024 have started pouring forth. We'll see more such in the next few days. From the lineup, this one caught my eye. The casting, setting and situation are realistic and the story unfolds well. On an operational level, the connect with the brand is strong; the beautician/personal care/salon service (for women) is one of the main services offered by Urban Company and most of the service providers in this vertical are women. And dignity of labour is the central message: who can argue with dignity of labour? In other words, seen in vacuum, it is a good commercial and a good statement from the brand. But bring in the context, and everything changes. I don't know if you know, but Urban Company took a lot of flak in the media just a few months ago, for not treating its contracted employees (who the company calls 'partners') well. Several of them were up in arms against the management for not paying them fair wages, for firing many of them at random, for extreme pressure on getting 5-star ratings from their customers, ... They even took to the streets as the protest spread nationwide. The beautician/personal care/salon vertical was affected the most. From the way it handled this crisis - from the responses it gave it the striking employees - the brand didn't cover itself in glory. The media reports petered out after a while and the workers seem to have gone back to work. After all, they have to survive and support their families. In other words, there is a direct & major dissonance between this TVC and the brand's values. This raises vital questions in my mind: can a brand that has behaved this way put out a commercial like this? Can it talk about dignity of labour? Can it throw stones at society while living in glass house? Everyone deserves a second (and possibly a third) chance. So if Urban Company has commissioned this TVC AFTER cleaning up its act, alright. But there is no evidence that this is the case. And so, this smacks of cause-washing: latching on to a trending social issue for your own benefit without doing any real work on that front. Products and services will keep changing. They are easily replicable too. It is when a brand is built on the backbone of the right values that it earns respect. #branddissonance #brandcommunication #brandvalues https://lnkd.in/gd3reaky

When we hear the phrase “wayfinding”, what most frequently comes to mind is the application and availability of signage in a particular environment, which is normally used to signify elements of a space that require visitor attention, or offer directional guidance in complex environments, such as shopping centers, hospitals, museums, theatres, apartment buildings, public parks, etc. In many ways, effective wayfinding is less about signage provision specifically but is better to be thought of as a tool that helps guide people to orient themselves, and positively influence their cognitive decision-making. Care to learn the best applications, formats, and language used to create inclusion? Check out our guide to wayfinding at the link below! https://ow.ly/Gwya50QxNUP #Signage #ColourContrast #Accessibility #AccessibleCare #Inclusion #LargePrint #InclusiveDesign #BestPractice #PictorialInformation #TeamDirectAccess #Wayfinding #CognitiveAccessibility #AccessibleFormats

Sometimes a pilgrimage can simply be somewhere you are being drawn to… It can give you so much clarity….. like the Enzo Mari exhibition in London at the Design Museum. This quote summarises the exact the reason why I am pursuing inclusive adaptive design, with an embedded symbiotic regenerative ethos, and inclusive systems thinking. It’s time to change the narrative to be inclusive and empathetic of the whole ecosystem. #adaptivedesign #inclusion #accessibility #symbiosis #adaptivewear #regenerative #thismatters #regenerativeleadership #diversityinnature #natureadapts

How shall we design our organizations to be places of belonging?

The idea, this time around, is that mixed-use, mixed-income development will achieve better results. The Olympic Village, the work of 40 architects following a master plan by Dominique Perrault, has been conceived to house diverse tenants, shops and businesses after the Games. “Mixity” is a word I heard repeatedly from French officials. Dormitories will convert into 2,800 apartments, more than one-third rented out by the state to lower-income residents and students, the rest privately marketed to higher-end tenants looking for housing at prices lower than can be found in central Paris. In a model that cities have come to rely on to manage the astronomical cost of hosting the Games, the village is built in part by private developers and will be jointly managed by private companies and the government. That model requires balancing the expectations of taxpayers for affordable housing and other social benefits with the demands of private investors to turn a profit. What results is often a more affluent population and rising prices. https://lnkd.in/ekwvVEPJ

#Paris2024 has transformed the concept of sports venues by integrating the city's landmarks into the event's design. This innovative approach not only provides a unique stage for athletic excellence but also celebrates Paris' distinctive character and cultural richness. Sports #precincts offer so much more than just a place for competition. They are dynamic hubs where people can come together for work, training, adventure, relaxation, play, community and cultural events. Jacobs' integrated "three leads" approach to integrating #sports and #culture into the urban landscape brings placemaking, engineering and environment teams together around the table with clients to: - Understand the needs of public, private and sporting stakeholders to develop symbiotic, balanced and flexible solutions. - Minimise infrastructure footprint and maximise space for nature and people. - Develop staged implementation approaches that enable short term needs to be delivered within a vision and framework for future legacy expansion. - Seamlessly integrate event overlay requirements with public realm design. - Integrate active recreation experiences that support community wellbeing. - Design with nature, topography, context and views to create memorable experiences for athletes and spectators, before, during and after the event. #CitiesandPlaces #Placemaking