During the 1960s, as Western notions of endless progress
and growth gave way to concerns over industrial pollution,
resource depletion, and ecological limits, attitudes
toward the environment became social, political, and
ideological. Published to accompany the first expansive
study of the history of environmental thinking in
architecture, Emerging Ecologies: Architecture and the
Rise of Environmentalism studies the role architects and
designers have played in defining our understanding of
'nature' and the 'environment,' specifically during the rise
of environmental discourse.
The richly illustrated publication presents over 45
architectural contributions - from Eleanor Raymond and
Mária Telkes's groundbreaking work on solar houses to
Buckminster Fuller's world resource management system
and the environmental symbolism of Emilio Ambasz -
to explore the role designers played in both promoting
ecological concerns and in outlining the very terms of this
nascent field. Through an introductory essay by curator
Carson Chan and brief texts on each of the featured
projects, Emerging Ecologies documents the proximity
between ecology, design, and statecraft.