140
1. Wholeness can be understood as a structure. When we try to find the wholeness of a place, we can
identify the specific structure of that place, and thus be able to reflect on its wholeness;
2. Wholeness, when we explain the feeling or the intuition of the whole, always extends beyond the
object in question;
3. When we identify wholeness of a place, an object, it always eludes comprehension. Wholeness
thus comprehends the intangible; the object is unique;
4. The presence of unity is constant. What we refer to as wholeness, is always a quality of being one,
interlaced and unified. It is somehow at peace;
5. Each whole contains and is composed of many other wholes. There are specific geometric qualities
and properties that identify relationships between these wholes; and
6. Wholeness encompasses the idea of healing. When something is whole, we consider that the object
has been healed.
Sustainability activists in essence try to ‘heal’ many issues of the world, but in reality, only address
technical matters that are far from the context of the whole. Alexander refers to a second meaning of
the word sustainability. He observes that ‘Sustainability’ tries to stitch together a world that is falling
apart, tries to minimise damage to nature, or tries to put in place technical solutions to sustain the
resources humans depend upon:
The second meaning of the word sustainability, which is so far removed it is almost another topic, refers to the
wholeness of the land, the extent to which we see our land (rural, urban, or wilderness) as sacred, and the extent
to which we treat our interaction with the land as a sacrament. The extent to which we recognize the beauty of
what we make in the land is of paramount importance. It is not just an add-on or a luxury. Rather, it goes to the
core of what sustainability really is (Alexander, 2004, p. 5).
Finally, Alexander and Neis have proposed a procedural definition of wholeness as:
… a general specification for a process that is capable of increasing wholeness in a domain, and particularly in the
physical domain where something, some place, some part of the world is being conceived, or built, or repaired.
and they recommend that:
If each of us is to engage in the very personal journey toward wholeness, and thereby heal our communities …
we must keep wholeness at the forefront of our thinking and our activities. (Alexander et al., 2012, p. 87).
This collective argument aligns with the view of Australian Aboriginal knowledge on the whole. As
noted in Chap. 6, Aboriginal consciousness is formulated in the context of wholeness. Such is reflected
in the words of Aboriginal Elder, Aunty Veronica Brodie: ‘life is part of one vast network of relationships’. Aboriginal people believe that the position of an Aboriginal person in nature is that of oneness;
it is Law
5
that you need to look after nature, and thereby be able to heal nature. Humans are part of
nature, not above nature, but part of a sequence of natural phenomena. These principles are centres of
nature, the collective phenomena of an environment that create wholeness, resulting in the whole. This
supports Alexander’s and Van der Ryn’s argument that ‘unselfconscious cultures’ (Indigenous cultures) understood the whole, and were part of the whole in such a way that in building structures and
settlements they unconsciously created form in oneness with nature.
9.9 Conclusion Statement
This Chapter started by investigating wholeness in the context of physics, where Bortroft argued that
the whole cannot be explained through some analytical, sequential approach that puts parts together
as in a mechanical system (Bortroft, 1996; Stefanovic, 1991). Wholeness is present due to the exis5 Aboriginal Law is the law of the land, in essence aligned with nature and the ‘lore’ relates to the Dreamtime, learned from
childhood the rules on how to interact with the land, kinship and community (Working with Indigenous Australians: http://www.
workingwithindigenousaustralians.info/content/Culture_4_The_Law_and_the_Lore.html – Accessed 20 February 2019)
9 Living Structures: The Fundamental Properties of Wholeness
1. Wholeness can be understood as a structure. When we try to find the wholeness of a place, we can
identify the specific structure of that place, and thus be able to reflect on its wholeness;
2. Wholeness, when we explain the feeling or the intuition of the whole, always extends beyond the
object in question;
3. When we identify wholeness of a place, an object, it always eludes comprehension. Wholeness
thus comprehends the intangible; the object is unique;
4. The presence of unity is constant. What we refer to as wholeness, is always a quality of being one,
interlaced and unified. It is somehow at peace;
5. Each whole contains and is composed of many other wholes. There are specific geometric qualities
and properties that identify relationships between these wholes; and
6. Wholeness encompasses the idea of healing. When something is whole, we consider that the object
has been healed.
Sustainability activists in essence try to ‘heal’ many issues of the world, but in reality, only address
technical matters that are far from the context of the whole. Alexander refers to a second meaning of
the word sustainability. He observes that ‘Sustainability’ tries to stitch together a world that is falling
apart, tries to minimise damage to nature, or tries to put in place technical solutions to sustain the
resources humans depend upon:
The second meaning of the word sustainability, which is so far removed it is almost another topic, refers to the
wholeness of the land, the extent to which we see our land (rural, urban, or wilderness) as sacred, and the extent
to which we treat our interaction with the land as a sacrament. The extent to which we recognize the beauty of
what we make in the land is of paramount importance. It is not just an add-on or a luxury. Rather, it goes to the
core of what sustainability really is (Alexander, 2004, p. 5).
Finally, Alexander and Neis have proposed a procedural definition of wholeness as:
… a general specification for a process that is capable of increasing wholeness in a domain, and particularly in the
physical domain where something, some place, some part of the world is being conceived, or built, or repaired.
and they recommend that:
If each of us is to engage in the very personal journey toward wholeness, and thereby heal our communities …
we must keep wholeness at the forefront of our thinking and our activities. (Alexander et al., 2012, p. 87).
This collective argument aligns with the view of Australian Aboriginal knowledge on the whole. As
noted in Chap. 6, Aboriginal consciousness is formulated in the context of wholeness. Such is reflected
in the words of Aboriginal Elder, Aunty Veronica Brodie: ‘life is part of one vast network of relationships’. Aboriginal people believe that the position of an Aboriginal person in nature is that of oneness;
it is Law
5
that you need to look after nature, and thereby be able to heal nature. Humans are part of
nature, not above nature, but part of a sequence of natural phenomena. These principles are centres of
nature, the collective phenomena of an environment that create wholeness, resulting in the whole. This
supports Alexander’s and Van der Ryn’s argument that ‘unselfconscious cultures’ (Indigenous cultures) understood the whole, and were part of the whole in such a way that in building structures and
settlements they unconsciously created form in oneness with nature.
9.9 Conclusion Statement
This Chapter started by investigating wholeness in the context of physics, where Bortroft argued that
the whole cannot be explained through some analytical, sequential approach that puts parts together
as in a mechanical system (Bortroft, 1996; Stefanovic, 1991). Wholeness is present due to the exis5 Aboriginal Law is the law of the land, in essence aligned with nature and the ‘lore’ relates to the Dreamtime, learned from
childhood the rules on how to interact with the land, kinship and community (Working with Indigenous Australians: http://www.
workingwithindigenousaustralians.info/content/Culture_4_The_Law_and_the_Lore.html – Accessed 20 February 2019)
9 Living Structures: The Fundamental Properties of Wholeness