What does it mean to design with nature in mind? Ian Mcharg – a landscape architect and a renowned writer on regional planning using natural systems, comes to mind. Obviously, after reading his 1969 book Design with Nature (last semester) that pioneered the concept of ecological planning, I was smitten by all the mapping analysis, overlays and such. His book, according to wikipedia, continues to be one of the most widely celebrated books on landscape architecture and land-use planning. It is here that he set forth the basic concepts that were to develop later in Geographic Information Systems.
Then, you have this book by Alessandro Rocca (architect and architecture critic and a professor at the Milan Polytechnic) called the Natural Architecture; a collection of works reflecting the ideas of this movement (natural architecture movement) compiled into his book. Read more about this movement here. Design with nature in mind takes a different form here. More of an art for art’s sake, sort of thing… I don’t know how environmentally friendly it is to manipulate nature to make art. But, it is certainly awe-inspiring in its own right. Think Andrew Goldsworthy at Storm King. Here are some collections from Natural Architecture.
Landscape Architeck 