Design with Nature

Rating:
Summary: A must read for Landscape Architects
Review: Anyone studying environmental planning or LA should read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent - A Must Have
Review: I am a new student in a landscape architecture program and this was a required book for my class. I found this book to be very enlightening and couldn't put the book down.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent - A Must Have
Review: I am a new student in a landscape architecture program and this was a required book for my class. I found this book to be very enlightening and couldn't put the book down.

Rating:
Summary: Design with nature, not against it
Review: I can't believe I am the first to review this book. It was one of the most important books in my library when it first came out over 25 years ago and I still refer to it once a year or so.

Ian McHarg pioneered both a "logical" way to approach human enterprise within the natural world, and the analytic/presentation methodology which is now used by virtually all planners. At least the technicals aspects of the methodology are used; the real struggle to understand the principals behind prioritizing land use is still ongoing.

If you're looking for some clear and easy to understand directions to help get us out of the mess we've made of our world, "Design With Nature" is a good place to start.

Rating:
Summary: Ian McHarg's _Design With Nature_
Review: Recently re-issued in a 25th-anniversary edition, this book has obviously retained its position. Why? Because it is *the* place to begin an environmental impact statement. It should be on the bookshelf, and engraved in the heart and mind, of anyone connected with, or concerned about, planning for the future.

McHarg takes the simple idea of overlay maps--which may contain any type of information--and builds up a procedure for making the difficult trade-offs involved in resolving competing ideas about land use.

No local community should be without a set of McHarg overlays. Any citizen group concerned about the actions of a 'developer' should be able to prepare its own overlay for the town's McHarg base map, showing its assessement of areas that need protection and areas that are suitable for the proposed use. This may not make everyone happy, but it at least guarantees that the issues and specific sites are understood by all, and that specific concerns have been fairly addressed.

Buy this book for your town planner.

Rating:
Summary: Ian McHarg's _Design With Nature_
Review: Recently re-issued in a 25th-anniversary edition, this book has obviously retained its position. Why? Because it is *the* place to begin an environmental impact statement. It should be on the bookshelf, and engraved in the heart and mind, of anyone connected with, or concerned about, planning for the future.

McHarg takes the simple idea of overlay maps--which may contain any type of information--and builds up a procedure for making the difficult trade-offs involved in resolving competing ideas about land use.

No local community should be without a set of McHarg overlays. Any citizen group concerned about the actions of a 'developer' should be able to prepare its own overlay for the town's McHarg base map, showing its assessement of areas that need protection and areas that are suitable for the proposed use. This may not make everyone happy, but it at least guarantees that the issues and specific sites are understood by all, and that specific concerns have been fairly addressed.

Buy this book for your town planner.

Rating:
Summary: not as good as i expected
Review: this highly recommended book started out as a compelling read, but became something i had to force myself to finish. it seems to be a series of lectures strung together, which may have been interesting as lectures, but is not cohesive enough to be a book. the good information is lost amidst the rambling style.

Rating:
Summary: Essential foundation for ecological planning/design
Review: This was an important piece in the development of ecological perspective for urban/environmental design and planning proffessions. It is a classic and should be familiar to anyone concerned with environmental issues as they relate to development.

Rating:
Summary: not as good as i expected
Review: While it's not the kind of book you want to lounge around the fireplace reading, it is a book that is frequently referred to by architects. It is significant in designing and ecologially friendly building in today's built-up environment. Summary: Not a great book, but a useful resource for architects.

Rating:
Summary: Significant Book for Architects - Though a Little Slow
Review: While it's not the kind of book you want to lounge around the fireplace reading, it is a book that is frequently referred to by architects. It is significant in designing and ecologially friendly building in today's built-up environment. Summary: Not a great book, but a useful resource for architects.