Living Systems

Revolutionizing landscape architecture through the use of intelligent materials and technologies

Living Systems surveys a wide array of innovative approaches to material technologies within the field of landscape architecture. The selected projects and materials exhibit a contemporary demand for technological landscapes and the collaboration between designers, engineers, scientists and ecologists. The book proposes a synthesis between technology and theory, focusing on growth, flow, metabolism, climate, and atmospheric phenomena.

Projects and materials are cross-referenced according to performance criteria, processes, and properties. Each of the 36 international projects and 23 material technologies is presented with drawing details and construction photographs. Descriptions of key processes and adaptive qualities provide an analysis of the various complex systems featured, such as vertical growth structures, flood prevention, stormwater infiltration and erosion control.

Projects featured include works by West8, GROSS.MAX, Weiss-Manfredi Architects, Field Operations, Kathryn Gustafson, and Vogt Landschaftarchitekten.

Liat Margolis, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University.

Liat Margolis is a landscape architect and industrial designer. She trained at the Rhode Island School of Design and the Harvard Graduate School of Design, two of the most prestigious institutions in her field. She acquired practical experience at the firm Michael Van Valkenburgh and Associates in Cambridge, MA and as Director of Material Research at the world-famous firm Material ConneXion in New York, whose representatives advise architects, designers, engineers, fashion professionals, and other interested parties on the properties and applications of new materials.