Design Credo

Underlying Beliefs

My design philosophy is rooted in a number of underlying beliefs. Among them,

• that all forms of life and society are dependent upon — and moreover, active participants in — the Earth’s ecosystems;

• that human activity is causing rapid and unpredictable change to the natural environment to such an extent that the human experiment is itself at risk;

• that humanity is not inherently destructive, but rather creative and generous;

• that the world is complex, and therefore human intervention is often fraught with unforeseen effects and unintended consequences; and that we must temper our interventions with better foresight and more accurate models, but also with humility and precaution;

• that environmental problems, like social problems, are systemic in nature: they have their roots in the organization of human society, and especially its economy;

• that the resolution of environmental and social problems are inextricably linked: that the conditions that support a more equitable, just, and emancipated social order are the same conditions that can create an ecologically sustainable society;

• that the only just and equitable way for social change to occur is from the bottom up, via collective action and participatory democracy; and

• that there is no one right way to live; and that, on the contrary, we all benefit from a great diversity of livelihoods and beliefs.

A Sustainable Society

What is sustainability? While this concept is at the core of my design and research, I can only offer a working definition. This is no accident: the working is as crucial as the definition. This is because the way we define sustainability determines our approach.

If we define sustainability as a resource problem (scarcity, overconsumption, pollution), our solutions tend to focus on resource use, emphasizing efficiency and technical fixes. But if we define sustainability as the longevity of human society, in balance with global ecosystems, it becomes a question of structure and organization: how can society change adaptively over time within a changing natural world? Structural characteristics become paramount: resilience, diversity, self-organization, and issues of distribution and scale. In this case, sustainability is not only a matter of efficiency; it is a re-envisioning of some of the most fundamental aspects of our social order and economic system. It is nothing less than a shift in the way we live, in the very structure and pattern of our civilization.

Sustainability refers to the viability of a system over the long term — its ability to reduce unexpected, rapid changes when possible and whether them when they do occur. In human terms, sustainability refers to the long-term viability of the complex social-ecological system.

Is sustainability enough? Certainly not. It is mere viability — it says nothing of equity, freedom, or joy. But my hunch — my working hypothesis, if you will — is that the same conditions that make for a more resilient and sustainable society can also create a qualitatively better society. Conditions such as diversity, self-organization, and local self-determination have, I believe, positive social and ecological effects. But that is another story.

(Note: I owe much of this understanding to Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) theorists C.S. Holling and Lance Gunderson, and the many authors who have worked with them, as well as anthropologist Vernon Scarborough and post-growth economists including Herman Daly, David Korten, and Tim Jackson.)

Can Design Change the World?

No single thing has ever resulted in large-scale social change. Change comes from the interaction of innumerable individuals, disciplines, and institutions in ways that are anything but linear. But the design of the built environment has an important role to play. Design can:

• be participatory and democratic — a process that strengthens and empowers communities;

• directly influence people’s interactions with the natural environment, and in doing so foster awareness of and reconnection with nature (broadly defined);

• directly influence people’s relationships and interactions with one another, and in doing so foster community and solidarity;

• use materials and energy mindfully and efficiently;

• go beyond efficiency to design buildings and cities that have positive impact — that are heated and cooled with sun and wind, that produce clean energy, purify water, provide habitat and produce food, and whose components can become useful inputs (nutrients) for the biosphere or technosphere at the end of their useful life; and

• directly affect the scale and distribution of human settlements and their supporting infrastructure — spatial elements with important implications for resilience, sustainability, the formation of social capital, and the concentration of wealth and power.

Whether consciously or otherwise, design inevitably fosters certain social patterns while suppressing others. Implemented mindfully, with broad participation and earnest discourse, design can help to re-envision and remake our world.

(Note: These strategies and precepts have come from a number of sources and visionaries — among them, critical theorists Jürgen Habermas, architect William McDonough, physicist Amory Lovins, and the work of Christopher Alexander, among many others.)

Nature's Design Principles

In nature there is no distinction between form and function, between performance and beauty, between the mundane and the sublime. Nature shows these dualities to be false. Architecture, too, can be both precise and lyrical, sustainable and sensuous, Apollonian and Dionysian. I reject the notion that information-based design is somehow at odds with poetry and spirit. In nature, it is the elegant, effortless synthesis of these elements that produces richness and beauty.

Nature’s solutions are achieved through evolution — through slow change over time. Contemporary architecture’s focus on producing novelty — particularly visual novelty — often comes at the price of good buildings and neighborhoods. We must learn from what has worked in the past.

Design and Research

Research, rooted in the scientific method, provides a methodology for analyzing and understanding our world in a replicable, rational way. Design, rooted in creativity and imagination, is a process for solving problems with elegance and beauty. Both are required to meet the challenges of contemporary society.

We need, more than ever, clear-headed understanding of the problems we face and quantitative evaluation of our options — yet analysis, bound by the strictures of proof, fact, and the verifiably true, only describes our situation, providing no way forward. We need imagination in order to tackle the complex (and seemingly intractable) challenges of food, energy, and social justice — yet on its own, the world of design often yields overly-simplified, ineffective solutions, or simple visual novelty — entertaining, tantalizing, even inspiring, but fundamentally disengaged with (even cynical toward) the urgent need for change.

In order to solve our most pressing challenges, design must marry the vibrant creativity of the arts with the deep rigor of the sciences. We need unbridled creativity — yes! — but we also must be able to evaluate our options, measure our progress, and render transparent our decision-making in order to engage in the collective discourse that necessarily underlies just social change, and to avoid the unintended consequences that so often accompany our inventions. It is through such synthesis that answers, beautiful and complex, will emerge.