150
Every place is capable of regeneration, and humans can play a role in the regenerative process of a
place by using a generative approach that envisions complex living systems, and the ecosystem of a
specific place in particular, as dynamic wholes evolving and changing through time (Mang & Reed,
2012). This ‘living systems thinking’ demands a way of thinking that includes a world comprised of
systems rather than a world of mechanical parts and building blocks. This is the process of storytelling, of creation; it is possible through generation, and can be categorised using a generative code.
Chapter 9 described the generative code in detail, and Neis, Brown, Gurr, and Schmidt (2012)
explain in the context of an urban environment that the generative code is a process that include all
the information to develop and build a neighbourhood in a way that creates living ones (Neis et al.,
2012, p. 5). Of interest to the narrative of this book is the aspect of ‘living neighbourhoods’ and ‘living
structures’, and the linkage of the generative code to the natural environment. In this process there is
always a sequence and an order that follow the rules of the larger whole present in nature and living
structures.
In this context of connecting to the natural environment, and in the regenerative design paradigm
concerning the factors of regeneration as the living systems, place and patterns, I argue that the generative code can be explained as a process that includes all the information to design, develop, build
and generate a settlement in a way that creates a ‘whole place’ that connects to its environment and is
resilient in its aspects of both built and natural environments. This ‘living systems thinking’ as a generative code (Mang & Reed, 2012, p. 34) has a series of unfolding steps, identified through the patterns, that enable the people of a place to create a healthy, sustainable, and regenerative place.
Alexander acknowledged the process of change through his hypothesis of morphogenetic sequences.
In his Schumacher Lecture in Bristol (2004), entitle: Sustainability and Morphogenesis: The Birth of
a Living World, he argued that the morphological growth of a place gives it character and allows the
built environment to adapt to changes (Alexander, 2004). He identified that the process of morphogenesis applied to the growth of a place is through patterns, and the generation of form of what is coming,
or what is about to be, is always drawn from the form of what was in the moment just before. I then
conclude that this is closely linked to the 15 fundamental properties [of wholeness] unfolding in a
generative sequence, and thus supportive of the notion of patterns (Borchers, 2008). Adaptation is
linked to the change of a place, noticeable in the patterns, and the adaptive design aspect of the
Regenerative-Adaptive Pattern Language is articulated in the next section.
10.4 Adaptive Design Fundamentals
After a critical review of all the literature, I argue that the component of change is evident in the paradigms of regeneration, patterns, morphogenesis, generative process, and in the natural environment
through evolution. It can also be identified in the built environment, and the growth of coastal settlements follows a pattern of change through time. Adaptation happens by necessity as a result of many
influences, connections, and external factors. These changes also happen over long periods of time, as
part of the whole. These indicate that patterns unfolding due to different forces that impact on a place
result in consequences, with an established hierarchy (Borchers, 2000, 2001, 2008). This hierarchy of
order, a structure that is present in the phenomena of evolution over a long period of time, is acknowledged and applied to the methods used in the works by Alexander (2001–2005a, 2005b, 2005c, 2005d,
1979), Alexander et al. (1977), Lyle (1994), McHarg (1992 [1969]), and as noted by Borchers (2000,
2001, 2008), in the notion of patterns.
However, anthropogenic climate change happens much faster than the slow process of evolution in
nature, and the adaptive capacity of natural ecological systems cannot adapt in time for survival. The
question is then: Can the human-built environment adapt in time to the predicted climate changes, and
consider the natural environment as an essential part in this adaptive process for the future resilience
10 A Regenerative-Adaptive Pattern Language
Every place is capable of regeneration, and humans can play a role in the regenerative process of a
place by using a generative approach that envisions complex living systems, and the ecosystem of a
specific place in particular, as dynamic wholes evolving and changing through time (Mang & Reed,
2012). This ‘living systems thinking’ demands a way of thinking that includes a world comprised of
systems rather than a world of mechanical parts and building blocks. This is the process of storytelling, of creation; it is possible through generation, and can be categorised using a generative code.
Chapter 9 described the generative code in detail, and Neis, Brown, Gurr, and Schmidt (2012)
explain in the context of an urban environment that the generative code is a process that include all
the information to develop and build a neighbourhood in a way that creates living ones (Neis et al.,
2012, p. 5). Of interest to the narrative of this book is the aspect of ‘living neighbourhoods’ and ‘living
structures’, and the linkage of the generative code to the natural environment. In this process there is
always a sequence and an order that follow the rules of the larger whole present in nature and living
structures.
In this context of connecting to the natural environment, and in the regenerative design paradigm
concerning the factors of regeneration as the living systems, place and patterns, I argue that the generative code can be explained as a process that includes all the information to design, develop, build
and generate a settlement in a way that creates a ‘whole place’ that connects to its environment and is
resilient in its aspects of both built and natural environments. This ‘living systems thinking’ as a generative code (Mang & Reed, 2012, p. 34) has a series of unfolding steps, identified through the patterns, that enable the people of a place to create a healthy, sustainable, and regenerative place.
Alexander acknowledged the process of change through his hypothesis of morphogenetic sequences.
In his Schumacher Lecture in Bristol (2004), entitle: Sustainability and Morphogenesis: The Birth of
a Living World, he argued that the morphological growth of a place gives it character and allows the
built environment to adapt to changes (Alexander, 2004). He identified that the process of morphogenesis applied to the growth of a place is through patterns, and the generation of form of what is coming,
or what is about to be, is always drawn from the form of what was in the moment just before. I then
conclude that this is closely linked to the 15 fundamental properties [of wholeness] unfolding in a
generative sequence, and thus supportive of the notion of patterns (Borchers, 2008). Adaptation is
linked to the change of a place, noticeable in the patterns, and the adaptive design aspect of the
Regenerative-Adaptive Pattern Language is articulated in the next section.
10.4 Adaptive Design Fundamentals
After a critical review of all the literature, I argue that the component of change is evident in the paradigms of regeneration, patterns, morphogenesis, generative process, and in the natural environment
through evolution. It can also be identified in the built environment, and the growth of coastal settlements follows a pattern of change through time. Adaptation happens by necessity as a result of many
influences, connections, and external factors. These changes also happen over long periods of time, as
part of the whole. These indicate that patterns unfolding due to different forces that impact on a place
result in consequences, with an established hierarchy (Borchers, 2000, 2001, 2008). This hierarchy of
order, a structure that is present in the phenomena of evolution over a long period of time, is acknowledged and applied to the methods used in the works by Alexander (2001–2005a, 2005b, 2005c, 2005d,
1979), Alexander et al. (1977), Lyle (1994), McHarg (1992 [1969]), and as noted by Borchers (2000,
2001, 2008), in the notion of patterns.
However, anthropogenic climate change happens much faster than the slow process of evolution in
nature, and the adaptive capacity of natural ecological systems cannot adapt in time for survival. The
question is then: Can the human-built environment adapt in time to the predicted climate changes, and
consider the natural environment as an essential part in this adaptive process for the future resilience
10 A Regenerative-Adaptive Pattern Language