New Ecologies
The constructed environment is a critical expression of what it means to be human in our time. It is the nexus between sites and systems, forms and processes, practices and values.
In 2010, approximately 27,000 species became extinct, 11.2 billion tons of waste were produced, the population increased by 134 million people (half as net growth), and 200,000 inventions were patented (ACSA, 101st Proceedings). The global rate, scale, and scope of environmental, cultural, and technological change is ever-increasing. The impact of these changes on the natural and built environment demands more dynamic, adaptable, responsive, and resilient systems. Our NEW ECOLOGIES projects challenge tired paradigms defined by dichotomies - nature vs. culture, idealism vs. materialism, even digital vs. analog - in an effort to design new hybrid systems, landscapes, devices, and experiences.
NEW ECOLOGIES promote a global perspective on socio-ecological contexts, inter-species articulation, cultural meaning, ecological fitness, and the challenges of adapting to a rapidly-changing environment. These projects explore nascent technologies, material invention, and systems-thinking to address core questions of the environment from human comfort to inter-species occupation, from climatic changes to energy allocations. Our NEW ECOLOGIES projects examine the critical role design plays in biological, geological, and ecological processes, not only for today and here but over diverse frameworks of time and territory.
KEY NEW ECOLOGIES INITIATIVES:
Coastal Regeneration
Regenerative Urbanism
Responsive Hydrologic Infrastructures
Materializing Atmospheres / Materials Futures Studios
Biophilic Cities
Post-Human Territories
Water Cities
ECOLOGICAL THINKING CHALLENGES EXHAUSTED PARADIGMS DEFINED BY DICHOTOMIES - NATURE vs. CULTURE - IN ORDER TO DESIGN NEW HYBRID SYSTEMS, LANDSCAPES, DEVICES, AND EXPERIENCES.
Urban Biodiversity
Professors Inaki Alday and Margarita Jover have developed a significant body of design and research around new paradigms for urban life - focused on biodiversity, urban ecology, social metabolism and political infrastructures. This ongoing work is international - in India, Argentina, Brazil, Spain, and more.
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Coastal Regeneration
Professors Phoebe Crisman and Alex Wall have developed ongoing research and design proposals in response to rapid-shifting coastal landscapes. This work addresses environmental challenges and helps develop more resilient communities that can anticipate, withstand and prevent threats from rising water.
Sensing Systems
Led by Professor Brad Cantell this research provides a proof of concept for an emerging toolset that relies on real-time sensing of landscape phenomena coupled with a process of adaptive management to produce closer relationships between site analysis and methods of construction.
Sediment Machine
Professor Brad Cantrell in collaboration with Justine Holzman and David Merlin have investigated the use of sensing systems to address large-scale sediment manipulation (land-building) using feedback loops to govern the rules of the designed system through methods of monitoring and actuation of the device.
Material Futures
Environmental changes, such as shifts in climate and carbon content, are changing the materiality of the ground. This work proposes the design of a material intervention to the composition of the soil. (image: Dimitra Grigoriou)
Material Futures
Meta-field, a speculative & applied design research group at UVA, launched in late 2017. Meta-field, a collection faculty, researchers and students, from multiple disciplines examines the intersections between Materials, Environments, Technologies, and Assemblies. Meta-field is co-directed by Michael Beaman and Zaneta Hong.
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Edge Landscapes
Sites that fall between conventional typologies or urban and rural, constructed and wild, offer students at UVA School of Architecture opportunities to define alternative edge landscapes. This project proposes a new concept for the zone where residential development directly abuts forested land, known as the Wildland Urban Interface by the US Forestry Service. (project and image: Ian Collins Carr)
Biophilic Cities
The Biophilic Cities Project is an umbrella term that refers to research and policy work on biophilic cities, both domestically and internationally, by Professor Tim Beatley and his team at the UVA School of Architecture. Its principal aim is to advance the theory and practice of planning for biophilic cities, through a combination of collaborative research, dialogue and exchange, and teaching.
Water Index
WATER INDEX: Design Strategies for Drought, Flooding and Contamination (edited by Professor Seth McDowell) highlights critical design projects from around the world that radically engage the fragile issues of drought, flooding, and contamination, revealing opportunistic, adaptive design strategies in response to the mounting global crisis. Water Index is a collective vision of the future that provides solutions for every continent and spans the disciplines of urban design, landscape architecture and architecture.
