LEARNING FROM NATURE :
PREVENTING DISASTER BY SUSTAINABLE SITE DESIGN APPROACHES

The development of landscape design should be achieved through seeking harmony between the human use and pieces of nature. However, in many urban areas, the land is highly damaged by human interventions. Large-scale projects such as Olympic parks, university campuses and office parks, which reshape the environment, have huge effects on the natural landscape. On smaller scale, building on slopes considered too steep can lead to soil erosion, loss of hillside vegetation, and damage to fragile wetland and marine ecosystems that pose a variety of hazards to persons and property.  These problems can be avoided if careful work is done at the city and site planning level to reduce the effects of the human factors on natural landscapes.

In this sense, the human species must develop a respect for the landscape and expend more effort understanding the interrelationships of natural systems, and habitats, as well as the impacts of human uses on them. For instance, previously disturbed areas must be reinhabited and restored, especially urban landscapes. When grading must occur, it should blend with the natural landform as much as possible to avoid the natural disasters.

The paper will examine the sustainable site design approaches, with case studies of site-specific projects, land art interventions, environmental installations and current trends in landscape design: urban parks and gardens - private and public parks around the world with emphasis on the prevention from natural hazards.

The paper will explore the role of natural forms and land modeling as mediators concerned with the identity of site and place with a concern that attitudes towards design should be ecological and sustainable using resources efficiently.