Against Recycling Nature
Douglas, C
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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.