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The following further discuss Ekistics, as conceived by C.A. Doxiadis (1913-1975), prominent Greek architect and planner, who proposed Ekistics as a science of human settlements in 1942.
Core Concept
Doxiadis further posits that, in order to appropriately respond to the demands within an Ekistic environment, the following disciplines should be used: Economics, Sociology, Politics, Technology, and Culture. Doxiadis continually asserts that a synthesis of all these elemental influences is the motivation behind Ekistics; and that it is essentially a method of System Analysis. As such, a more effective understanding is facilitated by ably producing a system of design which directly responds to the needs of man.
Theoretical Framework
Settlements are man's response to his combined economic, social, political, technological and cultural human needs. As a result, man becomes successful with his response to this need only if he is happy and safe within the settlement that he creates for himself. It can be said that fulfilling this main criterion is the solitary essence of the whole Ekistic exercise.
Biological Essence
Doxiadis's view is that human settlements can be compared with biological essences such as a man or a tree, which have their levels of organization. The essence of hierarchy that pervades elements from nature are continually alluded to, in his magnum opus- "Ekistics- An Introduction to the Science of Human Settlements," with chapter titles such as: Ekistic Pathology, Ekistic Evolution, Ekistic Diagnosis, and Ekistic Therapy. Doxiadis underscores that human settlements are very complex and similar to (but not the same as) cells, bodies and organisms. They are similar, yet different because human settlements can neither be cells, bodies nor organisms-- and hence, can be looked at as biological individuals of a higher order because their creation involves deliberate effort. And they are built and inhabited by homo sapiens who move, act and decide their future independently.
Hexagonal Settlement Patterns
One of the main precepts given by Doxiadis is the use of hexagonal configurations in the design of human settlements. To him, gridiron (rectilinear) planning was an inappropriate response in the critical need to provide zones within a community which should adequately answer man's innumerable requisites for his body, mind and soul. He claims this to be so because six-sided systems most efficient cover a uniform and plane field, providing short distances from any designated settlement center. An efficiency which is difficult or almost impossible to duplicate when using four-sided configurations. He must have taken inspiration from hexagons in nature--such as the beehive honeycomb and the scutes of a turtle carapace--as confirmation that man could draw inspiration from nature; further affirmation that Doxiadis drew heavily from biological essences.
About the Author:
Raffy Chan is an architect, consultant, writer, entrepreneur and real estate investor. He has a B.S. (Bachelor of Science) degree in Architecture and a Masteral degree in Environmental and Habitat Planning, both from Saint Louis University.
He has a total of over thirty years of active-professional practice as an architect, with over three-quarters of that with his firm R.G.Chan & Associates (RGC&A); specializing in commercial and institutional projects. For the past twelve years he has also been actively involved in real estate investment, primarily focused on subdivision development and construction. This has been with his corporate partners at Calgryp Inc. and Realeza Development Corporation.
Feature articles on architecture, green building, sustainable development and similar topics, are available at our RGC&A company website. Check them out at http://www.rgchan.com.ph.
