Systemic Thinking

SYSTEM MODELING / LANDSCAPE DESIGN / SYSTEM DYNAMIC

Agent based System Modeling, made and photographed by Yu Chen, 2022

This model was made by a nonlinear approach to show a bottom to up pattern that allows each component to build connections with others. 

System Analysis Diagrams, drawn by Yu Chen, 2022

These systems all start from cells. Because cells have the network of chemical reactions and energy flow in and between the organisms. But only energy flow and networks can’t be called system because the self organization process is static. To be a living system, a system has to be self generating which means each component in the network is to transform and replace other components. Also, they should have autonomous cyclical changes to get feedback loops in the system. So the living systems are dynamic self organizing and interconnected. Therefore, the key of a system is the relationship between components. Only with the relationship working, the system can generate, repair and perpetuate itself.

As you can see from this system diagram, the feedback loops exist at the different levels of a system. Although there is a hierarchy existing, it doesn’t influence the interdependence and the multiplicity of the system. Then how the system could evolute? It’s the trigger from outside of the system. You can see from the diagram, the trigger could be small at first, then the feedback loop in the system would enlarge the influence so it might disturb the whole system. Then here is a bifurcation point, some systems could collapse because of the disturbance. But most of them would self generate to a more adaptive, resilient and resistant system. The difference between the collapsed systems and the generated systems is how creative they are. So the diversity and complexity matter in all living systems, including human social system. As a designer, we can not design a system because systems are self organized and self generated. But we can design the trigger to active the system generation process. We can also keep the diversity in the system to strengthen it.

Reference: Capra, Fritjof, and Pier Luigi Luisi. The systems view of life: A unifying vision. Cambridge University Press, 2014.

Majority based System Modeling, made and photographed by Yu Chen, 2022

Stronger the center of a system is, more fragile the system could be.

Thinking through Making, written by Yu Chen, 2022

Through the model making process, the limitations and constrains of the systems appeared.  It’s the distance limitation and  moving constrains in the agent base system model. It’s also the lack of equity and highly centralization of the majority based system model. From the shift between different models, It’s clarified that in order to modify a system’s behavior, a change must be made to its core structure. So every system has its own limitations and constrains, including the human social system. 

As a landscape designer, I think I could design a trigger to arouse people’s consciousness of empathy so that the core structure of the social system could be changed. As the structure is changed, the behavior of each component, which is everyone in the human social system, has the possibility to be changed. 

Systemic Thinking Diagram, drawn by Yu Chen, 2022

Through the systemic view, landscape design could seek a trigger from built environment, trying to make a shift in our perceptions, our thinking and our values. Besides, system modeling could be used as a tool to help understanding how the systems work.

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