I picked up David Suzuki’s Tree: A Life Story at the library recently and started reading it on the bus. It traces the development of a Douglas-fir from seedling to towering specimen and its eventual decay. During the discussion of deciduous and evergreen trees, I couldn’t help but think about design though.
As Suzuki, and his co-author, nature writer Wayne Grady, point out, these trees have evolved in response to climatic patterns. The deciduous is adapted to primarily “long, cold winters or to seasonally dry climates at lower latitudes” while evergreens have evolved in “environments with lots of sun and dry long periods.” In the spirit of biomimicry, or at least looking to nature for inspiration, why not consider the tree’s evolution and how it’s adapted to place? Our buildings and design in general, ought to reflect an understanding of place and local conditions.
Once upon a time we seemingly did follow this concept: brick homes in colder areas with heavy clay soils were the norm. This enabled local production of the building materials and sensitivity to the climate. Now, with a global supply chain, regionally appropriate design seems to have become a relic. In order to live more sustainably, there has to be a concerted effort to consider the local conditions when designing and constructing buildings. There’s a reason the Amazon is a rainforest and not home to a large population of pine and spruce; those species don’t fit the local conditions. Let’s learn from nature, it’s been around a lot longer than we have.
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