In Aristotelian terms, techné, craftmanship, craft or art, was considered the imperfect practice of nature. Nature was regarded as teacher and keeper. In the three millennia that have elapsed since the Greeks first pondered the making of things, techné has been replaced by technology which sees nature as something to harness, nature is conceived in subjective (human) terms. We have much to learn from nature, from the birds and the bees, as we consider how to retool our thinking. Take for instance the penguin that survives extreme cold by huddling, thereby creating a microclimate. Living in a community, apart from the social benefits, creates a microclimate where the free exchange of heat and cold is sanctioned; in winter the upstairs neighbor benefits, in summer the gift is exchanged (through radiation and surface transfer). Happily, this is a strategy the Developer-Builder can embrace because party walls equals less expensive perimeter equals lower costs. Safety in numbers.
