Architectural education and the idea of nature

Abstract

When various definitions of sustainable design are articulated by several leading scholars and practitioners, several conflicts and/or contradictions in underlying definitions of nature are revealed. Since all of these definitions employ the word nature, it would seem reasonable that, to understand sustainable design, students of architecture need to have more than a passing acquaintance with the multiple interpretations of the term nature. Students need a fundamental understanding of humanity's relationship to nature, but also a more holistic method of perceiving a site. Currently few schools of architecture in North America provide their students with an opportunity to obtain either of these. © 2010 WIT Press.