Summer holiday recommendations: Put your shoulders down and get a little smarter
It's summer and most of us are pushing the pedal to the metal to get the last of our work done, so our legs can get up and we have the energy to play in the garden with the kids, go to that festival or whatever wonderful vacation plans await. Because you need to recharge - it's important to disconnect completely. And at INVI, we want to help you do just that!
We've put our heads together and found the best recommendations that can send you straight into vacation mode - and make you smarter at the same time.
And pssst... make sure you read to the bottom! We also have a very special bonus for you - a summer vacation gift from INVI's DJ: Fisker!
INVI's design advisor Kristine Fisker recommends the podcast 'Fall of civilizations' and the 3000-year-old book 'Gilgamesh'
#1 - Smart and great sound for your ears
A first recommendation to take a step back and lower your shoulders is the podcast 'Fall of Civilizations'. Here, Paul Cooper, British journalist and author of the book of the same name, talks about different civilizations and their collapses - why they fell and what it felt like to be there when it happened. With beautiful readings of diary entries and poems from the time, it makes me feel as small as I am and connect with other times, paradigms and ways of conducting society. It's incredibly beautiful.
#2 - Read your way to chills and perspective on life
I would also recommend reading the translation of Gilgamesh by Sophus Helle and Morten Søndergaard. A 3000-year-old story, written on clay tablets, about the demigod Gilgamesh, who is eager to live forever. With Gilgamesh, something has to happen all the time. He is extremely reactive and restless. He wants to fight everything, find the antidote to death, accomplish something great - but in his constant action, he often ends up burning the bridges he needs to cross to succeed. It can be read as a warning about prestige projects and action for action's sake in the style of Alexander Rich Henningsen's bureaucratic thriller 'Mother Earth'. Perhaps it can remind us to find some calm and patience. But it is also so much more - a story of friendship, human endeavour, the power of the written word, and the world's first civilization. I often got chills from the emotions and words that feel so close but come to us across a millennial time gap. It gives perspective for the summer.
Anders Degn, Communications Advisor at INVI, recommends the DR series 'Master of Cities' about Jan Gehl
When it rains, keep this recommendation in mind. And it's recommended whether you know the main character or you've never heard of the man.
Jan Gehl is one of the architects and urban planners who has had the greatest influence on the world's greatest cities. It all started with Gehl sitting on a bench in Copenhagen with a notepad. Here he took notes on how people move around in cities. Where do we talk to each other? When do people slow down and become aware of their surroundings? What aesthetic qualities are we attracted to and what sensory impressions send us in the opposite direction?
His observations taught him what it takes to create urban spaces where we can express ourselves as humans.
This led to a whole philosophy that has shaped cities around the world. So are you traveling to New York, Rotterdam, Melbourne or Oslo this summer? Then take a trip there first with Jan Gehl and Ane Cortzen with the DR series 'Master of Cities', so you can get an insight into the Gehlian principles as you wander the city.
The 'Master of Cities' may be of particular interest to those who deal with wild problems on a daily basis? Jan Gehl has created innovative solutions to complex urban problems by combining psychology with architecture. If we are to tackle wild problems such as loneliness, climate change, crime and safety, Jan Gehl can be the guiding star that shows us how to put people at the center - because common to all wild problems is that they start with people themselves.
And then for an extra summer gift from INVI's house DJ 'Fisker', who has created a playlist that will make you drop your shoulders and relax.
We're going on summer vacation and as INVI's house DJ, I've put together a summer playlist for you, for summer lounging and moments on the go.
I've filled it with songs that make me drop my shoulders, smell like sunscreen and make me want to take a dip. Songs that soften the edges of my firmly held beliefs, and maybe give a nudge out of the grooves and algorithm recommendations. That's exactly what a vacation has the potential to do for us, so that we come back to work a little softer and more open - an important prerequisite for tackling the wild problems.