113
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
P. B. Roös, Regenerative-Adaptive Design for Sustainable Development, Sustainable Development
Goals Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53234-5_9
Chapter 9
Living Structures: The Fundamental Properties
of Wholeness
Abstract In ecological design and planning, as well as in regenerative design, the consideration of
the whole is paramount, as indicated in the literature that were reviewed and in the previous chapters.
If we are to shift from our current mechanical ‘set of parts’ thinking, to a holistic, integral based systems thinking, we must understand the nature of the change required. The foundation for the evolution
of understanding, and thereby of the way we participate as part of nature, is through understanding the
patterns of the whole. Wholeness thinking recognizes that the entirety is interconnected, and moves
us beyond mechanics into a world activated by complex interrelationships such as natural systems,
human social systems, and the conscious forces behind their actions (Seamon, Christopher Alexander
and a phenomenology of wholeness. In EDRA – Environmental Design Research Association,
Architecture Department. Manhattan, KS: Kansas State University, 2007). It is thus appropriate to
introduce the concept of wholeness as a fundamental entity of nature, and in this chapter, we investigate the phenomena of the unfolding of the whole which creates living structures, and group these
emergent characteristics as the 15 fundamental properties of wholeness. The chapter further discuss
the generative processes of design, including patterns and pattern languages, morphogenetic
sequences, and the generative code. The chapter concludes with the fundamental pattern
Transformations Of Wholeness [9], providing guidance on an all-encompassing philosophy.
Keywords Pattern language · Wholeness · Transformations of wholeness · Fundamental patterns ·
Morphogenetic sequences · Properties of wholeness · Fifteen fundamental properties · Generative
code · Generative process · The whole
Upward links:
… where the pattern Regenerative Ecosystems [8] recognises all living systems as a manifestation of their
underlying processes collectively in a human-nature ecosystems structure, Transformations Of Wholeness
[9] requires an essential mental shift towards the acceptance of the fundamental properties of wholeness evident
in nature as well as in built structures.
9.1 Introduction
If we hope to bring our towns and buildings back to life, we must begin to recreate our languages, in such a way
that all of us can use them: with the patterns in them so intense, so full of life again, that what we make within
these languages will, almost of its own accord, begin to sing. … To work our way toward a shared and living
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
P. B. Roös, Regenerative-Adaptive Design for Sustainable Development, Sustainable Development
Goals Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53234-5_9
Chapter 9
Living Structures: The Fundamental Properties
of Wholeness
Abstract In ecological design and planning, as well as in regenerative design, the consideration of
the whole is paramount, as indicated in the literature that were reviewed and in the previous chapters.
If we are to shift from our current mechanical ‘set of parts’ thinking, to a holistic, integral based systems thinking, we must understand the nature of the change required. The foundation for the evolution
of understanding, and thereby of the way we participate as part of nature, is through understanding the
patterns of the whole. Wholeness thinking recognizes that the entirety is interconnected, and moves
us beyond mechanics into a world activated by complex interrelationships such as natural systems,
human social systems, and the conscious forces behind their actions (Seamon, Christopher Alexander
and a phenomenology of wholeness. In EDRA – Environmental Design Research Association,
Architecture Department. Manhattan, KS: Kansas State University, 2007). It is thus appropriate to
introduce the concept of wholeness as a fundamental entity of nature, and in this chapter, we investigate the phenomena of the unfolding of the whole which creates living structures, and group these
emergent characteristics as the 15 fundamental properties of wholeness. The chapter further discuss
the generative processes of design, including patterns and pattern languages, morphogenetic
sequences, and the generative code. The chapter concludes with the fundamental pattern
Transformations Of Wholeness [9], providing guidance on an all-encompassing philosophy.
Keywords Pattern language · Wholeness · Transformations of wholeness · Fundamental patterns ·
Morphogenetic sequences · Properties of wholeness · Fifteen fundamental properties · Generative
code · Generative process · The whole
Upward links:
… where the pattern Regenerative Ecosystems [8] recognises all living systems as a manifestation of their
underlying processes collectively in a human-nature ecosystems structure, Transformations Of Wholeness
[9] requires an essential mental shift towards the acceptance of the fundamental properties of wholeness evident
in nature as well as in built structures.
9.1 Introduction
If we hope to bring our towns and buildings back to life, we must begin to recreate our languages, in such a way
that all of us can use them: with the patterns in them so intense, so full of life again, that what we make within
these languages will, almost of its own accord, begin to sing. … To work our way toward a shared and living