3. The architect's way of thinking

3.1 Systems thinking

Originating in the United States in the early 1950s, and known and practiced in France since the 1970s, the systems approach is opposed to the analytical – approach, which atomizes into simple elements and searches for independent causal series –, in an attempt to account for the various organized entities present in the world without dissociating them.

The systems approach can be used in almost every field of knowledge, and has already given rise to numerous applications in biology, ecology, economics, family therapies, business management, urban planning, regional development and more. It is based on a concrete grasp of a number of concepts, such as system, interaction, feedback, regulation, organization, purpose, global vision, evolution...