Building communities to heal & flourish

What makes a place magical?

Which places flash into your mind? …Why? What do they have in common?


Camelot, Arcadia, Shangri-La, Wakanda…ideal, mythical places of peace and flourishing. The cynic in all of us may scoff at the idea of trying to build such a place. But why not try? More importantly—what’s the alternative? If we’re not trying to build toward the ideals of Camelot, what are we trying to building toward? Mediocrity at best. We are capable of so much more! We have all experienced moments of more.

What if we could intentionally make amazing, magical places—and not just when we get lucky?


It is possible.

How? If we design places that deliberately:

  • honor the universal principles of beauty & flourishing

  • are unique & authentic to their place & time in the world

  • are structurally resilient—environmentally, economically, organizationally, & by supporting creativity.


When we deeply understand these goals, we can reverse engineer an environment that moves us toward them.

 
 

Terms

Camelot

In this conversation, Camelot represents the human-centered, universal design principles we can apply to make any place sing. It represents an idyllic place of flourishing—loving connection with self, others, & the natural world; operating in love rather than fear.

Terroir

Here, the traits that make a place unique are held in the french word, terroir (pronounced tehr-wah). Terroir refers to the soil, climate, & human practice that makes a bottle of wine unique & unrepeatable; the taste of a specific place & time on the earth.

Enduring

How do you design a place that is resilient? We’ll look at some key structural systems designed to make a place not just sustainable but moving toward more life & more diversity. This includes intentional design to promote human creativity—we are our best problem solvers.

Scroll back up to the top right to find tabs exploring these three concept in a bit more depth.