Manifesto of Lyrical Sustainable Design

manifesto of lyrical sustainable design

I enjoyed David Arkin's post of the principles that guide his work, here:

http://buildinggreentv.com/workshop/getting-started/331

Arkin Tilt does great work, clearly derived from that succinct statement of values. Along those lines, I thought I would post my manifesto.

Why a manifesto?

In the late seventies, as a student in architecture school at the University of Toronto, before each project I was asked to write a “manifesto” outlining my personal and architectural aspirations for the project at hand. Our professors would then use these documents to check our progress and evaluate our designs. I returned to that idea before opening my practice in Seattle in 1992. I coined the phrase “lyrical sustainable design” to suggest my interest in the ethical, technical and poetic aspects of green architecture. That document has formed the basis for our work since then. To give credit where credit is due, I was inspired in good part by Bill McDonough's 1992 Hannover Principles, Peter Pragnell's teachings at the University of Toronto when I was a student there, and the writings of Kentucky farmer and essayist Wendell Berry.

The manifesto is in three parts - together they describe the principles, techniques, and an excerpt of a "novella" of lyrical sustainable design. Here is the first part:

click read more below to continue 

Principles

• Live, design and work in a way which is consistent with deeply held values and ideals. Recognize personal responsibility for the diverse implications of design decisions. Build consensus, share ideas, cooperate and collaborate.

• Find inspiration and models in ongoing ecological processes. Accommodate and celebrate the cycle of the seasons, days and nights, and other natural rhythms. Value all stages of human life. Honor diversity.

• Preserve, enhance and express the unique and special qualities of each site, region and climate; local history and culture. Make site-specific works which, like maps, orient their inhabitants and allow them to “place” themselves, and to dwell, in that context.

• Think locally, act locally. Maintain existing community ties and support the development of new ones. Work towards making local life as independent and self-sufficient as possible.

• Make the sources of materials, food, water and energy understandable and controllable. Make the processes and cycles of production, consumption, “waste” and re-production visible.

• Ask “What is enough?” Be frugal and humane in the acquisition and use of energy, and natural and financial resources. Live on the interest of the natural world instead of depleting its capital. Allow for expansion and change of use without extensive or expensive remaking.

• Begin design with poetic dreams and memories of lived experiences and ideal places, rather than with abstractions of art, science or technology. Make places that reflect the passage of time and allow their stories to be told.

• Gracefully support the activities of everyday life. Make places that engage all of the senses. Make evocative places that invite modification, enhancement and embroidery to suit the personal needs and desires of the people who use them. Make places that respond to affection.

(cross posted from my website http://harrisonarchitects.com/manifesto)