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Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Storytelling in regenerative architecture

3.4. Community 4. A sea of stories

A regenerative architecture project may aim to connect 4.1. Genre and its discontents
local communities to the project and each other, arguing 10 11
that a community coming together to build a sustainable This is not a story but an essay (of sorts). To write
creatively about regenerative principles perhaps requires
community center may experience a stronger, more less the red thread of linear exposition than an unfurling
durable sense of connection and belonging. However, weave of interdisciplinary entanglements.
a community may be split between those desiring to
protect the environment and those seeking to profit from 4.2. Tales of regeneration
the project, irrespective of environmental consequences. We have said that regenerative architecture is an approach
Examples in literature and film include “Silent Spring” to building design that seeks to create structures that
(Carson, 1962), Rachel Carson’s ground-breaking book are not only sustainable but also restorative, supporting
exposing the detrimental effects of pesticides on the the natural environment and contributing to the health
environment; “Chinatown” (1974), Roman Polanski’s and well-being of the people who use them. Across
neo-noir film set in 1930s Los Angeles uncovering a different cultures, we find many stories that illuminate
conspiracy related to water rights and environmental aspects of regenerative architecture. In Aboriginal
exploitation; “The Lorax” (1971), Dr. Seuss’ book later culture, for example, there has long been a concern
adapted into an animated film in 2012, telling the story with issues of regeneration and sustainability. The
of the Lorax who speaks for the trees and warns against Aboriginal Dreamtime story of the Rainbow Serpent is
environmental destruction driven by greed; “There Will a creation myth that explains how the world and all its
Be Blood” (Anderson, 2007), Paul Thomas Anderson’s creatures were formed by the actions of the Rainbow
film focusing on an oil prospector in the early 20 century Serpent. Emerging from the depths of the earth to create
th
disregarding environmental or social consequences while mountains, rivers, and valleys, the Rainbow Serpent
pursuing wealth; “The Cove” (2009), Louie Psihoyos’ also created plants and animals, including humans. The
documentary exposing the annual dolphin hunt in Taiji, Rainbow Serpent is seen as a powerful and benevolent
Japan, highlighting the conflict between profit-driven force that controls the elements and brings life to the
industries and marine conservation; “Promised Land” natural world, possessing an intelligence and agency
(2012), Gus Van Sant’s film exploring the contentious of its own. For Aboriginal people, this story provides a
practice of fracking and the opposition it faces from a powerful framework for understanding the importance
concerned rural community. of maintaining a harmonious relationship with the
environment. The Rainbow Serpent is an active
participant in the ongoing cycle of growth, decay, and
renewal that characterizes the natural world, serving
as a symbol of the interconnectedness of all living
things, a reminder that humans must act responsibly to
safeguard the ongoing health and vitality of the natural
world. 12
10 This Is Not A Story is the title of a play that I wrote
about the life and thought of Denis Diderot. It was
performed by The Great Escape Theatre Company
at the Royal Dramatic Studio Theatre, Stockholm,
in August 1995, and published in Hybrid Thought
(Hughes & Monk, 2003). It is also, paradoxically, the
title of a story by Denis Diderot published in 1772. Each
story develops from other stories and is entwined and
entangled with multiple pre- and retellings, making
storytelling more naturally organic and emergent
(“regenerative”) than reified in print. Diderot was also
(after Laurence Sterne) the connoisseur of digression.
Sterne’s Tristram Shandy inspired Diderot’s Jacques le
Fataliste, which inspired in turn Milan Kundera’s play
Jacques and His Master.
11 The patient reader will be rewarded with a story shortly.
12 Many cultures have stories in which a great flood
Figure 2. Bungalow II. Source: Original work by the author devastates the world, yet a few individuals survive by

Volume 6 Issue 2 (2024) 6 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.1335