tangents ‘26 | January

For January 2026, the theme for our Tangents presentations is “Landmarks,” inviting the DBRDS team to explore places that carry cultural, historical, and emotional significance; to consider how their meaning can evolve, endure, or even disappear over time.

Earlier in the month, the office watched and discussed coverage surrounding the demolition of rock band AC/DC’s childhood home in Sydney. While modest in scale, the house had become an informal landmark for music fans worldwide. Its removal sparked a broader conversation about what society chooses to preserve, what is allowed to vanish, and how cultural value is often assigned after the fact. The discussion highlighted the tension between private property, development pressures, and the collective memory tied to seemingly ordinary places.

Later, the team examined the history of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, focusing specifically on its role in the 1965 civil rights marches. The bridge stands as a powerful example of how infrastructure can transcend its original function to become a global symbol of resistance, sacrifice, and progress. Our conversation centered on how landmarks can carry layered narratives, both painful and hopeful.

Together, these discussions offered very different perspectives on landmarks: one rooted in popular culture and loss, the other in social justice and endurance. Both underscored that landmarks are defined not just by form or permanence, but by the stories people attach to them. In this way, design becomes inseparable from memory, identity, and the ongoing dialogue between past and present.