xiv
enduring the consequences of climate change and the social, health and psychological impacts of our
degenerative forms of development will become greater than the price of organising to force-evolve a
regenerative- adaptive culture in order to survive. Alternatively, Roös invites us to a celebration of
Gaia and the planetary rules of design required of all living systems. Will we choose to endure the
revenge and survive in a less diverse and less hospitable future or celebrate the good news of our
aligning ourselves with The Whole for long-term thriving?
What a great question! What a great time to be alive and engaged in the production of the built
environment! It is perhaps, given the overwhelming influence that buildings and towns have on climate change, the most interesting generation for design in the short history of our species. It is certainly the most consequential. As Wendell Berry wrote in his poem Healing, “Seeing the work that is
to be done, who can help wanting to be the one to do it?” A regenerative-adaptive pattern language
offers designers and planners the mind tools for the work of making a new order that “seeks the given
order and finds its place in it.” Such a work cannot be done alone; it is a difficult work – without rest –
that requires a learning community of practice. It is, however, the work that is to be done.
University of Tennessee
Mark DeKay
Knoxville, TN, USA
The Made Order and the Given Order, Unfolding
enduring the consequences of climate change and the social, health and psychological impacts of our
degenerative forms of development will become greater than the price of organising to force-evolve a
regenerative- adaptive culture in order to survive. Alternatively, Roös invites us to a celebration of
Gaia and the planetary rules of design required of all living systems. Will we choose to endure the
revenge and survive in a less diverse and less hospitable future or celebrate the good news of our
aligning ourselves with The Whole for long-term thriving?
What a great question! What a great time to be alive and engaged in the production of the built
environment! It is perhaps, given the overwhelming influence that buildings and towns have on climate change, the most interesting generation for design in the short history of our species. It is certainly the most consequential. As Wendell Berry wrote in his poem Healing, “Seeing the work that is
to be done, who can help wanting to be the one to do it?” A regenerative-adaptive pattern language
offers designers and planners the mind tools for the work of making a new order that “seeks the given
order and finds its place in it.” Such a work cannot be done alone; it is a difficult work – without rest –
that requires a learning community of practice. It is, however, the work that is to be done.
University of Tennessee
Mark DeKay
Knoxville, TN, USA
The Made Order and the Given Order, Unfolding