Ecological Design & Planning

"...as we anticipate the world of the twenty-first century, landscape architecture is at a crossroads. If the discipline embraces ecological design and planning, then it has a leadership role in contemporary society throughout the world. If landscape architecture, however, turns inward and ignores its larger responsibility to the public good, then it will become marginalized and less relevant." --George F. Thompson and Frederick R. Steiner. The essays contained in this book are written by a cross section of the most respected teachers and prac-titioners of landscape design from around the globe. Ecological Design and Planning offers a unique opportunity to learn about the latest thinking and practices in the art and science of ecological landscape design from such leading lights as Michael Laurie, Carol Franklin, Laurie Olin, Elizabeth Meyer, Mark Johnson, and Ian McHarg. The common thread that runs through these essays is the authors' conviction that the growing rift in landscape design--ecology vs. aesthetics--is an artificial one. Each author expresses abiding concern for the ecological preservation and enhancement of the site, while demonstrating clearly--with both words and pictures--that the best designs are those that harmonize aesthetic form and ecological function. Ecological Design and Planning is a source of ideas and inspiration for landscape architects and planners, architects, and all those who understand the importance of designing with nature. "It is high time that we citizens of the world begin to understand that our situation on earth is not one in which nature must rule over culture, or culture over nature, as if one can separate the two in the first place. It is high time to reflect upon the geographies and landscape histories of the past throughout the world so that we can bring forward--again--the concept that only by designing and planning with nature and culture can we begin to heal the landscapes and places of everyday existence--urban, rural, and wild--in environmental and aesthetic terms. 'God's own junkyard' need not continue to dominate our public landscapes, nor our own backyards and city streets." --George F. Thompson and Frederick R. Steiner New essays by: James Corner, Carol Franklin, Mark Johnson, Michael Laurie, Ian L. McHarg, Elizabeth Meyer, Forster Ndubisi, Laurie Olin, Claire Reiniger, Sally Shauman, Meto Voom, and Joan Hirschman Woodward. Photographs by Steve Martino