Raue Reihe

This treatise introduces Gestaltungsmetrik as a conceptual framework for studying and designing informal spaces, from image and Gestaltung to anatomy and materials. In mathematics and physics, the nexus between movement and space can be described by parallel transport on a metric space. This nexus may define analogue activity related to nontrivial geometries such as anholonomy effects due to transport on geometries, leading to holonomic computing and topological nonreciprocity or filtering. Yet the notion of metric spaces for activity design, particularly in the context of cultural and material sciences, is far from widespread. This prompts a rethinking of broadly defined parallel transport along nontrivial metric spaces with the aim of clarifying and improving the design of geometric activity. Gestaltungsmetrik emerges as the study of informal spaces by focusing on the intended anholonomy of parallel transport on an underlying latent Riemannian metric, imbuing agents with geometric activities in physical, artistic, societal and cultural spaces.

The ongoing climate change, rampant biodiversity loss, omnipresent pollution and waste accumulation around the world can no longer be overlooked or denied. As a consequence, "sustainability" has become a buzzword – but what does it actually mean when it comes to the details and practical action? What has to be "sustained"? Regine Hengge proposes a change of perspective: Instead of focusing on what Planet Earth can do for us, we should ask what we can do to make sure that the planetary biosphere will be able to continue to function and evolve with and for all its living inhabitants that depend on each other in this biosphere. She demands that to understand destructive human activity and successfully transform it into supportive and re-integrative action, we need to understand how the planetary biosphere operates, which in turn requires understanding its evolution.