Yeang’s Eco-Files
Yeang’s Eco-Files
Yeang’s Eco-Files
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clearing of all trees and vegetation, levelling the topography, diversion of existing waterways, etc). 7. To identify all aspects of this carrying capacity, we need to carry out an analysis of the site’s ecology. We must ascertain its ecosystem’s structure and energy flow, its species diversity and other ecological properties. Then we must identify which parts of the site (if any) have different types of structures and activities, and which parts are particularly sensitive. Finally, we must consider the likely impacts of the intended construction and use.
Biomass that climbs upwards to the rooftop garden.
Providing landscaped ecological bridges, tunnels and linkages in regional planning is crucial in making urban patterns more biologically viable. Besides improved horizontal connectivity, vertical connectivity within the built form is also necessary since most buildings are not single but multistorey. Design must extend ecological linkages upwards within the built form to its roofscapes. 5. More than enhancing ecological linkages, we must biologically integrate the inorganic aspects and processes of our built environment with the landscape so that they mutually become ecosystemic (See (4) above). We must create ‘human-made ecosystems’ compatible with the ecosystems in nature. By doing so, we enhance the ability of human-made ecosystems to sustain life in the biosphere. 6. Ecodesign is also about conserving the ecology of the site. Any activity from our design or our business must take place with the objective of physically integrating seamlessly and benignly with the ecosystems. How do we go about looking at the ecological properties of the locality’s ecosystem before imposing our human activity upon it? Every site has its own unique ecology with a limiting capacity to withstand stresses imposed upon it, which if stressed beyond this capacity becomes irrevocably damaged. Consequences can range from minimal localised impact (such as the clearing of a small land area for access), to the total devastation of the entire land area (such as the
8. This is, of course, a major undertaking. It needs to be done diurnally over the year and in some instances over years. To reduce this lengthy effort, landscape architects developed the ‘layer-cake’ method, or a sieve-mapping technique of landscape mapping. This enables the designer to map the landscape as a series of layers in a simplified way to study its ecology. As we map the layers, we overlay them, assign points, evaluate the interactions in relation to our proposed land use and patterns of use, and produce the composite map or guide our planning (for example, the disposition of the access roads, water management, drainage patterns and shaping of built form(s), etc). We must be aware that the sieve-mapping method generally treats the site’s ecosystem statically and may ignore the dynamic forces taking place between the layers and within an ecosystem. Between each of these layers are complex interactions. Thus analysing an ecosystem requires more than mapping. We must examine the interlayer relationships. 9. These techniques were developed over 20 years ago, but what we need to do now is to extend them to any built forms that are to be located within the site. We need to ensure ecological nexus within the site. The site must not be chopped or fragmented into disparate parcels separated by roads and impervious surfaces. The master plan after it has been laid out with roads and so on must remain holistically interconnected by ecological connectors. 10. The ecological master plan must also create linkages with ecosystems outside the design site area, as ecological corridors or fingers. These can be used to rehabilitate or restore devastated ecosystems or ecosystems fragmented or divided by inconsiderate human developments. 4+ Kenneth Yeang is a director of Llewellyn Davies Yeang in London and TR Hamzah & Yeang in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is the author of many articles and books on ecodesign, including Ecodesign: A Manual for Ecological Design (Wiley-Academy, 2006). Text © 2007 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Images © TR Hamzah & Yeang Sdn Bhd
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