The Turning Point

1. The Turning Point Science, Society, and the Rising Culture By Fritjof Capra 1982

2. Crisis: danger/opportunity “For the very first time we have to face the very real threat of extinction of the human race and of all life on this planet.” Capra, pg. 21 • Cultural transformation follows a pattern of rise and fall. • Transition 1: Decline of patriarchy • A shift in values • Transition 2: Decline of the fossil fuel age • A shift in technology • Transition 3: Paradigm Shift • A shift in world views

3. Cultural Values and Attitudes • Yin (feminine) • Contractive • Conservative • Responsive • Cooperative • Intuitive • Synthesizing • Yang (masculine) • Expansive • Demanding • Aggressive • Competitive • Rational • Analytic

4. Cultural Imbalance “ Looking at this list of opposites (yin/yang), it is easy to see that our society has consistently favored the yang over the yin…” Capra, pg. 39 • Rational knowledge over intuitive wisdom • Competition over cooperation • Exploitation of natural resources over conservation

5. Fluctuation of Value Systems “In Sorokin’s model the current paradigm shift and the decline of the Industrial Age are another period of maturation and decline of sensate culture.” (Pitirim Sorokin, 1937-1941), Capra, pg. 31 • Sensate: matter alone is the ultimate reality • Ideational: true reality lies in the spiritual realm • Idealistic: synthesizing stage • Greek culture of the 5th and 6th century • European Renaissance

6. Delphi, 2500 bp “The Greeks were essentially democratic…Normally, the citizens shared in all affairs of state …were united by a similar devotion of their religion, …festivals…love of music, the drama and the fine arts and by …sports.” Temple of Apollo, Theatre, Treasuries, Stoas Fletcher, Banister. (1967). A History of Architeccture on the Comparative Method. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.

7. The Louvre, 1852 Architect Visconti presents plans for additions to the Louvre to Napoleon III. Pierre Lescot , 1510 -1571 is Architect of the Louvre.

8. Ericsson Corporate Plano,TX Gideon Toal Architects Greg Ibanez, AIA

9. Social Trends, 1988 • The Assumption of Responsibility • The Renewal of Idealism Vision 2000: Trends Shaping Architecture’s Future

10. Values and Lifestyles • Outer-Directed “Achievers” Yuppies • Inner-Directed “Societally Conscious” Hippies • X Generation “nothing matters” • Integrateds “the ability to transcend” a new synthesis (25–29% in 1988) • Flatlanders, the new integrateds (you)

11. The Dark Side of Growth “The fragmented, mechanistic world view that has become All-pervasive, and the one-sided, sensate and ‘yang-oriented’ Value system that is the basis of this world view, have led to a profound cultural imbalance and have generated numerous symptoms of ill health.” Capra, pg. 234 • Toxic Chemical Wastes • Exorbitant use of Petroleum • Growth of Nuclear Power • Unhealthy Diet • Reliance on Drugs

12. Sprawl http://www.sprawlcity.org/hbis/index.html “Over a 20-year period, the 100 largest Urbanized Areas sprawled out over an additional 14,545 square miles. That was more than 9 million acres of natural habitats, farmland and other rural space that were covered over by the asphalt, buildings and sub-divisions of suburbia. “ Amy Singer, artist

13. The Era of Rebuilding • 20th Century was an Era of Building • 21stCentruy • Long term growth in rehabilitation • Lack of prime new urban sites • Historic Preservation • Tax laws Driskill Hotel Austin, Texas Vision 2000: Trends Shaping Architecture’s Future

14. Penturbia(Lessinger, Univ. of Washington) • Older Colonies to New Colonies • Migration West • To the Industrial Cities • Suburbanization • Areas offering a “High Quality of Life” • From fragmentation • To intergration

15. Dallas Structure 1850 River 1900 Rail 1970 Highway

16. Dallas Structure 21st Century

17. Urban Village A new town center for Channahon, Illinois. Frank Elmer Associates Ltd., Columbus, Ohio

18. Downtown Plano Transit Village 2003-2004 CLIDE AWARD Redevelopment Landmark Award Center for Development Excellence

19. Technological Trends • The Energy Transition • Biotechnology and Ecological Design Village Homes, Davis, CA 1981 Michael and Judy Corbett Vision 2000: Trends Shaping Architecture’s Future

20. Economic Trends • Globalization of the Economy Kaplan McLaughlin Diaz has done work on every continent except Antarctica. There is greater opportunity for and interest in high-level design overseas. Companies such as Charles Schwab call upon KMD to design their overseas offices. Vision 2000: Trends Shaping Architecture’s Future

21. USA: Adapt or Decline • “We have to make it work for everyone to make it work for ourselves” Buckminster Fuller North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), pact that calls for the gradual removal of tariffs and other trade barriers on most goods produced and sold in North America. NAFTA became effective in Canada, Mexico, and the United States on January 1, 1994. NAFTA forms the world's second largest free-trade zone, bringing together 365 million consumers in Canada, Mexico, and the United States in an open market. The largest free-trade zone is the European Economic Area which also became effective in 1994.

22. Worldview: machine/organism “Retreating into our minds, we have forgotten how to ‘think’ with our bodies, how to use them as agents of knowing. In doing so we have also cut ourselves off from our natural environment and have forgotten how to commune and cooperate with its rich variety of living organisms.” Capra, pg. 40 • Mechanistic view • Decartes – Cartesian view of nature • Rational, analytic thinking • Fundamental building blocks (separate parts) • Anti-ecological • System Theory (living organism) • Looks at the world in terms of the interrelatedness and interdependence of all phenomena • An integrated whole whose properties cannot be reduced to those of its parts.

23. Machines/Organism • Organisms • Grown • Process • Flexible • Cyclical patterns • Self organizing • Self renewal • Self-transcendence • Machines • Constructed • Product • Rigid • Linear patterns • Static …it is the interactions between the parts of a system that give rise to its emergent properties.

24. Hierarchical Organization

25. Collaboration Network

26. The Systems View of Life “The new vision of reality we have been talking about is based on the awareness of the essential interrelatedness and interdependence of all phenomena _ physical, biological, psychological, social and cultural. It transcend current disciplinary and conceptual boundaries and will be pursed within new institutions.” Capra, pg. 265 • Basic principles of organization • Cells • Organs • Organisms • Social systems (ant hill, family) • Ecosystems (organisms and inanimate matter in mutual interaction)

27. Systems Thinking is Process Thinking • Form becomes associated with process • Interrelation with interaction • Opposites are unified through oscillation Reduction and Holism, analysis and synthesis, are complementary approaches that, used in proper balance, help us obtain a deeper knowledge of life.

28. The Planet as a Living Organism • Gaia hypothesis (Greek goddess of the earth) “Mind is the essence of being alive.” Gregory Bateson Mind as a pattern of self-organization.

29. Rhythm “The conceptual shift from structure to rhythm may be extremely useful in our attempts to find a unifying description of nature. Rhythmic patterns seem to be manifest at all levels” Capra, pg. 300 • Atoms are patterns of probability waves • Molecules are vibrating structures • Organisms are multidimensional, interdependent patterns of fluctuations.

30. Synchrony with the Universe “These moments of perfect rhythm, when everything feels exactly right and things are done with great ease, are high spiritual experiences in which every form of separateness or fragmentation is transcended.” Capra, pg. 302 Kimble Art Museum Fort Worth, Texas Louis Kahn, Architect Photo: Jerry Kneupper

31. Mindwalk: a film for passionate thinkers • Liv Ullmann • Sam Waterston • John Heard Mont Saint Michel 13th Century Restored by Viollet-le-Duc 19th Century French Romanesque-Gothic