Inhabiting a finite world

Abstract

Current discourses within the built environment increasingly underline the need for a shift in perception, thinking and values as a prerequisite to moving from sustainability to regeneration. Within architecture, regeneration is defined as an act of building with an active contribution toward the local ecosystem rather than simply minimizing environmental impact.

While the theory of regenerative design offers a precise understanding of what architecture should achieve within the ecologies of a place to be regenerative, it does not provide an understanding of how this different perspective can be applied to the design process, nor how precisely the building can enter an active partnership with an ecosystem. To explore the complexity of this question, this joined master thesis draws upon two bodies of research as a prerequisite to the design question.

The first one explores how biodiversity can be addressed through architecture and the building itself, while the second one investigates how the relationship between people and a local ecosystem shapes their architecture and determines its potential for regeneration.

The following design project explores the role of ecology in the design process by experimenting with design decision-making focused on architecture’s impacts and potential to interact with the local ecosystem, ultimately fostering the co-evolution of both.

Finally, this thesis stresses the importance of seeking contradictions, dynamic balance and contextual innovation as a way to foster an active architecture-ecosystems relationship. A thorough understanding of the ecologies of a place and so building from a more-than-human perspective opens the potential of architecture to move beyond sustainability on the way to regeneration.