| Description |
xviii, 352 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm |
| Series |
The Wiley series in sustainable design |
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Wiley series in sustainable design.
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| Contents |
Machine derived contents note: Gray World, Green Heart. -- For Love of Land and Nature. -- Technophilia and Landscape. -- Technophobia and Landscape Guilt. -- Gray World, Green Heart. -- Technology In The Landscape: Dimensions, Dynamics, And Dilemmas. -- Dimensions of Technology in the Landscape. -- Dynamics and Philosophical Dilemmas. -- The Changing Nature of Nature. -- Reality, Unreality, and Hyperreality. -- Sustainable Landscapes: One Way Out. -- New Symbols of Possibility. -- The Experience of Sustainable Landscapes. -- Epilogue. -- References. -- Index |
| Summary |
"In Gray World, Green Heart, Robert Thayer identifies three conflicting forces - topophilia (love of land and nature), technophilia (affection for and dependence upon technology), and technophobia (fear of the negative side-effects of technology) - which he believes are at the heart of the current environmental crisis. These forces, he contends, coexist yet often compete within each of us, giving rise to "an oppressive sense of connection between our lifestyles, the immediate surroundings in which we live, play, and work, and the environmental and social problems looming in the...world at large." Paradoxically, according to Thayer, we compound the problem, appeasing our guilty consciences by hiding air conditioners behind redwood fences and using consumptive technologies to build fake waterfalls, volcanoes, and other superficial simulations of nature." "Thayer offers a viable alternative to hollow, symbolic solutions to our environmental crisis in the form of sustainable landscapes. What he gives us, in fact, is nothing less than a theoretical framework upon which to build a future in which technologies serve rather than dominate nature." "Thayer proposes a piece-by-piece transformation of our world from one based on resource consumption and "landscape guilt" to a network of interrelated, community-based living systems that operate in harmony with one another: sustainable landscapes that would conserve resources and preserve their essential ecological characteristics." "Richly supported with concrete examples of how technological systems might be transformed, this book focuses on the unself-conscious public and private spaces that define our everyday landscape from coast to coast. Numerous illustrations and diagrams clarify both the problems that face us and the solutions Thayer offers." "For all planners, environmental designers, educators, and students alike, Gray World, Green Heart offers a bold vision of landscape which transcends the conflict between technological determinism and resilient public affection for nature. It challenges us to embrace a future in which ecological functions are served by sustainable technology and delightfully expressed in the landscape itself."--BOOK JACKET |
| Analysis |
Environment Conservation |
|
Environment Conservation |
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Overseas item |
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Sustainable development |
|
Technological change |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 333-342) and index |
| Subject |
Environmental degradation.
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Human ecology.
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Sustainable development.
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Technology -- Social aspects.
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| LC no. |
93023134 |
| ISBN |
0471178454 (paperback) |
|
047157273X (cloth : acid-free paper) |
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