After a visit to the Venice Biennale and a trade conference in Dubai in 2025, dhki Director Lisa Bridgeford reflects on the ubiquity of design trends.

Scroll through any designer’s phone today and you’ll find carefully curated folders overflowing with images of inspired lighting designs, room layouts, fabrics and textures, showcased in hotels, restaurants, homes and office blocks all over the world. On one hand, this offers an immense resource of inspiration and access to global design excellence. On the other, the relentless pursuit of something new and interesting, drawn from designers’ Pinterest boards anywhere and everywhere in the world, translate into Instagrammable interiors, has created a universe of sameness in our industry.

I recently visited the Venice Biennale and a trade conference in Dubai. My camera roll filled up in the same way, with images of immaculately finished bathrooms, bedrooms, bars and lounges. Back home, I reflected on what I’d seen, and I was struck by how much these spaces all look the same. Despite the variety of locations and designers, there is a distinct predictability in these schemes.

The colours, textures, configurations and shapes in one design are mimicked in countless others. But here’s the thing: design driven solely by trends doesn’t always elevate a project. While a space might photograph well for the Pinterest or Instagram algorithm, this homogeneity can lack emotional depth, longevity and integrity. We’re seeing this play out in venues across South Africa, too, where the same neutral palettes, industrial starkness and rounded corners are found everywhere –turning even exceptionally conceived concepts into something that could be anywhere. Replicating global formulas without asking whether they make sense in their context serves no one, least of all the clients paying for it.

Listening to what’s already there
Spaces become places not with the ubiquitous palette of the moment, but through meaningful human interaction. The idea of designing for context means to allow the story of a place to lead the design narrative. It’s about listening and responding to what already exists in and around a building, drawing in the most meaningful elements of landscapes, cultures, history and community, rather than imposing something borrowed from elsewhere. In South Africa, where our landscapes and cultures are so profoundly diverse, that listening becomes essential.

One of the most important commodities in today’s always on world is attention; the ability to capture people’s imaginations and to compel them to action in mere seconds on a screen. In this commercial context, the temptation to create spaces that look like they belong in Melbourne, or Shanghai, or Dubai, is very real. However, places in our own backyard like Cape Town and Johannesburg are so rich in heritage, culture, history and natural beauty, design and local craft. The unique climatic and social conditions and architecture of those places are the physical considerations that determine what a space needs and should be.

Then comes the human context: how people live, move, gather and express themselves in their environment. These aren’t abstract considerations. It’s a delicate balance of tangible and intangible layers of design, topography and materials, alongside cultural rhythm and emotional tone. Pretending otherwise, taking a shortcut to whatever’s currently trending on Instagram, is a failure of imagination and responsibility. Pinterest boards show what’s beautiful elsewhere; context shows what’s meaningful here.

Context as a commercial imperative
For clients, context-led design enables them to tell their own story, not someone else’s. Their authenticity becomes the mark of luxury, rather than of algorithm-fed repetition. It adds to the experience of their spaces, stepping beyond the generic to create sophisticated, distinctive places of character that add to their brand identity and create deeper emotional connections with the people who live, work, play and visit there.

South Africa is an extraordinary place, with layers of culture, craft, creativity and indigenous memory. We should celebrate that, prioritising authenticity and diversity in our designs over the pursuit of whatever is trending. In an increasingly uniform world, that distinction has never been more important. And in this country specifically, where our identity is so bound up with place and the meaning we attach to places, it’s not just good practice, it’s essential.

Context as a creative foundation
When the environment guides material and spatial choices, something shifts. When an installation feels ‘of its place’, it celebrates its present condition and ages more gracefully, both aesthetically and ecologically. This is especially important now, as we grapple with energy constraints and climate realities. Climate-responsive design can soften reliance on mechanical systems; local materials reduce embodied energy and root the project in its landscape. This is design that understands South African conditions and works with them intelligently.

In hospitality, retail or commercial spaces, the designer’s understanding of the people who’ll use the space is rooted in symbols, rituals and a sense of what feels like ‘home’. These subconscious clues transform a workplace into a space where people can optimise their productivity, a hotel where people can feel anchored, or apartment complexes that foster community.

It is important to emphasise that sensitivity to context doesn’t restrict creativity. This isn’t about nostalgia or pastiche. Nor is it about sticking blindly to tradition that does not evolve. Contextual design grounds our work in humanity, to create environments that resonate on an instinctive level because they’re true to their purpose and to their location. This is where design becomes genuinely exciting, pushing beyond replication towards reinvention.

Originally published in Leading Architecture + Design