Projective Ecologies

ecology as a model of the world and the agency of design in the shaping of that world. In addition to its status as model, ecology has come to be an equally effective metaphor for a range of intellectual and disciplinary pursuits. References in this volume to the work of Gregory Bateson, Giorgio Agamben, and FĂŠlix Guattari, to name but a few, illustrate the fecundity of ecological thinking. This metaphorical understanding of ecology has been particularly significant for its subsequent absorption into the discourse around design. While landscape architecture and urban planning have historically tended to view ecology as a kind of applied natural science, architecture and the arts have received ecology as a metaphor imported from the social sciences, the humanities, and philosophy. The Projective Ecologies project aspires to articulate and integrate those diverse disciplinary antecedents within the discourses of design. It does so by invoking a third reading of ecology as medium. Projective Ecologies proposes a synthetic understanding of ecology as a medium of thought, exchange, and representation. Reed and Lister invite readers to embrace the breadth of that medium and to project an equally broad range of alternative and better futures through design. __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________

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Projective Ecologies

Published on Apr 16, 2014

Actar Publishers

Chris Reed & Nina-Marie Lister. Published with Harvard Graduate School of Design English 978-1-940291-12-3 16,5 x 22 cm 288 pages Hardcover Color Illustrations Ecological research applied to current architectural practice. Projective Ecologies takes stock of the diversity of contemporary 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.