Systems Thinking | Nov 7th at 12:46pm
I just came from my second workshop of the morning, a session on local urban design, and I am seeing several themes rising to the surface at the conference. One theme that keeps bubbling up is the idea of systems thinking and scale. How do we begin to redefine our approach to existing systems in an age of peak oil? How can we create new design hierarchies, new measurements of building performance, new financial and cultural models that embrace our challenges and foster an ethos of responsibility?
Alex Washburn, Chief Urban Designer for the city of New York, put it this way: “Cities are a confluence of politics, finances, and design and design is often the weakest. The window of opportunity for design opens and closes quickly, so when that window opens, we need to be prepared to rush in.”
And HOW we rush in as design professionals is key. It is imperative to recognize the advocacy role that designers can play in the other two legs of Washburn’s three-legged stool: politics and financing. He pointed out that we have just federalized two U.S. mortgage banks and that we are embarking on legislature for major infrastructure renewal in the U.S. We have an opportunity to restructure our mortgage system so that it supports local efficiency and favors mortgages that rebuild existing structures and encourage walkable communities (an idea that David Orr shared in his opening remarks earlier this morning). Washburn served under Patrick Moynihan in the Senate for a time, and he recounted how many times plans for major systems were decided in a room void of an architect or a designer. “I would challenge every designer to take a sabbatical in government and be a part of the decisions as they hang in the balance.”
Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson writes about architecture and design for publications like The New York Times Magazine, Architect, and Metropolis. In addition to her own blog, Urban Palimpsest, Dickinson is a regular contributor to the Metropolis blog, P/O/V.
