Christopher Alexander's work introduced an approach to design using patterns from nature. https://arl.human.cornell.edu/linked%20docs/Alexander_A_Patt...

"You can use this book to design a house for yourself with your family; you can use it to work with your neighbors to improve your town and neighborhood; you can use it to design an office, or a workshop, or a public building. And you can use it to guide you in the actual process of construction". - from the Semantic Scholar introduction