Austin E.

Knowlton School of Architecture

The Ohio State University
LARCH 760
Graduate seminar, winter quarter 2007
Credit hours: 2
Meeting time: Mondays, 5:30p.m., KN 259
Instructor: Jane Amidon amidon.2@osu.edu

Tom Leader Studio (ecological urbanism)

models for a
New Nature
course description
Ecological Urbanism: Models for New Nature is a graduate seminar about the intersection of natural and
urban systems. The primary objective is the translation of ecological and informational models into urban
contexts. Activities include reading, discussion, research and writing.

In the 19th century, public parks were instituted as a means to experience nature as an antidote to the
industrialized city. Within the park paradigm, the complexity of ecology – its capacity to provide both an
analog for dynamic organizations and a family of scriptable, smart materials -- became mediated,
eventually minimized to a muted (romantic) cultural condition.

New Nature is a response to today’s emerging effects of con-urbanization, global exchange and
progressive technologies. While the relationship between the ecological and the urban has profoundly
changed since the 19th century, New Nature to some degree retains its responsibility for providing an
armature for public space and as well as identifiable alternatives to all that is non-nature: it remains a
powerful idea capable of impacting investment patterns, demographic trends, environmental policy and
other urban factors.

The seminar meets once per week for approximately two hours of lecture and discussion. It is essential
that students complete the assigned readings before the seminar meeting; each participant is responsible
for carrying their own weight in terms of contributing usefully to the group conversation.

The final product of the seminar will be an essay or final project by each participant that addresses one of
two questions: a) what is New Nature (via essay)? Or b) How does New Nature operate (via model,
simulation, or other demonstration)? Essays and documentation of final projects will be edited and bound
into an anthology.

course objectives
Students who successfully complete the seminar should be able to:
• Discuss in an informed manner the translation of selected ecological theories to urban models;
• Produce a well written document on the concepts of New Nature as covered in the class.

attendance, assignments and grading

Students are expected to attend all seminar meetings for the entire scheduled time, and to be actively in
the discussion. Students are expected to complete all readings and written assignments in a timely
manner. Excuses will be granted only for serious illness, family emergencies or other circumstances by
approval of the instructor or section head. Permission must be received from the instructor prior to
missing a class or submitting late work. All assignments must be completed to receive a passing grade.
No exceptions.
Course instructors reserve the right to make changes to the course syllabus, schedule and assignments as
needed and with appropriate notification of students enrolled in the course.

Grades are based on student performance relative to the instructors’ expectations and to the performance
of other students enrolled in the class. Students are evaluated at the completion of each assignment
(including reading discussions, presentations and written work). Evaluations are based on the following
ratings, with plus and minus qualifications:

Excellent A
Above Average B
Below Average C
Poor D
Failure E

An incomplete can be given only if a student is determined by the instructors to have successfully
completed half of the studio assignments by the end of the final day of class. To make up the incomplete,
all work must be successfully completed as agreed between the instructors and the student and according
OSU academic guidelines.

Grades are broken down according to the following percentages:

Participation 50%
Final essay/project 50%

academic conduct
Students are required to adhere to all codes and academic policies of The Ohio State University and the
Knowlton School of Architecture. In particular, plagiarism -- the use of the ideas, words or works of intellectual
content of another person as if they are one’s own or without crediting the source -- is strictly forbidden.

selected bibiography
Allen, Stan. Points + Lines: Diagrams and Projects for the City. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
1999

Armstrong and Botzler, eds. Environmental Ethics: Divergence and Convergence. New York: McGraw Hill, 1993.

Berger, Alan, Drosscape: Wasting Land in Urban America. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2006.

Bradshaw and Marquet, eds. How Landscapes Change: Human Disturbance and Ecosystem Fragmentation.
New York: Springer, 2003.

Castells, Manuel, The Castells Reader on Cities and Social Theory. London: Blackwell Publishers, 2002.

Claramunt and Mosbach, eds. Pages Paysages. Basel: Birkhauser, vol. 9, November 2002.

Conan, Michel, Environmentalism in Landscape Architecture. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research
Library and Collection, 2000.

Corner, James, ed., Recovering Landscape. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1999.

Ghent Urban Studies Team, eds. Post Ex Sub Dis: Urban Fragmentations and Constructions. Rotterdam:
010 Publishers, 2002.

Gunderson and Holing, Panarchy: Understanding Transformations In Human and Natural Systems.
Washington: Island Press, 2002

Gunderson and Pritchard, Resilience and the Behavior of Large-Scale Systems. Washington: Island Press, 2002.

Hansson, Fahrig and Merriam, eds. Mosaic Landscapes and Ecological Processes. London: Chapman & Hall, 1995.

Hawkins and Sheehan, eds. Parasitoid Community Ecology. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
Jacobs, Jane, The Nature of Economies. New York: Modern Library, 2000.

Johnson and Hill, eds. Ecology and Design: Frameworks for Learning. Washington: Island Press, 2002.

Jorgensen and Muller, eds. Handbook of Ecosystems Theory and Management. Boca Raton: Lewis
Publishers, 2000.

Koolhaas and Mau, eds. S,M,L,XL. New York: Monacelli Press, 1996.

Marot, Sebastien, Sub-Urbanism and the Art of Memory. London: AA Publishers, 2003.

Massumi, Brian, A User’s Guide to Capitalism and Schizophrenia. Cambridge: The MIT Press,
Swerve Editions, 1992.

Mau, Bruce, ed. Massive Change. New York: Phaidon Press. 2005.
McGlade, J. , Advanced Ecological Theory: Principles and Applications. Malden, MA: Blackwell Science, 1999.
Merchant, Carolyn, Major Problems in American Environmental History. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and
Co., 1993.

Mohsen Mostafavi, ed. Landscape Urbanism: A Manual for the Machinic Landscape. London: Architectural
Association, 2003.

Nassauer, Joan Iverson, ed. Placing Nature: Culture and Landscape Ecology. Washington: Island Press, 1997.

Raxworthy and Blood, The Mesh Book: Landscape/Infrastructure. Melbourne: RMIT Press, 2005.

Shane, David Grahame, Recombinant Urbanism: Conceptual Modeling in Architecture, Urban Design and
City Theory. New York: John Wiley, 2005.

Sijmons, Dirk, ed. = Landscape. Amsterdam: Architectura + Natura, 2002.

Spirn, Anne, The Granite Garden: Urban Nature and Human Design. Philadelphia: UPenn, 1984.

Steiner, Frederick and George Thompson, eds. Ecological Design and Planning. New York: John Wiley, 1997.

Thompson, Clive, “Open Source Spying,” New York Times. December 3, 2006.

Viljoen, Andre, ed. Continuous Productive Urban Landscapes. Burlington, MA: Architectural Press/Elsevier. 2005.

Waldheim, Charles. The Landscape Urbanism Reader. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2006.
schedule
Week 1 the authority of nature

Spirn, Anne Whiston, “The Authority of Nature: Conflict, Confusion, and Renewal in Design, Planning and
Ecology,” Ecology and Design, Johnson and Hill, eds. Washington: Island Press, 2002. Pp.29-49.

Teyssot, Georges, “Settlers, Workers and Soldiers: Landscape of Total Mobilization,” Pages Paysages,
Claramunt and Mosbach, eds. Basel: Birkhauser, vol. 9, November 2002. Pp. 10-21.

Evernden, Neil, “Nature in Industrial Society,” Environmental Ethics: Divergence and Convergence,
Armstrong and Botzler, eds. New York: McGraw Hill, 1993.

Week 2 super realism and the neo-romantic

Hargrove, Eugene, “The Ontological Argument for the Preservation of Nature,” Environmental Ethics:
Divergence and Convergence, Armstrong and Botzler, eds. New York: McGraw Hill, 1993. Pp.209-18.

Amidon, Jane, “Eclogue,” unpublished article. 2006.

Week 3 intermediate disturbance hypothesis

Jorgensen and Muller, “Ecosystems as Complex Systems,” Handbook of Ecosystems Theory and
Management, Jorgensen and Muller, eds. Boca Raton: Lewis Publishers, 2000.

Gunderson, Holling, Peterson, “Resilience in Ecological Systems,” Handbook of Ecosystems Theory and
Management, Jorgensen and Muller, eds. Boca Raton: Lewis Publishers, 2000.

Week 4 meta-population dynamics

McCauley, D., “Effects of population dynamics on genetics in mosaic landscapes,” Mosaic Landscapes and
Ecological Processes, Hansson, Fahrig and Merriam, eds. London: Chapman & Hall, 1995.

Gauld and Gaston, “The taste of enemy-free space: parasitoids and nasty hosts,” Parasitoid Community
Ecology, Hawkins and Sheehan, eds. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.

Keitt, T.H., “Spatial Autocorrelation, Dispersal and the Maintenance of Source-Sink Populations,” How
Landscapes Change: Human Disturbance and Ecosystem Fragmentation. Bradshaw and Marquet,
eds. New York: Springer, 2003.

Week 5 autonomy and memory

Dierssen, K., “Ecosystems as States of Ecological Successions,” Handbook of Ecosystems Theory and
Management, Jorgensen and Muller, eds. Boca Raton: Lewis Publishers, 2000.

Marot, Sebastien, Sub-Urbanism and the Art of Memory. London: AA Publishers, 2003. Selected passages TBA.

Pahl-Wostl, C., “Ecosystems as Dynamic Networks,” Handbook of Ecosystems Theory and Management,
Jorgensen and Muller, eds. Boca Raton: Lewis Publishers, 2000.

Week 6 wiki and blogscapes

Andrus, D. Calvin, "The Wiki and the Blog: Toward a Complex Adaptive Intelligence Community," Studies
in Intelligence, Vol 49, No 3, September 2005.

Nielsen, S.N., “Ecosystems as Cybernetic System,” and “Ecosystems as Information Systems,” Handbook
of Ecosystems Theory and Management, Jorgensen and Muller, eds. Boca Raton: Lewis
Publishers, 2000.
Week 7 geo-genetics

Berger, Alan, “Landscape, Urbanization and Waste,” Drosscape. New York: Princeton Architectural Press,
2006. Pp. 18-75.

Week 8 the really, really big and the really, really small

Sijmons, Dirk, ed. = Landscape. Amsterdam: Architectura + Natura, 2002. Selected passages TBA.

Waldheim, Charles, The Landscape Urbanism Reader. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2006.
Selected passages TBA.

Mathur, Anuradha, “Neither Wilderness nor Home: The Indian Maidan,” Recovering Landscape, James
Corner, ed. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1999.

Week 9 student presentations

Week 10 student presentations

Wednesday, March 12: final essay/project due by 5pm