Sustainable Infrastructures: Reconnecting Nature and City

As cities continue to develop and expand, nature is becoming more and more alienated from the urban environment. The vast and natural landscapes that once existed are being overtaken by the sprawl of city suburbs and the potential for more green spaces within the city are being lost due to densification. How can we re-establish the lost connection with nature? By engaging a process grounded in a direct reconnection with nature we can re-establish the importance of the relationship of the individual to the natural environment.

One theory, biophilia, described by Edward O. Wilson, suggests humans must find a way to maintain that connection with the natural environment. Scientific research based on this theory has shown that our inherent connection with nature has a significant impact on our mind, body, and soul. With nature, negative feelings disappear, leading people to experience a more healthy style of living. In order to retain this relationship we must introduce nature back into the city.

With cities continuing to experience exponential growth, our connection with nature is becoming more diminished. The planning of urban infrastructures has invaded the natural environment that once existed. This thesis explores a design methodology that diminishes the observed rift between nature and the city brought about by the processes of urban sprawl and inner city densification. Through a direct engagement with nature, I want to permeate the infrastructural barriers caused by these processes and fuse the natural with the man-made elements of the city.