full transcript

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

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Every motnh I spend a week on the fornt line. For over a year now, I have been a member of Aerial resosinaanccne Unit. Before the invasion, I had only used a drone to scout locations for my ahtcrrcitueal practice. Now I pilot a UAV to help Ukrainian arlelrtiy spot targets.

This time two years ago, I would probably itorudcne myself as the CEO of an architectural studio. Maybe I would also brag about co-owning two cafes in Kyiv, which I also designed. To be clear, I still am an architect and an entrepreneur. It's just that now I consider those roles situoprpng. As a military volntueer, I have monthly shifts. This means I still get to spend time at home, my safe haven, trying to make sense of this new life. I travel back and forth from Kyiv to the front line and back to Kyiv. Not your regular commute, I suppose. Even though Kyiv suffers constant missile aactkts, the crtsnoat in between the capital and the hotspots is quite satrk. Back home, I can walk my dog Eva, grab a coffee and just barricade myself in my office. Of course, our work is often inpuererttd by the air-raid alarms, but this is something we have grown to live with.

Open Cloze


Every _____ I spend a week on the _____ line. For over a year now, I have been a member of Aerial ______________ Unit. Before the invasion, I had only used a drone to scout locations for my _____________ practice. Now I pilot a UAV to help Ukrainian _________ spot targets.

This time two years ago, I would probably _________ myself as the CEO of an architectural studio. Maybe I would also brag about co-owning two cafes in Kyiv, which I also designed. To be clear, I still am an architect and an entrepreneur. It's just that now I consider those roles __________. As a military _________, I have monthly shifts. This means I still get to spend time at home, my safe haven, trying to make sense of this new life. I travel back and forth from Kyiv to the front line and back to Kyiv. Not your regular commute, I suppose. Even though Kyiv suffers constant missile _______, the ________ in between the capital and the hotspots is quite _____. Back home, I can walk my dog Eva, grab a coffee and just barricade myself in my office. Of course, our work is often ___________ by the air-raid alarms, but this is something we have grown to live with.

Solution


  1. introduce
  2. artillery
  3. architectural
  4. month
  5. supporting
  6. contrast
  7. stark
  8. attacks
  9. volunteer
  10. interrupted
  11. reconnaissance
  12. front

Original Text


Every month I spend a week on the front line. For over a year now, I have been a member of Aerial Reconnaissance Unit. Before the invasion, I had only used a drone to scout locations for my architectural practice. Now I pilot a UAV to help Ukrainian artillery spot targets.

This time two years ago, I would probably introduce myself as the CEO of an architectural studio. Maybe I would also brag about co-owning two cafes in Kyiv, which I also designed. To be clear, I still am an architect and an entrepreneur. It's just that now I consider those roles supporting. As a military volunteer, I have monthly shifts. This means I still get to spend time at home, my safe haven, trying to make sense of this new life. I travel back and forth from Kyiv to the front line and back to Kyiv. Not your regular commute, I suppose. Even though Kyiv suffers constant missile attacks, the contrast in between the capital and the hotspots is quite stark. Back home, I can walk my dog Eva, grab a coffee and just barricade myself in my office. Of course, our work is often interrupted by the air-raid alarms, but this is something we have grown to live with.

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. aerial
  2. alarms
  3. architect
  4. architectural
  5. artillery
  6. attacks
  7. barricade
  8. brag
  9. cafes
  10. capital
  11. ceo
  12. clear
  13. coffee
  14. commute
  15. constant
  16. contrast
  17. designed
  18. dog
  19. drone
  20. entrepreneur
  21. eva
  22. front
  23. grab
  24. grown
  25. haven
  26. home
  27. hotspots
  28. interrupted
  29. introduce
  30. invasion
  31. kyiv
  32. life
  33. line
  34. live
  35. locations
  36. means
  37. member
  38. military
  39. missile
  40. month
  41. monthly
  42. office
  43. pilot
  44. practice
  45. reconnaissance
  46. regular
  47. roles
  48. safe
  49. scout
  50. sense
  51. shifts
  52. spend
  53. spot
  54. stark
  55. studio
  56. suffers
  57. supporting
  58. suppose
  59. targets
  60. time
  61. travel
  62. uav
  63. ukrainian
  64. unit
  65. volunteer
  66. walk
  67. week
  68. work
  69. year
  70. years