[Sigia-l] Edge design

[Ziya Oz]

Andrew Boyd:

> One of the principles of Permaculture is that biological systems are
> richer along edges

Must be a down under thing, we don't have any edges up here. :-)
 
> Is there any application of this to design? Can we create "artificial
> reefs" for information to grow upon? Is the flood of tagging into a
> rigidly hierarchical taxonomy a real example?

One of the (relatively) current memes in this area is *emergent*
design/architecture/systems/etc where, presumably, the structure takes shape
as a result of observation/experimentation/interaction as opposed to
pre-designed hierarchy.

A canonical example of this is what happens in the fashion industry:
something "hip" in an urban setting, say, becomes "kewl," "cool,"
"storefront," "boutique"...and finally gets its own section at Macy's dept
store and a special section in New York Times fashion magazine. Later
perhaps, an entry in OED and a spot in a large-circulation traditional
shopping catalog.

----
Ziya

"If I had asked my customers what they wanted,
they would have asked for a faster horse." -- Henry Ford