Hidden from view in our day-to-day lives there exists a pattern and beauty much larger, much more comprehensive. From space these patterns reveal themselves as deep blue braided rivers and rich green plains, wetland patches, desert reds and yellows; all moving, all seemingly going somewhere. Amongst all our deep understanding of the natural sciences, and its relationships and complexity, there exists a simple beauty to it all. A secret that can only be revealed when we take a step back, and marvel at the tremendous scale of these natural systems.
When we design at a scale comparable to the vastness of these natural systems, the need exists to express as the earth does. When we design cities of 50, 100, or 1,000 square kilometer regions, we need to think as the earth does. There is an art to her work that needs to be present in ours. I am continually inspired by this interconnected beauty; a mosaic of oils and pastel that we can only hope to emulate in a small way. And so there must be an art to our ecology, both urban and natural. The two combined can form city patterns that can strive to achieve all those civic benefits that we speak so much of; be it interconnectivity, multiplicity, sustainability, and the like. We need to paint our cities as much as we plan them, aware that there is more to life and civicness than a land use plan and orderly density tabulation.
Our most beautiful cities were not afraid of an idea; be it Paris and her grand boulevards struck across its densely populated neighborhoods, or the genius of a simple but large park providing escape for the citizens of New York. Let us plan in bold strokes, weaving the natural and man-made into new urban forms worthy of the landscape they inhabit. Let our ideas guide us at any scale, from the smallest dwelling to the largest of all, planet earth.
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Posted by SeanOMalley in Arts and Culture, Urban Ecologies on