It spread the feathery antennae of its crown and blinked into the wispy morning. Nerve impulses were running around newly connected circuits. Breathing gills across its massive chest, lean muscles supported perfectly calculated bones – to let it step well on the ground and stand proud through the turmoils.

The first rays of the dawn glanced over its shiny skin and the cells aligned to get better exposure – sending energy back along the network to the core. There the rhythmic pulse of multiple connected devices, switching in and out of action, produced a constant hum. Some were pumping water and various liquids via a maze of treatment stations – separating the waste products and redirecting the purified solutions for reuse. Others were processing gaseous compounds in a similar fashion. Others still were busy heating and cooling the organism to keep it in a stable state:

Habitable.

For the whole existence of the corpulent monster depended on its fitness for purpose, on its hospitality and level of comfort. The colourful cross-section of society – inhabitants and guests, who were to use all facilities daily – had to be pleased to do so.

Empty a body of its biome – and it dies. Empty a building of its fauna – and it gets demolished.

What if we question the belief that microorganisms who colonise our tissues, obediently adapt to their environment, and ask ourselves if for example our gut design has not been modified to accommodate the occupants better? Imagine those micro developers squeezing in more area for yet another busy quarter of digestion workers…

A building’s performance is graded by the amount of energy it consumes to achieve and maintain favourable indoor climate, but even the most sustainable among them all, is a weak contender compared to the body in its remarkable efficiency. In all fairness buildings are inherently awkward, because the authentic home of the body is the natural world outside. However by adding interim layers of protection between ourselves and the Great Outdoors we have been able to improve on tissue longevity, afford night rest and spread our grazing grounds up to the very poles of our host planet.

In the beginning our shelters were no more than crude rain- and wind-screens, offering limited shielding from passing carnivores, but as our bodies traded strength and power for grace and wit, the shelters excelled in sophistication and slowly removed us further away from our veritable habitat.

We live at the time of the deepest rift and have no choice, but to reverse the tide or end up beautifully fossilized in our crystal towers: Pompeans.

How to reverse it though? No – I don’t suggest we should trail back to the caves. We’d better review the concept of building in the larger context of organic systems and flow cycles. Such perspective makes it very clear that our built environment cannot be fully sealed, controlled, passive or neutral and in the same time sustainable. As the interface between culture and nature, it should perform a mediator’s role – like a body cell’s membrane – selectively conductive in and out – living as a reef, breathing, interacting – in constant flow, to ensure all natural cycles run smoothly and without obstructions.

The ancient proposition was to capture the idealized proportions of the human body and apply them to the structures – thus ensuring the universal patterns are respected; the human body was viewed as a scaled down model of the world – hence a good source of measurements and analogies to trace over for stability and aesthetics.

Studying anatomy is still a very good starting point, because essentially a building needs to channel all our bodily functions and discharge their resultant products out in the world in the least disruptive way, while letting in fresh air, light and nutrients. But where the ancient principles need updating is the newly established awareness that we should take into account the natural world’s right of way through our territories too. And this is where we need to take cues from the trees.

Never before have we been able to draw the limits as resolutely and precisely, nor seal our abodes as tightly. And never before has it been as clear that taking full control means taking full responsibility. The more natural habitat rules we overwrite for our benefit, the more broken relationships we will need to “design” back in. It would have been smarter to study the working system first, before disturbing it – alas, what had been lost is gone…

Great, but how would we actually do it?

The biggest change will have to happen in the mindset – once more.

• Getting to see rain as a blessing – fresh water from the sky – that can be filtered and used in the households;
• Holding to it for longer in “blue” roofs and aquifers to avoid flooding, due to impermeability of densely populated cityscapes;
• Planting vegetation in the cities to relay rain further inland.
• Finding the beneficial sides of “weeds” and “pests” and studying their roles in the plant communities.
• Accepting decay and demise as the necessary counterparts to growth and birth and letting their agents go about their business.

This last one will be the hardest to digest. The good news is there are places to look for guidance – as far as the last remaining old-growth forests and as near as our own guts. We know now that well-functioning eco-systems depend on diversity and balance. Trees and bodies tolerate the microbiota that makes a living on their cells, because it keeps the whole system in check and regulates the overflows.

Great, but How could we Actually do it?

While rain harvesting, wind and solar power become increasingly popular means to shun the mains and reconnect with the natural cycles, there are a few more strategies we are yet to begin exploring in earnest.

A wormery on the terrace would deal swiftly with all kitchen waste. A compost loo will render sewage tanks unnecessary. A botanical cell will replenish the water butts with purified, reusable water. An aquaponic system in the green house could also produce fresh ingredients for our salads. Why not use our newfound skills in precise compartmentation and bring back some dedicated territory to the natural world?

The amount of shock induced by the last sentences will show you how ready you are to take responsibility for your own footprint. And currently the stats are not too optimistic. But they will be improving. We just need more education.

Waste removal is one of the most vexing issues in urbanised territories – over 80% of the council tax in the City of London is spent on waste collection and disposal – and the problem is largely rooted in the centralised operation. Imagine not having colon, liver or kidneys and having to be on dialysis 24/7. Now that is a sad state of affairs for a body – so why do you expect it to be normal when it comes to your home?

It spread the feathery antennae of its crown and blinked into the wispy morning. Nerve impulses were running around newly connected circuits. Breathing gills across its massive chest, deep roots supported perfectly shaped branches – to let it land well in the ground and stand tall through the tempests.

The first rays of the dawn glanced over its green skin and the cells aligned to get better exposure – sending energy back along the network to the core. There the rhythmic pulse of multiple connected habitats produced a constant forest choir. Some were pumping water and various liquids via a maze of organelles – separating the waste products and redirecting the purified solutions for reuse. Others were processing gaseous compounds in a similar fashion. Others still were busy heating and cooling the organism to keep it in a stable state:

Living.