I developed the EdenSpace concept in the early 2000s during my time at Arcosanti studying under Paolo Soleri. It was a response both to his work and to the idea among many in the Deep Ecology movement who believed that the ecological crisis we face and have created through rapid modernization and industrialization, was due to the notion within humanity, that nature exists wholly to satisfy human need. Human civilization evolved by (or actually devolved) moving away from understanding the elegance and harmony of how natural systems operate. We lost a respect and appreciation for nature and our place in it.
Ecopsychology emerged as critique of modern thinking and it identified mental illness and addiction as symptoms of the distancing of ourselves with the natural world. Addictions that were often encouraged and stimulated through modern thinking and corporate and public policies that prioritized the consumption a exponentially increasing quantity of things over how to create a high quality of life for humanity.
However when I came to Arcosanti I shifted away from focusing on a critical analysis of what was wrong with America or Western Civilization, I became interested and studied Ecological Design as a new model of thinking to move humanity away from its current denial of the value of nature. When the opportunity came to take advantage of an opportunity to study ecological design with architectural students in first Ecosa Institute "Total Immersion in Ecological Design" seminar in the Fall of 2000, I jumped at it.
Another key event for me in this learning process where I developed the EdenSpace concept was the Paradox III Conference, which took place at Arcosanti in Sept of 2001. It was the third in a series of three conferences called Paradox which was conceived by Paolo Soleri, Ron Anastasia and Michael Gosney.
Stephanie Smith was a protege of the architect Jon Jerde (who also spoke at the event and who had originally participated in the apprenticeship program at Cosanti). Smith talked about creating "spa like environments."
Smith's idea of healing spas and spa like environments was a key element in the development of EdenSpace because I thought Cosanti embraced a healing and harmonizing with nature aesthetic much more that the later Arcosanti which to me seemed rigid, modern and austere with too much grey concrete surrounded by a arid desert landscape. Cosanti though seemed to fold into natural much more elegantly considering and augmenting natural patterns and amplifying them.
My conclusion is that we needed not only to rebuild modern society with sustainable systems, built environments and infrastructure but also to consider the damage we had to done not just to nature, but to ourselves and our culture in the process of modernization and industrialization.
Considering these ideas, I looked at several key elements of a what more healing and inspiring EdenSpace Architecture or Aesthetic.Â
Role of architecture and the aesthetic in healing and realizing human potential
What is the ideal of Eden representing in our collective consciousness/unconsciousness?
What does Synergy mean when it comes to designing and operating human habitats as systems designed for enabling long terms ecological and social sustainability?
How do we recreate this ideal of Eden in our lives using these concepts, ideas and technologies?
These experiences encouraged me to look at Arcosanti, Arcology, and Cosanti and consider how to integrate them with other similar ideas in the ecological design and sustainability movements.
The alternative path to modernity goes beyond the more appropriate use of technology, weaving people, technologies, organizations and knowledge together into sustainable and empowering webs of collaboration. Because the change if it is going to happen needs to start with us in our immediate networks creating compelling stories about the struggle for humanity's future as it begins to unfold in the reality of today's world.
For more about me please see my Bio: https://sites.google.com/site/edenspaceproject/about/jeff-buderer-bio