On Ecological Urbanism

After reading the assigned excerpt from Mohsen Mostafavi’s book, I thought it was kind of funny and interesting how in the opening paragraph he briefly mentions how this concept of ecological urbanism is really an oxymoron. The two terms certainly contradict each other since ecology places more of an emphasis “on the interrelationship of organisms and the environment-an emphasis that invariably excludes human intervention.” But as architects, what if we were to consider our cities in a different light, as more of an urban ecosystem where living things, such as us humans and the natural environment, interact with nonliving things, such as streets and the structures we build. Could this possibly help us in shifting our traditional ways of thought as Mostafavi insists from a more pragmatic and additive approach to address the environmental problems we face today to a more holistic approach that is focused on creating an inherently sustainable environment that is embedded in our culture and way of life?

I think that everybody can attest to the fact that as architects part of our select skill set is being able to design at different scales and contexts. During the initial pre-design phase of a project, we always start off by conducting research in order to understand the context in which we are working in and take a look at the larger picture by examining the city as a whole and its existing fabric and infrastructure. But this often loses translation or gets neglected as soon as we zoom into our project site and begin to study the immediate setting and its adjacencies. I feel like this is in part due to the fact that there is a disconnect between the architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning professions. As architects we often focus and concern ourselves more with the human scale because at the end of the day that is our client and who we are really designing for. But in order to tackle some of these larger issues and to design more harmonious cities that seamlessly integrate with the natural environment we need to have a broader and better understanding of these complex ecosystems.

“The urban, as the site of complex relations (economic, political, social, and cultural), requires an equally complex range of perspectives and responses that can address both current conditions and future possibilities.”

Although it may be an overused reference, I think the superblocks and city plan for Barcelona serve as a great example of what Mostafavi describes in his book as it is truly a vision for a different way of living in the 21^st century. The urban plan and the architecture work harmoniously here as they seek to reclaim the city from cars and refocus on health and community by placing the people and environment at the center of this vision. I think this successful holistic approach is due in part to the fact that in Spain, and in much of Europe, architects play a larger role in the design of the built environment, not just by creating new structures, but also by being much more involved in the design of the landscape and overall plan for the city which are roles that are quite frankly very closely intertwined and almost inseparable at times.

Barcelona Superblocks

Could this potentially have an application here in the U.S. somewherelike Portland,Oregon?