Out of Place

Hough argues that the monotony of the modern landscape is a reflection of society's indifference to the diversity inherent in ecological systems and in human communities. He uses world-wide case studies to show how built areas work and how designers can maintain the identities of different places. Why do modern cities, suburbs, and industrial and farming landscapes all tend to look alike despite their regional settings? In this generously illustrated and provocative book, a landscape architect argues that the monotony of the modern landscape is a reflection of indifference on the part of society to the diversity inherent in ecological systems and in human communities. In case studies drawn from all parts of the world—Turkey and Hong Kong to northern England and Edinburgh, to Kentucky and Oregon, to Ontario and Manitoba—Michael Hough shows how build environments work and what designers can do to maintain the clearly identifiable differences between one place and another.