90
7.3 History of Planning and Design that Considers the Environment
The relationship between the built and natural environment can be traced back in Western civilisation’s design and planning approaches as far back as 50 BC in Rome, through Vitruvius’s recommendation on issues such as natural lighting, orientation and location. As described by Biermann et al.
(2003), Vitruvius stated in his book De architectura libri decem (The Ten Books on Architecture) that
a building must exhibit the three qualities of firmitas (firmness, robustness, structural strength), utilitas (commodity, usefulness), and venustas (delight, beautiful). This three-fold purpose of architecture,
known as the Vitruvian Triad, is further supported by Vitruvius’ belief that architecture
1
is an imitation
of nature (Biermann et al., 2003). Vitruvius’ approach however was that nature was a resource for
satisfying human needs. This perspective did not change much over the next two millennia.
Planning and architecture went through a paradigm shift in the nineteenth century where extremely
unhealthy conditions linked to industrialised cities gave rise to the consideration for healthier environments. A tendency developed to provide green spaces for people, such as Ebenezer Howard’s ‘Garden
Cities’, which were planned to be self-contained communities with surrounding ‘greenbelts’. The
planning of greenbelts included large areas of parks, containing separate areas for residences, industry
and agriculture in a proportionate fashion (Hall, Hardy, Howard, & Ward, 2003). Howard’s vision was
that the Garden City was part of a linked system of healthy green cities, a whole system which he
called the ‘Social City’ (see Fig. 7.2).
A similar example is the planning of the extension of Barcelona in 1859 by Ildefons Cerda. In this
design, Cerda proposed that the extension of the city would become a liveable place with an approach
including greenery of people’s surroundings (Ruano, 2002; Soria y Puig, 1999). This led to new concepts of planning that included the preservation of nature, including the ‘City Beautiful’ movement
during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and Stein’s concepts of ‘New Towns of America’ (Stein,
1951). Stein’s work changed the stale urban environment into vibrant neighbourhoods, reflecting his
belief of moulding urban construction into nature. His work had considerable impact on North
American urban planning, and his concepts are still reused today (Parsons, 1998). Van der Rohe,
Gropius, and Le Corbusier, the prominent figures of the Modernist Movement, established their reputations in the early twentieth century with designs engaging with sunlight and natural ventilation as
essential factors, and their ‘modernist planning’ which considered the environment as the backdrop to
urbanisation (Crouch, 1999). Fundamentally though, the approach in all these theories was that nature
was there for human advantage; these proponents promulgated that the environment needs to be preserved for the benefit of the physical and mental health of residents.
It was not until after the Second World War that ‘modernist planning’ gained mass popularity and
was implemented as a solution to the previous failure of architecture and urban planning to meet basic
social needs (Henket, 2002). This thinking was further fuelled by the ‘Green Revolution’ that increased
agriculture production. At the same time, new research was conducted into technologies that would
harness energy sources such as nuclear, solar, wind, thermal, and other renewables, resulting in the
belief that science can solve humanity’s problems (Ruano, 2002). Nature was explored and studied so
as to be more efficiently used to the benefit of humankind. During this time, architect Buckminster
Fuller put forward the principles of the interdependency of humans and nature, advocating diversity
and harmony between both (Fuller, 1938; Sieden, 2000).
1 Architecture in the Roman times was a much broader subject than at present, and included engineering, construction,
and urban planning. Roman architects can be described as engineers, architects, landscape architects, craftsman and
artists combined. For example, the first of the ten books of De architectura libri decem deals with what is now contemporary known as Landscape Architecture (Thoenes in Biermann et al., 2003).
7 Design and Planning with Nature
7.3 History of Planning and Design that Considers the Environment
The relationship between the built and natural environment can be traced back in Western civilisation’s design and planning approaches as far back as 50 BC in Rome, through Vitruvius’s recommendation on issues such as natural lighting, orientation and location. As described by Biermann et al.
(2003), Vitruvius stated in his book De architectura libri decem (The Ten Books on Architecture) that
a building must exhibit the three qualities of firmitas (firmness, robustness, structural strength), utilitas (commodity, usefulness), and venustas (delight, beautiful). This three-fold purpose of architecture,
known as the Vitruvian Triad, is further supported by Vitruvius’ belief that architecture
1
is an imitation
of nature (Biermann et al., 2003). Vitruvius’ approach however was that nature was a resource for
satisfying human needs. This perspective did not change much over the next two millennia.
Planning and architecture went through a paradigm shift in the nineteenth century where extremely
unhealthy conditions linked to industrialised cities gave rise to the consideration for healthier environments. A tendency developed to provide green spaces for people, such as Ebenezer Howard’s ‘Garden
Cities’, which were planned to be self-contained communities with surrounding ‘greenbelts’. The
planning of greenbelts included large areas of parks, containing separate areas for residences, industry
and agriculture in a proportionate fashion (Hall, Hardy, Howard, & Ward, 2003). Howard’s vision was
that the Garden City was part of a linked system of healthy green cities, a whole system which he
called the ‘Social City’ (see Fig. 7.2).
A similar example is the planning of the extension of Barcelona in 1859 by Ildefons Cerda. In this
design, Cerda proposed that the extension of the city would become a liveable place with an approach
including greenery of people’s surroundings (Ruano, 2002; Soria y Puig, 1999). This led to new concepts of planning that included the preservation of nature, including the ‘City Beautiful’ movement
during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and Stein’s concepts of ‘New Towns of America’ (Stein,
1951). Stein’s work changed the stale urban environment into vibrant neighbourhoods, reflecting his
belief of moulding urban construction into nature. His work had considerable impact on North
American urban planning, and his concepts are still reused today (Parsons, 1998). Van der Rohe,
Gropius, and Le Corbusier, the prominent figures of the Modernist Movement, established their reputations in the early twentieth century with designs engaging with sunlight and natural ventilation as
essential factors, and their ‘modernist planning’ which considered the environment as the backdrop to
urbanisation (Crouch, 1999). Fundamentally though, the approach in all these theories was that nature
was there for human advantage; these proponents promulgated that the environment needs to be preserved for the benefit of the physical and mental health of residents.
It was not until after the Second World War that ‘modernist planning’ gained mass popularity and
was implemented as a solution to the previous failure of architecture and urban planning to meet basic
social needs (Henket, 2002). This thinking was further fuelled by the ‘Green Revolution’ that increased
agriculture production. At the same time, new research was conducted into technologies that would
harness energy sources such as nuclear, solar, wind, thermal, and other renewables, resulting in the
belief that science can solve humanity’s problems (Ruano, 2002). Nature was explored and studied so
as to be more efficiently used to the benefit of humankind. During this time, architect Buckminster
Fuller put forward the principles of the interdependency of humans and nature, advocating diversity
and harmony between both (Fuller, 1938; Sieden, 2000).
1 Architecture in the Roman times was a much broader subject than at present, and included engineering, construction,
and urban planning. Roman architects can be described as engineers, architects, landscape architects, craftsman and
artists combined. For example, the first of the ten books of De architectura libri decem deals with what is now contemporary known as Landscape Architecture (Thoenes in Biermann et al., 2003).
7 Design and Planning with Nature