We Have Met the Future and It Is Green - Sustainable Design: The Science of Sustainability and Green Engineering - page 303

In Refabricating Architecture , authors Stephen Kieran and James Timberlake note
that “we can return to master building. We can reestablish craft in architecture
by integrating the intelligence of the architect, contractor, materials scientist,
and product engineer into a collective web of information.” 4 Although our
primary focus is on the manufacture and delivery process, this integrating of
intelligence and collective web of information provides for mass customization
that is able to take into account many facets of the design process that will lead
to more sustainable design solutions, from response to the uniqueness of each
site's climate to the life-cycle implications of material selection. This requires a
fundamental reexamination of the traditional processes of design and construction
which segregates intelligence and information in a purely linear process and has
remained relatively unchanged for centuries.
Sidebar: Applying the Synthovation/Regenerative Model:
Intelligent Design
The trend in integrated and systematic design is being embraced vigorously
by architects and engineers. The green model is applied to products, devices,
buildings, and other systems. Adding sustainability to the stepwise process
through systems such as ISO 14001, pollution prevention, design for the
environment, and LEED has been a dramatic paradigm shift in design process.
The professions seem poised for the next step, beyond sustainability.
The regenerative viewpoint takes the next step toward the goal of design-
ing and shaping our environment in a way that seeks symbiotic relationships
between humans and the other organisms sharing the planet. If the design
community is to take the next step toward this goal, the mental model must
continue to evolve from one of minimizing harm to one of building an aware-
ness and knowledge of the science of place and the living systems that will
allow architects and engineers to do what they do best. That is, from a project's
conception they must synthesize innovative solutions that grow from engaging
a diverse cross section of expertise in a collaborative process. Pamela Mang
makes a compelling argument for the need for regenerative design work in an
article published in Design Intelligence . Paraphrasing Mang, regenerative design:
1. Takes place in a collaborative interdisciplinary process
2. Is built upon complex dynamics of multiple interacting systems and the
ability to see the underlying patterns that are structuring them
3. Draws upon courage and creativity—using what has worked but creating
it anew to fit a specific place