This essay seeks to place Ian Lennox McHarg and his masterwork 'Design With Nature' in contemporary and Scottish contexts. It reflects on the green consciousness of Scottish traditions and sets McHarg alongside his fellow internationally renowned and environmentally conscious Scots: John Muir and Patrick Geddes. It is suggested that the migration of dispossessed highlanders to Glasgow brought a celtic/gaelic culture to the city and this has, in turn, informed the emergence of bio-regionalism and green consciousness in Scotland. McHarg’s contribution to the early days of this movement is noted as is the significance of his work in informing the school of landscape thought (in the UK and Scotland in particular) that is rooted in regionalism, terrain, ecology and nature. Finally the narrative discusses the work in Scotland of graduates from McHarg’s landscape programs at the University of Pennsylvania and concludes that they in turn refreshed the Design With Nature methodology and re-invigorated subsequent generations of landscape planners and landscape architects in Scotland.

• Publisher
• Organisation