REVIEW OF REGENERATIVE DESIGN THEORIES FOR SCHOOL BUILDINGS IN THE TROPICS OF INDIA

Abstract

The Trajectory of Environmentally responsive design by Bill Reed [1] maps paradigm
shift from degenerating to regenerating systems. The trajectory depicts sustainable system as
neutral. Regenerative design integrates ecological system in the built environment and is based
on the premise that everything built has the potential for the integration of the natural world
as an “equal partner” in the architecture. The design profession is bestowed with legendary
individuals who have attempted to translate ecological processes into something meaningful
and useful for design theories.
This paper will focus on recent trends and representative theories that followed the influential
social, economic, and ecological movements of the 1960s and 1970s. The works of
Malcolm Wells, Nancy Jack Todd and John Todd, William McDonough, John Tillman Lyle,
Sim Van der Ryn and Stuart Cowan, Bill Reed, and Raymond J. Cole continue to influence
the evolution of regenerative design thought and practice.
The paper reviews regenerative design theories and explore ways in which ecological
processes have been interpreted through design at the end of the first decade of twenty first
century. Each theory will be summarized and considered for regenerative design of schools for
thermal comfort in the tropics of India. This study is significant as India has about one million
schools and out of which 80% are government schools. The paper argues that regenerative design
for school building would create environmentally responsive learning environment.