Talking Cities Spring 2011 – "The Softer Side of Sustainability"

Date
Wednesday 11 May 2011

Time

17:30

Location

Emma Jesse Phipps Lecture Theatre, BIAD Gosta Green, Corporation Street, Birmingham B4 7DX

Organisers

The event itself

MADE’s Talking Cities lectures series has teamed up with the Birmingham School of Architecture, Birmingham Institute of Art and Design Postgraduate Diploma in Landscape Architecture lecture series to bring you “The Softer Side of Sustainability” talk from Martha Schwartz (Martha Schwartz, RLA, ASLA, FRIBA, Principal Martha Schwartz Partners).

Martha is concerned that we have forgotten that sustainability is a cultural notion, and that a building or a place must have value to people if it is to be used sustainably.

For Martha, the most sustainable form of human habitation is the city. She believes that encouraging people to live side by side will help the local ecology to flourish, because the community can utilise superior water stations and sewage treatment plants, as well as improving electricity consumption patterns.

Landscape architects can help to make cities better places through the establishment of good connectivity and open spaces, the promotion of public transportation and, ensuring water is used responsibly, with run-off being managed and put back into the ground.

Careful and inspired design can make all the difference between a place that is viewed as no real significance to anyone, and a place that attracts people, creates vitality, and is cherished by its inhabitants.

Also see “A guide to the new ruins” talk by Owen Hatherley on 11 May 2011.