Architecture Is Dead: a Renewed Organic Aesthetic for Ecological Design

Architecture Is Dead: A Renewed Organic Aesthetic for Ecological Design

LEONARD DAISUKE YUI University of Oregon

“There, in the physical realm of the built world, we The modern use of organic metaphors, which the seem to be presented with dramatic proof… that lan- architectural historian Mari Havattum refers to as, guage, far from being the servant of man, is all too often his master.” Kenneth Frampton “one of the most commonly used metaphors in the history of modern architecture,” continues to im- LIVING AND DEAD METAPHORS ply the preference for the quality of life and I will therefore refer to this conditional use as a living An organic metaphor in ecological design has a metaphor. It will also help to delineate an alterna- need to standout as offering something new in or- tive construct3 I will make in a moment. der to be an effective and a provocative metaphor. It must address the historical organic emergence,1 The case for an alternative begins with an intui- its transition to a modern machine aesthetic and tive question about whether a building as a living then its appropriation into an ecological movement. organism really fulfills the complexity and - dyna One way to investigate the relevance of today’s mism of nature. Di Palma points out that the or- organic metaphors is to provide a comprehensive ganic metaphor’s specificity to “create and sustain definition of nature, to locate and identify an eco- life” intersects the human dream to “recapture a logical emphasis and to reveal ecological functions prelapsarian state of harmony and grace.” Archi- that can help to inspire creative applications while tects like Walter Gropius would echo this4 notion providing direct ecological engagement. Accom- through organic design as “breathing soul into the plishing this will require folding in new concepts life of a building.” Nature in this sense, is a pri- and expanding an interpretation of the traditional mary model of good,5 but has little reference to the organic metaphor without destroying its useful in- destructive qualities that also clearly characterize tended applications. it, to which Di Palma calls a “paradox.” Ecologists, historians and philosophers have a direct response An Organic Paradox to Disequilibrium to nature’s paradox by formulating a new model for The primary use of the term “organic” arose as ear- nature based on recognition of a world in flux. The ly as the 19th century. Organic metaphors consist of architectural historian Amy Kulper refers to a shift varying interpretations as to how it is applied, but it in interest from “’what’ nature and culture produce, also shares a clear focus on “life” and “vitality.” The to the ‘how’ of natural and cultural production.” architectural historian Vittoria Di Palma describes 6 what is generally understood about the primary fo- The living metaphor was largely established by cus of organic metaphors as follows: findings of the late nineteenth and twentieth century scientists, naturalists and thinkers like the “…to focus on the organic metaphor entails, necessar- Ernst Haeckel, Georges Cuvier, and August Wilhelm ily, privileging questions that concern architecture’s relationship to life, to nature in its creative role, and Schlegel among many others. During the early to species that exhibit processes of growth, develop- twentieth century the ecologist7 Frederic Clements ment, and change.”2 and Eugene Odum helped to codify a theory of the 46 LOCAL IDENTITIES GLOBAL CHALLENGES

ecosystem in equilibrium and balance. However, ecosystems as ‘open’ and strongly influenced by the as early as 1926 another prominent ecologist8 Hen- input and output or ‘flux’ of material and individuals across system borders.”10 ry Gleason challenged the notion unsuccessfully with a theory that put forth a controversial “indi- This disequilibrium view comes at time when the ar- vidualistic concept” of nature, where “each migrat- chitectural world is blind to many important social ing body acts for itself and moves by itself almost and health issues plaguing communities. A signifi- always completely independent of other species.” cant blight is the phenomenon of waste, like mate- This was later revalidated by scientists in the late9 rial waste in our landfills, which in 2007 represented seventies. This more recent understanding of the two-thirds of all non-industrial solid waste genera- ecosystem is characterized by ecologists and land- tion in the US.11 Design philosophies of William Mc- scape architect Ronald Pulliam and Bart Johnson donough and Michael Braungarts’ “Cradle to Cradle,” and other growing number academics. They ex- John Lyle’s “Regenerative Designs,” and Stephen plain two shifts toward a new understanding of dis- Moore’s “Non-modern thesis” all offer a new way to equilibrium science as follows: rethink the fundamentals of ecological design that “…(1) a shift from an equilibrium point of view are more inline with a disequilibrium model of the where local populations and ecosystems are viewed world. Following in the same vein, an alternative as in balance with local resources and conditions, to metaphor representing a disequilibrium view, which a disequilibrium point of view where history matters I refer to as a dead metaphor, could assist in con- and populations and ecosystems are continually being influenced by disturbances…(2) a shift from con- fronting a death paradox by inspiring architects to sidering populations and ecosystems as relatively directly address issues like waste in terms of a com- closed or autonomous systems independent of their prehensive ecological design construct.12 surroundings to considering both populations and ORGANIC METAPHOR LIVING METAPHOR (ex. Flower) DEAD METAPHOR (ex. Deadwood)

I. DEFINITION A living metaphor utilizes a simplified A dead metaphor offers an alternative understanding of nature and looses it perspective of the ecological landscape by “metaphorical tension.” It ultimately challenging presumptions about the human offers nothing new to inspire the mind. aesthetic relationship with its context.

II. EMPHASIS A living metaphor emphasizes the A dead metaphor offers an emphasis based on building-object for a solution for the literal understandings making it a “strong ecological issues. The machine metaphor.” The process of decomposition in aesthetic that preceded it still manifests particular redirects an emphasis about the itself in the organic metaphor by referent object to its surroundings and to functionally turning organisms into dynamic temporal states, which leads to open- machines or vice versa. ended goals.

III. FUNCTION A living metaphor relies on common and A dead metaphor offers unfamiliar, but inspiring vague ecological reasons to apply literal ecological associations that allow for a functional metaphors, which make them direct application of ecological functions to a uninspiring. building.

Table 1. Questions for an Organic Metaphor ARCHITECTURE IS DEAD 47

CLARIFYING QUESTIONS recently the Living Building Challenge (LBC) uses a “flower” with a claim to establish a more holistic A dead metaphor is largely a response to a living approach to green design than USGBC’s LEED metaphor’s inadequacy to illuminate a clear ecologi- program.17 The author Jason Mclennan extracts cal purpose. The topics of definition, emphasis and from the flower an array of functional biological function will be used to clarify the current shortcom- processes to apply to building design to meet his ings of a living metaphor and provide a case for a metaphorical “Living Building” status.18 Finally in more robust interpretation of an organic metaphor. I Cradle to Cradle the authors William Mcdonough use deadwood, also known as Coarse Woody Debris and Michael Braungart use a tree to describe the (CWD) by ecologists, as a dead metaphor to inves- creation of energy production, so that “buildings… tigate the complexity of a disequilibrium model in like trees, (could) produce more energy than they design. The living metaphor has a variety of existing consume.”19 uses, however I will primarily focus on the Living Building Challenge’s use of flower as a generic but The nature implied by the examples above share clear contemporary example of a living metaphor a vague understanding of the term and does little applied to ecological design. Table 1 lays out a sum- to challenge new conceptions about the ecological mary of both the living and dead metaphor respons- world. The historian Amy Kulper, in echoing Paul es to the three selected topics. The following are the Ricoeur’s definition of a metaphor to ‘tell us questions used to begin an inquiry into each topic. something new about reality,’ advocates for a restoration of “metaphorical tension” in order to Can an organic metaphor convey… avoid tautological analogies between building styles 1. a contemporary ecological definition of ‘na- and organic species.20 In the case of species-styles ture’ for design? metaphor that favors similarities over their respective 2. a clear ecological emphasis for design? difference Kulper explains the following issues. 3. a direct ecological function for design? “The conflation of species and style is due tothe historical process of immanentisation in which style Definition loses its rhetorical connotation as the internal co- Can the organic metaphor convey a comprehensive herence of nature and comes to be understood as ecological definition of nature for design? the internal coherence of human inner nature. This shift renders style a contingency of personal preference and individual taste. Simultaneously, style At the heart of this argument is a possible misun- lost the ethical content of its rhetorical meaning, derstanding of the term “nature.” Raymond Williams in which acting in accordance with nature meant describes this term as “perhaps the most complex possessing the knowledge to act appropriately in a word in the language.”13 A singular clear answer given situation.”21 may be impossible, but providing a more complex understanding supported by landscape historians, A living metaphor that is easily conceivable beckons ecologists and other academics can better contextu- a designer’s intuitive experience about “nature” alize a more affective ecological approach. – rather than challenging the concept – and may contributes to a metaphor’s wide acceptance. But A Living Metaphor: Simply Nature it ultimately relies on a limited exposure a typical The following are a few examples of architects who architectural designer has about an ecological have used an organic based metaphor to make environment. How can one set up or achieve an the case for a more balanced and natural world. ecological goal without challenging the cultural The modern architects like Le Corbusier in order conceptions about the “nature” that explains the to overcome society’s ills, found organic “harmony” environmental predicament we are in today? by looking to the machine aesthetic of the automobile.14 He also referred “to make architecture A Dead Metaphor: Changing Nature Aesthetics is to make a creature.”15 Frank Lloyd Wright’s Traditional aesthetics about nature have contrib- definition of “Organic Architecture,” utilized the uted to the removal of deadwood from landscapes “harmonious grace of a wild flower” to describe a due to the myth of its perceived threat as a car- politically focused natural architecture where “form rier of disease, fuel for forest fires, and its inherent and function are one” and “beauty is alive.”16 More messiness indicating poor management.22 Over- coming these myths will require a more studied 48 LOCAL IDENTITIES GLOBAL CHALLENGES

understanding of the term “nature” and what the of nature to one that offers contributions that are role of both a designer and occupant is. sympathetic to the struggles of this debate.

Investigating a complex understanding of nature Emphasis as ecological designers is crucial so as not to pre- Can the organic metaphor convey a clear ecological suppose meanings that are implied by culture. The emphasis for design? landscape historian John Dixon Hunt offers a clas- sical understanding about the different forms of Organic metaphors rely on concepts like emergence, nature and suggests a historical precedent as to which lead to primarily inward looking solutions. the way to proceed. He explains historical under- Figurative applications alone provide little ecologi- standings through the “three natures,” where the cal justification between building and organism. A first two are described by a Roman writer Cicero literal application could codify a purpose and reason and the third is credited to two Italian humanists for the using a dead metaphor for ecological design. named Bartolomeo Taegio (1559) and Jacopo Bon- fadio (1541).23 First nature is about the “natural Living Metaphor: Inward Emphasis world,” “unmediated nature” or what we might call Buildings play an intermediate role between two “wild” or “untouched” wilderness. The second is the subjects, human who consume and a contextual “the cultural landscape: agriculture, urban develop- world containing the environmental issues. The ar- ments, roads, bridges, ports, and other infrastruc- chitectural historian Paul Emmons describes an or- ture.”24 The third is in between the first and second ganic metaphor he calls the “body-building-cosmos” and is characterized by the role of the garden: metaphor to describe the historical architectural emergence of bubble diagrams.30 A building as me- “…in a scale or hierarchy of human intervention diator emphasizes a focus on the object to answer into the physical world: gardens become more so- questions. A search for a purpose outside of a hu- phisticated, more deliberate, and more complex in their mixture of culture and nature than agricultural man conception, like a building, is a shared hope land…”25 that is somewhat veiled, but is also an important value of an organic metaphor. An eighteenth centu- Nature as a “garden” or an idealized human con- ry writer and biologist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe struct changes the source of authority. The histo- points out an advantage to the term “morphology,” rian William Cronon also offers an alternative un- which he is credited with coining, looks to nature derstanding of traditional nature; from one that independently in order to find a purpose of ‘a larger is sacred and independent of human creation to a concept of nature than of himself.’31 An organic de- radical notion that nature is “quite profoundly a hu- sign can endeavor to look to an organic object to re- man creation.”26 Cronon describes terms like “wil- veal a discovery about a natural world, which helps derness” and “nature” as follows, to prevent regurgitating familiar ideals, but this is different from looking inwardly at an object, like a “As we gaze into the mirror (wilderness) holds up machine, to supply ecological solutions. for us, we too easily imagine that what we behold is Nature when in fact we see the reflection of our own unexamined longings and desires.”27 The modern propensity to perceive the building as machine has influenced a transition to the ecologi- Nature that is in the image of human ideals is rela- cal movement where the machine metaphor still tively easy to design for, but a nature of disequi- pervades ecological design with strategies like the librium is unpredictable and raises the importance Living Machines and Emmon’s refers to modern use of redundancy in design rather than efficiency. The of functional networks inspired by biology32 The ar- historian Donald Worster describes the new cha- chitectural historian Kate Nesbitt explains, otic understanding of nature as a “landscape of “Modern architecture embraced the machine anal- patches” where “stiches in that quilt never hold for ogy instead of the organic analogy. Although ma- 28 long.” Practices like the field of ecological resto- chines are often designed on the basis of natural ration are consumed by arguments about which systems, their use a formal model prevented ar- kind and at what point of nature to restore to.29 chitecture from referring directly to nature. This is problematic because despite technological advanc- Contributing to an ecological argument will mean es, symbolizing man’s position within the natural going beyond a simple or assumed understanding world remains one of architecture’s roles.”33 ARCHITECTURE IS DEAD 49

Figure 1. Strong Deadwood Metaphor Diagram

The U.S. environmental movement that emerged al ecological relevance for an architectural condi- from the sixties and seventies may be identified as tion because architects are the human woodpeck- an important genesis that stand apart as a sepa- ers, transforming deadwood into shelter. A strong rate movement, however it largely folded into it the case for a literal association comes from forest more influential machine paradigm. Buildings per- research revealing that U.S. building construction ceived as machines may not necessarily be wrong, consumed a majority, sixty-seven percent, or 47.7 but it does represent an inward and indirect focus billion board feet of lumber, of total timber usage that relies on the building for solutions. A living in 2006.36 Bringing together the two kinds of phe- metaphor helps to mask an indirect application and nomenal use of deadwood and lumber is one as- overstates the literal capabilities a building-object sociation that a metaphor can help to creatively actually embodies. repurpose buildings in the landscape.

LBC provides machine examples like a flower receiv- The influential philosopher Max Black describes a ing all of its “energy from the sun,” and so it follows “strong” metaphor to have the qualities that are that if a building capturing all, or at least most, of both “emphatic” and “resonant” or “literal” and the consumed energy onsite would satisfy ecologi- “figurative,” respectively. The emphatic quality “is cal ends.34 Another example states that, “like build- intended to be dwelt upon for the sake of the their ings, (flowers) are literally and figuratively rooted in unstated implications…. (and) whose occurrence in place, able to draw resources only from the square the literal frame invests the utterance with meta- inches of earth and sky that they inhabit.”35 In both phorical force.”37 The resonant quality “prove(s) examples the actual building conditions of each rich in background implications… (and) support a seem too disparate from the actual flower condi- high degree of implicative elaboration.”38 Figure tions to make any true literal connections, but they 1 is a diagram interpreting Black’s “strong meta- do convey a literal mechanistic quality that makes a phor” to help visualize the conceptual structure of figurative application possible. Who performs them a deadwood metaphor. is not central to the explanation. A deadwood metaphor has much conflicting and Dead Metaphor: A Strong Metaphor agreeable figurative and literal juxtapositions that A deadwood metaphor provides a direct and liter- should amply supply Kulper’s standard for “meta- 50 LOCAL IDENTITIES GLOBAL CHALLENGES

phorical tension” and Ricoeur’s “new reality.” A di- Finally in this stage of function a literal application rect literal connection between buildings and dead- begins to bridge the many purposeful connections wood supports a designer’s creative opportunities that a dead metaphor provides. For deadwood and while maintaining ecological relevance. Black writes architecture this means a grounded source of inspi- that emphatic quality requires that “producers ration that bridge guiding solutions to mimic more need the receiver’s (designer utilizing a deadwood closely, if not actually, the ecological functions. metaphor) cooperation in perceiving what lies be- 39 hind the words used.” A designer cooperates by Living Metaphor: Indirect Functional Solutions searching for other literal benefits of deadwood to A living metaphor primarily reasons a figurative then creatively interpret for building design. analogy based on an ecological world founded upon equilibrium. It is tightly integrated with religious ide- If for a living metaphor the process of emergence als and aesthetic theories about the sublime and the and growth are central to its grounding, for a dead picturesque and offers little difference from other metaphor, like deadwood, the central process is de- socially constructed understandings. Therefore, the composition, which provides an alternative way to kinds of functions extracted from this familiar-nature emphasize an object that embraces a disequilibri- metaphor are those that will inevitably re-emphasize um state of death. A building that is in decay brings balance and perfected states. Although a living met- focus on an object, but it does more to reveal the aphor may provide some answers, they do not share many other external entities and processes that a passion for provocative and drastic changes that are involved to catalyze decomposition. The decay represent today’s ecological imperative. process is dependent on many contextual factors like, “tree species and cause of death, its condi- Living metaphors offer mundane comparisons like tion prior to death, the decay of organisms pres- that “flowers are also miniature ecosystems, sup- 40 ent, its location, and site conditions.” A piece of porting and sheltering microorganisms and insects deadwood is surrounded by complex changes that like our buildings do for us.”43 Or that building de- influence its transformation. In ecology, succession sign like a flower could “open and close in response is used to describe a “certain pattern, a direction, to changing conditions, such as the availability of 41 (imposed) on ecosystems.” At different succes- sunlight.”44 Morpho-ecologists take the living meta- sional periods, the organisms that utilize a piece of phor and tries to flee from the banal by claiming an deadwood, like a snag (a standing dead tree), may extreme response to build buildings that are liter- treat it differently. ally alive.

“Bluebirds and house wrens will use cavities in a “If the biological paradigm for architectural design snag that occurs in the grass-forb stage or shrub- outlined (through biochemistry) is expanded, the seedling stage and will not ordinarily use the same consequence may be a very literal understanding snag if it is surrounded by more advanced succes- of the design product as synthetically alive and em- sional stages. Pileated woodpecker, however, will bedded within generative ecological relations.”45 nest in a snag surrounded by trees but trends to avoid nesting in snags located in earlier succession- al stages.42 Finally, a theorist and author of the Pattern Lan- guage Christopher Alexander is compelled to radi- In other words a designer might concern himself cally re-order an entire world to fit his ideal of na- with subject of building decay, but its strong link to ture by redefining “stones…concrete, (and ocean) the climatic and inhabitants roles also contribute to waves” as having a “degree of life.”46 The good in- a decentralized understanding about the object in tentions of these authors do not supersede a non- its place. By associating contextual factors to the sequiterian comparison that presumes an ecologi- referent object the emphasis is less ascension to- cal solution by default. ward a perfected state or an autonomous machine, but an embrace to rely on the dynamic conditions Dead Metaphor: Deadwood’s Many Roles the object is inevitably is a part of. Emmons explains that the human-building-cosmos metaphor refutes an older paradigm of nature – Function one that believed in the linear and hierarchical Can the organic metaphor convey a direct ecologi- Great Chain of Being – and was thought to be more cal function for design? “faithful” to an emerging understanding of nature ARCHITECTURE IS DEAD 51

at the time.47 It was nature that would lead to an as the Pacific treefrog.”55 Deadwood is doing more interconnected web balanced in equilibrium. Now a than just decomposing, but provides a multitude new nature of disequilibrium is presented and has of uses for the surrounding species. For some it is an opportunity to inspire designers with fresh eco- food and for others it is protection and shelter. logical and functional comparisons that are foreign and challenging. The following is a brief list of the CONCLUSION ecological functions of deadwood that might inspire a designer. The topics of definition, emphasis and function reveal some of the inconsistencies of today’s ecologi- Flow Regimes: Scientists are discovering that it is cal applications as well as the limits of a living met- “critical” to maintain, or in many cases to recreate, aphor. A proposition for a dead metaphor attempts the “natural dynamic character” of water systems to reconcile these issues by appropriating a more for ecological integrity, ecosystem function, and complex object-context emphasis, one that looks native biodiversity.48 Deadwood is an essential ele- to the process of decomposition as beneficial and ment that influences river morphology, channel and necessary. Transforming the current aesthetic is floodplain morphology and is known to “create new, based on a necessary need to make interdisciplin- high quality habitats” by combining with available ary investigations through fields like forest ecology, sediment and other transportable materials.49 environmental philosophy and landscape history and many others. A metaphor for architecture that Nutrient Cycling: Deadwood can supply many nu- itself is inspired by its academic context seems ap- trients for the new tree sapling. Some of these can propriately aligned with its intended use. include water and nitrogen, which are necessary for ENDNOTES the new sapling.50 Another interesting phenomenon as part of nutrient cycling is that the location of a 1 The term “ecological design” for this paper new tree is strongly influenced by the location of the references a broad strategy in architectural design to dead tree, which it benefits from as a food source. address an ecological imperative, and is commonly characterized by terms like “sustainable,” “green” or “regenerative.” Notable designers like Sim Van der Ryn defines ecological design as “any form of design CO2 Vessel: Deadwood removes “massive amounts” of carbon from the environment and, although they that minimizes environmentally destructive impacts by integrating itself with living processes.” Sim Van der Ryn will eventually release it, “they will do so exceed- and Stuart Cowan, Ecological Design, 10th anniversary ingly slowly,” and act as “giant reservoirs” in the ed. (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2007), 33. Definitions 51 like these have translated into influential prescriptive meantime. programs like those set forth by United States Green Building Council’s LEED program and the Cascadia Disaster Benefits: Deadwood is adapted for disas- Green Building Council’s Living Building Challenge (LBC). The popularity of these strategies seem to represent a ter situations, – scientifically characterized as dis- singular ecological design ethos, – giving strong weight to turbance – which might include, “natural or man the issue of energy and material waste – however there made fires, disease, logging, and chemicals.”52 For are many other applications with contradictory aims and methods. Simon Guy and Graham Farmer, “Reinterpreting example, a fire can “improve” the longevity ofa Sustainable Architecture: The Place of Technology,” piece of deadwood, changing the rate of decay by Journal of Architectural Education 54(2001). Simon Guy “charring the exterior wood surface,” which pro- and Graham Farmer caution the search to find a singular construct and enlarge the context by “adopting a social tects the wood inside.53 It has the ability to store constructivist perspective.” Therefore, broader agreeable up to two-hundred plus percent of moisture and concepts like an organic metaphor presents flexibilities that can help to bridge and channel shared ecological can help seedlings survive and protect fungi in a interpretations. disturbance regime.54 2 Vittoria Di Palma, “Architecture and the Organic Metaphor,” The Journal of Architecture 11, no. 4 Complex Habitats: A piece of deadwood, like a log, (2006): 386. 3 Mari Hvattum, “`Unfolding from Within’: provides a rich variety of habitats for an array of Modern Architecture and the Dream of Organic Totality,” different species. For example, a top of a downed ibid.: 497. log can provide “elevated areas used as look outs 4 Vittoria Di Palma, “Architecture and the and feeding sites,” and “the spaces between loose Organic Metaphor,” ibid.: 390. 5 Referenced from Paul Emmons, “Embodying bark and wood are used as hiding and thermal Networks: Bubble Diagrams and the Image of cover by invertebrates and small vertebrates, such Modern Organicism,” ibid.: 450. From Walter Gropius, “Recommendations for the Founding of an Educational 52 LOCAL IDENTITIES GLOBAL CHALLENGES

Institution as an Artistic Counseling Service for Industry, 23 John Dixon Hunt, Greater Perfections : The the Trades, and the Crafts.” (1916). Practice of Garden Theory, Penn Studies in Landscape 6 Amy Kulper, “Of Stylised Species and Specious Architecture. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Styles,” ibid.: 403. Press, 2000), 32-34. 7 Ibid; Hvattum, “`Unfolding from Within’: 24 Ibid., 33-34. Modern Architecture and the Dream of Organic Totality.” 25 Ibid., 34. 8 Frederic E. Clements, “Preface to Plant 26 William Cronon, “Uncommon Ground : Sucession: An Analysis of the Development of Vegetation,” Rethinking the Human Place in Nature,” in The Trouble in The Philosophy of Ecology: From Science to Synthesis, with Wilderness; or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature, ed. David R. Keller and Frank B. Golley (Athens: University ed. William Cronon (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., of Georgia Press, 2000, 1916); Eugene P. Odum, “The 1996), 69. Emergence of Ecology as a New Integrative Discipline,” in 27 Ibid., 70. The Philosophy of Ecology: From Science to Synthesis, ed. 28 Donald Worster, “The Ecology of Order and David R. Keller and Frank B. Golley (Athens: University of Chaos,” in The Wealth of Nature: Environmental History Georgia Press, 2000, 1977). and the Ecological Imagination (Oxford University Press, 9 Henry A. Gleason, “The Individualistic Concept 1994), 83. of the Plant Assocaition,” ibid. (2000, 1939). 29 Isis Brook, “Restoring Landscapes: The 10 H. Ronald Pulliam and Bart R. Johnson, Authenticity Problem,” Earth Surface Processes and “Ecology’s New Paradigm: What Does It Offer Designers Landforms 31, no. 13 (2006); Eric Katz, “The Big and Planners?,” in Ecology and Design : Frameworks Lie: Human Restoration of Nature,” in Environmental for Learning, ed. Bart Johnson and Kristina Hill Restoration : Ethics, Theory, and Practice, ed. William (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2002), 51. Throop (Amherst, NY: Humanity Books, 2000, 1992). 11 United States Environmental Protection 30 Emmons, “Embodying Networks: Bubble Agency, “Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: Diagrams and the Image of Modern Organicism,” 453. 2007 Facts and Figures,” (2007). 31 Referenced from Amy Kulper, “Of Stylised 12 This usage of the term “dead metaphor” should Species and Specious Styles,” ibid.: 393. From a Johann not be confused with the literary term that means, Wolfgang von Goethe essay published in 1892 titled, “a word or phrase that has lost its metaphoric force “Toward a General Comparative Theory.” through common usage;” in this case it is meant to do 32 Paul Emmons, “Embodying Networks: Bubble quite the opposite. It should also be clarified that a dead Diagrams and the Image of Modern Organicism,” ibid.: metaphor is an attempt to begin rationalizing nature’s 441. “paradox” of death with the human aesthetic to prevent 33 Kate Nesbitt, Theorizing a New Agenda for it and therefore presents a complimentary description Architecture : An Anthology of Architectural Theory rather than an opposing force to a living one. 1965-1995, 1st ed. (New York: Princeton Architectural 13 Raymond Williams, Keywords : A Vocabulary of Press, 1996), 48. Culture and Society (New York: Oxford University Press, 34 Mclennan, “Living Buildings,” 26-27. 1976), 184. 35 Ibid. 14 Le Corbusier, Jean-Louis Cohen, and John 36 David B. McKeever, “Estimated Annual Timber Goodman, Toward a New Architecture, Texts & Products Consumption in Major End Uses in the United Documents. (Los Angeles, Calif.: Getty Research States, 1950-2006,” Forest Products Laboratory FPL- Institute, 2007). GTR-181(2009): 2-3. 15 Le Corbusier, Poem of the Right Angle: Le 37 Max Black, “More About Metaphor,” in Metaphor Poeme De L’angle Driot, trans. Kenneth Hylton (1989), and Thought, ed. Andrew Ortony (Cambridge ; New E4, Characters. York: Cambridge University Press, 1979), 26. 16 Frank Lloyd Wright, The Living City (New York,: 38 Ibid., 26-27. Bramhall House, 1958), 23, 26, 27, 87, 142. 39 Ibid., 26. 17 ILBI International Living Building Institute and 40 Jack W. Thomas et al., “Snags,” in Wildlife Jason F. McLennan, The Living Building Challenge Ver. Habitats in Managed Forests : The Blue Mountains of 2.0: A Visionary Path to a Restorative Future 2.0 ed. Oregon and Washington, ed. J. Louise Parker, et al. (International Living Building Institute, 2009). (Washington, D.C.: Wildlife Management Institute : U.S. 18 Jason Mclennan, “Living Buildings,” in Dept. of Interior For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. Sustainable Architecture White Papers, ed. David E. G.P.O., 1979), 65. Brown, et al. (New York, NY: Earth Pledge Foundation, 41 David A. Perry, Forest Ecosystems (Baltimore: 2000), 26-27. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994), 84. 19 William McDonough and Michael Braungart, 42 Thomas et al., “Snags,” 65. Cradle to Cradle : Remaking the Way We Make Things, 43 Mclennan, “Living Buildings,” 26-27. 1st ed. (New York: North Point Press, 2002), 90-91. 44 Ibid. 20 Kulper, “Of Stylised Species and Specious 45 Michael Hensel, Achim Menges, and Styles,” 404; Paul Ricœur, Interpretation Theory : Architectural Association (Great Britain), Morpho- Discourse and the Surplus of Meaning (Fort Worth: Texas Ecologies (London: Architectural Association, 2006), 17. Christian University Press, 1976), 52. 46 Christopher Alexander, The Nature of Order : 21 Kulper, “Of Stylised Species and Specious An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Styles,” 394. Universe, 4 vols., Center for Environmental Structure 22 Nigel Dudley et al., “Deadwood - Living Series ; (Berkeley, Calif.: Center for Environmental Forests,” (Gland, Switzerland2004), 3. Structure, 2002), 31. ARCHITECTURE IS DEAD 53

47 Emmons, “Embodying Networks: Bubble Diagrams and the Image of Modern Organicism,” 446. 48 N. Leroy Poff et al., “The Natural Flow Regime,” BioScience. 47, no. 11 (1997): 769, 80. 49 Ibid., 771, 75. 50 Chris Maser et al., “Dead and Down Woody Material,” in Wildlife Habitats in Managed Forests : The Blue Mountains of Oregon and Washington, ed. J. Louise Parker, et al. (Washington, D.C.: Wildlife Management Institute : U.S. Dept. of Interior For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O., 1979), 82. 51 Jon R. Luoma, The Hidden Forest : The Biography of an Ecosystem, 1st ed. (New York: Henry Holt, 1999), 79. 52 Maser et al., “Dead and Down Woody Material,” 91. 53 Ibid., 85. 54 Ibid., 82; Perry, Forest Ecosystems, 158. 55 Maser et al., “Dead and Down Woody Material,” 79.