Jan Chipchase
Jan Chipchase is the founder of Studio D Radiodurans, a consultancy that specialises in ethnographic research, publishing books and running events usually on or near mountains. He also is the founder of a niche travel luggage brand sdr traveller that enables discreet travel. Every year, Studio D Radiodurans runs human behavioural research experiments.
If you could recommend 3 books to anyone, what would they be?
The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces by William H. Whyte
Written by William H. Whyte, and published in 1980, it reveals how people navigate and interact with the pockets of New York City and why. While I started my career in interaction design, it broadened my mind to urban planning, human behaviour, and social dynamics—everyday stuff that shapes the daily experiences of city-dwellers. It's very accessible, lots of pictures and wonderfully uncynical. Recommended as an introductory text to urban planning.
The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Written by C.S. Lewis in 1950, it's a timeless tale of children's imagination, exploration, and the opportunities that come from overcoming fear. A central tenet of our research is to understand and create worlds, situate stories within them, and it's a reminder that the embodied memory of a well told story lasts a lifetime. For kids, and adults that didn't read it as a kid.
The Dictator's Handbook by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith
OK, so from the title, you might imagine that joy is the last thing you'd get from this book. However! It was recommended by a bibliophile friend and reminds me of his intellect and curiosity, and does a fantastic job of making complex research digestible. It also helps us manage a certain strand of our projects by putting on the ground challenges into a wider framework.
What are you reading now?
Enjoying Fäviken, the eponymous restaurant by Magnus Nilsson, and Pamirian Crossroads, a cultural history of the region where we spend a lot of time, by Hermann Kreutzmann.
Currently working on a multi-year series of expeditions to map trekking routes in the Afghan Pamirs, and writing a book about how people and organisations make sense of the world.
Whose reading list are you most curious about?
"Thjis Niks, consummate bibliophile and recommender of book three above.”
— Jan Chipchase
