Defining Ecological Design

All architects know somewhere deep that our planet is suffering. We are the authors of this suffering but we can also be the authors of its recovery.

Addressing the situation starts with understanding the condition and seeking solutions.

Our human society’s condition is analogous to being in a crowded boat adrift in a turbulent sea. The boat has a leak and is in danger of capsizing. Our human society needs knowledge to address the leak.

It needs directives to reach safety. It also needs time to reach safety.

The people in the boat is our entire human society. The boat is our urban environment and cities. The turbulent sea is the environmental crisis. The leak is the threat of the apocalypse of the planet. The knowledge is the science of ecology. The directive is designing based on biomimicry of ecosystem attributes. The equipment is the remade built environment as ‘constructed ecosystems’. The time is imminent and diminishing.

Words by Ken Yeang, Executive Director, T. R. Hamzah & Yeang