John Thackara doesn’t carry a rulebook. When the British-born
sustainable design expert visits a city, he looks for people already
working on innovative projects, or who have ideas worth exploring.
The “guest provocateur” is here for 4 Days, an “unconference”
organized by local design firm Breakhouse Inc., intended to open up
community conversations about sustainable design. “There’s a slight
problem with this sustainability thing. People think it’s boring or
that the interesting stuff has already been done, happening somewhere
else,” Thackera says on the phone from his home in southern France.
“But that’s not true.”
Thackara will act as an “accelerator” for Haligonians involved in
grassroots projects like urban farming, and for those interested in
“having a conversation about what contribution their project is making
to a potentially sustainable city or region.”
It’s a cross-disciplinary approach of sharing resources among
like-minded architects, designers, developers and environmentalists.
Though Thackara has many thoughts on development (“trophy buildings”
have a short lifespan; forget tall or short, “what’s the environmental
impact?”), the bigger part “is finding ways of doing day-to-day
activities in much lighter ways.”
Artists also play a role as they “help communities look at the world
through fresh eyes.” Recently Thackara was in a rundown part of Berlin
that’s being revitalized by artists organizing community events in
small galleries. “They’re not sitting in a large gallery making all
sorts of beautiful art pieces, they’re trying to stimulate
conversation,” he says. “I don’t call myself an artist, I call myself a
designer, but the sustainability story is about getting people together
to talk about practical things and it’s a very fun activity.”
Thackara’s hefty resume includes a stint as design correspondent for
The Guardian and director of the Netherlands Design Institute.
Currently, as director of Doors of Perception, he organizes global
conferences on design challenges around technology, taking a militant
stance that “mobile telephones or the internet or websites are only
crucial to sustainability in so much that they help human beings work
together better.”
In addition to Thackera’s meetings, 4 Days is hosting the TEDx on
Thursday, an offshoot of the popular Technology, Entertainment and
Design conference. Combining recorded talks with local speakers, TEDx
kicks off with a discussion on “Global Perspectives, Local Learning.”
On Friday, there’s a special Pecha Kucha, focused on “Design a Better
Life for Halifax.”
On Saturday at 1pm, Thackera presents his observations from a most
unusual podium: the second-floor balcony of the apartment building at
the corner of Hollis and Morris, scheduled to be demolished soon. The
250-year-old legendary building will go out with a Cardboard City from
Spacing Atlantic (see page 51), music and a barbecue.
Thackara isn’t sure yet what he going to tell the crowd. “My job
there is to say what I think is exciting and valuable and has potential
in Halifax, and not tell people what to do,” he explains. “I emphasize,
that the value of me being there is to come at it with fresh eyes, no
more than that.”
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This article appears in Oct 22-28, 2009.