The Mother Culture: Dirty Creativity in the Urban Margin

Abstract

Our cities are made up of many landscape typologies. As human social structure has evolved over time, shared values have taken physical form in the urban condition. Urban marginalized space is formed by the backs of buildings and alleys. Although these landscapes are oriented away from the commercial sector of the city, they hold dynamic and expressive landscape qualities. By identifying these qualities and understanding how they work, a landscape architect can enculture these landscapes without erasing their subversive characteristics.