Architecture and Permacuture: More in common than you may think

Architectureand

Permaculture.

...designing a Sustainable future.

1Mittwoch, 19. Januar 2011


Architecture:


Architecture:

The study of architecture develops intellectual, professional, and creative knowledge and skill.


Architecture:


Architectural studies allow students to generate physical solutions to complex environmental design problems that often have competing economic, social, and political parameters.

Architecture:



Architecture:



Architecture:


Architecture:



The profession of architecture attracts those who have a wide range of interests and skills and wish to make a unique contribution to society.



Permaculture:


Permaculture:

The study of permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature.


Permaculture:


Permaculture studies allow students to create systems that are ecologically viable, which provide for their own needs, do not exploit or pollute, and are therefore sustainable in the long term.

Permaculture:



Permaculture:



Permaculture:


Permaculture:



Permacuture is a design system for creating sustainable human environments.



Ethos of Architecture:



1. Firmitas ...a building must be solid.





2. Utilitas ...a building must be useful.








3. Venustas ...a building must be beautiful.

[source: Vitruvius’ ‘De architectura’]










Ethos of Permaculture:




Ethos of Permaculture:1. Care of the Earth ...includes all living and non-living things– plants, animals, land, water and air.




Ethos of Permaculture:Ethos of Permaculture:1. Care of the Earth ...includes all living and non-living things– plants, animals, land, water and air.

2. Care of People ...promotes self-reliance and community responsibility– access to resources necessary for existence.



Ethos of Permaculture:Ethos of Permaculture:1. Care of the Earth ...includes all living and non-living things– plants, animals, land, water and air.




3. Sharing of Resources ...gives away surplus– contribution of surplus time, labor, money, information, and energy to achieve the aims of earth and people care.

[source: [Online] www.permacultureactivist.net (2010)]


http://www.permacultureactivist.net

http://www.permacultureactivist.net


‘Those who look for the laws of Nature as a support for their new works collaborate with the creator.’

- Antonio Gaudi -

1. Observe and Interact:



- Antonio Gaudi -

1. Observe and Interact:1. Observe and Interact: By taking the time to engage with nature we can design solutions that suit our particular situation.



- Antonio Gaudi -


- Antonio Gaudi -

1. Observe and Interact:1. Observe and Interact: By taking the time to engage with nature we can design solutions that suit our particular situation.



2. Catch and Store Energy:

‘...as our culture tortures itself now with tyrranies and concerns over limits and fear, we can add this other dimension of abundance, that is coherent, driven by the sun, and start to imagine what that would be like to share.’

- William McDonough -


2. Catch and Store Energy:2. Catch and Store Energy: By developing systems that collect resources when they are abundant, we can use them in times of need.




2. Catch and Store Energy:2. Catch and Store Energy: By developing systems that collect resources when they are abundant, we can use them in times of need.







‘All architecture is shelter, all great architecture is the design of space that contains, cuddles, exalts, or stimulates the persons in that space.’

- Philip Johnson -

3. Obtain a Yield:



- Philip Johnson -

3. Obtain a Yield:3. Obtain a Yield: Ensure that you are getting truly useful rewards as part of the work that you are doing.



- Philip Johnson -

3. Obtain a Yield:3. Obtain a Yield: Ensure that you are getting truly useful rewards as part of the work that you are doing.


- Philip Johnson -



4. Apply Self-Regulation and Accept Feedback:

‘No house should ever be on a hill or on anything. It should be of the hill. Belonging to it. Hill and house should live together each the happier for the other. ’

- Frank Lloyd Wright -


4. Apply Self-Regulation and Accept Feedback:4. Apply Self-Regulation and Accept Feedback: We need to discourage inappropriate activity to ensure that systems can continue to function well.




4. Apply Self-Regulation and Accept Feedback:4. Apply Self-Regulation and Accept Feedback: We need to discourage inappropriate activity to ensure that systems can continue to function well.







5. Use and Value Renewable Resources and Services:

‘Nature is my manifestation of God. I go to nature every day for inspiration in the day's work. I follow in building the principles which nature has used in its domain.’



5. Use and Value Renewable Resources and Services:5. Use and Value Renewable Resources and Services: Make the best use of nature's abundance to reduce our consumptive behaviour and dependence on non-renewable resources.




5. Use and Value Renewable Resources and Services:5. Use and Value Renewable Resources and Services: Make the best use of nature's abundance to reduce our consumptive behaviour and dependence on non-renewable resources.







6. Produce No Waste:

‘Pollution is nothing but the resources we are not harvesting. We allow them to disperse because we've been ignorant of their value.’

- R. Buckminster Fuller -


6. Produce No Waste:6. Produce No Waste: By valuing and making use of all the resources that are available to us, nothing goes to waste.




6. Produce No Waste:6. Produce No Waste: By valuing and making use of all the resources that are available to us, nothing goes to waste.







‘Combining an understanding of building and energy systems with the site's natural flows of sun, wind, water, and vegetation, designers discover an "essay of clues" that suggests appropriate patterns for development of the landscape.’

- William McDonough, from the essay ‘A Building Like a Tree, A Campus Like a Forest’ -

7. Design From Patterns to Details:




7. Design From Patterns to Details:7. Design From Patterns to Details: By stepping back, we can observe patterns in nature and society. These can form the backbone of our designs, with the details filled in as we go.




7. Design From Patterns to Details:7. Design From Patterns to Details: By stepping back, we can observe patterns in nature and society. These can form the backbone of our designs, with the details filled in as we go.





8. Integrate Rather Than Segregate:

‘The promise of landscape urbanism is the development of a space-time ecology that treats all forces and agents working in the urban field and considers them as continuous networks of inter-relationships.’

- James Corner, from the essay ‘Terra Fluxus’ -


8. Integrate Rather Than Segregate:8. Integrate Rather Than Segregate: By putting the right things in the right place, relationships develop between those things and they work together to support each other.




8. Integrate Rather Than Segregate:8. Integrate Rather Than Segregate: By putting the right things in the right place, relationships develop between those things and they work together to support each other.







‘Architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together. There it begins.’

- Ludwig Mies van der Rohe -

9. Use Small and Slow Solutions:




9. Use Small and Slow Solutions:9. Use Small and Slow Solutions: Small and slow systems are easier to maintain than big ones, making better use of local resources and producing more sustainable outcomes.




9. Use Small and Slow Solutions:9. Use Small and Slow Solutions: Small and slow systems are easier to maintain than big ones, making better use of local resources and producing more sustainable outcomes.





‘In any organized object, extreme compartmentalization and the dissociation of internal elements are the first signs of coming destruction.’

- Christopher Alexander,from the essay ‘A City Is Not A Tree’ -

10. Use and Value Diversity:




10. Use and Value Diversity:10. Use and Value Diversity: Diversity reduces vulnerability to a variety of threats and takes advantage of the unique nature of the environment in which it resides.




10. Use and Value Diversity:10. Use and Value Diversity: Diversity reduces vulnerability to a variety of threats and takes advantage of the unique nature of the environment in which it resides.





‘Take what comes your way. Do the best with it. Be responsible as you can and something good will happen, and it has.’

- Frank Ghery -

11. Use The Edges and Value The Marginal:



- Frank Ghery -

11. Use The Edges and Value The Marginal:11. Use The Edges and Value The Marginal: The interface between things is where the most interesting events take place. These are often the most valuable, diverse and productive elements in the system.



- Frank Ghery -

11. Use The Edges and Value The Marginal:11. Use The Edges and Value The Marginal: The interface between things is where the most interesting events take place. These are often the most valuable, diverse and productive elements in the system.


- Frank Ghery -



12. Creatively Use and Respond to Change:

‘Don't fight forces, use them.’

- R Buckminster Fuller -


12. Creatively Use and Respond to Change:12. Creatively Use and Respond to Change: We can have a positive impact on inevitable change by carefully observing, and then intervening at the right time.




12. Creatively Use and Respond to Change:12. Creatively Use and Respond to Change: We can have a positive impact on inevitable change by carefully observing, and then intervening at the right time.







Permaculture and Architecture:

The study of the Permaculture design system and ethos will help to develop the architecture student’s ability to observe and learn from nature.




Many of the greatest minds in Architecture recognise, and actively integrate the positive influence of nature into their designs.







The architect who seeks to incorporate and honor the natural world in their designs can’t help but to produce works which enhance, serve, and manifest beauty...








...seeking out people, places, and projectsmaking a positive impact to our world.

theGreenBackpack.blogspot.com


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Architecture and Permacuture: More in common than you may think