Julie Bargmann
Published: 2008-04-15
Total Pages: 0
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Toxic waste dumps, industrial brownfields, acid mine drainage sites. For Julie Bargmann, this is what the great American landscape has become, and she wants you to know about it. Bargmann, a landscape architect and environmental advocate, sees our polluted national heritage as a responsibility we must all face, and Toxic Beauty: A Field Guide to Derelict Terrain is her manual on how to do just that. The book is divided into three parts. In the first, a manifesto, Bargmann argues for the urgent need to creatively regenerate our polluted landscapes without covering up America's industrial history. Here, Bargmann illustrates the potential beauty in land littered with mine refuse and scarred by acid-laced waters, and describes the devastating danger of inaction. In part two, she presents seven of her own innovative projects, including her Vintondale acid mine treatment park, her designs for Ford's notorious River Rouge plant, and her designs for green spaces in Rem Koolhaas's Un-City plan for New York City. The book concludes with a comprehensive, annotated listing of governmental, nonprofit, and private resources for anyone working on industrial sites. A handy guide for designers, students, and planners, it will include essential EPA regulations relevant to the rehabilitation of degraded landscapes.