In an contemporary discussion on the undersirable effects of architecture upon the natural landscape, our attention often centers around a speculated form of architecture which we tend to describe tentatively as an 'ecological architecture' or as one that is totally benign in its relations with nature. We might ask what is an ecological architecture? The dissertation sets out to define these terms and to develop a theoretical framework for design. Our research objectives are as follows

1. Our initial objectives. are to derive a set of fundamental premises • . The intention is to provide ourselves with a context with "which a concept of ecological architect, can L.J based. Because of the conflicting opinions that exist on the subject matter, only by agreeing upon a common set of fundamental premises can a concerted approach be possible. (This is examined in Chapters 2 and 3).
2. Secondly, our objectives are to derive a framework for approaching design. This should not only cohesively unify all the pertinent ang.' related areas of study, but also provide the designer with a firm theoretical standpoint from "Which to approach the design of the built environment. Such a framework should be able to be used to analyse the impact that a proposed design might have before it is built. (The framework is described in detail in Chapter 4). Each of the framework' s structural components is discussed and examined in greater detail in Chapters 5 to 8. In Chapter 9 is our conclusion and discussion on the theoretical implications of our research work as a whole and what it might mean in design implementation. Included is an Appendix which contains a review of literature Literature is derived from a number of sources that we have found to be pertinent to this area of research. It is howeverr not exhaustive nor can it be exhaustive since the sources are diverse. The appendix serves as an indicator of the sources of literature for further development of this study.