McHarg, Ian L

Ian L. McHarg, born in Clydebank, Scotland in 1920, was the founder and chairman of the department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, pioneer of ecological planning, author of Design With Nature and co-founder of the firm Wallace, McHarg, Roberts and Todd. He served in World War Two as a paratrooper and demobilized at the rank of major in the British military. He received his professional education from Harvard University, earning a Master in Landscape Architecture in 1950 and a Master of City Planning in 1951.

McHarg was brought to the University of Pennsylvania by G. Holmes Perkins to re-establish the Department of Landscape Architecture in 1954. His ecological approach based upon the "layer cake method" of mapping revolutionized the field of landscape architecture both at the University of Pennsylvania and across the United States. McHarg's influence can also be seen in the development of geographic information systems, which utilize the same "layer cake method" developed in his teaching. He was a key proponent of a world ecological inventory to integrate data sets already present in organizations around the world to produce a world ecological model. His groundbreaking book Design With Nature disseminated his concept of ecological planning to an international audience making his ideas the foundation for many landscape architecture programs across the United States and beyond.

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