Marko Brajovic
on Ancestral Futurism in Architecture
Ancestral Futurism: “A place where we are not alone, where we are surrounded by ancient indigenous wisdom, where we use nature as technology to design the new world.”
That is how Marko Brajovic felt when he first stepped onto Brazilian soil. Coup de foudre: he never wanted to leave that enchanted place that instantly conquered his heart. He encountered challenging projects, friendship and even love: “I held an architecture workshop in a floating community in the Amazon rainforest, but I was the one who had a lesson to learn: both from the forest and those who inhabit it. The law of the jungle is partnership. The intelligence of the forest is possible thanks to cooperation, different from the manipulated concepts of survival of the strongest.”
Since then, nature has become Marko’s inspirator, mentor and model, a fundamental measure of his creative process. A concept that permeates all areas, formats and aesthetics that are shaped in his architecture, exhibition design, curatorship, interior and product design.
The theme question from La Biennale di Venezia, “How will we live together?”, opened an existential portal for him: “It does not refer only to humans, it’s about all species, the non-human organisms as well.” Marko works towards augmenting our mindsets to ecological consciousness and living as inter-being: “We don’t need to save our collapsing world and unsustainable model of inhabiting this planet, nor our globalized economy. We need to be brave and dream in lucidity! I think we all got a bit tired of the word sustainability, a concept now abused for advertising purposes that completely lost its meaning.”
Marko is an architect, TED Speaker, creative director, researcher in organic and phenomenological morphogenesis of forms, and a founder of Atelier Marko Brajovic, a multidisciplinary architecture, master plan and design company. He also serves as a Global Community Professor at the University of Monterrey and founder of Design by Nature.
Marko organizes the design process in three core systematic areas: Behaviorology (how people do), Phenomenology (how physics do), Biomimicry (how alive nature does). “Permarchitecture”, his creative process, is an integration of permaculture system and architecture structure where the metabolism of a building merges with the environment in an integrated ecosystem of mutual benefits: “an evolution of modernist architecture paradigms from mechanical to organic, regenerative processes that mimic ecological interrelationship adaptive to changing conditions.”
You’ll have the chance to meet Marko at UNFINISHED festival in Romania, on the 27-29 September, where he will be a Speaker!
Read Marko Brajovic’s answers for Inspirators and join him to discover why nature is the best designer!
Thank you, Marko, for being an Ancestral Futurist!
#INSPIRATORS QUESTIONNAIRE
Name: Marko Brajovic
Company / Institution: Atelier Marko Brajovic
Title: Architect and Creative Director
Website: www.markobrajovic.com
LinkedIn profile: linkedin.com/in/marko-brajovic-5227b515
Country of origin: Croatia
Country you currently live in: Brazil
Your definition of Regeneration: Life creating conditions for Life!
Main business challenge you face: Coherence.
Main driver that keeps you going: Envisioning possible futures.
The trait you are most proud of in yourself: Not being too proud of myself!
The trait you most value in others: Solidarity with non-humans.
Passions & little things that bring you joy: Wind in my hair, the smell of spring flowers, kids smiling, a good book, birds singing, deep forest.
The Inspirators who determined you to take the regenerative path:
The first time I entered the Amazon rainforest.
A starting point for companies or professionals that are beginning the regeneration journey: Ecological Thinking!
Most used and abused clichés in sustainability that bother you: The word “sustainability” itself.
An honest piece of advice for young people who lose hope: Take a deep walk into the forest and open yourself to communication with non-humans.
Books that had a great impact on you / Must-Reads for any regenerative professional:
The Mushroom at the End of the World - On Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing
Movies / Documentaries you would watch all over again: Interstellar.
Websites / Podcasts you visit frequently: asknature.org
Music that makes you (and your heart) sing:
Eskawata Kaiawai
Places you travelled to that left a mark on you: Tierra de Fuego.
Global Regenerative Voices you recommend us to follow:
Timothy Morton
Trends in Regeneration we should keep an eye on: Indigenous community reforestation.
Events we should attend / Best places for networking (online or offline): SXSW.
Impactful and relevant Sustainable Development or Regeneration courses or certifications:
Biomimicry at The Biomimicry Institute
Reasons to feel optimistic about our future in 2030: Ecological consciousness expansion.
Reasons to feel pessimistic about our future in 2030: Wars!
Regenerative Leadership qualities much needed today: Vision of possible futures including non-humans.
The Inspirator(s) you are endorsing for a future edition:
Fyodor Pavlov Andreevich
The quote that inspires you:
"Who knows how to talk to animals knows how to talk to God." (Zoe Brajovic, my daughter)
Your quote that will inspire us:
