Emergent Dialectics Design for Poetic Sustainability (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781477638941)

Today, we face a sustainability problem that threatens cultural and ecological diversity. The ecological crisis is due to the convergence of three mutually reinforcing factors: the growth in world population, the limits of our natural resources and the unpredictable effects of climate change. The erosion of cultural diversity is due to the development of digital-communication technology which has intensified the globalization of ideas and its homogenizing effect on local culture. While the solution to these problems supersedes the role of architecture, this work proposes "visibly sustainable form" - one that emerges from the interaction of universal poetical meanings and particular historical, socio-cultural and ecological characteristics of place.

Emergent Dialectics Design for Poetic Sustainability bridges the poetic character commonly attributed to signature architecture and the need for place relevancy. Visibly sustainable form safeguards the unique character of places while acknowledging that "creative architecture" - architecture capable of signifying cultural and ecological meanings - emerges from a much more complex dialectical relationship than the simple additive process of place consideration, however well intended.

The book format attempts a meta-language whereby the layout signifies its message. Accompanying the writing is a single 'poetic' illustration per page - images of seminal art, architecture, and nature. Gathered through extensive research with assistance from a variety of museums, archives, foundations, and professional photographers, this compilation of unique images from all parts of the world constitutes a valuable work in its own right.