Histories of Ecological Design: An Unfinished Cyclopedia maps the contested intellectual terrain of ecological design from Ernst Haeckel and Henry David Thoreau through to the synthetic naturalism that now shapes architectural and urban thought.
About This Book
Ecological design is not a stable category. Lydia Kallipoliti's cyclopedia refuses a single origin story, instead tracing the divergent worldviews — from 19th-century ecology through post-war metabolic urbanism — that have shaped how architects and designers understand the relationship between built and natural systems. Where earlier histories focused on harmony with nature's equilibrium, Kallipoliti shows how the field shifted toward synthetic replication: nature's laws transplanted into cities, buildings, and objects. Organised not purely by chronology but by connected intellectual positions, the book maps the reconceptualisation of the world as a system of flows rather than discrete objects — a reorientation György Kepes identified as central to 20th-century thought. Essential reading for anyone working at the intersection of environmental theory, architectural history, and ecological urbanism.
Key Features
- 180 pages of architectural and design history drawing on intellectual positions from the 19th century to the present
- Author: Lydia Kallipoliti
- Published by ACTAR Publishers, 1996
What You'll Discover
- How the term ecological design, coined by Sim van der Ryn and Stewart Cowan, obscures a far longer and more contested intellectual lineage stretching back to Ernst Haeckel and Henry David Thoreau
- The emergence of synthetic naturalism after World War II — a paradigm that displaces the laws of metabolism and natural systems from wilderness into the fabric of cities, buildings, and designed objects
- György Kepes's framing of the world as a complex system of flows as a foundational reorientation in 20th-century design and environmental thought
- How conflicting definitions of ecology across architecture and design practice reveal evolving perceptions of nature, culture, and the occupation of the natural world by human and non-human subjects
About the Author
Lydia Kallipoliti is a visual artist and theorist whose work engages with ecological design history and environmental thought. Her research examines the intellectual and material histories of design's engagement with natural systems.
Specifications
- Format: Softcover
- Pages: 180
- Dimensions: 170 x 235mm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9781638400738
- Publisher: ACTAR Publishers
- Publication Date: 1996
Perfect For: Architects, designers, and researchers engaged with environmental theory, ecological urbanism, and the intellectual history of sustainability in the built environment.