“..When I give lectures, I ask the question, what’s the relationship between architecture and high heels, and I show a picture of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai…”

We are delighted to have reached another milestone on the 17th May 2022 – when we published our 30th episode. It’s been a wonderful journey so far and we are very happy to have a great guest to mark this special occasion.

Bryan Oknyansky

Bryan Oknyansky is an international award-winning product architect known for inventing pioneering products that have taken him around the world as a lecturer and speaker. With over twenty years of experience in the architecture, product and footwear design industries, Bryan has worked for leading architecture and design firms in the US, UK and China and has been invited as Guest Lecturer at design schools in the US, UK, Russia and China.

Bryan talks to Henry McDonald about what shoes, western and oriental architecture have in common as well as many other important topics!

A lot of what I work on architecturally doesn’t land from outer space. It exists within a community that’s already there where people already live and work. The context is important. The townscape is important to forms. The kind of architectural decisions you make on what you believe would not only fit the client brief, but make something interesting and elevate the quality of the neighbourhood.

About Bryan Oknyansky

Bryan Oknyansky is an international award-winning product architect known for inventing pioneering products that have taken him around the world as a lecturer and speaker. With 15 years of experience in the architecture, product and footwear design industries, Bryan has worked for leading architecture and design firms in the US, UK and China and has been invited as Guest Lecturer at design schools in the US, UK, Russia and China.

Bryan is able to bridge the gap between technology and design because of his unique specialty in using the latest robotic manufacturing technologies like 3D printing to reinvent the world around us one product at a time. Setting his sights on reinventing the footwear industry, Bryan founded Shoes By Bryan in 2012 – a London-based fashion and technology start-up pioneering mass-market 3D printed footwear unique to every single foot in the world while also looking, and feeling, great.

Being committed to visionary and technologically forward design, Bryan has picked up numerous awards including an American Institute of Architects Design Excellence Award, a Bernardo Footwear Sole Perspective Designer Award, and an Honorable Mention in the highly coveted Red Dot Product Design awards.

As an internationally recognized thought leader in his field, Bryan’s award-winning works have been exhibited around the world in galleries and museums.

As a senior designer at Dexter Moren Associates, Bryan leads the planning and design process for a range of residential, hotel and aparthotel projects across the UK. He specialises in leading clients, stakeholders and design teams in incorporating design and building technology innovations to deliver projects that meet present and future commercial and sustainability briefs.

With his extensive experience in digital design practice, Bryan supports DMA’s constant growth in the fields of sustainability and technology.

In addition to his career as a multi-disciplinary designer, Bryan has lectured at renowned design schools including Regent’s University London School of Fashion and Design, the London College of Fashion and the Royal College of Art, and consults to individuals, businesses and communities to foster new generations of designers and manufacturers.