01. Architecture, City and Landscape as a Total Environment
I conclude this series of three articles focused on place, architecture and urban planning. While in The Place of Architecture The Architecture of Place – Part I: The Identity of Places I have spoken about the identity of places, proposing that the identity of a place should be understood in holistic and systemic terms to give an organic unity to all the different perspectives and data through which we usually analyze places (via the study of geology, climate, ecology, economy, sociocultural histories, architectures, etc.), in The Place of Architecture The Architecture of Place – Part II: A Historical Survey, I illustrated how architects engaged with places as a specific topic of enquiry, in the past epochs and in more recent times. Following the spatial hypothesis that I am carrying out at RSaP, if we consider that the encompassing understanding of places implies the confrontation with all the basic dynamics (physicochemical, biological, sociocultural, and symbolic) that give a place its unitary structure, we can conclude that, in the past, architects especially focused on specific instances of places, and rarely synthesized them within a global, systemic perspective. With the present article, I am going to present a project I recently headed with some colleagues architects, following a place-based framework which is structured on a systemic interpretation of places considered as the interplay of natural and cultural dynamics. From an environmental perspective, I believe that a systemic, place-based approach to architecture and planning can have the potential to complement already existing environmental protocols for buildings, offering a more unitary vision of the dynamics that characterize the environment as a whole – architectural, urban and natural environment.[1] By understanding places and architectures as the systemic interdependence of physicochemical, biological, sociocultural and symbolic processes, we can see, more sharply, directions for the future of design practices, where architecture, urban planning and landscape design can be processed adopting a transdisciplinary approach, i.e., a non-hierarchical vision, which goes beyond usual multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches, to envisage an even more unified and synthetic vision of reality.[2] More than other approaches, transdisciplinarity can convey the fundamental message of interdependence between natural and human systems as the premise for developing truly sustainable building strategies that allow design practitioners to pass from doing less harm or no harm to the environment, to maximizing human being’s positive impact on it, regenerating its potential.[3]
We should analyze and design architectures, cities and the natural environment as a systemic unit, where culture and nature coevolve as a whole. Reality is one and is place-based: it is the place of interweaving processes ranging from physical, or natural, to symbolic, independently of the scale of observation. The Planet Earth is a place, the same way the country town of Ostiano – the location of our design proposals – is a place, like the streets and the quarters it is composed of are places. The processual logic behind the functioning of places (i.e., their being and becoming through the progression of inorganic, organic, social and symbolic processes) is everywhere the same.
02. Place as System of Processes
Image 01: Reality is One, a whole place comprised of extremes acting as complementary forces.
Place is the encompassing structure that allows the many different parts of reality to stay together and related as a single system, a whole. Place emerges out of the amalgamation of different parts. We ask: What parts is a place made of? What are the basic dynamics that may define the identity of a place and its character? Fundamentally, all of the aspects of reality we might think of can be conceived of as emerging from four basic orders of processes: inorganic, organic, social and symbolic processes.[4] When processes become actual and concretize into sensible or intelligible forms, such forms appear as recognizable patterns that we usually interpret as ‘things’, ‘life’, ‘societies’ and ‘symbols’ (see On the Structure of Reality). We can conceive of such structured patterns as systems, or places: the place of processes which may, or may not, concretize into sensible or intelligible patterns. The word ‘system’ comes from the Greek ‘sýn-’ (ancient Greek ‘sun-’), which means ‘with’, ‘in company with’ or ‘together’,[5] and ‘histemi’, which means ‘to stand’, ‘make to stand’, ‘set up’;[6] then, ‘a system can be defined as a complex of interacting elements [where] the whole is more than the sum of parts’, the Austrian biologist, one of the founders of General Systems Theory (GST), Ludwig von Bertalanffy observed.[7] Accordingly, we can also understand a system like an organism: its parts are not autonomous entities that can be studied, observed or understood in isolation from the overall context. Analogously, a cultural system (e.g. a city, an architecture) cannot be seen in isolation from the natural, biological and social systems out of which it originated: cultural, social, biological and natural systems are one, an organic concrescence – a growing together of antecedent data into a new unity –, a mode of standing together in which the different parts behave like a unity, the whole, whose plane influences the subordinate parts existing in it.[8]
Image 02/03 (shift the cursor to see the images): Place as System of Processes. Place, as a complex system of interacting processes, must be understood as an organism where the whole is more than the sum of its parts. Out of the relationships between parts, a new organic unity emerges: this unity can be thought of as a system – ‘the place of processes’.
The general categories expressed by inorganic processes, organic processes, social and symbolic processes – see Image 02, above –, which give shape to places as undivided wholes, can be further refined – see Images 03 and 05. So, for instance, ecological processes, which are the coupling of inorganic and organic processes (abiotic and biotic components), will be a later stage of processes emerging from physicochemical and biological processes. This is common knowledge concerning the fundamental principles of systems’ behaviour. Following basic evolutionary principles according to which processes evolve as a concrescence from ‘lower’ to ‘higher’ levels of existence, that is from simple to complex – e.g. from physical processes (regarding the dynamics of the basic components of reality, i.e., quarks, atoms, electromagnetic fields, etc.) to symbolic processes (regarding human dynamics, i.e., the establishment of values, ethics, religious belief, etc.) – every process can find its position in the schematic ‘wheel of processes’ illustrated in Image 05. It is little more than a truism saying that the identity of a place results from the entire gamut of processes existing in that place, while its character results from the intensity with which such processes unfold. What is important to point out is that identity and character are omni-comprehensive qualities which cannot be interpreted in reductionist terms. So, it is important to know that, whenever we intervene in places, all dynamics of places are potentially affected by what we do and all dynamics participate in determining the identity and character of the place. That’s why architects need to consider all of the dynamics of place – physicochemical, biological, social, and symbolic to begin with: such dynamics, cannot be considered in isolation since they influence each other, they require each other, and lead on to each other.[9] The web of lines pictured in Image 04 is representative of the interwoven relationships between the different dynamics or processes of a place; it is out of such incremental dynamics that systems emerge as a whole – the place of processes: this whole, this place of processes, is an encompassing, incremental or concrescent structure, emerging from the relationship between parts. Very often, the analysis of place interpreted in systemic and processual terms cannot be confined to a limited area and a limited duration since the limit of processes is hard to establish both spatially and temporally; processes are often transversal to circumscribed areas and specific intervals of time (see The Identity of a Place: Place-Based Interventions Between Land and Society).
Images 04/05 (shift the cursor to see the images): Identity and Character of Place. Identity and character of places are emergent qualities deriving from the specific nature and intensity of processes unfolding in a certain region. The type of processes represented in the diagrams are just a basic representative categorization of the multitude of processes that actually exist in any place.[10]
Image 06: Identity and Character of Place. Even if we can set specific categories of processes, a place is an undivided whole, an incremental and concrescent unit where processes influence each other, require each other, and lead on to each other, in the range from inorganic to symbolic; higher orders of processes include processes of lower order.
Every place possesses its own peculiar identity and it is the proper task of man to comprehend that identity and take care of it.
CHRISTIAN NORBERG-SCHULZ, Architecture: Presence, Language and Place
03. A Case Study: Adaptive Reuse of Three Compounds in the Country Town of Ostiano, Northern Italy.
03.1. From Sustainable to Regenerative Design
We have set a higher level of environmental awareness for the project of rehabilitation of three districts in the small country town of Ostiano: the shift from a sustainable to a regenerative approach. We believe the scope of design is not merely to be ‘sustainable’ in the sense of minimizing or mitigating the impact of human activities on the natural environment, with respect to climate change and ecosystem degradation; the real goal of a project should be that of seeking for an overall benign integration of human and natural systems so that they can co-evolve with mutual benefit, reversing and improving current environmental conditions. This means that human processes should harmonize with natural processes so that they can go on and on, indeterminately, supportive of each other, for future generations and species. This approach inherently favours a shift of perspective that embraces a holistic, systemic worldview extending the boundaries of sustainable thinking to include and promote the regenerative potential of each environment considered as a whole of natural, social, economic and cultural dynamics.[11] Then, to take care of the environment as a whole is not merely a question of keeping things in their current state or reducing CO2 emission close to zero levels, which are the parameters set by sustainable development; the real challenge is to promote life-enhancing conditions transitioning toward a climate positive, regenerative balance.[12] By ‘life-enhancing conditions’ we must obviously consider the physical environment as well as the economy and the socio-cultural environment (by the attribute ‘cultural’ we should mean the ways of living, styles, education, stories, values, beliefs, etc. which contribute to give a specific shape and character to any place). Within this overarching systemic perspective, where all aspects of reality, from natural to cultural, concur to defining the identity of a place and its character, place becomes the referential element and the organizing concept with respect to which we must set our goals of sustainability and regenerative development. Consequently, the study of place becomes the fundamental operative instrument to start any project, in parallel with the usual guidelines, i.e., the scope of the project (the program) and its requirements. Through architecture, the character of a place may be revealed.
03.2. Ostiano: The Program
The purpose of this project is the adaptive reuse of a group of buildings situated in three different districts of Ostiano, a small town in Northern Italy. These restored buildings will accommodate a new industrial company that specializes in the solar energy sector, offering energy storage technologies and solutions, and producing batteries, power conversion systems, and energy control and monitoring systems.
Image 07: Localization of the three districts, in the country town of Ostiano, IT. Requirements of the brief: 1] A production plant with offices and a short-term warehouse (Località Cossone); 2] Headquarters and R&D divisions (ex-Consorzio Agrario); 3] Long-term warehouses (Belvedere).
One district – ‘Località Cossone’ (see image, above) – is an industrial area near the countryside; here, the project regards the restoration and redevelopment of two existing prefabricated warehouses to house the new production plant, and the restoration of one building for the temporary storage of assembled items. A new building office is planned between the two existing warehouses on an already built piece of land. The second district, located in a residential area close to the downtown, involves the restoration and redevelopment of the ‘ex-Consorzio Agrario’, currently abandoned and not subject to heritage protection laws regardless of its anthropological value.[13] Here, the purpose is to convert the entire area into the company’s administrative and representative headquarters, as well as to house research and development laboratories, educational and exhibition rooms, and areas open to the public, for dining and recreational purposes. Finally, a third district – called ‘Belvedere’ – located in an area identified as a historic core, regards the securing of existing warehouses, which will be used for storage and long-term deposit of the items assembled by the production plant. Here, the project merely regards the remotion of asbestos from the old roofs and their reconstruction with clay roof tiles, typical of the historic town centre.
Video 01: Situation before the project: Località Cossone, ex-Consorzio Agrario, and Belvedere.
Overall, this is a comprehensive program which we have conceived as a unified and integrated project not only in functional and operational terms for the new company but also in relationship to the natural environment and the country town itself, which is the physical expression of the place, of its history and of the citizenship, which is directly affected by and involved in the projects through new employment opportunities and social inclusion.
03.3. Ostiano: The Place of Physicochemical, Biological, Ecological, and Sociocultural Processes
Images 08-12: Ostiano is a small country town in the middle of the Po Valley of Northern Italy. Unique environmental and sociocultural processes have shaped the identity and character of this place.
Images 13-20: The approach to place happens through surveys and the acquisition of data elaborated and organized to render the different layers upon which the identity and character of the place are structured. Reminding that places have evolutionary structures it is convenient to start with the analysis of the PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROCESSES of soil formation and climate to have a better idea of the basic forces that have shaped the territory. Geographical maps, geological, geomorphological, hydrological, pedological, seismic maps and sections, and climate data (sun diagrams, sun energy, average rainfall, wind strength and direction, air temperature and humidity) are the basic sources to understand the physicochemical layers of places.
Images 21-25: Following evolutionary progress, after considering the processes of physical formation of a place, the next step is to consider the existing flora and fauna – i.e., the place of BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES – and their interaction with the physical environment – i.e. the place of ECOLOGICAL PROCESSES. Maps concerning the presence and localization of types of vegetation and wildlife species, complemented by maps of regional, provincial and communal ecological networks, are the basic source of information.
Images 26-31: The analytical inquiry into the identity of a place moves now to the historical analysis of human presence and activities on the territory: anthropological sources of information, economic activities, historical narratives, urban plans, etc. are the usual sources of data for understanding the sequence of SOCIOCULTURAL and SYMBOLIC PROCESSES that succeeded in a place. Also, specific maps concerning the way human bodies relate to the place of the project (i.e., the ‘site’), through perception, are necessary to select characteristic elements of the environment that can be implemented into projects: such maps constitute the place of psychological and physiological processes (see the article Archi-textures for further information on how the mechanisms of environmental perception can be used as a source for architectural design).
The systemic conception of place we are calling for extends far beyond the simple physical-geographical or social dimensions that architects were used to deal with in the past; this broader dimension of place, is all at once physical, biological, ecological, social, cultural, historical, and symbolic. Like concentric ripples in a pond, such extended dimension of place expands to connect with adjacent places forming a shared network which binds all places and their components together – living beings, the earth and the sky – in a single structure. We, as human beings, are part of that network since we are made of it: this is the new contract between human beings and nature, in the epoch of the Anthropocene.
03.4. Design Indications from the Systemic Analysis of Place: Implementation of Natural and Sociocultural Dynamics
Image 32: The analysis of place provided several suggestions that are responsive to the dynamics already taking shape in the territory. It offers opportunities to build upon these existing dynamics while also creating new ones for the built environment. Such dynamics can regenerate the potential of the place, enhancing its identity and character.
Image 33: The distant line of the horizon, often marked by rows of beech trees, is a characteristic of the landscape to preserve and enhance in the Po Valley, as also reported by the regional and municipal regulations (Documenti di Piano, Piano Territoriale Regionale).
Situated alongside the naturalistic valley of the ‘Oglio Sud’ Park, Ostiano is a morphological terrace overlooking the left bank of the Oglio River Valley, at its confluence with the Mella River, in the heart of the Po Valley. The region has always been an agricultural settlement shaped by those two powerful hydrogeological forces. This unique territory favoured the presence of human settlements as early as the Neolithic period, with archaeological evidence scattered all around the place. The project shares common environmental, social, cultural, and symbolic guidelines: on the one hand, the presence of water and greenery that characterize the projects evoke the naturalistic and agricultural atmosphere of the region; on the other, the use of brickworks as privileged material for construction connects the land and its clay-based soil to the place’s history, culture, technological expertise, and aesthetical appearance of buildings that evolved over time. Concerning the anthropological aspect, archaeological findings in these territories suggest that early human groups utilized the clay soil as a natural resource, at first for producing and using ceramic artefacts, and later, in the Roman period, becoming a possible production centre or trading post for ceramic materials (the name Ostiano is thought to derive from Roman origins): the combination of clay-rich soil, water, local silica and the abundance of timber from surrounding woods and fields enabled the production and processing of clay, and the necessary firing processes for it. This specific cultural, technological, and economic heritage is still evident today with the presence of an active brick factory, while the widespread use of the Italian term ‘fornace’(furnace) in local place names highlights the historical role of brick kilns. The prominent use of face brick walls can be seen in some of the most important, and ancient, monuments of Ostiano, including the Gonzaga Castle and the pre-Romanesque Church of Torricella (historical sources: M. Brignani e V. Ferrari: Toponomastica di Ostiano; Gruppo Hobbistico Ostianese: Saluti da Ostiano; G. Merlo: Ostiano: Tra Arte e Storia; G. Merlo: I Tesori di Ostiano; F. Morandi: Momenti di Storia; G. Regonini: Ostiano: Le Origini ed Alcune Note Storiche).
03.5. The Projects
Recalling the overall regenerative vision, the project aims to achieve zero land consumption, meeting the functional requirements of the various activities required by the new company: the new offices in ‘Località Cossone’ are planned as the terminus of an existing access ramp located next to pre-existing underground storage tanks, which will be reused for rainwater collection and upon which the new offices will be built.
Image 34/35: Confrontation of new and old buildings in Località Cossone. On the left and on the right, respectively, the restoration of the old buildings for the production plant and the warehouse: a new layer of ventilated terracotta walls will be added to the existing facades to improve energy efficiency. For the same reason, the new office building, located between the two existing structures, will be designed with a massive structure with exposed bricks. The intrinsic naturalistic value of the territory was conserved and enhanced with a biophilic design that characterized both outdoor and indoor environments (Design Team: Calvi Rollino, Cereda, Panarese Architetti).
Images 36 (above), 37 (below): View of the South Façade and interior view of the new office building, Località Cossone.
Images 38/39 (shift the cursor to see the images): Località Cossone, ground floor plan and first floor plan of the new office building.
Image 40: Aerial view of the project for the compound in Località Cossone.
Concerning the ‘ex-Consorzio Agrario’, the restoration and reuse of the existing buildings follows a dual purpose: first, it promotes the concept of circular economy (reducing, reusing, and recycling resources), which results in a reduction in CO₂ emissions compared to new constructions; second, it preserves the historical memory of a location which had important social and economic functions in the past, when agriculture was a training sector in Italy. In this context, the project assumes a dual meaning, where social, cultural, and symbolic values intersect: on the one hand, it preserves the historical memory of the socio-economic role played in the past by agricultural consortia, or granaries; on the other hand, by unveiling the underlying brick layers of the walls in the existing buildings and by using them as the new finishing for walls and facades after restoration, the project also recovers the memory of ancient activities and technologies existing in that region, which has always been connected to the nature of the soil through the use of ceramics and bricks. In this way, the intrinsic monumental forms of the ‘ex-Consorzio Agrario’, with their barrel vaults and lateral spans which are converted into research laboratories and a conference hall, take the appearance of a new, modern Basilica: a functional transition, from agriculture to culture, as a new form of religion (from the Latin ‘religio’, ‘re-ligare’, meaning ‘to bind again’), which symbolizes the reformed connection – a new contract – between humans and the environment, marked by an integrative, dynamic and regenerative understanding of places and their care.
Image 41/42: Ex-Consorzio Agrario, confrontation of new and old buildings. The recovery of the underlying layer of bricks of the existing facades, the use of bricks for the ground and seats, the use of water, the project of the elevated walkway, and the rows of trees are all elements that integrate environmental, sociocultural and symbolic dynamics in this place (Design Team: Calvi Rollino, Cereda, Panarese Architetti).
Image 43/44: The bulk appearance of the ex-Consorzio Agrario, with its exposed bricks and the barrel vault roof (to be reinforced to allow installation of photovoltaic modules), now reminds of a modern Basilica. The green terraces at different levels, apart from contributing to the management of runoff water and offering spots of biodiversity, mimic the morphological terraces created by the action of the rivers, a topographic characteristic of these territories.
Image 45: The new elevated walkway while connecting working areas, offers a characteristic view of the landscape. It is also a symbolic way to recall the ancestral memory of what it means to cross a river: in ancient times, Ostiano was supposed to be the main location, in the surroundings, where it was possible to cross the river Oglio, which is supposed to be the reason why, in antiquity, Romans built here their camps. The elevated walkway, close to two rows of trees, which are also characteristic elements of the agricultural landscape, is a way to connect humans directly to nature. These details are a way to integrate place-based, natural and sociocultural dynamics.
Images 46/47 (shift the cursor to see the images): Ex-Consorzio Agrario, functional diagram / ground floor plan
Continuing with specific design choices aiming at social, economic, and environmental regeneration, we wanted such choices to be immediately perceivable and not mere wordplay: so, for example, the element ‘water’, which, through the action of the rivers Oglio and Mella, is a force that has shaped these territories, becomes a characterizing factor of the projects: runoff water will be managed through permeable paving (terracotta and stabilized gravel at the ex-Consorzio Agrario and in Località Cossone, respectively) and rainwater is collected and stored in visible reservoirs functioning as linear pool and fountains (ex-Consorzio Agrario) and bio-pools (Cossone). These solutions prevent environmental strain during heavy stormwater while enhancing the naturalistic character, that is, the biodiversity of the built environment, strengthening its genius loci. Likewise, we wanted to celebrate the natural morphology and the naturalistic character which favoured diverse habitats and the settlement of different avifaunal species with green terraces (ex-Consorzio Agrario) and conspicuous green areas (Cossone), a biophilic approach which mimics already existing natural and perceptual dynamics creating healthy and pleasant outdoor built environments with benefits for the indoor working activities. In this regard, the interiors of the new offices in ‘Località Cossone’ (Image 36, above) have been designed to keep visual contact with the greenery of the outdoor environment; indoor environments have green interior walls, plants, and an abundance of natural light, including zenith lighting, which is a defining element of a place’s atmosphere; all together these choices ensure an optimum level of environmental quality and well-being for indoor living.
Apart from the restoration and reuse of the existing buildings, the regenerative approach behind circular economy (reduce, reuse, recycle) has also been applied in the following circumstances: in ‘Località Cossone’ we welcomed the preservation and reuse of pre-existing wooden pergolas (one of which will be disassembled and reassembled in a different position, functional to the new disposition of the working activities), and the recycle of debris, from a couple of structures to be demolished. The debris from demolition will remain in place resulting in operational cost savings and reduction of CO2 emissions since they will be used as the basement for the green slopes with flowers and bushes that connect the elevated walkway of the existing ramp to the ground level; such ramp and its retention walls in white reinforced concrete have been preserved and integrated into the project becoming a distinctive element for the external distribution of the entire complex – the production plant and the new offices: from its elevated position one can gather within a view the characteristic horizontal silhouette typical of the Po Valley (versus east) and the urban landscape (versus south).
Image 48: Horizontal silhouette of the urban and natural landscapes.
Regarding the energy efficiency, the use of brickwork for buildings was chosen as the primary construction material both for the requalification of the existing warehouses in Località Cossone (ventilated terracotta facades added as an external layer to the existing walls) and the ex-Consorzio Agrario, as well as for the new office building in Località Cossone (a massive structure with exposed brick cladding, as well as sun shading of terracotta bricks on the south-facing façade will be used). The decision to use bricks as the main material for construction was not only driven by geographical, cultural, historical, logistic and aesthetic reasons, such as those we already mentioned; that choice also regarded broader economic and environmental considerations: indeed, by considering the entire lifecycle of a building, a construction material such as bricks, which is naturally abundant, locally sourced, durable, with stable performance and cost-effective in addition to its potential for future reuse or recycling, meets several regulatory requirements of recent Italian environmental criteria (CAM – Criteri Ambientali Minimi). Always in terms of energy performance, it is worth noting that all buildings under redevelopment include the installation of photovoltaic modules on the roofs. Additionally, in Località Cossone, a photovoltaic park will be installed to meet the plant’s energy needs and to generate surplus energy, resulting in economic benefits for the property.
Finally, to ensure the integration of the new interventions with the social territory, apart from the employment opportunities, an area of the ex-Consorzio Agrario complex has been designated for public use (see Images 46/47 above – the pavilion on the right): it includes functions that promote gathering and social interaction, such as indoor and outdoor dining areas and a conference hall that can also be used as a cinema. To facilitate the multiple and parallel use of the different zones without interfering with the specific working activities of the Company, we conceived a gradual subdivision of the indoor environments, transitioning from private (offices, didactic areas, laboratories, etc.) to public use (bar/refreshment room, conference room), while the central, covered area between the two pavillions of the new ‘Basilica’, which is used as an openly accessible exhibition area, and is designed as a winter garden, serves as a buffer zone, harmonizing the different uses, private and public.
Notes
[1] Known protocols for sustainable architecture were born out of a reductionist and mechanistic mindset; this approach is too narrow and limiting to understand the complex relationship between architecture and the environment. Despite that, such protocols certainly contributed and are still contributing to creating an interest in the adoption of green building standards. See Chrisna du Plessis, ‘Towards a Regenerative Paradigm for the Built Environment’ In Building Research & Information, 40(1), (2012): 13.
[2] On the difference between multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches, see note [16] in the article On the Modernity of Patrick Geddes (1854-1932)
[3] As transdisciplinary thinkers Ruano and Pasquier maintained: ‘There is an urgent need to develop a complex, intercultural, transdisciplinary way of thinking, in order to more fully account for transnational damages of an intersystemic nature.’ Ruano, J.C., Pasquier, F. ‘Transdisciplinary’, in Handbook of the Anthropocene: Humans between Heritage and Future, edited by Wallenhorst, N. and Wulf, C. (Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2023).
[4] Whitehead, in Nature and Life, talked about ‘six types of occurrences in Nature’ (‘human existence’, ‘animal life’, ‘vegetable life’, ‘single cells’, ‘inorganic aggregates’, ‘happenings on an infinitesimal scale’) – see The Place of Processes: Nature and Life. General System Theory categorized different levels of reality, which, in one way or another, include all of the categories mentioned by Whitehead (von Bertalanffy and Boulding see From Space to Place). Reminding Occam’s razor, I’ve found that the categorization offered by philosopher and novelist Robert Pirsig on the basis of systems theory is the most efficient and direct (see On the Structure of Reality), reducing the ingredients of reality to just four basic topics or systems which include ‘everything’: Inorganic, Biological, Social and Intellectual systems. Based on a processual (Whitehead) and systemic (GST) approach to reality, I have considered those four basic topics both in terms of processes and systems (physicochemical, biological, social and symbolic processes/systems, in a range from concreteness, which regards every being or entity, to abstraction, which only regards human processes or systems). If processes become concrete, they concretize into actual systems, otherwise, they remain in their potential state, waiting for realization. The real question is not the description of how many levels, processes or systems exist (every categorization can be as valid as others); the question, open to determination and discussion from both scientific and philosophical perspectives, is to understand the relationship between parts or levels.
[5] https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=su/n
[6] https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=i(/sthmi
[7] Ludwig von Bertalanffy, General System Theory: Essays on its Foundation and Development (New York: George Braziller, 1968), 55.
[8] If reality is a place of processes, the mechanism of formation of a place, understood as a systemic/organic notion, is analogous to Whitehead’s mechanism of concrescence in the philosophy of organism, elaborated in Process and Reality. I have spoken about this important characteristic to understand the relation between parts and whole of a system in the article Place, Space, and a New Conception of Nature. On the contiguity of meanings between ‘organism’ and ‘system’ see also Place, Space, and the Philosophy of Nature.
[9] I have structured this phrase (as well as my conception of place as a processual, concrescent notion) on a Whiteheadian popular passage in Nature and Life, page 33.
[10] See note [4] above. Concerning the subdivision of social processes I also used the ‘The Social Process Triangle Model’ (created in two international conferences held in Chicago, in the ‘70s, sponsored by the American Institute of Cultural Affairs) as a reference to have an encompassing image of the infinitude of processes related to human activities that can be headed under ‘social processes’. I just selected a few representative parts of them. See The Institute of Cultural Affairs, ‘The Social Process Triangle’ in Social and Corporate Process Triangle Workshop, 1993.
[11] The ‘regenerative approach’ as an explicit design practice had its origin in the United States, in the ‘90s, with the pioneering work of landscape architect John Tillman Lyle – author of the book ‘Regenerative Design for Sustainable Development’ (1994) – whose activity is now continued by the academic centre that he contributed to create: The Center for Regenerative Studies, on the campus of the California State Polytechnic University, in Pomona. In the USA, another cultural agent working on regenerative issues and development is Regenesis Group, one of whose principals, architect Bill Reed, was a founding Board of Director of the US Green Building Council and co-founder of the LEED Green Building Rating System. Regenesis Group in the last couple of decades, promoted a systemic approach to design and a place-based framework for design practice which have a similar cultural basis and scientific background to the one that I am delineating at RSaP – e.g., Pamela Mang and Bill Reed, ‘Regenerative Development and Design’ in Sustainable Built Environments, eds V. Loftness, D. Haase (New York: Springer Science+Business Media, 2013), 478-501. In Italy, more recently, the regenerative approach to design has been sponsored by Professor Emanuele Naboni, scientific director of the architectural magazine YB-YouBuild and editor with Lisanne Havinga of the book ‘Regenerative Design in Digital Practice: A Handbook for the Built Environment’ (2019).
[12] A net-positive balance removes more greenhouse gases from the atmosphere than we emit, in order to limit global warming to 1,5°C and ensure a safe climate for future generations.
[13] The expression ‘Consorzio Agrario’ means buildings, such as granaries, used for storing products of the earth, e.g., seeds, and agricultural stocks. Those types of buildings had a great diffusion in Italy in the first part of the XX century; now, they are often abandoned or demolished, which means that we are losing their anthropological value as symbols of rural communities and ways of living which are disappearing.
Cited Works
Bohm, David. Wholeness and the Implicate Order. New York: Routledge, 2005.
Bertalanffy, Ludwig von. General System Theory: Essays on its Foundation and Development. New York: George Braziller, 1968.
du Plessis, Chrisna ‘Towards a Regenerative Paradigm for the Built Environment’. In Building Research & Information, 40(1), (2012): 7–22.
Mang, Pamela and Reed, Bill. ‘Regenerative Development and Design’. In Sustainable Built Environments, edited by V. Loftness, D. Haase (New York: Springer Science+Business Media, 2013), 478-501.
Naboni, Emanuele and Havinga, Lisanne. Regenerative Design in Digital Practice: A Handbook for the Built Environment. Bolzano: Eurac, 2019.
Norberg-Schulz, Christian. The Concept of Dwelling: On the Way to Figurative Architecture. New York: Rizzoli International Publishing, 1985.
Ruano, Javier Collado, and Pasquier, Florent. ‘Transdisciplinary’. In Handbook of the Anthropocene: Humans between Heritage and Future, edited byWallenhorst, Nathanaël, and Wulf, Christoph. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2023.
The Institute of Cultural Affairs. ‘The Social Process Triangle’. In Social and Corporate Process Triangle Workshop, 1993.
Whitehead Alfred N. Nature and Life. London: Cambridge University Press, 1934.
Image and Video Credits
Featured Image: Rehabilitation of a grain storage warehouse (ex-Consorzio Agrario), Ostiano, IT, 2024. Design Team: Calvi Rollino, Cereda, Panarese Architetti.
Renderings: Alessandro Calvi Rollino Architetto.
Images 01-06: Alessandro Calvi Rollino Architetto, CC BY-NC-SA.
Images 14-17, 23-24, 28-29: Ostiano, Regione Lombardia, Piano di Governo del Territorio – COMUNE DI OSTIANO: https://www.multiplan.servizirl.it/pgtwebn/#/public/dettaglio-piano/11371/documenti
All other images and video: Calvi Rollino, Cereda, Panarese Architetti.
