HOW to LIVE
Site visit near Adelaide, South Australia.
A lifetime ago at the beginning of the year, 2025.
Life often unfolds in unexpected ways. This year reminded us of our humanity, of our fragility, and of our desire to create and connect to the world.
In August, 2025 was splintered in two by the shock of my partner Bryn’s diagnosis with a serious, advanced early-onset cancer. How do you live with such news, with such uncertainty, with the intense energy and time that illness, treatment and care demand? How do you place the immensity of your personal situation in a world where so many places, lives and systems are falling apart? And how does running an architecture practice fit in and around this new reality?
We have tried to walk together as we always have - openly, curiously, generously. We have been deeply thankful for the support and grace offered to us by friends and family, clients and contractors, and I have had endless gratitude for my team - Emily and Sophie - who have stepped up and in for me, carrying projects forward with beautiful and thoughtful architectural work.
In the first half of the year, everything felt expansive: new architectural projects saw us travel to incredible sites in Australia, New Zealand and across Europe. These visits laid the groundwork for the growing studio, anchoring us through these difficult months, framing our ongoing investigations into unique natural environments, local construction methods and heritage craftwork.
Now, from the clear, white cold air of the Swiss Alps, the heat and salty ocean breeze of Southern Australian beaches feel far away. But the richness of these experiences remains forefront in my mind through everything. Architecture is my everyday but also my escape - I conjure up new buildings, consider different material compositions, and watch sunlight flood rooms in my dreams.
We don’t know what 2026 will bring, but we step into it with a sliver of hope, which, like the moon, waxes and wanes, but remains present. Even with uncertainty, and pain, and tears, life always promises to be rich, and full, and deeply beautiful.
