Regenerative Landscapes: Rule-Based Design

Regenerative Landscapes: Rule-Based Design
10. February 2022 Silvia Converso

Chestnut Orchard in Brentan, ETH Bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv, Photographer: Stucki, Heini, 1990

Students will be introduced to regenerative practices and how they can be integrated into the disciplines of landscape architecture and territorial design. Traditional and contemporary approaches in designing with productive living systems will be critically discussed, including agroforestry, water harvesting, companion planting, and pasture cropping.

An introduction to these extensive, intensive, and integrated regenerative strategies will enable students to develop an understanding of key ecological parameters for design involving water, soil, animals, and vegetation. Students learn how to identify key components of a landscape system, understand relatively why and how they work, and abstract that information in drawings and diagrams that become useful for design.

The course is organized around the presentation and discussion of traditional and contemporary case studies at the intersection of regenerative agriculture and landscape design. Through design exercises, discussions, and workshops, students will translate this complexity to explore a rule-based methodological approach to designing with living systems.

  • Course 078-0204-00G
  • 3 Lessons per week
  • 3 Credits
  • Language: English
  • Prerequisites: Enrollment in MScLA Program or MAS ETH EPF in Urban and Territorial Design