Habitus Magazine | Issue 27

In this first part of the year, I’ve been thinking about strategies for living. As the world continues to get faster, there is a greater need to slow down, focus and streamline.

Deciding what is important and deleting the extraneous bits is often the first step towards a more conscious way of living. Whether in relation to getting somewhere, completing a task or using a budget, efficiency is paramount. It not only saves time, money and energy but for me, it also produces a deeply pleasurable emotion – satisfaction.

Being flexible and adaptable is another major goal. “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change,” Einstein said. The whole premise of natural selection and survival is founded on this ability. Nahji Chu, who features as our cover story (p.53), knows this better than anyone. Her restaurant business, misschu, is currently going through some major administration changes that may set lesser people back – but Nahji is as adaptable as a Swiss army knife and will find a way to turn this into an advantage. We applaud her tenacity and flexibility, all the more as we discover her passion for and patronage of the arts and design community.

This issue we explore ways to live in more efficient and flexible ways through design and architecture. Materials, building processes, future-proofing, left over spaces – all are examples that we can learn from. Particularly inspiring are the concepts within the Future of the Home feature (p. 97), which we’ve collected from various thought-leaders, artists, architects and designers. They explore issues of climate, rising population, space saving, creation of communities, waste – all legitimate and necessary concerns for us and for future generations.

I should say that the underlying theme is sustainability – but I hesitate to use the word, here at this frothy end of the greenwash wave. Although it’s easy to feel fatigued about the whole eco crusade, it’s imperative that we find ways to discuss and implement strategies for the future. Exploring tangential themes such as efficiency and flexibility has encouraged new life into somewhat tired conversations.

We will be taking the exploration of our themes online for each issue, so join us on habitusliving.com for more. There is so much wonderful content unearthed in our research for each issue that we can’t fit onto these pages. We’re grateful to have the infinite space on our website to give it all due exposure.

Nicky Lobo | Editor