Regenerative Design for Architects
In 2022 Adam wrote a lecture series to summarise his learnings in sustainability and regenerative design. The series was titled Regenerative Design for Architects.
Western Sydney University provided a platform for delivery of this series as a semester-long subject. The series was structured around six lectures and corresponding assessment tasks and delivered across three extended workshops.
Workshop A - What is regenerative design?
Fluency in the multiple crises facing humanity
Developed understanding of yourself as part of nature
Differentiate between ‘sustainable design’ and ‘regenerative design’
Awareness of the UN Sustainable Development Goals
Ethical and Principled design (Permaculture)
Grasp the Concept of Energy and Nutrient Cycles
Concept of abundance
Basics of the living building challenge
Envision a role for architects as regenerative designers
Nutrient cycles
Energy cycles
Workshop B - Productive systems & building resilience
Appreciate Indigenous seasonal and drought cycles
Understand soil as a key carbon sink and the foundation of life
Learn three horizons thinking methods
Think about design through built, biological and social fields
Building as a scaffold - frame and generic space
Familiarity with Architects Declare
Understand Doughnut (circular) Economics and closed loops
Grasp the Concept of Nutrient Material and Water Cycles
Access the BASIX portal
Drought cycle
Workshop C - Looking forward
Grasp concepts of finite resources and peak technology
Understand pathways to future scenarios (David Holmgren)
Consider the design of our own practices (Regenerative Cultures)
Appreciate vibrancy at edges and margins in ecology and urban design
Understand the principle of affordance in designed environments
Gain an understanding of the Passive House system
