Melissa Sterry - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Systems by Melissa Sterry

Panarchistic Architecture [Literature Review] ebook, 2018

Panarchistic Architecture: Building Wildland Urban-Interface Resilience to Wildfire through Desig... more Panarchistic Architecture: Building Wildland Urban-Interface Resilience to Wildfire through Design Thinking, Practice, and Building Codes Modelled on Ecological Systems Theory - Literature Review in ebook format.

Panarchistic Architecture [Method] ebook, 2018

Panarchistic Architecture [Conclusions] ebook, 2018

Panarchistic Architecture [Chapter 8] ebook, 2018

Panarchistic Architecture [Introduction] ebook., 2018

Open Foresight Series, 2021

The coalface of innovation has never been an easy ascent. Though, in the minds of those that talk... more The coalface of innovation has never been an easy ascent. Though, in the minds of those that talk it, without having walked it, taking ideas from paper to market can be accomplished by following a series of bullet-points and soundbites, in reality no idea is too good to not fail, and even the best usually have a sell-by-date. Yet, even amidst the turmoil of present - a pandemic with more twists and turns than a gnarly old oak, tectonic political shifts on every continent but for the North and South Poles, whole industries mothballed or all but, and against the backdrop of a socio-environmental crisis of such complexity and scale that it’s not yet fully understood, let alone fully quantified - some businesses aren’t just surviving, but thriving. How, against such odds, do they do it? In this, the inaugural report in the Open Foresight Series, several foremost factors that are shaping innovation-at-the-edge are discussed. An independent work, the lens through which its contents are seen is autonomous and without intent to catalyse publicity for any product, service, brand, or other commercial entity. Authored at the interface of disciples and demographies, this report is holistic in its methodology, rejecting siloed quantitative approaches of the all-too-quickly dateable kind, such as online surveys and spot-check polls. Drawing on insights from one- to-one conversations with individuals of whom the careers have been spent treading paths unknown to pioneer groundbreaking new ideas, inventions, and the industries they collectively manifest, together with review of data of copious kind, this work stresses the imperative for innovation led by highly informed choices on the part of businesses of every size, type, and location. Forewarned is forearmed, and particularly when working against umpteen odds. Though often presented as either the sum of exponentially expanding and invariably disconnected parts or one of many qualitatively distinct trajectories of which the outcomes sit at tangents, in practice not [always] theory, the future - or at least parts of it - is relatively predictable: history does often repeat itself, and it repeats itself because at the level of systems outputs are coupled to inputs and thus patterns tend to emerge. As will be discussed in the pages that follow, an array of advancements both technical and conceptual are enabling more dots to be joined, and joined at speeds unthinkable in the past. The Internet now laden with often deeply conflicting accounts of possible near futures, this report is designed to disseminate what developments in not one, not two, but many disciplines collectively suggest to be key considerations that they working in business and beyond need consider in the immediate years ahead.

70-page open access foresight report published under Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

Citation reference: Sterry, M (2021), Innovation Against All Odds, QI/QII 2021, Open Foresight Series. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.28367.82082

PhD Thesis, 2018

Integral to the reproductive processes of the biota of several forest, shrub, and grassland biome... more Integral to the reproductive processes of the biota of several forest, shrub, and grassland biome-types, wildfire ignites some 3,400,000km2 of Earth’s vegetated surface annually. Though a highly complex phenomena coupled with not one, but several Earth systems, human actions are both directly and indirectly changing wildfire frequencies, intensities, severities, and behaviours, and to the detriment of both environment and society. Nowhere is this felt more so than the wildland urban interface, which home to roughly 1/3 of the nation’s populous and 40% of its housing stock, is the fastest-growing land-use type in the conterminous United States. A place where fire-averse architectures meet increasingly fire-prone lands, loss of lives, properties, and livelihoods to a series of wildfire complexes of proportions unprecedented in living memory have rendered there an urgent need to reconsider the challenge of living with wildfire as a vital landscape process. The product of a transdisciplinary study which converged state-of-the-knowledge from fields as diverse as the fire, ecological, and wider Earth sciences; information, communication, computing, and related technologies, both digital and biological; evolutionary, smart and living materials, architectures, and urban systems; philosophy, anthropology, psychology, and policymaking, this thesis presents a new wildland urban interface paradigm modelled on the biochemistries, behaviours, and systems of fire-adapted flora and the fire regimes they form. Migrating biomimetics from the level of species to systems, relying not on generic notions of nature and its workings, nor assumptions more generally, but on rigorous interrogation of the interplay between biotic and abiotic processes from the molecular to landscape to planetary scale, and across both human and geological timescales, several original theoretical and technical architectural and urban concepts are discussed, together with their possible applications and implications both within and beyond the wildland urban interface. Integrating insights from local and global indigenous and ancient fire cultures, the findings conclude that not merely is a reconciliation of human and non-human systems at the interface of fire-prone wild and urban lands possible, but therein resides potent ecological, social, and technical potentialities that merit further research in the years ahead.

Digital version available open access at: www.panarchiccodex.com

Festival of the Future City book, 2016

A discussion of ecological networks in cities. Find open access link to the article in the 'Pu... more A discussion of ecological networks in cities.

Find open access link to the article in the 'Publications' section of www.melissasterry.com

Inventing the Future white paper, Jan 7, 2014

A discussion of the potentialities offered by new thinking, methods, and approaches in education ... more A discussion of the potentialities offered by new thinking, methods, and approaches in education and research. The Inventing the Future white paper was issued in affiliation to the conference of the same name, held at the Royal Society, London on March 27th, 2014.

Find open access link to the paper in the 'Publications' section of www.melissasterry.com

Libertine magazine, Jan 1, 2016

Discussing the role of imaginary cities in evolving architectural and city narratives.

SGI Quarterly, The World in 2030 issue, Oct 1, 2015

A discussion of biomimetics and the built environment. Find open access link to article in th... more A discussion of biomimetics and the built environment.

Find open access link to article in the 'Publications' section of www.melissasterry.com

Human Spaces, Feb 20, 2015

A discussion of the need to accommodate for ecological and social networks in architecture and ur... more A discussion of the need to accommodate for ecological and social networks in architecture and urban design.

Search article title in a browser to find online version of the article.

City City magazine, Jul 1, 2013

A discussion of the cities of the past, present and future.

Mensa magazine, Jul 28, 2011

Discussing the precepts of the Bionic City, including the possible potentialities for biomimetic ... more Discussing the precepts of the Bionic City, including the possible potentialities for biomimetic architecture, urban design, planning, and infrastructure systems in the cities of the near and far future.

URBNFUTR, Jul 5, 2011

Discussing the potentialities of developing cities that mimic the behaviours, relationships, and ... more Discussing the potentialities of developing cities that mimic the behaviours, relationships, and systems of flora and fauna, and in doing so become resilient to environment flux, including natural hazards.

Sustainable Business, Feb 11, 2011

Discussing the philosophical precepts of the Bionic City, and the potential for building urban re... more Discussing the philosophical precepts of the Bionic City, and the potential for building urban resilience to natural hazard events through the mimicry of ecological resilience behaviours, relationships, and systems of flora and fauna species. Find open access link t the article in the 'Publications' section of www.melissasterry.com

Sustained, Jan 3, 2009

Exploring the renewable energy technologies of the now and near future.

Sustained, Jan 1, 2009

An exploration of sustainable design futures.

This Big City, 2011

A discussion of the potential to create architecture and urban design that accommodate for enviro... more A discussion of the potential to create architecture and urban design that accommodate for environmental flux. Find open access link to article in the 'Publications' section of www.melissasterry.com

This Big City, Dec 13, 2010

A discussion of the potentialities for developing urban resilience to natural hazards through the... more A discussion of the potentialities for developing urban resilience to natural hazards through the mimicry of the behaviours, relationships, and systems of flora and fauna. Find open access link to the article in the 'Publications' section of www.melissasterry.com

Panarchistic Architecture [Literature Review] ebook, 2018

Panarchistic Architecture [Method] ebook, 2018

Panarchistic Architecture [Conclusions] ebook, 2018

Panarchistic Architecture [Chapter 8] ebook, 2018

Panarchistic Architecture [Introduction] ebook., 2018

Open Foresight Series, 2021

70-page open access foresight report published under Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

Citation reference: Sterry, M (2021), Innovation Against All Odds, QI/QII 2021, Open Foresight Series. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.28367.82082

PhD Thesis, 2018

Digital version available open access at: www.panarchiccodex.com

Festival of the Future City book, 2016

A discussion of ecological networks in cities. Find open access link to the article in the 'Pu... more A discussion of ecological networks in cities.

Find open access link to the article in the 'Publications' section of www.melissasterry.com

Inventing the Future white paper, Jan 7, 2014

Find open access link to the paper in the 'Publications' section of www.melissasterry.com

Libertine magazine, Jan 1, 2016

Discussing the role of imaginary cities in evolving architectural and city narratives.

SGI Quarterly, The World in 2030 issue, Oct 1, 2015

A discussion of biomimetics and the built environment. Find open access link to article in th... more A discussion of biomimetics and the built environment.

Find open access link to article in the 'Publications' section of www.melissasterry.com

Human Spaces, Feb 20, 2015

Search article title in a browser to find online version of the article.

City City magazine, Jul 1, 2013

A discussion of the cities of the past, present and future.

Mensa magazine, Jul 28, 2011

URBNFUTR, Jul 5, 2011

Sustainable Business, Feb 11, 2011

Sustained, Jan 3, 2009

Exploring the renewable energy technologies of the now and near future.

Sustained, Jan 1, 2009

An exploration of sustainable design futures.

This Big City, 2011

This Big City, Dec 13, 2010

Panarchistic Architecture: Building Wildland Urban-Interface Resilience to Wildfire through Design Thinking, Practice and Building Codes modelled on Ecological Systems Theory, 2018

Find the 'Conclusions' chapter in eBook format in the 'All' section above. Integral to the rep... more Find the 'Conclusions' chapter in eBook format in the 'All' section above.

Integral to the reproductive processes of the biota of several forest, shrub, and grassland biome-types, wildfire ignites some 3,400,000km2 of Earth’s vegetated surface annually. Though a highly complex phenomena coupled with not one, but several Earth systems, human actions are both directly and indirectly changing wildfire frequencies, intensities, severities, and behaviours, and to the detriment of both environment and society. Nowhere is this felt more so than the wildland urban interface, which home to roughly 1/3 of the nation’s populous and 40% of its housing stock, is the fastest-growing land-use type in the conterminous United States. A place where fire-averse architectures meet increasingly fire-prone lands, loss of lives, properties, and livelihoods to a series of wildfire complexes of proportions unprecedented in living memory have rendered there an urgent need to reconsider the challenge of living with wildfire as a vital landscape process. The product of a transdisciplinary study which converged state-of-the-knowledge from fields as diverse as the fire, ecological, and wider Earth sciences; information, communication, computing, and related technologies, both digital and biological; evolutionary, smart and living materials, architectures, and urban systems; philosophy, anthropology, psychology, and policymaking, this thesis presents a new wildland urban interface paradigm modelled on the biochemistries, behaviours, and systems of fire-adapted flora and the fire regimes they form. Migrating biomimetics from the level of species to systems, relying not on generic notions of nature and its workings, nor assumptions more generally, but on rigorous interrogation of the interplay between biotic and abiotic processes from the molecular to landscape to planetary scale, and across both human and geological timescales, several original theoretical and technical architectural and urban concepts are discussed, together with their possible applications and implications both within and beyond the wildland urban interface. Integrating insights from local and global indigenous and ancient fire cultures, the findings conclude that not merely is a reconciliation of human and non-human systems at the interface of fire-prone wild and urban lands possible, but therein resides potent ecological, social, and technical potentialities that merit further research in the years ahead.

Panarchistic Architecture Building Wildland Urban-Interface Resilience to Wildfire through Design Thinking, Practice and Building Codes modelled on Ecological Systems Theory, 2018

Chapter Overview: Concluding the five-part case studies series, the proposed WUI building codes, collectively known as the Panarchic Codex, represent the convergence of insights from multiple fields of interrogation, of which the foci has been the fire regimes and the behaviours and ecologies thereof, as documented both within parts I – IV, and throughout the wider body of the thesis. These codes are intended as a point of departure that will inform yet further research into the potentialities of aligning anthropogenic architectural and urban systems to the functioning of the ever-evolving landscapes, and ultimately, Earth Systems to which they are integral. Their name a nod to the Codex Atlanticus, conceptually, the codes constitute three architectural ‘Pyro Moirai’ [fire fates], wherein, from the outset, materially, structurally, and informatically, the lifecycle of a building is synced with its pyro-environment.

Though an integral part of this thesis, the codex has been designed to work as a stand- alone tool for use in architecture and planning workshops that will be attended by researchers and practitioners alike. Therefore, though paradigmatically it is a thing apart from the Californian Fires Codes of present, its format and section headers have been informed by the structure thereof. Further ways in which the codex will be utilised to continue the research initiated within the study programme include that of a thought-provocation piece within presentations, podcasts, and other on and offline media, discussions, and debates.

Panarchistic Architecture: Building Wildland Urban-Interface Resilience to Wildfire through Design Thinking, Practice and Building Codes modelled on Ecological Systems Theory, 2018

Chapter Overview: Having discussed the underlying paradigmatic principles of a tri-part pangenical approach to architecture and urban design in the wildland urban interface of the western U.S., this chapter explores the codification potentialities, both present and possible future, through discussion, scenarios, and speculations.

Panarchistic Architecture: Building Wildland Urban-Interface Resilience to Wildfire through Design Thinking, Practice and Building Codes modelled on Ecological Systems Theory, 2018

Chapter Overview: An interstitial space that resides at the boundary of natural and anthropogenic systems, the wildland urban interface is thus a system of systems of which the constituent parts reside both within, and beyond human ‘control’. This chapter discusses the state of the knowledge of this pyrogeographic domain, and quantifies the scale of the present and possible future challenges to the current architectural and urban design WUI paradigm.

Panarchistic Architecture: Building Wildland-Urban Interface Resilience to Wildfire through Design Thinking, Practice and Building Codes Modelled on Ecological Systems Theory, 2018

Chapter Overview: Transcending the boundaries of space and time, whereas the 5-part case studies series is exclusively focused on recent western U.S. wildfire complexes and the future WUI insights as can be gleaned therefrom, this triangulated case study extends across continents and centuries to discuss parallels between events that have historically been considered as mutually exclusive, therein studied in silos. Traversing transdisciplinary information as relates to both wildland and urban fires, a system of systems approach is employed by means of illuminating how, at the level of biochemistry, physics, and the wider sciences, fire behaviours as are witnessed in wildlands have become manifest in cities past and present, and why the matter thereof it pertinent to architectural and urban design futures. While informing the new WUI paradigm this thesis puts forth, the purpose of this chapter is that of highlighting the wider applicability of the findings of this research programme, and of critiquing construction, and other built environment concepts as evidence vulnerability to fire.

Panarchistic Architecture: Building Wildland Urban-Interface Resilience to Wildfire through Design Thinking, Practice and Building Codes modelled on Ecological Systems Theory. , 2018

Chapter Overview:
Wildfire resides at the apex of Earth Systems. An ephemeral phenomenon, its evolution is intimately entwined with that of terrestrial life. This chapter unfolds the planetary context of wildfire, including its history, biochemistry, physics, and ecology, by means of identifying the physical schemata within which the foundations of a new Wildland Urban Interface paradigm will be laid.

Panarchistic Architecture: Building Wildland-Urban Interface Resilience to Wildfire through Design Thinking, Practice and Building Codes Modelled on Ecological Systems Theory, 2018

Find the 'Introduction', 'Method', and 'Literature Review' chapters in eBook format in the 'All' ... more Find the 'Introduction', 'Method', and 'Literature Review' chapters in eBook format in the 'All' section above.

The Routledge Companion to Ecological Design Thinking, Jul 19, 2022

2011 World Congress on Sustainable Technologies, 2011

The design paradigm of the 20th Century has become defunct, as a myriad of environmental changes ... more The design paradigm of the 20th Century has become defunct, as a myriad of environmental changes simultaneously take effect. What worked yesterday often fails to work today. Nature is adept at responding to change and embeds a degree of resilience into its technologies and infrastructure that is rarely witnessed in man-made design, engineering and construction. In nature only best in breed design solutions sustain; that which is not either evolves or becomes extinct. Building from Nature's Blueprint will explore how architects, engineers and planners can learn lessons from nature and transfer knowledge from ecosystems, including rainforests and savannahs, to plans for future sustainable cities.

SUEZ 2030 Futures Insight Report No.1, 2021

Tyre Wear Particles (TWP) are the abraded surface of vehicle tyres, between 1nm to 0.5mm, and dep... more Tyre Wear Particles (TWP) are the abraded surface of vehicle tyres, between 1nm to 0.5mm, and deposited on the road surface or blown into surrounding environments. TWP comprise a cocktail of natural rubber, synthetic compounds, fillers, antioxidants, antiozonants and curing systems. Due to the mix of materials, they are classed as a microplastic.

The term “Invisible Ocean Pollutant” has been coined because of the physical invisibility of TWP and that few people know TWP are a major source of pollution in the oceans. The conclusion from the research undertaken is that TWP are a major environmental pollutant and this is only starting to become recognised as an issue. Annually between 28% (17,640 tonnes) and 34% (23,120 tonnes) of TWP are entering the UK marine environment. Globally, this is a major environmental concern, where it is currently estimated that up to 1.03 million tonnes of microplastic will be in the oceans by 2030 (if using the UK assumption of 28-34%, 288,400 – 350,200 tonnes of TWP), and more than doubling to over 2.5 million tonnes (700,000 – 850,000 tonnes of TWP) by 2050.

This Insight Report summarises the detailed research and discussion contained within the adjoining Annexes and give recommendations to the resource management sector on some of the potential actions available to address and to mitigate the “Invisible Ocean Pollutants” that are Tyre Wear Particles.

Many factors involved in the design, fabrication, production and maintenance of tyres, vehicles, roads and other transport networks, in combination with shifts in citizen behaviour, will influence the extent to which we are able to mitigate our invisible pollution problems of the present. The five factors are:
1. Design of tyres
2. Design of cars
3. Design of roads and their water management
4. Driving skills and training
5. Improved interception at source

At present, it appears that plastic pollution is not the primary driver of material sourcing and wider innovations in the tyre industry, with the need to address issues including climate change, vehicle efficiency and performance, driver safety and market competitiveness taking clear precedence. However, innovations with an initial intent to address one problem often address others, and several of the latest tyre sourcing, design, production and maintenance concepts recently presented by leaders in the tyre sector have the capacity to help mitigate the problem of invisible plastic pollution.

There needs to be far more awareness among local authorities, real estate developers, industry and governments more generally, of the potential role of drainage and other urban and peri-urban infrastructure in mitigating the invisible pollution problem.

Solutions will need to be approached both from a financial or regulatory incentive perspective and design and life-cycle perspective, as well as involving leaders from governments, the waste, chemical, civil engineering and automotive industries, water treatment, urban infrastructure planning, technology, marine and freshwater biology, and wider environmental science sectors.

Panarchic Codex :: Pyroresistors pamphlet, 2020

Pamphlet outlining the speculative building codes applying to Panarchistic Architecture's 'Pyro-r... more Pamphlet outlining the speculative building codes applying to Panarchistic Architecture's 'Pyro-resistor' architectural and urban design genus pyroarchetype variant for use when exploring how the architectural and urban resilience paradigm may work in policy and professional practice. Part of the wider suite of Panarchic Codex® materials available via www.panarchiccodex.com.

Panarchic Codex :: Pyroevaders pamphlet, 2020

Pamphlet outlining the speculative building codes applying to Panarchistic Architecture's 'Pyro-e... more Pamphlet outlining the speculative building codes applying to Panarchistic Architecture's 'Pyro-evader' architectural and urban design genus pyroarchetype variant for use when exploring how the architectural and urban resilience paradigm may work in policy and professional practice. Part of the wider suite of Panarchic Codex® materials available via www.panarchiccodex.com.

Panarchic Codex :: Pyroendurers pamphlet, 2020

Pamphlet outlining the speculative building codes applying to Panarchistic Architecture's 'Pyro-e... more Pamphlet outlining the speculative building codes applying to Panarchistic Architecture's 'Pyro-endurer' architectural and urban design genus pyroarchetype variant for use when exploring how the architectural and urban resilience paradigm may work in policy and professional practice. Part of the wider suite of Panarchic Codex® materials available via www.panarchiccodex.com.

Panarchistic Architecture, 2020

Pamphlet outlining the principle traits of Panarchistic Architecture's 'pyroevader' pyroachetype ... more Pamphlet outlining the principle traits of Panarchistic Architecture's 'pyroevader' pyroachetype for use when exploring how the architectural and urban resilience paradigm may work in policy and professional practice. Part of the wider suite of Panarchic Codex® materials available via www.panarchiccodex.com.

Panarchistic Architecture :: Pyroendurers pamphlet, 2020

Pamphlet outlining the principle traits of Panarchistic Architecture's 'pyroendurer' pyroachetype... more Pamphlet outlining the principle traits of Panarchistic Architecture's 'pyroendurer' pyroachetype for use when exploring how the architectural and urban resilience paradigm may work in policy and professional practice. Part of the wider suite of Panarchic Codex® materials available via www.panarchiccodex.com.

Panarchistic Architecture :: Pyroresistors pamphlet, 2020

Pamphlet outlining the principle traits of Panarchistic Architecture's 'pyroresistor' pyroachetyp... more Pamphlet outlining the principle traits of Panarchistic Architecture's 'pyroresistor' pyroachetype for use when exploring how the architectural and urban resilience paradigm may work in policy and professional practice. Part of the wider suite of Panarchic Codex® materials available via www.panarchiccodex.com.

Panarchic Oath pamphlet, 2020

The product of an extensive and systemic transdisciplinary interrogation of the interplay between... more The product of an extensive and systemic transdisciplinary interrogation of the interplay between abiotic, biotic, and human systems over deep time and space, Panarchistic Architecture presents a radical new perspective on the problem of living with wildfire. Containing the 'Panarchic Oath' - which invites those exploring the paradigm's potentialities to commit to its principles, this pamphlet is part of the wider suite of Panarchic Codex® materials available via www.panarchiccodex.com.

Pyroachetypes pamphlet, 2020

Pamphlet outlining the principle traits of Panarchistic Architecture's pyroarchetypes - pyro-evad... more Pamphlet outlining the principle traits of Panarchistic Architecture's pyroarchetypes - pyro-evaders, pyro-endurers, and pyro-resistors, for use when exploring how the architectural and urban resilience paradigm may work in policy and professional practice. Part of the wider suite of Panarchic Codex® materials available via www.panarchiccodex.com.

Panarchistic Architecture pamphlet, 2020

Panarchistic Architecture proposes that the wildland urban interface is populated by architecture... more Panarchistic Architecture proposes that the wildland urban interface is populated by architecture and urban infrastructure which, modelled on fire-adapted flora that is native to the regional fire regimes, coevolves with the 'rhythms' of those regimes. Both materially and informatically, and conceptually and technically, the proposed WUI schema synthesises architectural and urban systems with ecological and wider Earth systems, such that the biochemistry, behaviours, and overall functioning of the former are synchronous to those of the latter. Further information is available at www.panarchiccodex.com

The Routledge Companion to Smart Design Thinking in Architecture & Urbanism for a Sustainable, Living Planet, 2024

Multiple factors signalling the advent of a new ‘Fire age’, the Panarchistic Ar‐ chitecture parad... more Multiple factors signalling the advent of a new ‘Fire age’, the Panarchistic Ar‐ chitecture paradigm takes the task of living with wildfire back to the design drawing board, asking not how we, humans, would solve the problem, but how fire‐adapted flora already have.

Evolved from an extensive, first of its kind, several‐year long transdisciplinary study, the paradigm posits resilience to major wildfires through the creation of complex adaptive architectural and urban systems that mimic the biochemistry, behaviours, and relationships of indigenous flora and fauna species in the low‐, mixed‐, and high‐severity fire regimes. Its constructs drawing on the natural world for model, method, and medium, its proposed means of enablement hy‐ bridise human and non‐human material and information systems, by splicing biocomputing, satellite communications, and artificial at the edge of science, technology, and engineering.

This chapter details the fundamental tenets of the Panarchistic Architecture paradigm, examples of innovations and inventions that could enable it to work in practice, together with speculations that convey how those that adopted it may experience it whereupon it was built.

The Routledge Companion to Ecological Design Thinking: Healthful Ecotopian Visions for Architecture and Urbanism, 2022

As multiple Earth systems’ signals suggest we are fast-entering a new ‘fire age’, the problem of ... more As multiple Earth systems’ signals suggest we are fast-entering a new ‘fire age’, the problem of living with wildfire has become one of the most complex and contentious design challenges of our time. Mired in political, economic, and cultural debate, designers, architects, planners, and policymakers need navigate many fields in order to grasp the implications of the various options at their disposal. An inherently systemic challenge, every design decision effects environmental and social outcomes near and far in both time and space.

Design for Wildfire discusses foremost issues that those researching and developing architectural and urban proposals for fire-prone places situated at and beyond the interface of wild and urban lands need to consider. Informed by a transdisciplinary perspective, the chapter explains key primary scientific and philosophical issues, including:

- Wildfire’s role in sustaining species evolved to live with fire.

- Key factors that influence wildfire behaviour at the landscape scale.
Changes occurring in wildfire behaviour and their causes.

- Current and anticipated future impacts of wildfire at the wildland-urban-interface.

- Historical approaches to the problem of living with wildfire.

- How ideological and other forms of bias impact upon urban and peri-urban policy decisions.

- Why scientific and other STEM advances are catalysing new approaches.
Current knowledge gaps and wider issues in need of address.

Central to the discussion are the topics of climate change, biodiversity loss, resources shortages, and rapid urbanisation. Though the chapter centres on how changes in wildfire frequencies, intensities, severities, and behaviours are impacting Northern America, its tenets have applicability to Mediterranean, Temperate, and Grassland habitats worldwide.

The chapter concludes by presenting an overview of Panarchistic Architecture: a new paradigm in resilience to wildfires through the creation of complex adaptive architectural and urban systems that mimic the biochemistry, behaviours, and relationships of floral and faunal species in the fire regimes of the western US.