Designing with the land

Excerpt

SEEN from space, the earth is a garden world, a planet of life, a sphere of blues and greens, sheathed in a moist atmosphere. At night, lights of the cities twinkle far below, forming constellations as distinct and varied as those of the heavens beyond; the dark spaces their arcs embrace are not the voids of space, but rather a diversity of forests, farms, prairies, and deserts.

As a new day breaks, city lights fade, overpowered by the light of the sun. And the seas and forests emerge, surrounding and penetrating the vast urban constellations.

Seen from a satellite far above the earth, one of those urban constellations, Boston, Massachusetts, is a grey mosaic, permeated by the large rivers and great parks within it, visible as tendrils and specks of black and red. From hundreds of miles up, one can not discern the buildings, but the stream valleys, steep hillsides, parks, and fields are clearly visible. In a much closer view, tall buildings spring toward the sky, outcrops of rock and steel. At the center of the city, the straight axis of Commonwell Avenue penetrates the Public Garden and the Boston Common. The city teams with life. Trees and gardens …