plane wing and ground geography

Beauty in Building

Beautiful buildings have unique attributes that are lighting up our performance matrix! Our initial findings are showing that beautiful buildings are also higher performing buildings. Why? We suspect their high degree of integration has something to do with it. Details to come...

Definition: For purposes of this study, beauty is defined as those qualities in the built environment that cause people to feel fully alive or inspired.

This matrix PDF illustrates our current findings.

Living Built Environments

  • Assisting you to find existing structures
  • Fully-integrated-design leadership
  • Educating about, advocating for, and facilitating the Living Building Imperatives

Context Intelligence

context-intelligence-map

Using GIS databases to produce contextual mapping.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a powerful means and method to quickly and comprehensively understand the site and region of a project. Planning and landscape design professions and civil and environmental engineering have long used GIS software and databases to do their work, architects have not. Fully understanding the context in which we are asked to build should not be an option, it must be a given. Our first work in mapping geographic patterns for use in building design was done in 2002. The context intelligence work supports making architecture and recognizes that design's highest task is to bring us into contact with living. It is ultimately a poetic gesture manifest through intelligent means.

Feed your project intelligent information →

Education

Finding the source that underlies a subject.

The point of PatternMapping® institute is to look into timely issues that are relevant to the built-environment and to find ways that promote intelligence in using the findings. We have learned that understanding the core of a subject allows us to engage a messy, organic, and contextual reality. This is where information becomes useful. We are available to help educate:

  • Better Buildings guide: introducing the book and training staff on green standards and metrics.
  • Green Intelligence: helping manufacturers state the green attributes of their product with intelligence.
  • Teaching the community: introducing green building measures to the building community.
  • Teaching in academics: university level integrated design studio.
  • Conference presentations: specializing in green building materials information (green building standards, Better Buildings Guide)and research subjects (Beauty in Building and Context Intelligence).