Discontinuous Phenomena of Holonic Design: Functional Completeness Versus Solution Completeness☆

Abstract Sustainable development should offer a holistic way of resolution of many sharp objective conflicting goals in design. In this context, the question about the stability of models can be raised. The design can be seen as a qualitative discontinuity phenomenon in a continuous background. Understanding and controlling the discontinuity is therefore an important subject of the design research. This paper uses the concepts of the holon and the attractor to analyze the discontinuity. A multi-scale design model is proposed. The proposed multi-scale model is driven by two conflicting drives: (a) completeness of functions and design parameters and (b) discrimination of functions and design parameters. Completeness has been seen as the degree to which a function or a design parameter is recognized to be fully satisfied in a holon. Discrimination can be seen as the degree to which a function (respectively design parameter) refuses to recognize design parameters of other holons. By employing creation of holons as an indicator of the holon's state, we attempt to learn how the holon's behaviour varies as function of completeness and discrimination. Thus two control parameters: (a) completeness of design parameters and (b) completeness of functions, have been defined. The behavior of the holon design defines the output. Then, the discovered possible states of behavior of holon design are: a) impossibility state characterized by the impossibility of holon creation; b) creation-destruction state characterized sometimes by the creation of holons and sometimes the destruction of holons; c) creation-development state characterized by natural creation and development of the holon. The model shows that design is not an orderly and well behaved phenomenon. Design is full of sudden transformations and unpredictable divergences. The task of modeling these problems and relating them to each other would be a challenging endeavor which requires more powerful theory.