Design Principles

Design principles provide a way for future architects to purposefully embed values into their work and the projects they engage in, while recontextualizing the principles for reimagining both psychosocial and physical environments. Future Architects endeavor to adhere to the following principles:

Refrain from defaulting to norm

Driven by genuine curiosity, we are committed to honing our skills to listen, observe and raise questions. We are wary of making assumptions or jumping to conclusions without making space for the uncommon or unexpected.

Be mindful of the power of language

We are dedicated to the art of languaging because we understand its power to shape reality. “Our entire construct of the world depends on language. What we see isn’t what the universe has defined, but what our brains have learned to label.” – Zat Rata

Develop trust as currency

Money is the currency for transactions, while trust is the currency for relationships. We believe our future depends on our ability to build meaningful and fulfilling relationships with one another based on trust, acknowledging that trust has to be earned.

Participate in cultivating holistic safety

We move beyond trends and rhetorics to expand the spectrum of diversity. In order to practice authentic inclusion, we respect differences in all shapes and forms to foster physical, psychological, emotional, intellectual and spiritual safety.

Engage in ethical innovation

Just because we can, doesn’t mean that we should. We don’t believe in innovation for the sake of innovation. We also avoid pursuing innovation for the exclusive benefit of the elite, or to sustain inequitable power structures. Ethical innovation means doing things differently to serve the underserved.

Commit to long view amid urgency

This may sound counterintuitive, but the urgent need to tackle the greatest challenges of our time requires us to slow down, step back and take a long view. We don’t want to be addicted to quick fixes or seduced by short-term success.

Foster individual agency for collective action

We empower each other. Prevailing lack of individual agency is what causes withdrawal on a mass level. Creating a more beautiful world for more people requires unlocking each unique individual’s potential in order to reveal the beauty of collective action.

Take personal responsibility for the greater good

We cannot navigate constant change and increasing complexity if we surrender our individual rights and responsibilities to monolithic organizations (states, industries, corporations). Personal interest anchored by personal responsibility sets the most enduring foundation for pursuing the greater good.

Rebalance collaboration and competition

We do not blindly promote collaboration over competition. We believe our culture has over-indexed and over-resourced competition, thus creating a perpetuating tendency toward a scarcity mindset. We work hard to achieve a healthier balance for enlightened progress.

Think in revolution, act in evolution

We do not want to think incrementally and act recklessly. Radical imagination coupled with measured experimentation is what creates meaningful impact. We liberate ourselves from calcifying cultural beliefs in order to mindfully guide the evolution of human society.