the fundamental principle of design Jan 28, 2021

the fundamental principle of design is
that things are composed of things.

emergence is when a thing's existence
arises through the interactions of its parts.

design, therefore, is the process of choosing things
in order to create something through emergence.

("choosing things" includes the addition, removal, arrangement, and modification of things, relative to one another. thus it includes both the components and the structure they sit in. additionally, there is always the factor of the environment, the context.)

design exists in many places and at many scales.
here are some examples, with some of their parts parenthesized:

- a sentence, a poem, a book (words, ideas, order, context)
- a drawing, a painting (forms, colors, ideas, layout, context)
- a tool (materials, form, context)
- a room (objects, layout, context)
- a garden (plants, layout, context)
- a road (materials, form, context)
- your life (people, places, habits, ideas, order, context)

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the fundamental principle of design

links to: litany of the crystal flowing mind

linked from: the universe in a nutshell

category: exploration/meditation
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previous: glass marble meditation

all writing, chronological
next: the universe in a nutshell
previous: glass marble meditation