We are better than telephone poles disguised as trees. We don’t need plastic flowers and wallpapered bricks. We need sunlight and the change of seasons. We need the wind and the rain and seeing a fern gently arch towards the sunlight. We need gardens that go dormant in winter and plants that die in a drought, only to be rebirthed with the rainy season. We need the rough texture of slate and the sound of gurgling water easing our thoughts. We can build buildings that are perfectly plumb and streets that align to a grid.
Consistent, logical, expected. But to bring in nature, to allow the regimented design of 90 degree angles be interrupted and forced to co-exist with the constant changes of nature; that is where the secret lies. To have places that celebrate this, embrace the unregimented neighbor and, dare I say, be informed by the earthly forms and knowledge that the natural world provides, now that is a place worth inhabiting.