Mais informações

DOWNTON, Paul F. Integrating life sciences with architecture and urban design in the design, development and maintenance of ecological cities. PLEA (Passive and Low Energy Architecture), artigo técnico.
Clique no nome do(s) autor(es) para ver o currículo Lattes:

Dados do autor na base InfoHab:
Número de Trabalhos: 1 (Nenhum com arquivo PDF disponível)
Citações: 1
Índice h: 1  
Co-autores: Nenhum co-autor encontrado

Abstract

The history of city-making spans just ten millennia. No city has ever been ‘ecological’ in the sense of being consciously integrated into the processes of the biosphere with the intent of maintaining the optimum functioning of the biosphere for human purposes. No ‘true’ ecocity has yet existed. This paper results from a current attempt to construct an integrated theory of ecological cities. Such a theory requires a definition of what constitutes an ‘ecological’ city and it requires consideration of their making from ‘cradle to grave’. Herein, is an overview of some aspects of eco-city making, with emphasis on the stages of conceptualisation and design. Brief reference is made to the author’s experiences with ecocity projects in Australia. Cities possess characteristics of living organisms, entities which possess discernible boundaries in both space and time and have a lifecycle. This assertion is substantiated by reference to definitions of life adopted in Margulis and Lovelock’s ‘Gaean’ hypothesis. In taking the view that cities are not just simulacrums of life, but exhibit enough characteristics of living organisms to be considered ‘alive’, the author seeks to demonstrate that it is possible to: · integrate life sciences with architecture and urban design; · set the making of human settlement firmly in an ecological context; · provide an analysis of urban systems behaviour which can be actively employed in the conceptualisation, construction and management of cities.
-