Projective Ecologies

The past two decades have witnessed a resurgence of ecological ideas and ecological thinking in discussions of urbanism, society, culture, and design. The field of ecology has moved from classical determinism and a reductionist Newtonian concern with stability, certainty, and order in favor of more contemporary understandings of dynamic systemic change and the related phenomena of adaptability, resilience, and flexibility. But ecology is not simply a project of the natural sciences. Researchers, theorists, social commentators, and designers have all used ecology as a broader idea or metaphor for a set of conditions and relationships with political, economic, and social implications.
Projective Ecologies takes stock of the diversity ofcontemporary ecological research and theory--embracing Felix Guattari's broader definition of ecology as at once environmental, social, and existential--and speculates on potential paths forward for design practices. Where are ecological thinking and theory now? What do current trajectories of research suggest for future practice? How can advances in ecological research and modeling, in social theory, and in digital visualization inform, with greater rigor, more robust design thinking and practice?
New original essays by Peter Del Tredici, Erle Ellis, Christopher Hight, Sanford Kwinter, Sean Lally, Nina-Marie Lister, Chris Reed, Jane Wolff
Reprinted/excerpted essays by Robert Cook, David Fletcher, Richard T.T. Forman, C.S. Holling.
With drawings by, Gross.MAX, James Corner, Field Operations, Sean Lally, Anuradha Mathur and Dilip DaCunha, OMA, Stoss Landscape Urbanism, West 8.

Chris Reed is Principal of Stoss Landscape Urbanism and Associate Professor in Practice of Landscape Architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. He is an internationally recognized figure in the fields of landscape and urbanism, most recently involved in major re-visioning strategies for downtown Dallas and its riverfront; for derelict refinery and port sites along the lakefront in Mississauga, Canada; for the city of Detroit; for major new waterfront developments in Shanghai and Green Bay; and for a vibrant new plaza at the heart of Harvard University s campus.

Nina-Marie Lister is Associate Professor of Urban Planning at Ryerson University, and Visiting Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Toronto. As the founding principal of Plandform, a studio exploring the relationship between landscape, ecology, and urbanism, Lister's research, teaching and practice focus on the confluence of landscape infrastructure and ecological processes within contemporary metropolitan regions.