In this episode, Dan Hill joins Hanna Harris at Paimio Sanatorium to explore scale, community, and cultural imagination in design. Drawing on Eliel Saarinen’s maxim “always design a thing in its next larger context,” Hill reflects on how materials, buildings, and cities are interconnected across scales — from the door handle to the nation. He introduces the idea of the “slowdown city,” shaped by demographic shifts and changing economies, and shares insights from Japan’s adaptive reuse practices. At Paimio, Hill connects Aino and Alvar Aalto’s architecture of care to today’s need for reimagining buildings and communities, emphasizing design as an act of cultural imagination rather than problem solving.

Dan Hill is a prominent designer, urbanist, and educator, currently the Director of Melbourne School of Design. He is known for his work at the intersection of design, technology, and urbanism, developing sustainable and resilient urban systems and exploring themes of civic design and digital infrastructure.

This conversation was recorded at the 2024 Spirit of Paimio Conference, hosted in the iconic Paimio Sanatorium — Alvar and Aino Aalto’s modernist masterpiece from the 1930s. Discover more at www.paimiosanatorium.com.