COMPOSITE

Prevalent models of design thinking are overly reductive. Formalist, and Cartesian in their understanding of systemic parts and wholes, they are neglectful of the dynamic processes happening within and between systems. This limits the ability to solve for the complexity of the natural, human-influenced, and built environments of places like Red Hook. In light of this, we propose a new design method which is aggressively inclusive. We believe that by excluding nothing -- or as little possible -- of the complexity of an issue, a better design solution can be achieved. This is a holistic design approach that analyzes all situations at all scales (global, urban, site, and individual scales) understanding that “part makes whole and whole makes part.” The “interpenetration of parts and wholes is the consequence of the interchangeability of subject and object, cause and effect.” We can (as designers) intervene in these situations carefully with the same dialectical understanding.