Payette People at Greenbuild

Toward a New Consilience: Art + Science = Sustainable Design
In ‘Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge,’ E.O. Wilson wrote that “until the fundamental divide between art and science is closed, the relation between man and the living world will remain problematic.” Two decades later, the design industry largely has ignored this call to action. The art of architecture and the science of building still are perceived as separate topics. Standards of “good design” and “green design” have yet to come together, for what makes buildings look good rarely relates to what makes them work well. Performance lives in the technical manual, not on the napkin sketch. Yet, research shows that up to 90% of the eventual impact of a building is determined with the earliest design decisions—location, size, shape, function, etc. Design trumps technology. Furthermore, a growing wealth of research is revealing how people respond to form, space, color, pattern, and texture—the designers’ toolkit. The design industry is on the verge of revolutionizing itself around new revelations about the impact of our work. In this lively presentation, four LEED Fellows will share how they are shaping their practices around these principles to spearhead a new age of consilient design.