Design with Nature

Published for The American Museum of Natural History. Writen under a grant from The Conservation Foundation of Washington, D.C. 1967 from cover '...may well abe one of the most important books of the century, a turning point in man's view and treatment of his environment.'--Wolf von Eckardt Ian McHarg, an outspoken critic of the traditional notion that urban development must be imposed upon the landsacape, regardless of the ecological conwequences, in Design with Nature, proves that necessary man-made structures can be accommodated within the existing natural order. 'Here are the foundations for a civilization that will replace the polluted, bulldozed, machine-dominated, dehumanized, explosion-threatened world that is even now show more disintegrating and disappearing before our eyes. In presenting us with a vision of organic exuberance and human delight, which ecology and ecological design promise to open up for us, McHarg revives the hope for a better world.'--Lewis Mumford 'A book which n my opinion will be a permanent landmark for the age.'--Frank B. Egler Ian L. McHarg, teacher, practicing landscape architect, planner, writer and lecturer, devotes the largest part of his energies to the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania, of which he is founder and Chairman. He is also a partner of the office of Wallace, McHarg, Roberts and Todd, architects, landscape architects, city an regional planners, which has employed the ecological planning method in several studies, including The Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Region, The Staten Island Study, A Comprehensivae Landscape Plan for Washington, D.C., The Inner Harbor Plan for Baltimore, and the Lower Manhattan Plan. Contents Introduction City and Countryside Sea and Survival The Plight A Step Forward The Cast and the Capsule Nature in the Metropolis On Values A Response to Values The World is a Capsule Porcesses as Values The Naturalists The River Basin The Metropolitan Region Process and Form The City: Process and Form The City: Health and Pathology Prospect show less

ix, 197 p., maps, photos

Un libro guida per chiunque desideri progettare per il futuro. Ribadendo la necessità di un intento consapevole, di una valutazione etica, di una organizzazione ordinata, di una deliberata espressione estetica nel trattare ogni parte dell'ambiente, McHarg pone l'accento non sulla progettazione o sulla natura in se stesse, ma sulla preposizione con, che presuppone cooperazione umana e compartecipazione biologica. Egli cerca non di imporre arbitrariamente la progettazione, ma di sfruttare appieno le potenzialità e, con esse, necessariamente le condizioni restrittive che la natura ci offre.