Designing for Survival with Harry Blakiston Houston of Insulate Ukraine

Can a $21 window help a nation survive a war? Harry Blakiston Houston, founder of Insulate Ukraine, joins Grant Gibson for this landmark 150th episode to discuss how a simple double-layer window — made from PET and manufactured entirely in Ukraine — is helping families stay warm, creating local employment, and offering a sense of normality in a country shattered by Russia's invasion. In this episode, we dive into what 'material intelligence' looks like when designing under the most extreme constraints.We discuss:Cardboard to PET: How early cardboard prototypes evolved into a $21, locally-manufactured double-layer window.Trust, Innovation and Empathy: The values driving Insulate Ukraine's work, and why they matter in a crisis.Ukraine's Civic Heroes: Celebrating the people keeping the country running.An Unlikely Origin: How the death of the Queen helped lead to the founding of Insulate Ukraine.Designing Under Fire: The particular difficulty of R&D in the humanitarian aid sector, and building an installation system from scratch.Harry also reflects on day-to-day life in a war-torn country, working with whatever materials people had to hand, growing up in Northern Ireland, how Catholicism and boarding school shaped his thinking, and why he wants to rethink the development sector altogether.Find out more and donate at insulate-ukraine.org.Explore more: Visit materialmatters.design for more on our fairs and conferences.Support the show