How to design freedom a journey of a nomadic architect
[Music]
four years ago
i decided to quit my life nothing seems
to make sense to me
while everyone around me seems to be
satisfied only i
couldn’t check the feeling that
something wasn’t right
after my life partner and i decided to
split i moved to tel aviv
i was sitting in my tiny apartment
surrounded by boxes that used to be my
life
items i collected over the years
suddenly seemed like a burden
a heavy load they strive to take off my
shoulders
next to my building there was a 24-hour
construction site
and my noise-cancelling headphones
couldn’t help me anymore
it was if the city was trying to push me
away
but i couldn’t understand why i had
checked all the boxes on the adult life
list
i had a great job as a partner in an
architecture firm
i was in a meaningful relationship with
a wonderful guy and my future looked
bright
yet i couldn’t help feeling unfulfilled
have you ever found yourself asking is
that all there is
well in that extremely loud moment in my
apartment
i decided i’m going to find out for
myself
i needed more than working nine to five
in an office
i was craving life new experiences and
new ways of connecting with people and
cultures across the world
i decided to sell all my belongings to
get rid of the heavy boxes and go on a
one-way ticket journey
to places i always wanted to be in even
if at a time
i had no clear plan to follow this meant
i had to give up my identity as an
architect
since i was taught there is only one way
of practicing architecture
just the thought of it terrified me
after all of those years of studying and
working
but i couldn’t imagine living another
day that looks exactly like the one
before
working on another building that looks
exactly like the one next to it
like a machine it’s the exact opposite
of what living means to me
my friends and family couldn’t
understand what i was doing
they thought i was crazy throwing my
life away after
everything i worked so hard to achieve
but the way i saw it it was my chance to
rewrite the script of my life
so the first thing i did was to fulfill
an old dream of mine
and fly to japan one of my favorite
things to do there was getting lost on
purpose each morning i would wake up
choose a spot on tokyo’s map that i
haven’t been to before
go there and wander around for hours
there’s a special magic in the act of
losing control
walking around without a specific
destination it makes you experience
your environment in a mindful way i
started paying attention to details and
took the time to stop for tea
and do nothing but admire the beauty of
the teacup or the local woodwork
for the first time in years i felt alive
my senses were sharp i could breathe
deeper and i was finally feeling like my
curious self again
at that point different questions
started arising
if i’m not an architect what am i who am
i and how am i going to afford keep
doing what i’m doing
after traveling for a while i became
lonely
when i first arrived i was mainly
interacting with tourists who usually
left after a few days
quickly after i began seeking people
that lived there
as i continued my travels i met more and
more people that identified themselves
as global citizens
a new movement of people who all
explored during their home countries
some of them fell in love with a
specific place and started their life
theirs
others formed a pneumatic lifestyle and
kept moving around between different
countries and continents
for those people borders do not exist
following the sun like birds
many of these global citizens were
working online or started
or started their own businesses in a new
country we met in working spaces cafes
meetups and shared apartments they
formed communities in
beautiful locations across the world and
saw the world as their playground
as they craft their lives according to
their own values
i felt like we share a similar mindset a
mindset of choice
these people were in the same journey as
i was reinventing the way they live
work and connect in the old paradigm
success was measured by having a big
house a steady job and a new car each
year
for those global citizens success was
simply the freedom to ask themselves
questions
when there is no path to follow the
possibilities are endless and it makes
you dig
deep and find the true intention and
meaning behind your choices
in the first year traveling i met about
500 people
50 of them had a direct impact on my
life and mindset
they became my friends i learned new
ways of living
each one different from the other it
sparked my imagination
and i realized that i’m not the only one
who feels like there is something
missing about the way life was presented
to us
we are all unique therefore there isn’t
one correct way to follow
i still didn’t know exactly what to do
but then something happened that put
everything in place i met a couple who
had just bought a hotel in japan
their faces lit up when they discovered
the diamond architect and they asked me
to help them with the design of their
hotel
a similar thing happened when my code
surfing host asked me to do a consulting
session
for an empty former hospital building
they wanted to reuse
so when i arrived in thailand i decided
to run an experiment
i posted on the local facebook group hi
i’m adi
and i’m an architect i’ll be here for a
few weeks
let me know if you need anything believe
it or not
it worked thailand was the first place
where i started my way as a nomadic
architect
i realized i can be an architect while
living a nomadic lifestyle
all the things that i thought that were
holding me back were actually the things
that made people want to work with me
my outsiders perspective allowed me to
design for global citizens
the ones who wish to express their
uniqueness both in the lifestyle
and in their projects not long after i
began projects in portugal
guatemala the us and many more the kind
of projects i could only dream about a
few years back
each one was unique i love the
challenge of tapping into a new culture
and understanding the context
it allowed me a new kind of freedom
when you let go of the idea of how
things should be
you can see what’s in front of you but i
would have never found it if i wanted to
be willing to break
out of the patterns i grew up in thanks
to technological progress
nowadays we have more and more freedom a
kind of freedom our ancestors couldn’t
even imagine
take for example the tiny house movement
where people live in affordable units on
wheels
breaking the pattern of size by choosing
to live smaller but gaining free time
and the ability to move around no debt
no cage
co-living projects are also changing the
way we relate to our communities
we don’t want to be isolated in our
apartments anymore
people choose the living buildings that
have private areas as well as communal
spaces
being a part of a co-living means you
get to know your neighbors form
meaningful relationships with them
and share your life with a community of
like-minded people
it seems that after experiencing the
world as a global village
as a society we have more appreciations
towards uniqueness of places and
cultures
using local materials techniques and
crafts over copycat designs
for example this project in indonesia
it’s a dream come true for rina
where she upcycled 300 years old
javanese structures
and created the project of her dreams
innovative architecture teaches us their
various ways and models for living
that reflect our values and choices so
when you think about your life
can you identify which parts did you
choose and which parts you accept
without questioning
this is where we’re at a year ago the
world couldn’t imagine the way we all
live nowadays
the patterns around us are breaking and
we have an historic opportunity to be
proactive in designing our lives
as the world keeps changing we have to
be better in understanding of self
lifestyle design and where we fit the
new millennium
offers us the opportunity to truly own
our choices and to imagine new ways of
working and living
all we have to do is be active creative
and adopt a flexible mindset you don’t
have to sell your belongings
or travel the world you do have to think
for yourself
are you building life based on a design
someone handed you
or are you the architect designing your
life
thank you