Atmosphere is the consequence of the projects we make as designers of landscapes, cities, architecture and interiors. Atmosphere is hard to grasp, and even harder to talk about - yet the production of atmosphere, intended or not, is one of our most apparent contributions to the world. It is something that lingers after the program has changed or the client has left. Though palpable, atmosphere resists registration. So fragile and dependent on the world around, atmosphere is also susceptible to our individual perception. It is not something that can be read or interpreted. It is. It is the embodiment of the content we give our projects and how they meet the world. What is emergence in | of | through | with | atmosphere? What is emergence in relation to all varied environments?

If we reflect on the ideas and issues that develop from emergence, can we deepen our understanding of what we aim to achieve as designers? How do we design for emergence; how do designers engage emergent properties; how do we change our focus from conditions of being to conditions of becoming? How do we design beyond the objective nature of things toward the natures of potentials, the natures of becoming? How do we design change? This is not simply designing for change or with change in mind, nor is it simply about responding to conditions of change, but can we design change itself? Can we design change in action? Can we anticipate the emergence of new conditions, new experiences, new situations, new affordances, new affects? As in the design of atmosphere, this can be about designing the ephemeral, designing the sublime, and in this case how do we privilege readings, mappings and processes of transformation, transition, and the dynamic potentials of space and place? How do we design for global warming? How do we engage the emergent properties of global warming? How do we engage the emergent properties of energy systems within notions of the ephemeral and atmosphere? Emergence is central to all design as process, change, and evolution.