Leaning in to the pivot can lead to the right path
As an architect who works in remote and post-disaster areas, Ka Wai Yeung has learnt how to dance in the chaos.
Grand Designs is one of my favourite shows. I think it’s what the young ones refer to as a “comfort show”. I love watching people build a home that creates a space of peace and harmony. The idea that constructing your sanctuary to enhance feelings of wellness feels perfectly sensible, if perfectly out-of-reach.
So it was more delightful than surprising when I came across Kauntiz Yeung Architecture. Ka Wai (the Yeung to the Kaunitz) is a Director and Co-Founder with her husband David Kauntiz. Together they create buildings in remote and regional Australia and in post-disaster areas in the Asia Pacific.
Listen to Ka Wai Yeung on A Better World Blueprint on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Their buildings are beautiful, functional but most importantly they are built in collaboration with the local community. Collaboration is important because it means the buildings - schools, hospitals, cultural centres- function the way people want and need them to, creating a ripple effect throughout the whole community in areas like education and health.
While a designer and architect with obvious skill, what stood out about Ka Wai is her ability to pivot. It’s a word that has been overused since Covid, but Ka Wai and David must have the dexterity of prima ballerinas. They’ve managed to turn their skills to good use in areas that are difficult to access, to continue projects in post disaster areas (and throughout Covid) and to incorporate family life (the couple have two children) into their business.
As Ka Wai says in our interview, that dexterity is accompanied by a fair amount of grit and passion. But it struck me that people living life with purpose have a pull-through line. When they’re on shaky ground they still have that line to hang on to.
Uncertainty feels awful. Financial insecurity is an ever present dread right in your heart. It’s finding it hard to sleep and wondering what the hell you’re doing with your life. It’s the price of following where your heart wants to lead. And yes, I understand these feelings because I’m feeling them right now.
But then I heard a quote by Brianna Wiest, right at the moment when I was thinking about Ka Wai’s work and the unstable ground beneath my feet.
“The presence of indifference is a sign you’re on the wrong path. Fear means you’re trying to move toward something you love, but your old beliefs, or unhealed experiences, are getting in the way.”*
I take courage from that quote, and from people like Ka Wai, that though the ground is shaky, I’m on the right path.
*From her book 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think,
Listen to Ka Wai Yeung on A Better World Blueprint on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Ka Wai’s Blueprint:
Some ideas from Ka Wai on how she has lived her life of purpose
Who is the person who most inspires you?
“I feel so lucky that I've met so many wonderful people along the way. I think the overarching theme is vision, overcoming hardship, hard work and discipline. I grew up with my grandmother and she survived the horrors of the Second World War. So how she and her generation overcame such a dark, difficult past has always been an inspiration for me.
“I also get incredibly inspired by the people and elders within the communities whom I work with. And so many of them had to overcome many adversities in life, whether that be the communities that had been struck and decimated after a natural disaster or terribly impacted by the dark past of colonisation. But then I think time and time again, they are united by the vision of creating something better for their people and for their future generations. And that takes incredible discipline and hard work and not giving up. So I guess whenever I'm thinking that I'm having a difficult time or a difficult day, I'll take a step back and think how minute those issues that I'm dealing with are in comparison. Pretty much all can be dealt with step by step. It can be very stressful still but a lot of that is in our mindset.”
Do you have a saying that helps guide you in life?
“I think in my earlier years, it would be, you must be the change you wish to see in the world. I think quite early on, I was observant enough to realise that you can't really change other people or the environment. You can try but if you expect that to happen it's just going to make you miserable. So just deal with what you can change within yourself first.
“And then after that with COVID, live as if you were to die tomorrow and learn as if you were to live forever. That's by Gandhi.
“And then there are little gems that I got from my kids. I think these days it is so incredible how schools, the way they teach them, not just about academic, but things like being comfortable with uncomfortable feelings. I wish someone told me that when I was a kid. And the power of ‘yet’, I can't do this yet. That growth mindset is so important.”
Is there a book, movie or piece of art that has had an impact on your life?
“I think I would count architecture as art. And when I was in university, I went backpacking in Europe and it changed how I saw architecture. The impact of visiting Castle Facio by Carlo Scarpa and the experience of being in the town square of Verona in Italy really profoundly moved me. There are spaces that are timeless, emotive and speak to the truth of beauty and the inner core of human needs and connection. It was just so powerful. I never knew architecture could do that, even though I had already picked architecture as my major study at the time. And from then on, I understood I want to create architecture that's truthful, that is timeless and not just, you know, about fashion.”
What's your favourite thing in the world to do?
“I think a lot of people would say hanging out with the kids and with their families. Also, you know, sometimes watching them from a distance is also really nice. And the other thing is the opening of the buildings we deliver and also openings of friends, other people in the profession because those projects take so long to do and you've gone through an incredible journey with all those people involved and during the construction you're always thinking, ‘My god that's the defect here and there we need to fix this’. But the opening is really where you can drop everything down and celebrate with the team and everyone involved and just be joyous about it.”
What is the best thing you ever did?
“I think that was when I decided to go to the Solomans to visit what my husband was doing at the time. And on that trip, we fell in love. And I also found the best way to deliver projects for communities. And then everything followed after that.”
What is the best piece of advice you've ever been given?
“That was parenting advice. I was pregnant at the time and we were visiting a friend of David's late grandmother. She's a Holocaust survivor who's been through it all. And we casually asked her, do you have any parenting advice? And she was able to say, to distill it in just a few words, ‘Just give the child lots of love’. And I didn't immediately appreciate it at the time, but after I had the baby, time and time again, I always just go back to that very simple principle, just give the child lots of love. It doesn't mean to spoil them for no reason. It means just thinking about things from their perspective and working hard at it.”
Listen to Ka Wai Yeung on A Better World Blueprint on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.