Charles Morris Anderson - Emo Urbanism

Emo Urbanism

Anderson’s approach to the built environment and design as a whole has been coined Emo Urbanism. A critical approach that challenges the theory of Landscape Urbanism, the theory of planning and design for urbanism arguing that landscape, rather than architecture, is more capable of organizing the city environment and enhancing the urban experience. Emo Urbanism is currently being taught as a seminar at Arizona State University to students of Landscape Architecture and Urban Design. Anderson has developed themes that are important in EmoUrbanism. The roots of these ideals can be seen in his earlier works discussed in the monograph Wandering Ecologies. Anderson’s themes include but not limited to design from art, culture, and ecology with emphasis on what he refers to as the fourth dimension, a linkage to the past present and future in design. Key design elements found in Emo Urbanism are native and natural landscape, quality, paradigm shift, the process of replacing the “old ways” with a new organization and the importance for the design to serve a function or purpose with the context. The beginnings of Emo Urbanism and the “thinness,” as Anderson describes the essence of the work, are prominent in several of his works such as the Anchorage Museum Expansion Project and the Trillium Project, another award winning project that was strongly recognized for addressing the natural habitat.