The Inner Studio - Riverside Architectural Press

PART SIX | THE PROLIFERATION OF DESIGN
built world. Belonging to unconscious systems, with their unconscious
relationships, never makes anyone happy. I want to propose
four reasons why the inclusion of the unconscious in the design of
the modern built world is a worthwhile goal.
First, it is timely and necessary to make the design process more
meaningful so that our modern built world more closely approximates
the rich inner world experienced by every individual.
Including the unconscious in architecture is not intended to make
the architectural design process easier; in fact, it will probably
make your work more difficult and perhaps more disturbing.
We are living in a time when advances in technology and information
are rapidly re-shaping life on this planet. Yet there is also no
doubt that the demands of technology increasingly conflict with its
promise. I suspect this is because we are not only industrializing
the world–we are also in danger of unconsciously industrializing
the human beings that live here. Yet rather than fear technology or
blame our appetite for discovery and invention, we need a new and
modern way to remember that we are human beings. And the one
discovery that makes us both modern and human is the discovery
of the unconscious. Over the last 100 years, we have begun to learn
how to live with the reality of the unconscious in our lives. The role
of the inner studio is to give a place and time to psychological
insight. This is increasingly necessary if we are to safely contain,
sustain, and transform the modern world.
A day doesn’t pass without some warning about what we are
losing or what we have already lost from the great storehouse of the
natural world. Our built world seems more and more like a reckless
giant racing its own shadow. The trampled habitats, lost
species, destroyed languages, and forgotten practices of vulnerable
life forms are the helpless victims of an unconscious civilization.
The ever-shrinking natural world haunts the proud history of
modern design. Yet not that long ago we learned how to help
ourselves and others from the resources that occurred naturally in
this world. We were taught how to live and how to create from the
uncertainty of rainfall, the way animals moved, and the way night
sky changed to dawn. Today we live in the designed world and
are denied the natural events and settings that once inspired and
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