ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS IN DESIGN
RATIONALE Our designed environments inherently support or interfere with ecological functions and services. In doing so, the built environment is expected to improve its ecological functioning and to be more resilient and adaptive when facing climate change or other local changes. Design for these functions focus on water, and also consider urban forests, and pollinators. Vine Street Green Stormwater infrastructure is a good example to show how to manage the stormwater on the street. Jiaxi Guo
MAIN TAKE AWAYS With stormwater management in Seattle, designers need to consider what Nina-Marie Lister describes as “the capacity for resilience—the ability to recover from disturbance, to accommodate change, and to function in a state of health.”1 On the other hand, pollinators and urban forest also provide more ecological services and functions for this system. Both of them will increase the adaption and resilience for ecological systems. Humans rely on ecological systems for living, and it is important to make sure the ecological functioning and services work well because we need biodiversity to sustain us.2 1 Lister, Nina-Marie. 2007. “Sustainable Large Parks: Ecological Design or Designer Ecology?” in Czerniak, Julia and George Hargreaves, eds. Large Parks. New York, NY: Princeton Architectural Press, p. 36. 2 Tallamy, Douglas W. 2009. “Who Cares about Biodiversity?” Bringing Nature Home. Portland, OR: Timber Press, pp. 38-47.
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UW MLA Capstone Studio 2016
Magnuson Park also shows ecological benefits with several marsh ponds. These increase diversity of species as well as provide for learning opportunities Wenying Gu