Resilience
4 minute read
“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”
Sometimes the world is a lot. The context of the world informs design and impacts the use of place. Context is therefore relevant and demands our attention. The heinous acts of sedition, insurrection, and destruction of two weeks ago are inexcusable and cannot be ignored, even in a place-based service and blog such as this.
The attempted destruction of a seat of government, disruption of our legal foundation, and disrespect for human life itself – more than offensive. The attempt to denigrate and destroy the Capitol building and its craft of labor and design was tantamount to denial of the sovereignty and dignity of the institution and the individual.
We are better than this behavior.
Disagreement is a critical foundation to the threshold of a free society. But membership in the society demands respect for the institution, its members, its processes, and its artifacts. Place is an artifact – and serves all activities of human life – from habitat to work to worship to play.
Place, by its nature, is experiential. Congressional buildings are functional icons of democracy, representative of free speech, elected officials, and the democratic process. These buildings have been Resilient through wars, through shifts in beliefs, through amendments to governing documents – they are the functional and emblematic Centers of community, governance, and the law. We are a nation of democracy, of voice, of the rule of law – and these places facilitate and honor the people’s work with dignity.
The assault on these places and their members, and the values and processes they represent and support, was unsuccessful. Organizations, people, and places demand and deserve respect. These places, people and institutions are Resilient.
Mayo Clinic defines Resilience as “the ability to adapt to difficult situations.” It requires the skills to endure, and though this definition describes the skills of an individual, Resilience skills can be applied to organizations and places as well. For organizations, people and place in general, successful Resilience leads to perseverance, survival, and prosperity. Mayo Clinic describes six Resilience skills, or qualities, as connection, meaning, hope, care, learning, and planning.
We observe and live Resilience through:
· Connection
o with organizations in membership, participation, and observation
o with people face to face (sans pandemic), with social distancing and masks (pandemic), virtually through video, telephone, text, or the newly renewed art of the handwritten note or letter.
o with place through memorials, museums, and exhibits which educate and pay homage to people and events. Nature and some built environments can provide respite and renewal.
· Meaning
o of organizations to honor and inspire through sharing of communications and artifacts of what is important to the organization
o of people who treat each other respectfully
o of place to inspire, remind us of human failures and perseverance and to honor achievements.
· Hope
o of organizations, manifest in the demonstrated commitment to achievement of objectives
o apparent in people’s anticipation of a better future
o experienced in place through the chance to see, touch and be engulfed in spaces emblematic of resilience and reminiscent of rejuvenation.
· Care
o of organizations to honor and dignify values, beliefs, and opportunities.
o of people toward each other and the world
o of place through maintenance and respect in regular use.
· Learning
o by organizations to adapt to changing conditions
o by people as they open themselves to new information from others
o by designers of place as it is altered to respond to new needs and technologies.
· Planning
o by organizations to anticipate and respond
o by people to create and adjust expectations and tasks
o by designers of place to enhance and adapt user experiences.
We have experienced Resilience these past two weeks as:
· We saw Connection of the people of Congress to their place of work, dignifying the organization, each other, their constituents, and the edifice itself, returning to the Chambers and performing their duties.
· We perceived Meaning in the commitment to the institution and the honoring of Process as well as the reactions to the insurrection across the country and around the globe.
· We observed Hope in the commitment of the citizens to the implicit promise of the new administration and Congress, the changing of the guard, observable instances of unity by some, and the potential of increased physical and economic health through the vaccine and governmental support.
· We noted Care through the attention to the restoration of damage, renewal of the spaces, and protective measures to ensure safety for today and the future.
· We witnessed Learning in the analysis of behaviors and of space, evaluating what worked well and where improvements are needed to protect people, organizations, and places better in the future.
· We viewed Planning of traditional honored activities, and preparation for and protection from potential threatening scenarios.
Place has the opportunity in this moment to do more. Through design – the merger of function and art – we can develop and embolden visible signs – place experiences – that can:
· Epitomize Connection for example, by establishing a new place of art, a walkway of mosaic/s which visibly depicts the journey towards dignity, honor, diversity, and unity.
· Express Meaning through the restoration of existing facilities and augmenting what has been built in the past with the development of a new place experience, manifesting a healthy future, renewed vision of respect of differing and shared ideals. E pluribus Unum.
· Endow Hope through manifestation of the glory of life and creativity of problem solving, and the foundation of participation - visible depictions of our better angels.
· Exemplify Care through safety, protection, and security as respect for organizations, people and places and attention to unity and healing.
· Encourage Learning through an opportunity for public education by participation, observation, and user experience to inform and instruct beyond a civics class, teaching where we have performed well and where tragedy occurred.
· Embody Planning through sponsorship and inclusive participation and representation, potentially mosaic Artwork of elements, each the same size but each developed differently and then combined and installed in a walkway such as the Vietnam War Memorial. It could be funded by organizations/businesses with representation of all states and territories, all cultures.
Our places can facilitate unity and healing. Places of work and of life pay homage to the lives of people and their activities, and support the functionality of work, creativity, worship, play and life. We seek to do more than survive and endure – we seek to thrive, and ensure that we, our places, and our organizations - represent the best of us. No lack of respect, no insurrection, no heinous acts of violence can take our humanity.
Yes, the world is a lot. And we are a lot as well. We, our organizations, and our places- literal and figurative - are Resilient.