Abstract
Self-organization implies that order and regularity can come into being (emerge) spontaneously as a purely bottom-up process. Design implies the exact opposite: that order and organization come into being by virtue of a designer in a top-down manner. In this paper we treat these apparent contraries as a complementary pair, and use the notion of SIRN to show how they may coexist.
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Notes
- 1.
Throughout the 2nd Delft International Conference on Complexity, Cognition, Urban Planning and Design, one is struck by the relevance of complementary pairs and their (coordination) dynamics in numerous presentations and contexts. A few examples in no particular order are: Design cannot be a solitary activity (Batty: solitary~team, individual~collective). Cities create creativity; there is spatialization of the social and socialization of the spatial (Hillier, social~spatial, boundary~domain). Termite architecture; a balance of thermodynamically forward flux (TFF) and physiological flux(PF) (Turner, dispersal~deposition; homeostasis~homeodynamics; intensive~extensive). Rats exploring novel environments (Hediger, repeated routes~creating places). The brain’s maps and neural networks (Haggard, cognitive~affective, unity~diversity, symbolic~dynamical; syntax~semantics). Knowledge and uncertainty (Sela, ontological~epistemological). Working with water, the Delta, ‘in between’ zones (Meyer, layered~rhythmic, spatial~temporal, past~future, dispersion~deposition, slow modes~fast modes). Cities as Complex (Portugali, artifactual~natural, potentialities~possibilities, simple~complex, parts~together, this contribution). The City in history, the built environment (Harbruken, simple~complex, unifying principles~diverse mechanisms; stasis~change; rules~dynamics; create~reproduce, variety~consensus, modularity(parts)~design (whole).
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Scott Kelso, J.A., Stolk, E., Portugali, J. (2016). Self-organization and Design as a Complementary Pair. In: Portugali, J., Stolk, E. (eds) Complexity, Cognition, Urban Planning and Design. Springer Proceedings in Complexity. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32653-5_3
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