Urban Ecological Design: A Process for Regenerative Places, by Danilo Palazzo and Frederick Steiner, presents an interdisciplinary method of transforming urban spaces that considers issues of ecology and sustainability alongside urban form. The goal of Urban Ecological Design is not to explain how to design a specific city precinct or public space, but to describe useful steps to approach the transformation of urban spaces. This new work illustrates the different stages in which the process is organized, using theories, techniques, images, and case studies. It combines the authors’ urban design knowledge and sensibilities with their experience in human ecology to present a comprehensive design process that will guide any project.
The book is organized around 10 phases of a process called NOOS (Not-Only-One-Solution): Process, Prerequisites, Knowledge, Synthesis, Options, Dialogues, Master Plan, Presentation, Details, Implementation. The 10 phases form the bases for the chapters of Urban Ecological Design: A Process for Regenerative Places.
The overall goal of the book is to reinforce the role of the urban designer as an honest broker and promoter of design processes and as an active agent of social creativity in the production of the public realm.
Danilo Palazzo is Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Design at the Politecnico di Milano, Italy. His books include Sulle spalle dei giganti (Franco Angeli, 1997), Transforming the Places of Production (Olivares, 2002 with Fossa, Lane, Pirani), and Urban Design (Mondadori Università, 2008). He recently wrote an essay for the Companion to Urban Design (Routledge, 2011) about the Pedagogy of Urban Design.
Frederick Steiner is dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Texas, Austin, where he holds the Henry M. Rockwell Chair in Architecture. His books include Human Ecology: Following Nature's Lead (Island Press, 2002), The Living Landscape, (Island Press, 2008), The Essential Ian McHarg (Island Press, 2006) and Design for a Vulnerable Planet (University of Texas Press, 2011).
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Urban Ecological Design: A Process for Regenerative Places An Island Press Hardcover and Paperback ISBN: 978-1-59726-828-8 (Cloth) 978-1-59726-829-5 (Paper). Pages: 300 Price: $ 70.00 (Cloth) | $35.00 (Paper)