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Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Exploring abduction in regenerative design

the “Dao,” the primordial force that gives birth to all things
(Yin, 2012). Building upon this philosophy, we advocate
for the inclusion of machine intelligence as a digital form of
life, further blurring the boundaries between organic and
inorganic, material and digital. This expansion broadens
the scope of the holistic view.

3. Abduction as patterns of inference: The
logic structure of innovative design

The origins of regenerative architecture can be traced back
to the critique of sustainable design. Littman argued that
sustainable design is an inadequate approach as it stops
at sustaining the status quo and minimizing harm rather
than improving and benefiting the planet (Littman, 2009).
Therefore, regenerative design aims to take a step forward Figure 6. GAN_Physarum: Paris (scale: 3 km). Source: ecoLogicStudio,
and go beyond sustainability. This critique coincides with GAN_Physarum: la dérive numérique, 2022
reflections on the prevailing anthropocentric problem-
solving paradigm, under which designs are bringing about
changeless changes rather than probing into meaningful and innovation in both workflow and outcome. To decode
innovation (Pasquero & Zaroukas, 2016). the innovative design and summarize the knowledge, one
possible avenue lies in design reasoning. The design logic
To explain how design can function as an innovative behind the DeepGreen protocols is worthy of analysis.
activity, design thinking is an essential topic that cannot
be bypassed. Goldschmidt and Weil argued that design is When dealing with the same design task, various modes
now construed as the outcome of thinking and cognitive of design reasoning may entail various design workflows
processes (Goldschmidt & Weil, 1998). Ever since Rowe’s and outcomes. For example, with regard to the ecological
proposal in 1987, design thinking has gained widespread infrastructure, certain think tanks and city planning
recognition across a wide range of fields (Dorst, 2011). councils have established relevant design guidelines and
It has gradually become an academic consensus among action plans, which can serve as a framework for project
design educators and researchers (Cross et al., 1992). design. Since the guidebook itself is a workflow codified
Under labels such as speculative design, critical design, by academics and experts, even a novice designer can
radical design, discursive design, and interrogative design structure a planning map by following the instructions
(Attolico, 2019), the practice and methodology for design when the context of the project aligns with its application
thinking are investigated in fine art and industrial design scope. In other words, the specific design outcome is
to activate ideas and innovations (Auger, 2013; Dunne & inferred from well-defined logic rules and premises, which
Raby, 2013). Similarly, speculative design is committed to is deduction. Deduction requires substantial previously
fulfilling the potential of design, technology, and materials established theoretical knowledge. In this reasoning, all
in architecture and urbanism (Bratton, 2016). Beyond the information and conclusions are already contained in
the scope of design, design thinking is deemed a social the premises. No new knowledge is generated; it is merely
technology to facilitate creativity in business (Liedtka, a tautology (Hintikka, 1998), which can only infer the
2018), an innovation tool for organizations in management necessary inferences and results. That is clearly not how
(Wrigley et al., 2020), and an inspiring interdisciplinary the Deep Green project envisioned the scenario.
collaboration method in education and industry (Paay Another circumstance involves dealing with projects
et al., 2021). Research interests in design thinking span for which a guidebook is not available. Certain designers
both practical and theoretical purposes. The latter may search for multiple design cases to consult. From
underscores the nature of creative thoughts. Elaborated by these reference cases, it is feasible to derive a workflow
Roozenburg, Eekels, and Dorst, the core of design thinking to implement ecological infrastructure planning. That is,
is built on different kinds of design reasoning or formal the logical rules for design are obtained by synthesizing a
logic (Roozenburg & Eekels, 1995; Dorst, 2011). rich set of specific cases, which is inductive. This mode of
The DeepGreen project has set its sights on planning and reasoning is a generalization of empirical phenomena. The
designing regenerative ecological infrastructure (Figure 6). expansion is limited to the descriptive summary of specific
The core model, GAN_Physarum, demonstrates novelty features (Haig, 2014), which has nothing but to determine

Volume 6 Issue 1 (2024) 6 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.1084