Dearest Children,

Do you know
That we have inherited
A miracle.

All matter—
The heavens, sun, the earth itself-
Is made
From the ashes of stars,
Forged in stellar canyons, cycled by volcanoes
In sea and air.
Clouds, rain, river, rocks, and soils; matter permeates us all
animated,
including you
playing, smiling children.
now.
—From "A Poem to the World's Children."

Ian McHarg, one of the greatest planners of our age, left the world a legacy beyond treasure with his 1967 book Design With Nature. Some 200 pages of paperback swept over the design profession and gave us a mandate sealed by our own conscience: with nature—not without her, not despite her, not against her. On the heels of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, McHarg handed us a professional lifeline, a simple concept strong and powerful enough to help architects heal the fragility of our planet through how and where we build.

If Design With Nature revealed McHarg's soul, Some Songs to the Stars bares his heart through a collection of prose poems published by the Knossus Project. It was his last work before his death a year ago this month, and his first published poetry. His songs distill McHarg's ecological concepts to a crystalline clarity.

Isostacy, the celestial balance,
Whoever loses has a winning partner.
There is exactly enough to go around,
No more, no less.
Smiles match tears, forever.
—from "Isostacy"

McHarg counted honorary membership in the AIA, the National Medal of the Arts (awarded in 1990 by President George Bush), and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture among his myriad awards. A noted educator, he founded the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning in 1954 and was professor emeritus there when he died at age 80. He also was a founding partner of Wallace McHarg Roberts & Todd (now Wallace Roberts & Todd, headquartered in Philadelphia), national adviser on the environment to four U.S. presidents, and the creator of computerized ecological planning. Arguably the most delightful description of the man comes from landscape architect Edmund D. Hollander, who said, "He was a classic old Scottish Bible thumper, but his religion was the environment. He was an apostle for the planet."

Pictures of McHarg
The 39-minute video companion of Some Songs to the Stars features McHarg reading the poems from the book A hauntingly ineffable score by David Darling and Annie Haslam accompanies the readings (sometimes a tad too loudly). Images of the book's nature and space photos interplay with tape of McHarg reading his work.

But not all shadows
Are malevolent.
For there I am,
An old man with a stick
And a young shadow
Lean and lithe,
A distant memory
In shade.
—From "Shadows"

Videographer and publisher of Some Songs to the Stars, Chris Zelov, an ecological activist in his own right, described McHarg's poetry as "biospheric haiku." "The poems and his readings on the videos transmit Ian's knowledge and insight," Zelov said. "You can sense his Celtic fire, his mystical connection with the land, going all the way back to the beginning of time."

The video was rougher cut than expected, but maybe that's a good thing. It's also not as solemn as I had led myself to believe—perhaps McHarg's lilting Scots burr gives the awesome universe its due levity. McHarg's twinkle and smile seem to say, maybe we can make things right after all.

The print edition of Some Songs to the Stars can be ordered from the AIA Bookstore, phone: 800-242-3837, option #4; fax 202-626-7519; or bookstore@aia.org. ($19.95, plus shipping and handling). The videotape is available directly from Knossus for $15, plus $5 shipping and handling.

Copyright 2002 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved.