Rates of Succession: Value of Urban Wilds

Abstract

Natural process is fundamental to landscape architecture. Combining forces with these processes is a landscape architects greatest challenge and opportunity. A dialogue with urban wilds successional qualities is the core of this thesis. A landscape architect with the vision and tools to engage in dialogue with the urban wilderness is capable of detaching obstacles and rendering the “wasteland” perception. As public perception deviates from the abandoned “wastelands” to valuing the “friche” landscape, design intervention keeps in tact the spirit of wilderness. The balance of maintaining the wilderness spirit while curating habitable public space is the landscape architect’s task. The design instigation relies on process. Succession is the foundation. Providing innovative public space for the people of Montgomery’s north end is made possible through collaboration with succession. Succession establishes comprehension of site and network trajectories. The successional lens is vital for design intervention. It embodies the urban wilderness condition as a continuously moving force.