full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Slava Balbek: How to design for dignity during times of war

Unscramble the Blue Letters


creopmad to dusty trenches near Kherson, our bureau's open-space office seems like a perfect work ennoenmvrit. But somehow, whenever I try to focus, I keep tinnkhig back to those trenches. It is there, just a few miles from the bfteeltiald, where I can feel the most productive. And it is then, in times of dsistres, when I can clearly see what the future holds.

Of course, it hasn't always been this way. Before Russia lunaehcd its full-scale war, I had a pretty regular life. Well, maybe not that regular.

(Laughter)

My architectural studio was busy punhisg the envelope. We renovated an old church in San Francisco, California, turned a former military arsenal into a tieenmg food hall. And even designed the art installation for the Ukrainian polar research base. Seriously, here's the proof. All the way from Antarctica. All I'm saying, we were doing just fine. Great, even.

Open Cloze


________ to dusty trenches near Kherson, our bureau's open-space office seems like a perfect work ___________. But somehow, whenever I try to focus, I keep ________ back to those trenches. It is there, just a few miles from the ___________, where I can feel the most productive. And it is then, in times of ________, when I can clearly see what the future holds.

Of course, it hasn't always been this way. Before Russia ________ its full-scale war, I had a pretty regular life. Well, maybe not that regular.

(Laughter)

My architectural studio was busy _______ the envelope. We renovated an old church in San Francisco, California, turned a former military arsenal into a _______ food hall. And even designed the art installation for the Ukrainian polar research base. Seriously, here's the proof. All the way from Antarctica. All I'm saying, we were doing just fine. Great, even.

Solution


  1. pushing
  2. environment
  3. distress
  4. compared
  5. battlefield
  6. teeming
  7. thinking
  8. launched

Original Text


Compared to dusty trenches near Kherson, our bureau's open-space office seems like a perfect work environment. But somehow, whenever I try to focus, I keep thinking back to those trenches. It is there, just a few miles from the battlefield, where I can feel the most productive. And it is then, in times of distress, when I can clearly see what the future holds.

Of course, it hasn't always been this way. Before Russia launched its full-scale war, I had a pretty regular life. Well, maybe not that regular.

(Laughter)

My architectural studio was busy pushing the envelope. We renovated an old church in San Francisco, California, turned a former military arsenal into a teeming food hall. And even designed the art installation for the Ukrainian polar research base. Seriously, here's the proof. All the way from Antarctica. All I'm saying, we were doing just fine. Great, even.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
displaced people 3
front line 2
architectural studio 2
temporary housing 2
kyiv region 2


Important Words


  1. antarctica
  2. architectural
  3. arsenal
  4. art
  5. base
  6. battlefield
  7. busy
  8. california
  9. church
  10. compared
  11. designed
  12. distress
  13. dusty
  14. envelope
  15. environment
  16. feel
  17. fine
  18. focus
  19. food
  20. francisco
  21. future
  22. great
  23. hall
  24. holds
  25. installation
  26. kherson
  27. laughter
  28. launched
  29. life
  30. miles
  31. military
  32. office
  33. perfect
  34. polar
  35. pretty
  36. productive
  37. proof
  38. pushing
  39. regular
  40. renovated
  41. research
  42. russia
  43. san
  44. studio
  45. teeming
  46. thinking
  47. times
  48. trenches
  49. turned
  50. ukrainian
  51. war
  52. work