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Taylor & Francis, Ltd. and Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Inc. are collaborating with JSTOR todigitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of Architectural Education (1947-1974).
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The Ecology of the CityAuthor(s): Ian McHarg
Source: Journal of Architectural Education (1947-1974), Vol. 17, No. 2, The Architect and theCity. The 1962 AIA-ACSA Seminar Papers Presented at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. Part I (Nov., 1962), pp. 101-103
Published by: on behalf of theTaylor & Francis, Ltd. Association of Collegiate Schools ofArchitecture, Inc.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1423923Accessed: 11-02-2016 13:32 UTC
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Another
aspect
of our
Contemporary
ity
land-
scape
that
resembles he
Baroque
s a fresh
em-
phasis
on the
spectacular,
the
representational.
The
impact
of
advertising
s
by
no means
confined
to
the
printed
word;
t not
only
lines our
highways
with
billboards,
t lines
our
streetswith
elaborate
commercial
or
promotional
architecture
nstitu-
tionalizing
ommercial
irmsand
humanizing
ub-
lic institutions.
Finally,
there
is a
growing
revival
of
mass
pageantry-world's
fairs,
monster
rallies
and
sporting
events.
I
question
the
possibility
of
re-
viving
the
Baroque
street
scene
in the
USA be-
cause
the
public
is
no
longer
the
same.
For
better
or for
worse,
the
averageEuropean
or American
has
become
largely
ndependent
f
the
street.
The
notion that we
can lead
any
significant
art
of
our
lives
in
public
is
an
agreeable
one
but unrealistic.
This is not
to
say
that
public
gathering
places
are
not
needed,
but
they
must be
adapted
o
our
less
extrovert
society.
The solutionas I see it is not a seriesof pedes-
trian malls
or
more
parks
or sidewalkcafes
or
shopping
centers or
any
neo-Baroque
revivalbut
a
totally
new kind
of
public gatheringplace.
We
are not
a
homogeneousgroup;
we do
not
derive
pleasure
rom
people
as
such,
but ratherwe
tend
instinctively
o
form
groups
of
compatible
persons.
I
strongly
suspect
that
the new
kind
of
public
gathering lace
will
be
highly pecialized,
nclosed,
well-defined
areas,
excluding
by
some kind
of
psychological
barrier
he enormous
heterogeneous
public.
Thereare two aspectsof ourRomantic radition
Another
aspect
of our
Contemporary
ity
land-
scape
that
resembles he
Baroque
s a fresh
em-
phasis
on the
spectacular,
the
representational.
The
impact
of
advertising
s
by
no means
confined
to
the
printed
word;
t not
only
lines our
highways
with
billboards,
t lines
our
streetswith
elaborate
commercial
or
promotional
architecture
nstitu-
tionalizing
ommercial
irmsand
humanizing
ub-
lic institutions.
Finally,
there
is a
growing
revival
of
mass
pageantry-world's
fairs,
monster
rallies
and
sporting
events.
I
question
the
possibility
of
re-
viving
the
Baroque
street
scene
in the
USA be-
cause
the
public
is
no
longer
the
same.
For
better
or for
worse,
the
averageEuropean
or American
has
become
largely
ndependent
f
the
street.
The
notion that we
can lead
any
significant
art
of
our
lives
in
public
is
an
agreeable
one
but unrealistic.
This is not
to
say
that
public
gathering
places
are
not
needed,
but
they
must be
adapted
o
our
less
extrovert
society.
The solutionas I see it is not a seriesof pedes-
trian malls
or
more
parks
or sidewalkcafes
or
shopping
centers or
any
neo-Baroque
revivalbut
a
totally
new kind
of
public gatheringplace.
We
are not
a
homogeneousgroup;
we do
not
derive
pleasure
rom
people
as
such,
but ratherwe
tend
instinctively
o
form
groups
of
compatible
persons.
I
strongly
suspect
that
the new
kind
of
public
gathering lace
will
be
highly pecialized,
nclosed,
well-defined
areas,
excluding
by
some kind
of
psychological
barrier
he enormous
heterogeneous
public.
Thereare two aspectsof ourRomantic radition
which
show
few
signs
of
disappearing.
hemodem
city
remains
divided
into
many
distinct
quarters,
each
with
its own
type
of
activity.
There are
many
critics
of
the urban
landscape
who
deplore
this
compartmentalization,
ut
it
seems
to
be
strongly
entrenched
n
the
modem
city
scheme.
The other
is the
feeling
for
the
sanctity
of
the
individual
and the
individualenvironment ex-
pressed
n
the fact that
half of the
population
of
this
country
now
owns its own home.
It remains or
the
futureto reconcile hese two
very
different
endencies:the
neo-Baroque
desire
for
public
amenities and
socially
directed
design
and
the Romantic desire
for the isolated
experi-
ence in
the isolated
environment.
An
analogy
to the
biological
theory
of
differ-
entiatedand
integrated
nimal
ocieties
suggests
at
least
two
of the
choices
n
urban
philosophy
which
confrontus now.
The
virtue
of
the differentiated
society
is
order
and
beauty
and
power;
the chief
virtue
of
the
integrated
ociety
s
simply
hat
t
pro-
duces moreandbetter ndividuals. t existsnot as
an
end
in itself
but to
improve
the conditionsof
life
and the
possibilities
of
self-fulfillment.
There
s
nothing
new
in
this
concept
of
a
society
of
specialized
beings.
This has been
the
one
in-
creasingpurpose
of
our
history:
to
grow
in self-
awareness
nd to
acquire
a richer
dentity.
t
is
the
role of
the
contemporary ity
to
carry
he
process
one
step
further:
to
show
that it is
only
within
a
humane social order that the individual
can
achieve
self-fulfillment,
ot
in Romantic
solitude,
not in
Baroque
subjugation
o the
common
will,
but throughan active relatednesso others.
which
show
few
signs
of
disappearing.
hemodem
city
remains
divided
into
many
distinct
quarters,
each
with
its own
type
of
activity.
There are
many
critics
of
the urban
landscape
who
deplore
this
compartmentalization,
ut
it
seems
to
be
strongly
entrenched
n
the
modem
city
scheme.
The other
is the
feeling
for
the
sanctity
of
the
individual
and the
individualenvironment ex-
pressed
n
the fact that
half of the
population
of
this
country
now
owns its own home.
It remains or
the
futureto reconcile hese two
very
different
endencies:the
neo-Baroque
desire
for
public
amenities and
socially
directed
design
and
the Romantic desire
for the isolated
experi-
ence in
the isolated
environment.
An
analogy
to the
biological
theory
of
differ-
entiatedand
integrated
nimal
ocieties
suggests
at
least
two
of the
choices
n
urban
philosophy
which
confrontus now.
The
virtue
of
the differentiated
society
is
order
and
beauty
and
power;
the chief
virtue
of
the
integrated
ociety
s
simply
hat
t
pro-
duces moreandbetter ndividuals. t existsnot as
an
end
in itself
but to
improve
the conditionsof
life
and the
possibilities
of
self-fulfillment.
There
s
nothing
new
in
this
concept
of
a
society
of
specialized
beings.
This has been
the
one
in-
creasingpurpose
of
our
history:
to
grow
in self-
awareness
nd to
acquire
a richer
dentity.
t
is
the
role of
the
contemporary ity
to
carry
he
process
one
step
further:
to
show
that it is
only
within
a
humane social order that the individual
can
achieve
self-fulfillment,
ot
in Romantic
solitude,
not in
Baroque
subjugation
o the
common
will,
but throughan active relatednesso others.
THE
ECOLOGY
OF THE
CITY
HE
ECOLOGY
OF THE
CITY
by
lan Mc
Harg
Chairman,
Dept. of Landscape
Architecture,
University of
Penn.
by
lan Mc
Harg
Chairman,
Dept. of Landscape
Architecture,
University of
Penn.
10101
Cities
are
probably
the most inhumaneen-
vironments ver
made
by
man for
man. It is
taking
the best
efforts of modem
medicine
and social
legislation
to
ameliorate
the
abuses
which
the
physical
environment
mposesupon
us.
With
all
the
improvements
which have
occurred
during
he last
century
n
the
social
environment,
the
physical
environment
has not
proportionally
improved
but has
absolutely
etrogressed.
We
plan
with
a surfeit
of
economic
and
social determinism
and
not
enough
other
criteria.
I
would
not
Cities
are
probably
the most inhumaneen-
vironments ver
made
by
man for
man. It is
taking
the best
efforts of modem
medicine
and social
legislation
to
ameliorate
the
abuses
which
the
physical
environment
mposesupon
us.
With
all
the
improvements
which have
occurred
during
he last
century
n
the
social
environment,
the
physical
environment
has not
proportionally
improved
but has
absolutely
etrogressed.
We
plan
with
a surfeit
of
economic
and
social determinism
and
not
enough
other
criteria.
I
would
not
diminish hem as
determinants,
ut
certainly hey
have
to
be
qualified
by
others
as well.
In
looking
for
other
determinants
of urban
form,
I
have
found
the
views of the natural
scientist,
particu-
larly
the
ecologist,
most
illuminating.
The
ecologist
is concerned
with
ecosystems:
functioning
nteracting
ystems composed
of or-
ganisms
and
their environment.
The
ecologist
has
developed
he
conception
hat we are
covered
by
a
web of
life,
a
biosphere,
with
all
life
on the
planet interacting.
One
can think
of
the
entire
diminish hem as
determinants,
ut
certainly hey
have
to
be
qualified
by
others
as well.
In
looking
for
other
determinants
of urban
form,
I
have
found
the
views of the natural
scientist,
particu-
larly
the
ecologist,
most
illuminating.
The
ecologist
is concerned
with
ecosystems:
functioning
nteracting
ystems composed
of or-
ganisms
and
their environment.
The
ecologist
has
developed
he
conception
hat we are
covered
by
a
web of
life,
a
biosphere,
with
all
life
on the
planet interacting.
One
can think
of
the
entire
I
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The AIA-ACSA Seminar
Papers
at
Cranbrook
worldas
a
world-life
body
in which
all
organisms,
all
species,
have a
role,
which
s
comparable
o
the
cell
and to the
organ
within
the human
body.
The
minute
one takes
a
view of
this
sort,
one
is
im-
mediatelyproscribed
rom
gouging,
hacking
and
destroying
because the
conception
of the
whole
world-lifebody as being interacting omehow n-
duces some
restraint n self-mutilation.
Such restraint
s
supportedby
the
knowledge
that all
organic
systems
are
by
themselves
de-
pletive. Any
single
organic system
would
simply
deplete
the resources
of the
world and
be
ex-
tinguished.
Man,
of
course,
is a
depletiveorganic
system.
In order or
organic
ystems
o
work,
there
must
be
reciprocity. Somebody's
waste
is
that
which
you
consume,
hat
which
you dispose
of
as
waste
s that
which
something
lse
consumes.
This
is
called
symbiosis.
The ecologist s furtherconcernedwithsucces-
sion,
ie,
a
development
and
adaptation
n time.
The
ecologist
has
the
possibility,
as an
inheritor
f
the Darwinian-Wallaceraditionof
evolutionary
biology,
to
see
the
relationship
between
process
and form
n a
clearer
way
than
anyone
else. Archi-
tects
used to
say,
"Form
follows function."
This
was
a kindof
a
manifesto,
always
llustrated
y
in-
organic
systems
ike utensils
and
planes
and rock-
ets.
This
was
all
right
as far
as it
went,
but if
one
notes thatthis was
being
proclaimed
t
a
time when
Darwin
had
existed
for almost a
century,
and
sciences
ike
morphology
nd
zoology
and
biology
and
botany
had
been
well
advanced,
t
was,
in
retrospect,
a kind of infantilism.
If one
looks
at
organic systems,
I
think one
would
have
to
adapt
he statement nd
say,
"Form
expressesprocess'
or
better
still,
"Process
s ex-
pressive."
Zoology,
morphology,
botany
and
biology
are
all based
on
the
presumption
hat
the
adaptation
of
the
species,
the
role
of
the
species
and the location
in terms of the environment an
be determined
rom
the
aspect
of
the
species
and
its
adaptation
o the environment.
One of
the
most
beautiful
examples
s a
simple
deciduousforest. The distributionof the plants,
the
shape
of the
plants,
the
relative
size
of the
plants,
the
periodism
at which
they
flower
and
fruit is
vastly
expressive.
ndeed one coulddeter-
mine almost
all the
important
hings
about the
distribution
and
flowering
periods
of
the
plants
by
their
actual
shape.
That
which
ends
to be seen
as
a
sort
of
undifferentiated
reen
has
specificity
and
is an
extraordinarily
xpressive
statement
of
a
highly
ordered
ystem.
A
compressed example
where
process
is ex-
sand dune. The entire
process
from
beginning
o
maturedune covers
only
about
twenty-five ears.
When
the beach
has
an inclination
of
five to ten
per
cent,
wave actionwill
deposit
particles
of sand.
A sand
bank,
or
island,
is
gradually
ormed and
when it reachesa
height
of nine or ten
feet,
mar-
ram grass volunteers.The dune is progressively
stabilized
by
a successionof
vegetation,
ometimes
including
live
oak
and
pine.
The
ecologist
can
identify
all the
elements
of
vegetation
n terms of
the
limitations
within
which
they
can exist
(salinity,
brackish
water,
exposure,
etc)
the
environments o
which
they
have
adapted,
the
associationof
these
plants
and also their succes-
sion. Here
is
something
which seems
to me
has
absolutely
enormous relevance. One can
see in
the
function
of
all
of these
variables,
form
which
is
totally
expressive.
Examination
of
a
Region
There
is
one
larger
process
which
is
less com-
plete
than the
examination
of
the
dunes;
i
e,
the
examination
of
a
region.
Confronted with
the
necessity
of
land-use
planning
for the Delaware
River
Basin,
our
study group
selected
the
cycle
of water
as
a
device for
examination.
Besides
the
cycle
of
evaporation
and
precipitation,
one can
specify
places
wherehorizontal
movement
of
the
water
occurs.
The
intrinsic unctions
of the
for-
ested
upland
sponge,
he
agriculture iedmont,
he
estuary
marsh,
he
underground
quafer,
he
aqua-
fer
recharge
area,
the
rivers,
he
streams,
he flood
plains
and
the
riparian
and
can be
identified,
their areas
can be
demarked.
Each
is
expressive
of its
particular
ole
or
process.
One
could
im-
mediately
conclude
something
about
the
degree
of
permissiveness
r
nonpermissiveness
f these
particular
unctions,
elative o
other
functions.
If
you
take
an area
like the
Delaware River
Basin
and
locate
all
of
these
areas,
suddenly
you
find that
you
have covered
something
n
the
nature
of
fifty
or
sixty per
cent of
the whole
region
and
you
also
find that
you
have
produced
something
like a negative developmentmap. Before you
locate new towns
and
developments nywhere
ou
like on the basis
of some economic
determinism,
let's add this
parameter
o
your
planning
Look
and
see what
intrinsic unctions
actually
occur
in
this
supposedly
undifferentiated
reen space
and
see
the
degree
to
which
these intrinsic unctions
can co-exist
withthe
development
which
you
pro-
pose.
I have
a sense
that
if the best
common
knowl-
edge
of
biology,
ecology
and
oceanography,
which
pressed
very clearly
n
form
is the
formation
of a
102
has
permeated
landscape
architects like
myself,
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