Design Ecologies: Essays on the Nature of Design

Contemporary architects are under increasing pressure to offer a sustainable future. But with all the focus on green building, there has been little investigation into the meaningful connections between architectural design, ecological systems, and sustainability. A new generation of architects and engineers aims to recast the green movement for the twenty-first century and transform design into a positive agent by balancing the societal needs of humans with environmental considerations. Design in this sense is a larger concept having as much to do with politics and ethics as with buildings and technology.

Design Ecologies is a groundbreaking collection of never-before-published essays and case studies by today's most innovative "green" designers. Their design strategies--social, material, technological, and biological--run the gamut from the intuitive to the highly technological. One essay likens window-unit air conditioners in New York City to weeds in order to spearhead the development of potential design solutions. Latz + Partner's Landscape Park integrates vegetation and industry in an urban park built amongst the monumental ruins of a former steelworks in Duisburg Nord, Germany. The engineering firm Arup presents its thirty-three-square-mile masterplan for Dongtan Eco City, San energy-independent city that China hopes will house half a million people by 2050. An essay by designer Bruce Mau leads off a stellar list of emerging designers, including Jane Amidon, Blaine Brownell, David Gissen, Gross.Max, Peter Hasdell, Stephen Kieran and James Timberlake, R&Sie(n), Studio 804, and Work Architecture Company.