The Long View of Design – A Living Bridge

Absolutely gorgeous movie, click above to view.

The movie is beautiful on many levels. But from a design thinking perspective it highlights a timescale that is unimaginable to most of us. The bridges are woven together from the roots of the strangler fig vines over generations. It is a skill passed down from parent to child, and is a life’s work of maintenance.

When most CEOs hold their positions for less that 5 years, it is incredible to consider that there are cultures that still have the ability to see the “long view”. It is hard not to fantasize and idealize this lifestyle without reflecting on the irony that I am trying to type this in my 5 minute break between meetings and classes… Perhaps when I have some time to reflect there is an interesting discussion to be had around scales of time within “innovation” and it’s relationship to previous discussions regarding “genius of place”.

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