Customer Reviews

Design with Nature

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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.

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.

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.

Ian McHarg's Design with Nature revolutionized landscape planning just at the time when the modern built environment was being recognized for its devastating effects on natural systems. McHarg devised techniques for planners to envision not just the finished product of human development, but its complex interaction with watersheds, wildlife habitat, viewscapes and anything else that could be represented as a layer on a map. Fast forward to today....Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are complex databases that organize information into the "layers" that McHarg proposed. GIS analysis has found its way into urban planning, oil spill response, wildfire management, epidemiology, endangered species management, socio-economic analysis and many other forms of spatial planning and design. Maps that are products of GIS analysis are digital versions of the tissue and mylar overlays of McHarg's vision and technique. This book is essential reading -- not because planners aren't using its ideas (almost universally, with GIS, they are) but because they don't understand GIS's debt to McHarg's pioneering thinking.

This is one of the best introductions to landscape design for those outside this field of specialization. The photos are strikingly beautiful and McHarg describes his approach to land planning in readable style accessible to general, technical readers outside of planning. My own interst was the history of modern American landscape architecture.

Note:If you like this you may also like modern historical analyses of the world's major cities like Kostof's 'City Shaped', 'City Assembled' or Rogers' 'Landscape Architecture: A Cultural History.'
If you are interested in American city planning, try a history of F L Olmsted's major works.(w/ photos of Boston's & Chicago's Emerald Necklace parks, NYC's Central Park, etc)

I was first introduced to this book in 1970 at the time of the first Earth Day Event. I was studying at a university in Appalachia and was exposed to reclamation of land laid barren by strip mining. My roommate was studying to be an architect and introduced me to this book that he was using for one of his courses. I was so fascinated by the concepts in the book I just had to purchase my own copy. I grew up in urban wastelands of industrialized Detroit and Cleveland and always wondered if there was any such thing as urban planning or land use planning. Ian McHarg assured us it was possible and necessary. All the books written since in this field stand on the shoulders of this giant. Sadly, the author passed away in March of 2001 from pulmonary disease, likely acquired as a boy in industrialized Glasgow Scotland. Anyone interested in Sustainability and Green Design should have this in their library.

My husband is a landscape designer and architect. So, he loves this stuff! I bought it for him as one of his birthday gifts. He has been wanting something of high quality and loves McHarg. I would recommend this book. We keep it on the coffee table because the pictures are wonderful and the design shows through. My husband and I love it!

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.

Anyone studying environmental planning or LA should read this book.

No has estudiado arquitectura si este libro no ha caido en tus manos. Sin Ian Mcharg la arquitectura sostenible no seria posible. Por lo menos la arquitectura sostenible pensada a escala regional."