Dwelle Lecture

Last Tuesday, Ric Frankland (Director of Dwelle) presented a lecture on his company, speaking about its ideas, aims and achievements so far. He introduced himself as an Architect and Eco-building Manager, and proceeded to share with us his story of how his company came to be as it is today. and what preceded that. He has previously worked as a lecturer at Universities, teaching the subjects of Architecture and Interior Design. His company specialises in the design of small, ecologically-friendly and sustainable housing. The unique design around which all of Dwelle's range are based came about as a modification of an entry to an architectural concept design competition Ric had entered. The design is innovative in it's layout, selected materials, adaptability, affordability and ease of construction. Ric emphasised his enthusiasm for the use of environmentally friendly and sustainable building materials, particularly wood, which his concepts are predominantly composed of. The buildings are prefabricated, with the original award-winning design being modifiable to accommodate a whole spectrum of potential purposes. At 'first glance', the presentation had no obvious or direct relevance to illustrators, though it soon became apparent that Ric's experiences and attitudes to his passion can be applied to any creative field. He made a point of underlining the power of perseverance and experimentation, and shared the following quote: "Making a different mistake every day is not only acceptable, it is the definition of progress." -Robert Brault. He also talked about the power of networking, as well as the effectiveness of word-of-mouth recommendation. What interested me personally the most about his presentation, was his openness about his hesitance to define exactly what he does or intends to do- he spoke of how he may well be working on very different projects later down the line, and that despite identifying as an architect, he's less interested in the actual production side of his designs. I relate to this in that I'm currently open to whatever possibilities may arise, and I'm not yet sure which direction my work (photography and illustration) is taking me. My aim is to continue to experiment and remain versatile, and Ric validated this approach.