The Ecology of the city

7/24/2019 The Ecology of the city

1/4

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).

http://www.jstor.org

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

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2/4

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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3/4

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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4/4

Documents

The Ecology of the city