A Designer Talks of a Home / A Resident Talks of Home (I)
by Caleb Femi
00:00:00 we spend 87 percent of our lives inside buildings
00:00:34 I was conceived within these walls in ’87
00:01:09 how they are designed really affects how we feel
00:07:53 the wallpaper was here before me, I don’t claim it
00:01:43 how we behave
00:08:13 Mum says this is a good home. When I was little I used
to peel the yellow from the wallpaper
00:01:56 design is not just a visual thing; it’s a thought process
00:12:12 once I swallowed an apple pip & a guy from the 12th
floor told me
00:02:20 it’s a skill . . .
00:14:02 an apple tree will grow out from my belly
00:02:39 design is a tool to enhance our humanity. . . a frame
for life
00:15:45 don’t that mean I will be the first treeboy on the estate?
00:02:50 putting the human experience at the beginning of
the process
00:17:39 the guy said trees live as long as boys do here that’s
why we have concrete
00:03:32 tactile memory
00:18:01 at the back of our block there is a wall full of RIPs . . .
a thousand unlived lives of boys & trees
00:03:46 empathy is the cornerstone of design
00:18:50 y’know the architect that designed this estate killed
himself
00:03:53 it’s all about showmanship and theatricality
00:19:20 Mum reckons that’s why they covered the rot with
cladding
00:04:01 it’s about how things feel & smell as much as how
they look
00:20:15 ’cause concrete smells like a siege . . . when it rains
I like to
00:04:23 imbue people with a sense of wellbeing,
empowerment, gentle joyfulness
00:21:09 pretend I live
00:04:56 translate the future life of a building into design
language
00:22:23 on the 19th floor you can see everything but the future
00:05:03 those great long corridors reduced people
00:23:59 we see the same view even when we’re not looking,
we’re usually not looking
00:05:25 to see that a building could have such an impact
on the way people felt, on the way they interacted
00:25:48 at the scene we know who did it . . . keep our
mouths shut when boydem come with their
00:09:13 it’s about interrogation and empathy
00:26:03 [laughter]
00:09:58 materials are the things that tell the truth
00:27:29 if these walls could talk our ears would bleed.
00:10:17 humans are naturally drawn to the material
00:28:32 is fire a material?
00:13:03 we discover the world through our senses
00:29:10 some animals only map the world through one
sense . . . & so can survive smoke
00:13:54 our materials speak to us
00:30:02 concrete makes me feel safe . . . when I leave my
block I don’t feel safe
© Caleb Femi, from Poor (Penguin, 2020)
Caleb Femi
Raised on the North Peckham estate in South London, Caleb Femi is a poet and director. He has written and directed short films for the BBC and Channel 4, and poems for Tate Modern, the Royal Society for Literature, St Paul's Cathedral, the BBC, the Guardian and more. He has been featured in the Dazed 100 list of the next generation shaping youth culture. From 2016 to 2018, he served as the Young People's Laureate for London. He recently wrote the liner material for Kano's 2019 album Hoodies All Summer.