Reply To: To What Extent Should Ethics and Environemtnal Issues Drive Landscape Architects in their Projects

Bob,
I think whenever LA’s talk about this, we tend to do it in terms of ethics and values. What happens when we look at these issues as scientific and economic issues as well? If you can design a golf course that wastes fewer resources and reduces maintenance, why not at least bring up your ideas? Wouldn’t less waste and maintenance be beneficial to your client? It’s the equivalent of arguing over the “ethics” of shooting ourself in the foot. Why would we shoot ourselves in the foot in the first place? Isn’t design just problem solving? Aren’t environmental issues just another problem to be solved?
Andrew is right. We are not unethical if we design things other than environmental restoration projects. Humans change the environment to suit them, just like a lot of other animals. But changing the environment is not the same thing as removing our environment from the rest of the world. Our cities are still subject to the same laws of physics and ecology as the rest of the planet. When we don’t take this fact into consideration, we get environmental problems.
Beavers certainly make changes to the environment, too, by building dams. But when they do it, they don’t kill fish or turn the landscape into a desert. We humans are certainly smarter than giant rodents. If other animals can change their environment to suit their needs, without destroying the resources they depend on, so can we. It’s just another problem to be solved. Forget the ethics, let’s just do it.