Nature-Based Design in Landscape Architecture

Nature-Based Design in Landscape Architecture showcases a range of built works designed by landscape architects from many countries of the world representing diverse environmental regions and uses. These projects demonstrate the transformative potential of a nature-based approach to landscape architecture.

The nature-based design approach supports and encourages natural regeneration with a view to promoting sustainable environments, preserving natural resources, and mitigating the impacts of climate change and development. The projects selected for this book demonstrate the potential of nature-based landscape design to support healthy, natural and managed ecosystems, sequester carbon, and support the recovery of biodiversity. In addition to examples of design-led environmental interventions, Nature-Based Design in Landscape Architecture, the book, also demonstrates the potential for nature-based design to improve people’s relationship with their surroundings by encouraging them to be active participants in their communities. As such, each project featured in the book promotes a discussion around future scenarios in which landscape architects can and will be engaged, from minimizing environmental impact through sustainable design to fostering social justice through community engagement.

This book will be a welcome supplement for undergraduate landscape architecture, survey or design studio courses, and may also be used at the master’s degree level either as part of a landscape architecture survey seminar or early design studio.

Bruce Sharky is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and professor emeritus at the Robert Reich School of Architecture at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA. His interests in landscape architecture are varied and have evolved over the years and through work in varied locations and countries. He has worked professionally for awarded-winning firms in in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Winnipeg, as well as in state government. His master’s theis at the University of California was the basis of legislation for the creation of the California Coastal Planning Commission. He has lectured and taught design courses in countries as varied as Portugal, China, Chile, Japan, and Israel, and was twice a Fulbright Scholar in Mexico and Portugal. He had a private landscape practice in Anchorage, Alaska, for 15 years prior to taking the position of director of the Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture, Louisiana State University. In 1990, Professor Sharky was honored as a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects for his years of service and contributions to the profession. He has published four previous books on subjects as varied as professional practice, grading and drainage, a text for introductory courses in landscape architecture, and recently on the theory and use of shadows in creating memorable outdoor spaces.