Ecological Design

Island Press, 1995. Trade paperback. Very Good. 95x10x144. Sim Van der Ryn and Stuart Cowan present a vision of how the living world and the human world can be rejoined by taking ecology as the basis for design. Ecological design intelligence-effective adaptation to and integration with nature's processes-can be applied at all levels of scale, creating revolutionary forms of buildings, landscapes, cities, and technologies.The authors weave together case studies, personal anecdotes, images, and theory to provide a thorough treatment of the concept of ecological design. In the process, they present and explain a series of design principles that can help build a sustainable world with increased efficiency, fewer toxics, less pollution, and healthier natural systems. Sim Van der Ryn is President of The Ecological Design Collaborative, a design and consulting practice providing comprehensive services though the non-profit Ecological Design Institute established in 1969. He has been at the forefront of integrating ecological principles into the built environment, creating multi-scale solutions driven by nature’s intelligence for over 40 years. Sim has served as California’s first energy-conscious State Architect, authored seven influential books, including Ecological Design, and won numerous honors and awards for his leadership and innovation in architecture and planning including a Fellowship of the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts (1997); Rockefeller Scholar in Residence, Bellagio, Italy (1997 and 2013); a Commendation for Excellence in Technology, California Council American Institute of Architects (1981); and a Guggenheim Fellowship (1971). He is an adjunct architecture faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley.