Ecological Design. - book reviews

Sim Van der Ryn & Stuart Cowan. Publication expected in the Summer of 1995. $19.95 ($24.20 postpaid) from Island Press, Box 7, Covelo, CA 95428; 800/828-1302

What ails the world? According to architect Sim Van der Ryn and mathematician Stuart Cowan, a lot of it is the result of "our failure, to see the connections between culture, nature, and the design process" -- or what they call "dumb design," which wastes resources, energy, people, and human prospects. The solution to the ecological crisis, accordingly, requires calibrating the way we design with the way nature does it,

Ecological Design aims to foster ecological design intelligence at all levels, "creating revolutionary forms of buildings, landscapes, cities, and technologies." As Van der Ryn and Cowan describe it, ecological design is not simply about making better things. It is the larger and more demanding task of fitting things and processes into larger systems and patterns that harmonize with those of ecosystems. And that requires smartness disciplined by wisdom.

Good design "works best with people committed to a particular place." It requires astute comprehension of natural systems and material flows. And when we get it right, ecological design transforms awareness of our connections to the world around us and helps us create more sustainable and sustaining communities, economies, and cultures.

Ecological Design is a revolutionary book in the tradition of Siegfried Giedion, Lewis Mumford, and Gregory Bateson. It builds on the work of other visionaries such as Nancy Jack and John Todd, Ian McHarg, David Wann, Bill McDonough, and Victor Papanek, it is not a book about things, but rather one about systems, patterns, context, integration, and ultimately about vision, which is where good design begins. To say that

Ecological Design deserves a large readership in the late years of the twentieth century is a bit like saying that folks on the Titanic needed lifeboats.

* The oak chair I am sitting in has a history of its own. It was made from oak harvested hundreds of miles away. The oak was harvested in a logging operation that entailed a network of fellers, roads and trucks. From there, the oak was milled and sent to a factory for assembly into a chair. At the factory, resins, adhesives and varnishes were applied as the chair took form. Finally, the chair was packaged, shipped, warehoused, shipped, retailed, and brought home. In several decades, it will probably grow quite rickety, at which time its owner can repair it, junk it, or salvage it in some way. In a deep sense, the chair embodies the land, water, labor, tools, energy and materials used in its production and distribution. As we understand the stream of processes required to manufacture the chair, we grow closer to assessing its ecological impact.

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