We Don’t Need to Conquer Nature. We Need to Remember We Are Part of It.
Designing resilient futures by recognizing humanity's place within natural systems.
We Don't Need to Conquer Nature. We Need to Remember We Are Part of It.
We often speak about climate change as if it is a problem waiting to happen. It isn't. It is already here. We see it in the increasing intensity of wildfires, devastating floods, prolonged droughts, biodiversity loss, and communities struggling to adapt to conditions that are changing faster than ever before.
As a landscape architect and environmental planner, I don't see these events as isolated disasters. I see them as signals that the systems we have created are no longer aligned with the systems that have sustained life on this planet for millions of years.
Controlling Nature
For a long time, our profession focused on controlling nature. We straightened rivers, hardened coastlines, drained wetlands, and designed landscapes to remain static. Nature has been reminding us that it doesn't work that way.
The Landscapes of the Future Must Be Living Systems
The landscapes of the future must be living systems. They must be capable of changing, adapting, and healing over time. Our responsibility is no longer simply to create beautiful places. Beauty matters, but today, beauty must also perform.
- A park should cool a neighborhood during extreme heat.
- A wetland should reduce flooding while restoring biodiversity.
- Public spaces should strengthen both ecological and human resilience.
Throughout my career, I have become increasingly convinced that the solutions we need already exist around us. Nature has spent billions of years solving problems that we are only beginning to understand. The challenge is not inventing entirely new answers—it is learning to observe more carefully, remain curious, and work with natural systems rather than against them.
Look Back at the Earth
One of my mentors once told me that I seem to "pick up my chair, sit somewhere in the universe, and look back at the Earth." I have always appreciated that observation because it reflects how I naturally think. I like stepping back to understand the relationships among things before focusing on the individual pieces. Climate, culture, water, biodiversity, communities, and economies are not separate conversations—they are part of the same system.
This perspective has shaped every stage of my journey, from architecture and urban planning to landscape architecture and environmental policy. These disciplines may appear different, but I have always been asking the same question:
How can we create places where both people and nature can thrive together?
I don't believe the future belongs to those who build the biggest or the fastest. I believe it belongs to those who understand complexity, think across disciplines, and are willing to design with humility.
An Opportunity to Rethink
Climate change is undoubtedly one of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced. But it is also an opportunity to rethink how we live, how we design, and how we define progress.
If we begin seeing ourselves not as separate from nature but as part of it, I believe we won't simply create more resilient landscapes—we will create a more resilient society.
