The Aesthetics of Ecological Architecture
As part of a coherent and intelligent approach to ecological development it is necessary to incorporate
appropriate aesthetic and design guidelines to ensure that a rethink of the development process does not provide
a new carte blanche for aesthetic chaos.
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Specific Aspects of Ecological Development
Ecological development should always proceed from the basis of an ecological analysis of the potential site.
Potential land use patterns should be considered from an ecological perspective. Urban development should be
fitted into the framework of broader patterns established by ecological imperatives. Land use planning should
fit bioregional perceptions.
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Charter of Calcutta
Proposed by Paul F. Downton, and adopted in the Concluding Session of the International Conference and Exhibition
on Architecture of Cities held in Calcutta on the 20th November 1990.
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A House Is Not A Machine
Nature abhors straight lines, goes the old saying; nowadays we might say she does things in fractals instead.
Nature also abhors exact repetition. Nothing is ever the same twice. Symmetry abounds in nature, but even in
symmetry things are not identical. Look at the symmetry of a face, or a leaf. Both sides similar, but different;
developed according to the same pattern, but with individual realisation.
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The Ecopolis Development Principles
Initially drafted in association with Chérie Hoyle and Emilis Prelgauskas, the Ecopolis Development Principles
(EDP) were intended to provide a clear set of precepts for developing human settlement that restored, rather than
destroyed, ecological health. In its first incarnation there were 12 principles. The revised version here has 10
principles divided into ‘biophysical’ and ‘biosocial’ groups - one being about minimising
ecological footprints, the other being about maximising human potential.
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Ecological Development Process
Defines an ecological development process in contrast to a conventional development process.
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Urban Ecology & the Architecture of Ecopolis
Cities are at the centre of the storm of ecological destruction. Everything in the biosphere is connected and
cities are part of the global ecosystem. They embody the values of the civilisation that produced them.
Industrial civilisation has exploited the environment and the community to leave us with cities which suck
their hinterlands dry. City and country are interdependent and each city's hunger for land to feed, house and
fuel its growing population has been exacerbated by industrial colonialism so that cities now spread across the face
of the planet like a cancer.
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