Linking Architecture and Education: Sustainable Design of Learning Environments

Chapter Two: The Learning Environment

| 21| 21 Chapter Two The Learning Environment The Order of the Universe It is hard not to view our world as chaotic and random, especially because we often find ourselves removed from natural settings, surrounded by material proliferation, and living in discord with other people and our deepest personal wishes. It should be possible to establish a sense of harmony within ourselves and with the world, as there exists an order to the universe that we can capture and enjoy. Philosophers, mathematicians, physicists, ecologists, religious leaders, musicians, and Native people who have uncovered the interconnectedness of all things through their observations of natural phenomena have described this sense of pattern or underlying meaning in different ways. Perhaps architects, with their understanding of proportion and geometry, can help us discover our own interpretations of cosmic harmonies and balance. Many authors and designers have used their visual acuity and design ability to reveal formal relationships and connections in the world around us through text and illustration. Three such authors who demonstrate the principle of the knowing eye are Gyorgy Doczi, an architect; Michael S. Schneider, an educator and author interested in nature’s numerical language and the designed environment; and Fritjof Capra, author and founder of the Center for Ecoliteracy in California. Doczi coined the word dinergy to describe the dynamic way in which all things grow or are made by a union of complementary opposites. Through a series of diagrams in The Power of Limits, his book on proportional harmonies and logarithmic principles in nature and art, he illustrates commonalities in form and proportion across disciplines. Doczi begins his book with the example of a daisy’s center, which is formed by a pattern of spirals moving in opposite directions. The pattern is in turn analyzed and then related to the Fibonacci number series and the Golden Mean. The Golden Mean is a long-revered, aesthetically pleasing proportional relationship between two unequal parts of a whole. The small part stands in the same proportion to the large part as the large part stands to the whole. Similar proportions are found in musical harmonies, crafts, the physical proportions of species of all kinds, including humans, and—of course—in architecture (Doczi, 1981). Michael S. Schneider’s understanding of pattern and connection is equally intriguing. Schneider has authored several activity books and A Beginner’s Guide to Constructing the Universe: The Mathematical Archetypes of Nature, Art, and Science (1995). With the use of a geometer’s compass, straightedge, and pencil, Schneider takes the reader on an interdisciplinary journey of the numbers one through ten. He urges readers to create their own geometric constructions as they follow the text, to “construct the patterns that construct the universe” (p. xxxii). In his conclusion he suggests we have the opportunity to restructure education and teach children differently, “to expose them to harmony in all its forms, in nature, music, art, and The Philosophical Framework 22 | mathematical beauty. Perhaps children steeped in harmony will become generations of adults who will strive to achieve harmony in the world” (p. 350). Fritjof Capra, physicist and systems theorist, is well known for his many lucid books translating a complex scientific understanding of living systems into an accessible philosophy of deep ecology that encompasses social systems and has direct applications to education. Capra identifies six principles of ecology, principles of organization common to all living systems: ▶  Networks ▶  Cycles ▶  Solar energy ▶  Partnership ▶  Diversity ▶  Dynamic balance (Capra, 2002, p. 231) Capra writes that we must understand these principles and experience them in nature in order to develop a true sense of place. Consider for a moment that every school playground, if not covered in asphalt, could be designed instead to highlight these principles. Capra’s Center for Ecoliteracy Web site describes the mental shift to systems thinking: from the parts to the whole, from objects to relationships, from quantity to quality, and from hierarchies to networks. This constitutes a movement from a linear to a nonlinear worldview, which could also be adopted for our designs of school spaces and their spatial relationships. For more insights, I urge everyone to read Capra’s The Web of Life, in which he summarizes emerging understandings of life tied to complexity theory and nonlinear dynamics. In short, Capra shows that in order to sustain life, the design principles underlying our social institutions must be consistent with the defining characteristics of life and the organizational patterns in nature. Capra further explores the implications of complexity in philosophical attempts...