Billed as a talk about “Relationships of Ecological Design
with Landscape Architecture” and featuring the landscape architect and urban
ecologist Alexander Felson, the talk was full of anticipation on the subject of
the love child of science and design that needs exploration and discussion.
Its moment had arrived.
Unfortunately, the compelling topic’s prime time in the
spotlight fell short of expectations.
I can’t quit put my finger on it but as I looked around the
PowerPoint-lit room in the Central Park (NYC) Amory where all the Metro Hort
lectures are held, there seemed a discernible – and in some cases, audible –
tsking or whispers of “where’s the plants?”
You see, horticulture fans want to see pictures of plants,
wildlife. “Before” and “After” images are especially well received.
And Alex – while undeniably knowledgeable and informed – he
used no notes and was animated in his delivery, conveying his downright
passionate about the topic and the issues – couldn’t seem to connect with the
attending audience.
People started to leave at the appointed conclusion time,
despite Alex’s getting the OK to continue for another half hour.
I thought maybe it was me.
I want to be sophisticated about this most important subject and
burgeoning field. But no, the stony
silence screamed, “This is not grabbing me. It’s kinda' boring…”
Further, the morning after was a New York Botanical Garden
lecture and attendees there were making “Icky” faces when asked about the Metro
Hort lecture. The reviews were in. It is undoubtedly a compelling, fascinating
topic. But the lecture wasn’t interesting, sad to report.
Perhaps if it was more focused…
Or used more vivid images of plants rather than almost
exclusively the flat, one-dimensional charts, diagrams, and graphs that were on
the screen. (I only shot plant pictures for this news post.)
I’m sure there is a thespian or performer who was quoted as
saying, “Know thy audience.”
In all fairness, there were those who said despite the
academia-style presentation, we do all need to learn about the reconstructing
landscapes and ecosystems using applied ecology. There needs to be a proactive approach to
embedding science into the system of landscape design. Research needs to be included as part of the
design process too.
There was no argument from any quarter about that. It was
just how it was delivered.
Nevertheless, the points are worth repeating here.
The opportunities for restoration and applied ecology will
only increase.
Alex showed more than a few examples of innovative
restoration projects including the Presidio Trust in San Francisco, NY’s East
River waterfront, the World’s Fair grounds in Queens, NY, and the 200 acres in
Queens he’s working on as part of Mayor Bloomberg’s Million Trees Program.
And a cutie pie one using the life cycle of oysters.
The Presidio project brought together a team of landscape architects
and designers and ecologists to talk about their broken communications and to
determine how to reach consensus.
This part of the process in creating adaptable landscapes,
while a key dynamic, doesn’t make for lecture fodder… Isn’t it true in any
business or working dynamic that it’s hard to get things done but discussion
and goal setting and compromise work get to the desired outcome? The answer is
yes.
So to me, not a huge surprise that one part of the
Presidio’s concessions was a winning result.
No one could take issue with how those traditionalist who
clung to keeping things the way they were - however ill-informed those
decisions may have been - came round to making some changes so that they could
replace 40 trees with local genotypes at Inspiration Point, thus insuring a
great view.
Alex advised that in these situations no one can have its
cake and eat it too.
Compromise is the only solution.
The Adaptive Management Approach incorporates a few key
elements he says will prove valuable in getting to those solutions. They are:
·
What is the value of species richness?
·
What is the value of soil amendments as they
will also promote invasives?
·
Determine whether to remove or leave invasive
species?
The Cost & Benefits part of the add-on lecture was kind
of a non-starter -- a bridge to nowhere…
In terms of management, costs must be managed. Again, that’s
true for any work discipline.
And it’s important, of course, to measure things like the biomass and carbon sequestering.
He cited the development of the system to
measure that an urban tree will take anywhere from 11 to 41 years to pay back its
carbon survival.
And yet, he noted there are yet no ways to measure the human
cost of interaction. Why not? How can we
overlook this most important element of watching children in nature, developing
a relationship with nature?
However, Alex is working very hard to “build a bridge” – to become part of the landscape architect
frontiers of ecology.
One goal he’s got his eyes set on is Parking Lots – those
blights on the suburban landscape where once there was probably a farm or
meadow, and are now locked into unsustainable asphalt…
He cited the overabundance of “human modification of land
that influences the aesthetic. We need
to create water absorption, nearby wetlands, perhaps recirculating water and
increase permeable surfaces in the parking lots – and in urban environments in
general.
Another very important project is one he’s working on in
Bridgeport and Old Saybrook, Connecticut.
Working with the Nature Conservancy they’ve created mapping that surveys
the area that that will indicate which neighborhoods and homes will be under
water given the expected storm surges as a result of climate change.
There was already a lot of damage after the summer’s
hurricane that left more than $300,000 worth of damage behind and more than a
few townspeople feeling like those living on the coast are a tax burden for the
rest of the citizens.
It’s so difficult to tell a third generation family there
that their home will be under water or that they have to leave and move away,
Alex commented.
Alex pointed out how work is being done to use Amtrak train
tracks and from there through to the tide gates.
They tried to get the town to raise the utilities from the
basement but that suggestion went nowhere.
He proposed they not think of their neighbor as random but
rather as a sub basin watershed
And so it goes…
“Restoration ecologists work with designer and other practioners
in the development of resilient and adapted landscapes. Traditionally focused
on reconstructing ecosystems of historically documented landscapes, this
approach is being reassessed in light of changes in site conditions and
pressures on ecosystems from global environmental changes
Alex discussed his involvement and work in projects where
novel ecosystems that use historical knowledge of restoration and recognize the
value of creative environmentally sensitive solutions that are functional and
aesthetic.”
Alexander Felson is a
landscape architect and urban ecologist, is on the faculty of both the School
of Architecture and the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale
University. His projects include a
Harlem community garden, The East River Salt Marsh project with Ken Smith, and
a real estate development in the Tuxedo Reserve where he brought a together a multidisciplinary
team of academics and practioners to work the developer community planning
boards, and regulators to define and encourage responsible management of urban
eco
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