/

You are a flow system in the landscape. Flow, nature & space design

By: Marjory Mejia

Stop acting so small.You are the Universe in ecstatic motion.~Rumi

 

The realm of the feminine

I conceive flow as a feminine presence that yearns for more feminine space. Space and flow dance to an evolving rhythm that enthralls, enraptures, and captivates my whole being. Exploring their magical relationship has become a life long passion of mine. As an architect, artist, and space flow consultant, I’m in awe of how nature, literature, architecture and design, are all able to embody and express flow through their feminine spaces and forms. I can feel it, another world is pulsing its way into being.

Space & Flow

You might still be wondering, what is the relationship between space and flow and how does it affect me/us?

Sacred flow is a universal energy that moves through each one of us and each one of our spaces in a unique way, in some cases more skillfully than others. So the work that you are exploring with me here is about cultivating the spatial conditions that welcome this stream of consciousness in waves of connection, expression and purpose. This work is about realizing the places that invite the most enlightening, expansive and illuminating flows into our lives and the lives of those around us. It is about discovering ways to nurture our connection to self, environment & nature, finding ways to share and redistribute flow to reach all. And hence the joy of finding a law that explains what I, among others, have intuitively felt all our lives.

The fabulous book Design in Nature: How the Constructal Law Governs Evolution in Biology, Physics, Technology, and Social Organization written by Adrian Bejan and J.Peder Zane, presents a unifying principle of design, a celebration of the interconnectedness and oneness found in nature, which of course includes us humans as well as our creations. But this principle doesn’t only concern architects, designers, planners, energy explorers; it concerns us all.

POETRY &  SCIENCE

In periods of antiquity and in other cultures, art and science, as well as poetry and philosophy, were not split in different paths; they were part of the same inquiry into the nature of life. A lover of poetry myself, I appreciate how the authors of Design in Nature frame the constructal law within the context of the wisdom of poets, mystics and naturalists who have asked these same questions throughout history. I love this law because it explores in depth my two passions: flow and space, as part of one system.

Poets have long celebrated the balance and harmony of the world, the oneness of nature. But this has been hard to prove rationally. Until now. By identifying a principle that joins the animate and inanimate worlds, that links the flow of rivers to the flow of cities and the flow of money, the design of our lungs and blood vessels to trees and lightning bolts, the constructal law brings science in line with poetry. It reveals our deep connection. It illuminates the tendency that unites everything that moves…The constructal law provides the missing link, putting meat on those poetic bones by pinpointing the principle that has long been described through metaphor.

Poetry

• “Living is motion, and motion is change and alteration and therefore the alternative to motion is un-motion, stasis, death…” ~ William Faulkner

• “Dwell as near as possible to the channel in which your life flows.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

• “Motion is the cause of every life.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci

Adrian Bejan says he loves this quote and yet:

Leonardo didn’t take it far enough, because he was talking only about biological creatures. Not only animals but also rivers, weather patterns, snowflakes, corporations, science, knowledge, culture—you name it—throb and pulse with movement.

The Constructal Law

The constructal law is a physics law of nature, design, and evolution; it is the unifying principle that explores the relationship between design (configuration, architecture, space) and flow, in both animate and inanimate systems.

“Flow systems have two basic features (properties). There is the current that is flowing (for example, fluid, heat, mass, or information) and the design through which it flows.”

Life is flow, movement, design, pattern, rhythm, architecture, all of which emerge to facilitate flow. Below are some pictures of similar branching or shall I say vascularization patterns found in nature. I’m fascinated by these patterns of flow. We might look different on the surface, but underneath, our processes and even creations, reveal similar structures. The constructal law occurs at all scales; it is a fractal principle. So much beauty!

Patterns in Nature: Animate and Inanimate worlds

Between heaven and earth

“You are a flow system on the landscape.”

“What causes the constructal law?  The short answer: We don’t know”  

Inspirational Quotes from Design in Nature, unless otherwise stated. Photo Credits: 1. Lightening blues by James Insogna; 2. Right lung via science photo library; 3. Mangroves via terragalleria; 4. Abdominal vessels via science photo library; 5. Blood vessels via science photo library; 6. The Yukon Delta via USGS; 7. Mouths of Amazon River via Wikepedia; 8. Antler art lust via little one love.

8 ideas to remember

1. Your body isn’t static. Neither is your space, nor your spirit.

You and your space are not a static channels. You are dynamic vessels, flow systems that need freedom to move, morph, evolve:

Because the constructal law is about pulsing, morphing things on the move, the channels and interstices are not static objects. They are not paintings or rocks that just sit there. They are designs that emerge and evolve to facilitate the flowing of the whole. It takes two to tango and this is the dance of flow design.”

There is hope, this law extends to all social structures and systems created by human beings:

Economies, governments, educational institutions, etc. [are] flow systems that are dynamic, not static. Structure is not viewed as stable. Rather than being taken as given, the living flow structure is always in flux, ever evolving to provide better and better flow access. The evolution of flow structures reflects the interaction between time and the environment…I call these environments of multiple, interwoven flows “tapestries.” In nature, tapestries might be given labels such as “ecosystem…

2. Design is not a result of chance; it enhances flow.

This applies to both animate and inanimate, the beauty of constructal law seeing the common thread in all systems:

“The designs we see in nature are not the result of chance. They rise naturally, spontaneously, because they enhance access to flow…”

3. Resistance is good for your evolution.

It seems that resistance, opposition to movement, imperfections, are necessary to the evolution of design, space and flow. Without it, systems would accelerate and spin out of control. So, embrace the imperfections:

“Good design involves the nearly uniform distribution of imperfection throughout the entire flow system.”

4. You will evolve, given freedom…

Claim your freedom to move across the landscape of nature and life with grace:

“Without freedom we have no movement, no culture, no lasting presence on Earth. Freedom is physics…All flow systems will morph if given freedom.”

5. Going with the flow means charting your own path.

Going with the flow and taking the path of least resistance doesn’t mean taking the beaten path, it means charting your very own:

“Instead of finding these already cleared paths, flow systems construct their own flow architectures and body rhythms that enable them to move more easily.”

6. Empower yourself. Life flows uniquely through you.

Instead of copying a design, understand the principles, conditions, environment that generated that design for that specific form, organism, space:

“No matter how smart, the dolphin is not copying the shark. Forget Biomimetics. No live things is copying another live thing.”

7. Life exists in dynamic motion, in flux, in constant evolution.

Some configurations, architectures, spaces and designs, allow for better flow:

“These lessons are not new. It has long been known that certain shapes “breathe” and “flow” better than others. Shapes mean proportions. This “flow quality”  of the drawing is undeniably linked to the beauty that we detect in the image [design].”

8. You are part of a global tapestry of flow & interconnectedness.

Nothings exists in isolation, and every flow system is connected to and shaped by other flows systems, all together part of a larger flow system moving towards harmony, equilibrium and balance, making multiplicity within oneness the tendency of design in nature.

Life Redesign

I hope you enjoyed this post. Feel free to share your thoughts, feelings, and ideas in the comment section or by clicking reply if you are receiving this post by email. Want more flow? Start in your bathroom. And if you got a neglected space and need guidance redesigning & creating a more feminine, inviting, nourishing, sacred space that is more in tune with your soul and activates your creative flow, click here, I’d be honored to support you in the transformation. You can also support my work in the world by buying one of my healing mandalas in my gallery.

Beautiful people, this post is a celebration of each one of us being a flow system in the landscape, an ecosystem of love, a SACRED vessel capable of experiencing the most expansive and life-affirming FLOW. Claim it baby. With Full Moon inspiration,