The Routledge Companion to Ecological Design Thinking: Healthful Ecotopian Visions for Architecture and Urbanism

This companion investigates the ways in which designers, architects, and planners address ecology through the built environment by integrating ecological ideas and ecological thinking into discussions of urbanism, society, culture, and design.

Exploring the innovation of materials, habitats, landscapes, and infrastructures, it furthers novel ecotopian ideas and ways of living, including human-made settings on water, in outer space, and in extreme environments and climatic conditions. Chapters of this extensive collection on ecotopian design are grouped under five different ecological perspectives: design manifestos and ecological theories, anthropocentric transformative design concepts, design connectivity, climatic design, and social design. Contributors provide plausible, sustainable design ideas that promote resiliency, health, and well-being for all living things, while taking our changing lifestyles into consideration. This volume encourages creative thinking in the face of ongoing environmental damage, with a view to making design decisions in the interest of the planet and its inhabitants.

With contributions from over 79 expert practitioners, educators, scientists, researchers, and theoreticians, as well as planners, architects, and engineers from the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Asia, this book engages theory, history, technology, engineering, and science, as well as the human aspects of ecotopian design thinking and its implications for the outlook of the planet.

Mitra Kanaani is a Distinguished Professor of ACSA (DPACSA), and recipient of numerous education awards. She is a Fellow of American Institute of Architects (FAIA). Mitra has a D. Arch degree with a focus in Design Performativity, and an M. Arch degree in Architecture with a minor in structural engineering. She also holds a Master of City Planning, and a BS in Economics and BA in Musicology. She is a researcher, author, editor, architect, and activist for Education Is Not a Crime, and an appointed member of the State Architect Board of California.