DATE AND TIME: Monday, September 21, 2015 – 12:10pm
LOCATION:Weld Hill Lecture Hall, Arnold Arboretum, 1300 Centre St., Boston, MA
Rosetta Sarah Elkin, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture amd MDes Risk and Resilience co-director, Harvard Graduate School of Design, will discuss “Beyond Restoration: Planting Coastal Infrastructure.” Please feel free to bring a lunch or join us for pizza after the lecture. Directions for those driving or taking public transportation: http://arboretum.harvard.edu/visit/weld-hill-directions/
Coastal planting strategies offer few resolutions within a variety of conditions, and tend to be over invested in replacing iconic species or renewing former ecologies, rather than creating a functional coastal space that acknowledges cultural needs and cycles of disturbance. Implicit in these ecological land types, are the nostalgic ambitions that function within native or restorative environmentalism. As a result, plants are treated as an afterthought, a conditioning of the surface, a horticultural topping or at times an inevitability of standard construction methods. As a landscape architect, I will discuss the potential of using plants as a design agent in coastal infrastructure and the need to reframe the issues in order to move beyond restrictive procedures associated with conservation or restoration.
Please visit Structures of Coastal Resilience for more info.
