Piers Taylor Presents Learning from the Local, His Most Recent Work

Architect, educator and broadcaster Piers Taylor is widely recognised for his work at the intersection of practice, research and communication. For Share Your Green Design, Taylor presented the documentary Can Lis – Utzon’s Hidden Masterpiece, a thoughtful exploration of Jørn Utzon’s iconic house in Mallorca. In this film, Taylor reveals how Utzon created a work that transcends orthodoxy, formality and dogma, embodying instead an extraordinary sense of belonging to place.

Published by RIBA Books on 1 October 2025, Taylor’s new book, Learning from the Local: Designing Responsively for People, Climate and Culture, extends that reflection into a compelling written inquiry. The book positions itself within one of the most pressing architectural debates of our time: the tension between globalisation and local identity. Echoing the mission of Share Your Green Design, it asks how architecture can balance sustainability, culture and identity in ways that respond meaningfully to context.

While much of contemporary architecture is shaped by global supply chains and aesthetic pluralism, Taylor insists that the human desire for rootedness has not disappeared. Drawing from philosophy, psychology and a series of international case studies, he proposes an open-ended approach that enables architecture to tell diverse stories of place, embracing ecological and cultural responsibility without falling into nostalgia.

Taylor’s encounter with Can Lis proved transformative. Although he had studied Utzon’s work while in Sydney and was familiar with the Opera House, nothing prepared him for the depth of insight he discovered in Mallorca. Can Lis revealed to him how architecture could be both universal and profoundly local—simple in form yet endlessly rich in lived experience.

As Taylor explained in a video recorded at the premiere in Aalborg of the documentary Can Lis – Utzon’s Hidden Masterpiece, produced by Share Your Green Design and presented by Taylor:

“It opened the door to something that really changed my life. In fact, I’ve just finished a book whose first chapter explores the themes that Utzon explored at Can Lis. How to take something universal, and work with it in a way that becomes particular, and ultimately part of the local context—engaging with a whole set of relationships that are really rich and specific.”

That realisation became the seed of Learning from the Local. The opening chapter begins precisely where his experience at Can Lis left him: reflecting on how architecture can move beyond homogenisation and re-engage with the cultural, material and climatic particularities of place.

In Learning from the Local, Taylor examines the challenges of designing buildings that engage meaningfully with their geographic and cultural contexts in a globalised age. Architecture, once inherently local by necessity—rooted in vernacular materials and construction traditions—is now shaped by global supply chains and economic forces. Taylor challenges this condition, proposing a renewed sensitivity to locality and lived experience.

Far from issuing another prescriptive manifesto, the book advocates for a pluralistic and reflective approach to design. Drawing on thinkers such as Simone Weil and insights from environmental psychology, Taylor argues that the human need for rootedness remains vital—not as nostalgia, but as a foundation for cultural identity, sustainability and psychological well-being.

Through a series of case studies—from Rural Studio to Hooke Park—Taylor demonstrates how local materials, climatic responsiveness and inventive pragmatism can generate both ecological and cultural richness. Ultimately, Learning from the Local offers a critical framework for rethinking architectural practice in an interconnected yet increasingly fragmented world.

At Share Your Green Design, we are delighted to celebrate the publication of this new book by Piers Taylor, knowing it grew directly from the insights he discovered at Can Lis and continues the conversation we began together in the documentary. Rather than offering formulas, Learning from the Local proposes a reflective and open framework for imagining architecture that is sustainable, context-sensitive and profoundly human.

Learning from the Local: Designing Responsively for People, Climate and Culture is now available via Invisible Studio’s website, through RIBA Books and Amazon.