Why Doesn’t Where You Live Feel Like Home? — with Urban Designer David Engwicht
4/30/20261 hr 4 min
We tend to think of home as the space inside our four walls. But for David Engwicht, home doesn't stop at the front door – it extends out into the neighbourhood beyond.
David is a master placemaker and urban designer – he explores how the design of our towns and cities can either bring us closer or push us apart. With his cowboy boots, heavy-framed glasses and 'Pat Cash' hair, he's more like a rock ’n’ roll philosopher than an urban thinker.
His philosophy was shaped by a nomadic childhood, living in 30 different homes and attending 26 schools. This experience taught him that home isn't something we find; it's something we create.
In this conversation, David talks about the social bonds modern life has eroded and the small, everyday gestures we can make to rebuild that trust.
From turning his own garden in Brisbane into a public park, to travelling the world with a folding throne in a suitcase, David’s work is a lesson in how designing for community can lead us to a deeper sense of belonging.
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Contact: Email us at hello@mattgibberd.com
Matt Gibberd’s book, A Modern Way to Live, is available here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/320176/a-modern-way-to-live-by-gibberd-matt/9780241480496
Music by @simeonwalkermusic
Identity & design by @lena.winkler.creative.office
Produced by @podshoponline
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsDavid Engwicht· Guest0:00
If we go back in time far enough, people's sense of home wasn't just the house that they lived in. Their sense of home extended out their front door, out into the street in front of their house, down to the corner store, all the way to the center of town. And so what I wanted to demonstrate was the power of using your private land for public good. Uh, so I started by turning my front yard into a public park. I put about $2,000 worth of furniture on the back deck, and my daughter said to me, "Dad, you're gonna bolt that down, aren't you, because it's gonna get stolen." Anyway, I go out one night and there's a, a lady sitting in one of the chairs and she said, "You know, you've started a big debate in our neighborhood, and 50% of people think this furniture's gonna get stolen, and 50% of us think it won't." And I went, "Wow." [laughs] That action has started a conversation about the nature of our community, and prior to my building the park, at least 50% of people believed they lived in a neighborhood full of thieves and robbers. And seven years later, that furniture is still there. So what I've demonstrated, I've changed the neighborhood story.
Matt Gibberd· Host1:10
[gentle music] Hi, everyone. Welcome back to Homing. Today, it's a foundations episode, and my guest is David Engwicht, who believes that home doesn't stop at your front door. It extends out into the neighborhood beyond. David is a placemaker, so he explores how the design