The term
environmental design
means many different things to different people.
To some it means little more than interior design
- planning an office layout and selecting the decor
and furniture, for example.
Architects and urban planners
concern themselves with the "built environment",
referring to the complex of buildings and infrastructures
in towns and cities, and related design issues that affect
the quality of life. To others the term encompasses all
ecologically responsible design, also known as
green design or ecodesign.
The most difficult environmental design problems deal with
the large-scale ecological impacts of the artificial world.
While concerns about these impacts have grown in public
consciousness over the last few decades, all too often
they are reduced to either-or, zero-sum, political
arguments.
When protecting the environment threatens peoples' jobs
they are against it, but if the economic interests of others
threaten to ruin their backyards they are for it.
Fortunately, both-and win-win solutions are possible.
For examples of how we can help organizations solve complex
environmental design problems, see some of our
Ecopatterns.
Check out the
Ecopatterns Wiki,
an initiative to enable many people to compose Ecopatterns for
ecosystems and the environment.
We believe that the best way to solve
big environmental problems involves an objective, dispassionate,
whole systems design process.
This requires systems-oriented problem solving tools
like
Structured Planning
to model complex interactions among design factors and constraints,
and tools like
Pattern Languages
to create integrated high-level solutions
to environmental problems.
To get expert help for your environmental design needs call
Design MatriX at
(310) 455 3107 or
Joint projects with other design companies and consultants are
welcome.
