Charlie Dunn discusses the importance of prototyping and flow state in construction during his Anti-Keynote at the 2025 AEC Integration Summit. He emphasizes the need for creativity within the construction industry, drawing parallels to children’s play with Legos.
Dunn introduces the concept of ‘flow state’, highlighting its necessity for creativity which requires focus, freedom, feedback, and continuous improvement. He illustrates this through an engaging car-building activity that encourages participants to stay engaged and innovative.
The speaker argues that the construction industry lacks sufficient prototyping. He stresses the need for ‘trystorming’, a play on brainstorming, which involves trying multiple methods and learning from failures as a means to foster innovation and progress.
Dunn promotes the idea that collaborative efforts can lead to better solutions. He discusses the concept of ‘shared authorship’, where diverse contributors can bring unique perspectives to a project, enhancing overall creativity.
Drawing from the Lego House in Denmark, Dunn illustrates how children naturally engage in prototyping without formal instruction. He expresses the need to bring this instinctive approach to construction, where experimentation and iteration can lead to new insights.
The Construction Progress Coalition (CPC) is a nonprofit organization founded in 2013 to address systemic inefficiencies in the construction industry through digital transformation and collaborative problem-solving.
AEC Integration Summit (iSummit) is an annual event where stakeholders collaborate to solve industry-wide issues, such as automating payment processes and integrating IoT data for real-time project tracking.