Events

Rosetta Sarah Elkin, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture, Harvard Graduate School of Design, will discuss “Beyond Restoration: Planting Coastal Infrastructure.” Click here for more information about Rosetta Sarah Elkin. Please feel free to bring a lunch or join us for pizza after the lecture. Directions for those driving or taking public transportation: http://arboretum.harvard.edu/visit/weld-hill-directions/

ABSTRACT: Coastal planting strategies offer few resolutions within a variety of conditions, and tend to be over invested in replacing iconic species or renewing former ecologies, rather than creating a functional coastal space that acknowledges cultural needs and cycles of disturbance. Implicit in these ecological land types, are the nostalgic ambitions that function within native or restorative environmentalism. As a result, plants are treated as an afterthought, a conditioning of the surface, a horticultural topping or at times an inevitability of standard construction methods. As a landscape architect, I will discuss the potential of using plants as a design agent in coastal infrastructure and the need to reframe the issues in order to move beyond restrictive procedures associated with conservation or restoration.