19th Volume: A Likely Pairing
This year marks our three-year partnership with Accidentally Wes Anderson (AWA) ! To celebrate, we’re sharing an exclusive Q&A with Principal and Global Design Leader Dennis Bree, AIA, LEED AP, and AWA founder Wally Koval in this newsletter.
The Brooklyn-based husband and wife team of Wally & Amanda conceived of the AWA platform as a way to develop a personal travel bucket list. First established on Instagram, their personal project quickly developed into a wide-reaching resource, providing inspiration for travelers & creatives from around the world. With their puppy, Dexter, by their side, the adventurous couple’s mission evolved from curating and researching interesting locations to bringing the Community along on virtual Adventures around the world. The Team has since expanded to their friends Morgan and David who serendipitously came from architecture and design backgrounds and now assist with all things from strategy to on-the-ground content capture and everything else required to keep the Community running. The mission remains the same from the start – provide a daily dose of delight and inspire a sense of adventure and curiosity for all that wish to participate.
Founded in the summer of 2017, this year marks AWA’s fifth anniversary. “The project started as a simple travel bucket list for me and my wife, Amanda, who has since become my partner-in-crime in all things AWA. Once a day, I would post a location that looked as though it had been plucked from a Wes Anderson film, but these were very real places with very real stories.”
In a short period of time, a thriving and vibrant community grew around their idea. What started as an Instagram account quickly grew to encompass a website with hundreds of long-form stories and videos, a newsletter with never-before-seen content, events across multiple continents, and a New York Times Bestselling book. Here’s a deeper look at how they started and how this community of Adventurers grew.
3. A Likely Pairing
Sneak peek: we sit down with Wally Koval and Principal Dennis Bree, AIA , LEED AP, for an interview on how together, we see the world differently through our intersection of distinctive design and unexpected narrative.
Did you know Wes Anderson grew up wanting to be an architect? Fast forward to where he is today, his passion for design is at the forefront of his style noting that, “a lot of directing is architecture.”?
Places have personalities, stories to tell, and people to connect. This understanding feeds our design approach, rooted in the human experience. And it’s what hit the play button on our partnership with Accidentally Wes Anderson.
DB: Let's start with the basics. Can you talk about what we do together?
WK: In short, we share design stories together. But we know it’s a bit more complex than that. We have an evolving partnership in that we are not afraid to try new things. We are willing to break out of our collective comfort zone – in terms of storytelling, themes, locations, and more – that have challenged both of us to push the envelope.
The list goes on. The point is that DLR Group understands that the design industry lives in the deep end of the pool, if you will, with a vast technological understanding of design, architecture, engineering, and more whereas the public is sunbathing on the lounge chair by the tiki bar. They may enjoy the beauty of a location at face value, but how do we get them to come a bit further? We’ve created a way to tell our stories together that brings people to water to dip their toes in, maybe even wade in the shallow end, and for some, go diving.
“AWA x DLR Group serve as a bridge between today’s fast-paced feeds and yesterday’s moments of pause.”
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DB: Why do you think our partnership has been so successful?
WK: Coming from someone who does not know a lot about architecture (remember, LCD), the way that DLR Group approaches design is truly human. Sure, brands have their taglines and mission statements, but we’ve seen your promise to elevate the human experience through design day in and day out. And your focus on adaptive reuse, preservation, and sustainability fits perfectly with the stories AWA tells.
Even more, the fact that your firm is employee-owned really caught our eye. It’s like an Instagram comment we received on our Rocky Mountain Road Trip Adventure:
“Honestly the work with DLR Group just hits different. Y’all are the best.”
We believe it’s because of the passion your designers have for what they do and who they do it for. From the very beginning, I have personally said 'I want everyone who has a hand in AWA – big or small – to be incredibly excited about their participation' because I believe if you do it with a smile, and you enjoy what you do, that positivity comes through your work. And so, it’s our shared values that put a capital T in front of trust in our partnership to match the capital C for our community and capital T for our tiny team.
DB: I hear a lot about how much our employee-owners love our partnership and look forward to seeing our stories out there. We share this same sentiment and value the reach that AWA has. Your platform reaches so many that it introduces the Architecture/Engineering/Construction industry to those who may not otherwise get that exposure. It’s imperative that we diversify those going into our industry, and that starts with an introduction to it.
DB: In addition to shedding more light on our industry, why should the public care about design?
WK: Because it is integral in everything that we do and what the community does. It’s like this idea that if you don’t notice it/it’s not intrusive, then it was done perfectly. But that can lead us to forget it’s there altogether and therefore miss stories that connect us. Knowing even a little bit – a fun fact, a design detail – gives us a greater sense of appreciation of our surroundings, where we’ve come from, and how we got here.
In today’s visually stimulating world, pretty pictures often take front stage. But AWA is here to share the story behind the pretty picture. With DLR Group, we share facts and stories that educate our community in a fun way leading to, what we hope, are moments of pause that have you go, “Wow, I have lived here my whole life and never noticed that building before.”
If the idea behind AWA is distinctive design and unexpected narrative, if it’s about looking at the history of place, if it’s about looking at the world a little differently, then design is integral to what AWA is all about.?
DB: We have found that bringing awareness to the propinquity and accessibility of design within everyone's daily lives lends a new significance to our audiences. Our partnership has opened a new door to bring our promise – elevate the human experience through design – to more neighborhoods around the globe.
AWA’s approach to feedback and insights is much like how we approach design. We ask questions, never dictating the solution but rather harnessing input from our community and those intended to use the space. This embodies our collaborative and creative culture, leading to solutions we couldn’t have developed on our own. And it’s what our partnership with AWA thrives on. Together, we’ve pushed the boundaries of what we both do to create something different and new. And in doing so, we highlight the beauty of the world around us – both in propinquity and afar – while bringing depth and purpose to the story beyond the fa?ade. Stay tuned for the full interview to be released in August.
One of the highlights of our partnership is our Adventures. So far, we’ve traveled to Washington, D.C., Cleveland, and Colorado. From exploring “the American Louvre,” to the second largest theater district in the U.S., we shared both the design and history of these places. Layering our shared fervor to leave the planet better than we found it, we bring awareness to the positive impacts of sustainable design, preservation, and adaptive reuse. In doing so, we hope to pique listeners' curiosity and hold their attention. Take your pick on an Adventure!
We’re exploring the innovative world of mass timber and its ability to transform the built environment. With inspiring style, modern technology, and a commitment to sustainability, #masstimber is making a strong case for itself as a building material of the future. Don’t miss out on exploring the fascinating world of mass timber and our 汉斯 T3 designs.?Accidentally Wes Anderson has the story of its impact on modern architecture.
Looking forward to reading the full interview? Check our feeds during the month of August ?–?#AmericanArtistAppreciationMonth?–?for the release.
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Creative Production Leader | Bridging Strategy & Execution | Expert in Multi-Disciplinary Team Management
1 年Some of the best stories are AWA x DLR stories!
Bud Maltin Metropolitan Music LIve Musicians, Vocalists & DJ's
1 年Fantastic ! You are created some thing truly unique and wonderful! AWA