Over 50 years later Ian McHarg’s seminal book Design With Nature is still teaching us how to plan with nature, not against it. “We design with nature, the with is very important.” We are joined in this episode by Frederick Steiner, co-executive director of the Ian L. McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology. We dive deep into the parallels McHarg makes between space and the importance of understanding natural processes and ecology. We discuss the connection between McHarg’s work overlaying physical maps and today’s digital version of Geographic Information Systems. While the book was very much a product of its time, it has proved to also be timeless.

Links:

PBS Documentary series Race - The Power of an Illusion episode 3—“The House We Live In”: https://www.pbs.org/race/000_About/002_04-about-03.htm 

Multiply and Subdue the Earth (1969) PBS documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nBFkARCP0I 

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