As we were kicking through the leaves, walking across the creek, and ambling along the wooded trails on our first site visit, I must admit it was extremely refreshing. It reminded me of my childhood, when my siblings, friends, and I would cavort in our back woods for hours. However, now that I have aged, I look at the same woods with a totally new perspective. As a designer the idea of what processes are taking place around me, as well as the consequences of said processes, is constantly filling my thoughts.
As we are now beginning to more thoroughly study ecology as an urban influence, I realize how loosely modern cities have incorporated ecology (if at all). After having read Mark Johnson’s Ecology and the Urban Aesthetic the fact that synthesis is required across the board is blatantly apparent. By collaborating on all levels of design, whether it be the designers themselves (i.e. architects, planners, landscape architects, ecologists, etc.) or within the systems/process of cities, so much more potential is created. The aesthetics of design, while immediately gratifying, are only a fragment of the overall scheme; as Johnson states, “[it] may be pretty, but does it improve the environment for people or for the regional ecology?” Too often we neglect any relationship we should have with our environment and instead impose our will upon it, or rather “domesticate it” as a means to fulfill our immediate concern. We are now beginning to realize, as urban centers are drastically changing, that the prosperity of unifying systems such as architecture, landscape, and infrastructure in a singularly cohesive plan acts as a means to revitalize both environment and experience.
As our group begins to analyze the Nine Mile Creek area adjacent to Lake Erie we are focusing our efforts on vacant areas as a means for opportunistic ecological design. After investigating all aspects of vacancy (i.e. land use, land plot, land bank, demolition, foreclosure) within the given Nine Mile Creek region, we will now utilize the weekend to narrow our concept of ecological design as it applies. The above map is an example of our initial vacancy investigation which was created using the newly-learned GIS for accuracy/amount of data, and then photoshopped for a higher level of graphic quality. The different layers of vacancy are depicted, in addition to documenting where there are primary clusters of vacancies throughout the site (thus suggesting the opportunity of larger scale design).
As we are now beginning to more thoroughly study ecology as an urban influence, I realize how loosely modern cities have incorporated ecology (if at all). After having read Mark Johnson’s Ecology and the Urban Aesthetic the fact that synthesis is required across the board is blatantly apparent. By collaborating on all levels of design, whether it be the designers themselves (i.e. architects, planners, landscape architects, ecologists, etc.) or within the systems/process of cities, so much more potential is created. The aesthetics of design, while immediately gratifying, are only a fragment of the overall scheme; as Johnson states, “[it] may be pretty, but does it improve the environment for people or for the regional ecology?” Too often we neglect any relationship we should have with our environment and instead impose our will upon it, or rather “domesticate it” as a means to fulfill our immediate concern. We are now beginning to realize, as urban centers are drastically changing, that the prosperity of unifying systems such as architecture, landscape, and infrastructure in a singularly cohesive plan acts as a means to revitalize both environment and experience.
As our group begins to analyze the Nine Mile Creek area adjacent to Lake Erie we are focusing our efforts on vacant areas as a means for opportunistic ecological design. After investigating all aspects of vacancy (i.e. land use, land plot, land bank, demolition, foreclosure) within the given Nine Mile Creek region, we will now utilize the weekend to narrow our concept of ecological design as it applies. The above map is an example of our initial vacancy investigation which was created using the newly-learned GIS for accuracy/amount of data, and then photoshopped for a higher level of graphic quality. The different layers of vacancy are depicted, in addition to documenting where there are primary clusters of vacancies throughout the site (thus suggesting the opportunity of larger scale design).
