INSPIRATION & BEAUTY

Inspiration literally means, “To breath life into..."

The fundamental fact about inspiration is that it does not arise from either ego or mind. The history of science shows that the most important breakthroughs simply came to their discoverers not when they were engaged in “work,” but when taking a walk, playing with their children, basically just being. Sim used to ask his classes to write about peak experiences in their lives – those times they felt most inspired and most alive. Unfailingly, their peak experiences occurred in nature - not surprising, since we are part of nature and feeling one with nature is, according to Sim, a key trigger for inspiration.

Sim believes that beauty is always connected to aspects of nature - an idea that is made most relevant in Christopher Alexander’s magnum four volume opus, “The Nature of Order." Biophilia tells us that humans are less human when they live without daylight, growing things, or moving water. Beauty in architecture and building is a reflection of the life we feel in human made environments. Integrating natural elements into a building and site, such as living walls and roofs and food gardens, which can tell the story of sun, water, soil, and wind, are an obvious aspect of creating beauty. The Living Building Challenge is an example of the much needed effort to integrate beauty into the built environment and to move us beyond LEED's point design.

In his presentation, Sim will reveal the fifteen features that appear again and again in architecture, which demonstrate wholeness and life.

About Sim Van der Ryn

Sim is a visionary, author, educator, public leader, and internationally distinguished  pioneer in ecological design.  For more than 40 years, Sim has been at the forefront of integrating ecological principles into the built environment, creating multi-scale solutions driven by nature’s intelligence. Professor of Architecture at the University of California for 35 years, he also served as California’s first energy-conscious State Architect, authored seven influential books, and won numerous honors and awards for his leadership and innovation in architecture & planning. Sim’s collaborative approach and meta-disciplinary accomplishments help show the way to an evolving planetary era that values both the integrity of ecological systems and the quality of life.

A recent New York Times profile writes, “Long before sustainability became the buzzword du jour, there was Sim Van der Ryn, the intrepid pioneer on the eco-frontier".  The 70-year-old architect is part of a generation of visionaries who are more interested in the long term value of their their work than in self promotion. Sim emphasizes, “We are engaged in an Ecological Revolution , every bit as profound as the preceding Industrial Revolution.”  While addressing an assembly of architects, Sim states, "The worst thing you can do is keep making no changes. That's where the risk lies."