Editors: Frederick Steiner, Richard Weller, Karen M’Closkey, Billy FlemingTranslator Team: PKU-Lincoln CenterFormat: 20moISBN: 978-7-112-29733-7Price: RMB 198Publisher: China Architecture & Building PressExpected Publication Date: June 2024

Ian McHarg, author of Design with Nature, is regarded as one of the most renowned landscape architects and planners of the 20th century. At a critical moment when the United States was gripped by urbanization and environmental crises, he introduced ecological and natural environmental science into landscape architecture and regional planning, pioneering the field of ecological planning. He steered landscape architecture — which at that time focused merely on garden design — toward a mission of revitalizing cities, humanity and the planet.

First published in 1969, Design with Nature laid the foundational ideology of ecological planning. It emphasizes harmonious coexistence between humans and natural ecosystems, puts forward core methodologies for ecological landscape design and sustainable regional planning, and sparked widespread public attention to environmental issues. McHarg’s works and theories have exerted a profound, lasting influence on contemporary environmental design and urban planning worldwide.

Cover of the original 1969 Design with Nature, published by Doubleday / Natural History Press in association with the American Museum of Natural History

Ian McHarg holding the first edition of Design with Nature, published by Falcon Press, Philadelphia, April 18, 1969

The year 2019 marked the 50th anniversary of Design with Nature. Leading scholars and experts across the globe deeply influenced by Ian McHarg’s ideas, including Frederick Steiner, collaborated to compile Design with Nature Now, published by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

This volume was produced not only to commemorate McHarg and his groundbreaking theories, but also to address urgent questions of our era: What does designing with nature mean in the present day? How has the philosophy of design with nature evolved over the half-century from 1969 to 2019? What prospects lie ahead for this concept in the next fifty years?

The book opens with a biographical essay on Ian McHarg written by Frederick Steiner, a long-time friend, former student and steadfast advocate of McHarg. Part One also features scholarly reflections and biographical studies from distinguished academics and practitioners who studied and worked alongside McHarg, conveying profound respect for his legacy.

Opening section of Design with Nature Now, authored by Frederick Steiner

Inner page of Part One

Part Two centers on a curated collection of projects selected for bridging the gap between ideal ecological planning and on-the-ground reality, charting broader possibilities for the future of landscape architecture. The 25 featured projects were shortlisted from over 80 nominations, best embodying McHarg’s design philosophy and methodologies.

Inner page of Section 1 of Part Two: Big Wilds

The projects are grouped into five thematic categories: Big Wilds, Rising Tides, Fresh Waters, Toxic Lands, and Urban Futures. These themes span diverse landforms and geographies, though the selected cases do not represent every single project type within planning and landscape architecture. All featured works address large, complex sites and pressing ecological challenges, and fully reflect McHargian design thinking.

Inner page of Section 2 of Part Two: Rising Tides

Some selected projects reveal inherent limitations of landscape architecture in delivering transformative systemic change: while a project may improve local social and ecological performance, it may form a component of broader development or infrastructure systems that generate environmental harm elsewhere. The editors strived to include a diverse range of case types, yet gaps inevitably remain across all thematic areas of contemporary design-with-nature practice. Even so, these projects serve as a foundational reference for future ecological planning work.

Inner page of Section 3 of Part Two: Fresh Waters

Inner page of Section 4 of Part Two: Toxic Lands

Inner page of Section 5 of Part Two: Urban Futures

Consisting of eight chapters, Part Three conducts in-depth multi-perspective analysis of the case studies showcased in Part Two. It draws conceptual links between the projects and McHarg’s original theories, while exploring how humanity can adapt to unprecedented shifts in the Anthropocene and forge new directions for design with nature.

Inner page of the Part Three chapter Naturalists at the Landfill

Wu Chen, Liu Wenxin, China Architecture & Building Press