Messy Ecosystems, Orderly Frames

Messy Ecosystems, Orderly Frames (1994), is a seminal essay by landscape architect Joan Iverson Nassauer who argued that people accept and value ecological “messiness” more readily when it is framed by visible signs of care and order. Wildness is tolerated if bounded by neat edges, paths, or cues that signal human intention. This principle reveals how aesthetics and ecology are entangled: what looks “untended” is often rejected, even if it is healthier for biodiversity. But it also risks keeping wildness always subordinated to a human gaze that demands order as reassurance. While it can easily be accused of 'keeping up appearances', the essay itself soberly examines various constellations of dynamics between the ecological function and representation, and aims to sway perception.

/ Urška Škerl

In the U.S., lawns cover nearly 2 percent of the land surface and, as researcher Cristina Milesi revealed using satellite data, “could be considered the single largest irrigated crop in America”—their total area is three times larger than that of irrigated cornfields. The infatuation with lawns runs so deep that, in some cases, failing to […]

/ Zaš Brezar

Urban biodiversity? Yes, please! Nevertheless … … Due to the transitional phase of our understanding of nature in the light of the Anthropocene, there are still some important notions, contradictions and misunderstandings that need to be addressed. To do so, we will operate with terms like nature, ecology, biodiversity, landscape, and aesthetics, and we’ll focus […]

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