Architect Tips: Finding Inspiration in Everyday Design

Co-founder and principal of 26’10 south Architects, Thorsten Deckler shares his tips for young designers and architects looking to find inspiration in their surroundings.

The interesting structures made from old exhaust pipes that identify exhaust repair services next to the road are a prime example of everyday design practice that can inspire creativity, he says. “There are many ordinary citizens, who often under difficult circumstances make sophisticated design decisions that are often not recognised by trained designers,” says Thorsten.

Thorsten’s advice for young designers is to “look around you and treat your surroundings as your primary resource.” He explains that design trends are constantly changing and that it is difficult to really identify who is worth watching. “Trends are like styles – most of them come and go.”

Here are three tips for young designers and architects:

1. Learn to embrace complexity: Although individual parts add up to the whole, the whole is complex and not simple. “A problem cannot be reduced to one reading or solved by one idea alone.”

2. Draw, draw and draw some more: “The inaccuracy of a hand drawing often helps you to ‘lie a little,’ to pursue ideas, rather than technical solutions.” Picasso once said that “Art is the lie that enables us to realise the truth.” It is in drawing that there is a more direct connection between your hand and brain, which allows you to develop ideas and react to them quickly.

3. Know how things work: “If you do not know how things work, make a point of finding out. There is no excuse not to do this.”

Thorsten will share many more of his own design inspirations at Architecture ZA 2015 (AZA2015) at The Sheds@1Fox in Newtown from 24 to 26 September 2015. Registrations for AZA2015 are now open. To register, visit booking.architectureza.org. For more information about AZA2015, visit architectureza.org or AZA2015 on Facebook.