Speaking of shifts, I found Shift Paper -The Future by Design, Not Default from Tomorrow Makers (PDF) to be quite compelling as it touches on a lot of the themes discussed here on Functioning Form. Some quotes:
"Regional and global economies have moved through the Industrial, Informational and Knowledge Economies to the Network, and now into the Creative Economy. The phrases below are not to be taken in isolation as single issues but as a whole for designing and finding new patterns:
- Familiar: Standards, rules and regulations are imposed at the start of a process, often becoming static. Emerging: Patterns, principles, and relationships create standards that evolve and shift with new context
- Familiar: Narrowly controlled networks and supply chains. Emerging: Creates and grows communities and webs of relationships
- Familiar: Linear. Emerging: Iterative and multi-layered
- Familiar: We know what we’re looking for from the start. Emerging: Search images guide and shape emergent solutions
- Familiar: Mechanistic. Emerging: Organic, biomimicry