From their book

THE LESSONS:

“the true harvest of evolution is encoded on nature’s design.”

“Nature is more than a bank of resources to draw on: it is the best model we have for all the design problems we face.”

p. 7.

We are all “trapped in standardized solutions that require enormous expenditures of energy and resources to implement.”

p. 10.

 

"Ecological design occurs in the context of specific places. It grows out of a place the way an oak grows out of an acorn.It seeks locally adapted solutions that can replace matter, energy, and waste with design intelligence matches biological diversity with cultural diversity."

p. 23.

“The designed mess we have made of our neighborhoods, cities, and ecosystems owes much to the lack of a coherent philosophy, vision, and practice of design that is grounded in a rich understanding of ecology.”

“we need to acquire skill to effectively interweave human and natural design.”

p. 17.

Ecologicl Design is “strengthening the weave that links nature and culture”

Ecologicl Design is “a form of engagement and partnership with nature.”

Ecologicl Design is “simply the effective adaptation to and integration with nature’s processes.”

p. 18.

“The idea was to integrate energy and food production and waste and water recycling directly into home design.”

29-30.

“consider a drop of rain. Hidden within it is an implicit history of places:”

33

“Other natural cycles bind us to the living world as they carry nutrients and trace minerals between earth, air, and water.”

33

“by matching the flows on a landscape to its inherent geometry, we allow ecological patterns to work for us. We can use the natural drainage, instead of storm drains, wetlands instead of sewage treatment plants, and indigenous materials rather than imported ones.”

42

“The landscape is the crucible in which living forms have evolved, and since the landscape crackles with fractals, the forms bred there are fractal as well.... in a single dance.” (quotes John Briggs, Fractals)

Toronto’s Waterfront -- Six criteria & Sweden’s Natural Step Foundation as concrete examples of using nature.

44-46

"If our cities relegate nature to parks and designated open spaces, it is because our minds shut out nature from the rest of our life."

"Our current environments…daily evidence of the folly we have designed for ourselves."

"We possess the collective potential to create environments that nurture both the human spirit and the more-than-human living world. The work awaits us."

p.171.

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