7 QUESTIONS TO FIND YOUR PURPOSE
PURPOSEFUL PROJECTS
THE EUROPEAN HEAD QUARTERS OF NATO
THE EUROPEAN HEAD QUARTERS OF NATO
In 2006 I had a call from a group of architects. They wanted to enter an international competition to design and build the European Headquarters of NATO. Could I help them with their bid?
I met with the team and we had some very interesting discussions. We talked about the difference between the Function and the Purpose of the building. On one level, what is the building for on a purely nuts and bolts level in the way that the Function of a car is to get from A to B regardless of the make, model, design or environmental impact? On another level what does it represent? What Purpose or ideal does the building serve?
THE MAITRAYA PROJECT
I had the privilege to be involved in an extraordinary project which already had a well defined Purpose. A client of mine, another architect, won an international competition to design and build The Maitreya Project. This was a Buddha the size of the Empire State Building, to be built in India and designed to last a thousand years. It was to be the tallest statue in the world, a working building and clad entirely in bronze so that he would glow golden in the sun. His head would be above the clouds for part of the year and one could hold meetings in the different chakra points of the Buddha’s body. To give you an idea of the size and scale of the statue. The throne on which the Buddha sits is the size of a world championship sports stadium. The back of the statue was to be made of 250,000 different effigies of the Buddha, so that when the sun shines in the sky in 500 years time, it lights up different shadows on the floor of the prayer all.
THE MAITRAYA PROJECT
I had the privilege to be involved in an extraordinary project which already had a well defined Purpose. A client of mine, another architect, won an international competition to design and build The Maitreya Project. This was a Buddha the size of the Empire State Building, to be built in India and designed to last a thousand years. It was to be the tallest statue in the world, a working building and clad entirely in bronze so that he would glow golden in the sun. His head would be above the clouds for part of the year and one could hold meetings in the different chakra points of the Buddha’s body. To give you an idea of the size and scale of the statue. The throne on which the Buddha sits is the size of a world championship sports stadium. The back of the statue was to be made of 250,000 different effigies of the Buddha, so that when the sun shines in the sky in 500 years time, it lights up different shadows on the floor of the prayer hall. It was 'the space project' of construction.
THE EUROPEAN UNION
7 days before the UK’s Brexit referendum I started working with the European Union. My commitment is to peace. Between people this is cultivated and maintained through connection, communication and symbiosis. The same is true for countries. Europe has enjoyed it’s greatest period of prolonged peace since the inception of the EU. Like everything there are improvements and upgrades that can be made, but the fundamental principles lead to the betterment of society… connection, communication, symbiosis.
The Purpose I nominated for my work there was ‘Unity in Community’.
DOING THE RIGHT THING
Can beer change the world? It already has. Beer was one of the principle reasons humanity changed from being hunter gatherers to settlers. Getting enough food to eat was always a challenge. Hunting was hard work and foraging would only bring in so much. One day someone drank the water where grains had fermented. It fed them and it felt good. People realised that they could live more easily within reach of this foodstuff and eventually learned how to repeat the process, changing the shape of society.
So, what has this got to do with Purpose?
We were approached by one of the largest brewers and distributors of beer in the world. They produce over 200 million bottles of beer every day which is more than the populations of Brazil and Russia combined. This equates to 6 planet’s worth of beer every year. How they treat the land, their workers, local communities, how they create packaging, print for their labels, sell to distributors and what they put into their products and therefore into their consumers, affects billions of people every day.