Thirteenth International Conference on The Constructed Environment

Abstract

Architecture is an intervention in an existing network of ecological processes. Since the mid-20th Century, humans have become the most influential force affecting those processes. How can we reconcile the human and so-called natural forces and processes that entwine to shape a site? By studying extreme environments such as Death Valley (the hottest place on Earth) and Mt. Wai’ale’ale (the wettest place on Earth), the author has developed a strategy for understanding, analyzing and integrating the human and “natural” processes that shape a site. Process Network Diagramming is a method that enables those untrained in ecology (which includes nearly all architects and engineers) to create an ecosystem inventory through direct observation of a site, and then begin to understand the process and relationships between processes that shape that site. The information and insights gained from this method can lead to designs and buildings that become positive interventions in their ecosystem, incorporating nature’s lessons in resilience and regeneration from direct observation and analysis of the site and ecosystem.