Against Recycling Nature

Date
2011-07-01
Authors
Douglas, C
Supervisor
Item type
Journal Article
Degree name
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Auckland Branch of the New Zealand Institute of Architects
Abstract

Timothy Morton claims ecology should not be seen as a topic or an area of study, but as an exploration of the consequences of interconnection. Being ecologically-minded is not just considering a subset of our actions that have larger-scale effects, but recognising that all of our actions have such effects. Morton and Bruno Latour argue, there is no 'outside', "no décharge where we could discharge the refuse of our activity". As a consequence, Morton contends that 'Nature' is a dangerous concept, encouraging us to imagine a world 'out there', beyond our range of affect. In architecture and urban planning, the site boundary can be imagined to be an absolute limit, while in fact many things and effects pass through and across it. Ecological design could begin with the tracing of connections across this boundary.

Description
Keywords
architecture , nature , site , design process
Source
Block. The Broadsheet of the Auckland Branch of the New Zealand Institute of Architects(06), pp.3 - 4
DOI
Publisher's version
Rights statement
© Cheshire Architects, 2011. Authors retain the right to place his/her publication version of the work on a personal website or institutional repository for non commercial purposes. The definitive version was published in (see Citation). The original publication is available at http://www.cheshirearchitects.com/ (see Publisher’s Version).