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We are presenting some of the ideas and visions contained in the sustainability section of The Plan Journal (TPJ) that we have not yet shared. The author Forbes Lipschitz writes about new virtual technology in the article “Expanding the Field: Virtual Fencing as responsive Landscape Technology.” The author Catherine De Almeida writes about “a method for integrating multiple diverse programs rooted in economic, environmental, and social performance to form hybrid assemblages in the transformation of perceived material and spatial waste” in the article “Landscape Lifecycles as a Speculative Design Research Practice for Transforming Waste Conditions.”
In The Plan Journal vol.5 [2020] themed Healthy Urbanism issue, the author of “(sub)URBAN Hybrid Housing Rethinking the City with Healthy, Sustainable Housing” Craig Griffin looks at a case-study in Detroit and suggests a sustainable, strategic plan that offers an array of housing types to “promote a socioeconomic diversity of both people and the built environment, which is what makes a city strong, vibrant, and inclusive.” Finally, we share some thoughts about ecological urbanism.
>> We encourage you to browse The Plan Journal and explore its section dedicated to Sustainability as well as Griffin’s abstract for yourself.
We invite you to learn about/from recent research regarding sustainability in TPJ’s vol.4 [2019], no.1 issue; vol.5 [2020], no.1 issue; and vol.5 [2020], no.2 issue.
In his editorial “In This Issue,” Maurizio Sabini Editor-in-Chief of TPJ wrote:
Abstract - An open issue, by definition, does not have a mandate to explore a particular theme. This is generally true and also our journal followed such a pattern in the past. Most contributions in this issue, though, seemed to have privileged a category and a theme: reflective practice and a re-assessment of the Modern. And the two are in reciprocal influence as a modern practice is expected to be reflective, while a reflective practice is inevitably modern if, indeed, wants to address the important questions of our modern culture. This happened partially unintentionally, as the contributions are largely the results of peer-reviewed accepted manuscripts proposed to us by the authors, but partially intentionally, with our pre- and post-peer-review editorial screening, and the few solicited contributions and reviews of books and exhibitions, thanks our steering editorial policy. (5)
Sabini concludes:
This issue of The Plan Journal is perhaps an indication that the “project of modern architecture,” meant as the on-going perfecting of a design method and the testing of its application to socially and culturally relevant questions, is still well underway. It is therefore still upon us, and future generations, to continue develop it and enrich it with new meanings, explorations, and realizations for the growth of our collective culture and the improvement of our physical environment and people’s life. (6)
In the sustainability section of vol.4 [2019], no.1 [Spring] of TPJ, the author Forbes Lipschitz reports in the article “Expanding the Field: Virtual Fencing as responsive Landscape Technology” that “livestock is the largest driver of landscape change in the world, depleting land and water resources, negatively impacting biodiversity and contributing significantly to climate change.”
Rotational paddock design.
Lipschitz shares that “the evolution of fencing technology, from stacked brush to barbed-wire, has shaped the form and function of American livestock production at least since the time of colonization.” Virtual fencing for livestock production offers an opportunity for designers to envision ways for responsive technologies to influence environmental systems at extraordinary scales.
>> The abstract for this article can be found here in TPJ (in English)
In his editorial “In This Issue,” Maurizio Sabini Editor-in-Chief of TPJ wrote:
The timing of a research journal is obviously quite different from the rapid pace of events occurring in society. Therefore, a brief preamble is needed before presenting the contents of this issue, which started to be built up several months ago, thus before the eruption of recent, global events.
Two major issues, exploded with virulence way after we started to build this issue, are currently jolting our societal structure and public discourse: the COVID-19 pandemic and people’s outrage for recurring and ever more disturbing manifestations of racism across cultures. If we think it through, beyond emotional reactions, more related than we may be brought to believe at first.
As a journal, we have already committed to deal with the former through our call for submissions for the next themed issue of Fall 2020; for the other issue, we encourage contributions at any time, to be posted as they become ready, and definitely for the open issue of Spring 2021 – we will consider also a call for a themed issue in the near future. Regardless, The Plan Journal, together with the whole The Plan Group and our publisher Gruppo Maggioli, joins many organizations and platforms of public debate across the world in standing up against any form of racism or discrimination, evident or hidden, declared or hypocritically denied, while supporting and promoting any form of appreciation of diversity in society and culture. (5)
Sabini adds:
Encouraging and disseminating in-depth critical reflections and studies are at the core of our journal’s mission and in doing so we hope to counter certain recognizable trends for superficial or biased analyses, whatever the ideology or the cultural agenda is behind them.
…more than ever, we need to cling to the modern promise of freedom, justice, emancipation and the power of a rational discourse within our public sphere. (7)
In the sustainability section of vol.5 [2020], no.1 [Spring] of TPJ, the author Catherine De Almeida explains in the article “Landscape Lifecycles as a Speculative Design Research Practice for Transforming Waste Conditions” that “as a design-research framework, “landscape lifecycles” aims to tackle waste landscapes with integrative strategies and techniques that reactivate waste as a legible and dynamic contributor to local and regional contexts.”
Geospatial mapping and thermal analysis of the geothermal energy production process with waste outputs, highlighting the potential for reuse with speculative thermally-distributed layers. Reprinted from Catherine De Almeida, “Performative By-Products: The Emergence of Waste Reuse Strategies at the Blue Lagoon,” Journal of Landscape Architecture 13, no. 3 (2018): 64-77 (73) - doi: 10.1080/18626033.2018.1589142, © European Council of Landscape Architecture Schools, reprinted by permission of Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group, www.tandfonline.com on behalf of European Council of Landscape Architecture Schools.
De Almeida urges that “making waste visible and legible is one of the most important forms of expression designers can bring to the table in order to grapple with the exponentially increasing crisis of humans consistently mismanaging all forms of waste ubiquitously the same.” This change requires the re-framing of waste materials and landscapes to highly valued opportunities for prolonging lifecycles and forming culturally important waste places. The idea of end-of-life needs to be forbidden.
>> The abstract for this article can be found here in TPJ (in English)
In his editorial “Out of the Crisis by Design,” Maurizio Sabini Editor-in-Chief of TPJ wrote:
The scale of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak and impact, unprecedented in modern history for about a century, urges all of us engaged in the design fields to offer contributions in order to curb, mitigate, and resolve the catastrophic situation that public health is facing worldwide as public health and environment are closely interconnected. This crisis, though, like others in the past, may also offer opportunities. (285)
Sabini continues:
...a healthier urbanism is not a new challenge and many lessons can be learned from past mistakes and successes; a healthier urbanism is possible to be achieved, but it requires thorough analyses, radical thinking and creativity; it should not be limited to an emergency agenda as a temporary reaction to a global public health crisis, but become one of the constant drivers of design research for our future, healthier world. (287)
MASS Design Group, GHESKIO Tuberculosis Hospital, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 2015. Photo © Iwan Baan.
In The Plan Journal vol.5 [2020] themed Healthy Urbanism issue, the author of “(sub)URBAN Hybrid Housing Rethinking the City with Healthy, Sustainable Housing” Craig Griffin explains that “urban dwelling is a very sustainable lifestyle.”
In the past, people left cities to avoid disease, but returned when conditions improved. Populations of American cities have been growing for decades, but that movement has lost momentum and has even, in some instances, gone backwards. Many millennials are choosing to move out of the cities because of the rising housing costs and lack of amenities for families. Unfortunately, the pandemic has caused this trend to gain popularity.
New Detroit “Suburban Style” Houses.
In his article, Griffin asks “how can we provide healthier and more sustainable qualities of suburban living in the city to entice people to return and/or stay?”
Green construction methods and materials, climate change and sustainable design are common topics in today’s design discourse.
Sustainability of cities, however, warrants more urgent attention and action. The projects described in the text Ecological Urbanism not only raise awareness, but also provide examples of ecological and ethical approaches to the needed remediation of the present-day city and planning for future-day cities. The diverse, multi-disciplinary work of architects, artists, economists, engineers, policymakers, public health specialists etc. contained within the book provide profound understanding of its title/topic including urban aesthetics. All agree, like the TPJ authors, that it is environmentally imperative that we as design professionals take immediate responsibility.
To learn more, please find the reference below.
Mostafavi, M. and Doherty, G., 2015. Ecological urbanism. Rev. ed. Ennetbaden: Lars Müller Verlag.
Why support + read TPJ?
The Plan Journal is intended to disseminate and promote innovative, thought-provoking, and relevant research, studies, and criticism related to architecture and urbanism. The journal grew out of an awareness that academia is all too often engaged in research that’s disconnected from the real-world challenges that face different professions, and that research is only possible for a small number of professional organizations, and, even then, with limited platforms for its dissemination. The overarching aim of TPJ is therefore to enrich the dialogue between researchers and professionals so as to foster both pertinent new knowledge and intellectually driven modes of practice.
How does it work + why does it matter?
Prospective contributors are encouraged to submit proposals or complete manuscripts to the Editor-in-Chief. Subject to positive feedback, proposals can then be developed into complete manuscripts and submitted for review, using the dedicated portal on the TPJ website.
After preliminary approval, manuscripts will be forwarded to suitably qualified people for commenting. TPJ is committed to following a rigorous double-blind peer review process using at least two reviewers. The Editor-in-Chief may also occasionally invite recognized academics, critics, or professionals (including members of the editorial board) to contribute to the journal without going through the peer review process, if warranted by the author’s reputation.
