Design Your Life with Vince Frost

What does an institution built in the 1820s have to teach us about designing for the future? Dr Caroline Butler-Bowdon has spent two decades moving through museums, historic houses and public space, and now leads the State Library of NSW into its 200th year.  In this episode, Caroline talks with Vince about the library as one of the last true third spaces, somewhere people come to b...

 What happens when architecture is driven by passion, adventure and the power of nature?  On the latest episode of Design Your Life, Chad Oppenheim joins Vince Frost for a wide-ranging conversation on creativity, resilience and designing life beyond buildings.  From growing up in suburban New Jersey dreaming through films like  Star Wars  and  James Bond  and bec...

What does it take to design spaces that feel like a series of carefully crafted scenes?  In this episode, Vince sits down with architect Ismael Soto, founder of SOTO, whose global career spans some of the world’s most influential practices before launching his own studio in Los Angeles.  They discuss the role of research in design, the evolving impact of AI on architecture, an...

What does it take to build not just a successful practice, but a lasting partnership?  In this episode, Vince sits down with Tim Hay and Jeff Fearon, founders of the critically acclaimed architecture and design practice Fearon Hay. Nearly 30 years into their journey, they reflect on how a shared vision, mutual respect and deep friendship have shaped both their work and their lives.&...

What does it really mean to design for wellbeing? For husband and wife team architect Michael Kovac and pediatrician Karina Maher, it begins with understanding the powerful relationship between nature, environment and health. While their work comes from two very different disciplines, both are guided by the same belief: the spaces we inhabit have a profound impact on how we live and feel. Michael...

From launching P.E Nation onto the global stage to redefining how women move through their day, Claire Greaves has built brands that shape culture.  But success is only one part of the story.  In this episode, Claire shares how scaling fast, leading through pressure and navigating very public life changes ultimately led her to something more powerful than growth. Clarity.  Now back...

What happens when you realise the world moves too fast for the things that matter most? For artist, sign writer and maker Will Lynes, the answer has always been craft — the kind built slowly, imperfectly and with both hands.  Will is the founder of Lynes & Co . , known for their handcrafted lettering, gilding and detailed reverse-glass work that has shaped some of Australia’s...

 What does it mean to design a legacy — not just through buildings, but through the lives they shape?  In this episode of Design Your Life , Vince sits down with architect Koos de Keijzer, founding director of DKO, to explore how culture, travel and values influence the way we design — and the way we live. Raised in a Dutch household in New Zealand and trained in the Netherla...

What shapes the feeling of a place? And how does a life spent moving between cities, countries and creative worlds influence the way you design for others?  For interior architect Simone McEwan, co-founder of international design studio Nice Projects, the thread has always been the same — creating spaces that make people feel something.  From a childhood spent moving between eight...

What does it take to lead one of the UK’s oldest and most respected architectural practices into the future?  As CEO of Scott Brownrigg, Darren Comber has steered the 115-year-old practice through change, challenge and reinvention. From its early roots in Guildford to a network of studios spanning Amsterdam, London, New York, Singapore and Riyadh, Darren has played a pivotal role in sha...

What if the true measure of success isn’t scale, but connection?  From a childhood spent in expat compounds of Saudi Arabia to founding one of Australia’s most admired design studios, Jeremy Bull, founder and principal of Alexander &CO., has designed far more than homes, he’s designed a life rooted in meaning, craftsmanship and human connection.  After overcoming ye...

What does it mean to create objects that tell stories, that shape how we feel, live, and connect? For Gabriel Hendifar, Artistic Director and Co-Founder of APPARATUS, design is about more than beautiful lighting and furniture, it’s about creating the container for human experience.  Born in Los Angeles to Iranian immigrants, his early world was filled with music, memory, and craft, infl...

How do you go from almost joining the Marines, to leading the world’s largest hospitality design firm?  Born in Yorkshire and now based in Singapore, Chris Godfrey’s story is one of creative grit, adaptability and quiet determination. From humble beginnings as a teenage print boy in an architectural practice, to founding his own studio, to now serving as Co-CEO of HBA, the global...

What does it mean to shape culture through design?   For Peter Saville CBE, one of the most influential designers of our time, it has always been about perception. From his early work at Factory Records, crafting the visual identities of Joy Division and New Order, to collaborations with fashion houses like Yohji Yamamoto, Burberry, Calvin Klein and Chanel, Saville has consistently redef...

How do you build a design career that spans continents, cultures and scale, and then redesign your life after a wake-up call?  Rido Pin is a Director at Plus Studio, a solutions company for the built environment, with 11 studios across Australia and New Zealand and projects worldwide. Originally from the Netherlands, Rido’s journey has taken him from cycling the fields of Holland, to is...

What happens when you combine a love of design with a mind for business? For Ajaz Ahmed, it meant building one of the world’s most successful creative companies from scratch before starting all over again.  Ajaz is the visionary founder of AKQA, the global digital agency that he grew to 5,000 staff across 30 countries. After three decades at the helm, he stepped down and launched Studio...

Growing up in North London in the 80s, no one was talking about art or design. Life was about conversations with neighbours on the street, the good and the not so good. Four decades later, Paul Cocksedge’s work is grounded in these formative years. Known for his unorthodox approach to materials in works that span public art, sculpture and architectural installation, everything he designs is...

When Elad Yifrach was growing up his art teacher mother would entertain he and his sisters by setting up art projects on their dining room table. It wasn’t long before his bedroom was home to stacks of magazines covered in sticky notes, and he was studying a unique architecture and interior design course at Technion, “kind of like the MIT of Israel”. Yifrach is the Founder and Cr...

Keith Hempel always knew he was going to be an architect. Growing up in Southern California with a creative mother and a technical father, he seemed destined for the vocation. A transformative, “eye opening” and “earth shattering” year studying the craft in Florence set him on his way.     Today, he helps lead a cohort of over 500 architects, engineers, landscape archi...

As a teenager, Dr Michael Brand experienced moving from Canberra to Washington as both traumatic and exciting. It was on a journey back to Australia via family in Nepal with his brother, they were aged 15 and 18 respectively, that he first experienced Islamic art. He can trace a direct line from that experience to his field of study and life’s work. Brand has recently retired as Director of...

The question of living well is a big one. What does it actually mean? For Eva-Marie Prineas, home is where the heart is, and the way a home is planned has the most impact in how it feels to inhabit when it’s complete. Prineas founded her eponymous architecture practice in 2004. Perhaps unsurprising considering she would sit in the back yard of her family home in suburban Sydney and sketch th...

Lily Froehlicher inherited a love of luxury from her mother and a passion for travel from her father—interests that shaped her desire to create beautiful experiences for others. After studying in Paris, Shanghai, and London, and gaining experience at Hermès and Chanel, she joined Invisible Collection at its inception.   Now Managing Director, she leads the online platform co...

Once a music-obsessed kid dreaming of designing record covers, Chris Law found his rhythm in the world of sneakers. The iconic shoe designer, known by everyone who’s anyone in the sneaker world, shares how hip-hop culture, graphic design, and a love for storytelling led him to work on some of the most famous sneaker designs, ever. “Icons that are so big in the history of sneakers,&rdqu...

Growing up in public housing on Roosevelt Island in the middle of New York City’s East River, Elie Gamburg went to sleep every night staring at the city’s remarkable skyline from his bedroom window. His father was an artist and his mother a mathematician, so, “I guess I sort of had to do architecture if nothing else.”   Gamburg is a Design Principal at KPF, a global ar...

As an architect, are you influenced by the environment you grew up in, even if your work looks vastly different to where you spent your formative years? John Pawson thinks so. He grew up in the north of England in the 1950s with his four sisters, playing with kids from houses around their family home. Despite being a master of minimalism, he grew up in a house that was quite the opposite.  Jo...