Permaculture and design

Permaculture and design

Mairi Johnstone

Jewellery and Metalwork

Definition of Permaculture:

Permaculture is an innovative way of creating sustainable ways of living. The word 'permaculture' comes from 'permanent agriculture' and 'permanent culture'. This is an integrated system of design, that includes not only agriculture, horticulture, architecture and ecology, but also economic systems, land access ideas and legal systems for businesses and comm

unities.

It is about living lightly on the planet, and making sure that we can sustain human activities for many generations to come, in harmony with nature. Unlike other modern agricultural systems, permaculture is based on ecology - the study of interrelationships and interdependence of living things and their environment. Permanent agriculture is understood as agriculture that can be sustained indefinitely.

It is the harmonious integration of landscape and people providing their own food, energy, shelter, and all other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way. Alternative currencies and trading systems support community agriculture. Community governance is also an aspect of permaculture which is vitally important but generally remains unseen as it is cooperative system. Mollison (1988) believes that without permanent agriculture there is no possibility of a stable social order. Permaculture principles can be applied to any environment, at any scale from tightly packed urban settlements to individual homes, from farms to whole regions.

Brief History of Permaculture:

Modern permaculture can be traced back to the 1970s and the work of Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren but in some respects it is not a new thing. The idea of agricultural systems that can be put into practice for an unlimited time, in a sustainable way, has been around for thousands of years, it was the new interlocking pattern or plan, which combined animal and social systems which was different.

The modern permaculture movement came about when Holmgren was writing a thesis about developing an interdisciplinary earth science (permaculture), while working together with Mollison who was directing his research. Mollison added to Holmgren's thesis and they produced a book, ‘Permaculture One’. This was in response to soil, water and air pollution by industrial and agricultural systems; loss of plant and animal species; reduction of natural non-renewable resources; and a crippling economic system. From the book came a series of lectures and workshops. It was January 1981 before the concept of permaculture was fully formed and suitable to be taught as an applied design system. The intent is that, by training individuals in a basic set of design principles, those individuals can design their own environments and build increasingly self-sufficient human settlements, ones that reduce society's dependance on industrial systems of production and distribution that Mollison (1988) identified as, fundamentally and systematically destroying our ecosystems. As this idea was tried and tested it became apparent that people could make a living from products which came from these new environments.

This was not the initial aim of permaculture, which attempts first of all to stabilise and care for the land, then to serve household, regional and local needs, and only following that, to produce a surplus for sale or exchange. Permaculture has n

ow developed a large international following. The "permaculture community" continues to expand on original ideas. Permaculture has developed from its Australian origins into an international movement. English permaculture teacher Patrick Whitefield, suggests that there are now two strands of permaculture: Original and Design permaculture. Original permaculture attempts to closely recreate nature by developing edible ecosystems which closely resemble their wild counterparts. Design permaculture takes the working connections at use in an ecosystem and uses them as its basis. The result may not look as natural but still respects ecology principals. Through close observation of natural energies and flow patterns efficient design systems can be developed. This has become known as Natural Systems Design.

Principles of permaculture

www.blogsalon.com

Relevance of Permaculture to design:

Modern permaculture relies upon designing an agricultural or living space to take into account the natural needs, outputs and consequences of all the elements within the surrounding system. Elements are assembled to create a combined effort where the products of one element feed or improve nearby elements ending in a natural interaction and very little waste. The end result is a system that produces large quantities of food with minimal input or impact to the environment. The methods used can change and are taken from well studied and accepted practices including land management, organic farming, agroforestry, sustainable forestry and horticulture. These methods are not restricted to agriculture, many practical solutions have been developed for the built environment. Highly efficient sustainable buildings can be made using timber frames or straw bales for example. Architects and builders are now being encouraged to use sustainable materials such as these and to incorporate solar, hydro and wind power.

Permaculture aims to also encourage the community to live full lives and is not necessarily as restrictive as it may seem. A sustainable environment requires creative and vibrant people to develop new skills and ideas. Their specially designed education system encourages the development of intellect, artistic and practical skills based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner and Maria Montessori.

A good design helps to make the best use of the available resources and create a more productive system, that meets more of the community’s need and creates less pollution. According to Morrow (1993) permaculture design skills include observation, deduction, analysis, mapping, pattern reading and experience. All of which are skills required universally by designers be it an architect, a toy maker or a town planner. Designers have a responsibility for the effects of the products they design, and need to think about their potential impact on the environment, designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to respect the principles of economic, social, and ecological sustainability.

Designers in all fields are becoming increasingly more aware of how what they do can effect the environment. The website, Lovely as a tree, claims to be, the website that tells you everything you need to know to be a more environmentally aware graphic designer. From choosing recycled or more sustainably sourced paper to choosing a greener printer. There are lots of little changes designers can make to reduce their design footprint. Unfortunately, the jewellery industry also has a long and ugly history of environmental destruction, human rights abuse, and issues with fair trade. More recently, however, jewelers in particular are trying to put an end to their old ways by making small changes to the way they work believing that jewellery should not come at the cost of the environment. By recycling and being more careful with metal, disposing of chemicals safely and in some cases, finding ways to avoid using damaging chemicals. By taking a little time to consider the basic permaculture design skills and going back to basics all designers can help towards the future of our planet.

Bibliography

Principles of Permaculture: www.blogsalon.com

What is Permaculture? Hobbs, J. http://youtu.be/8X0H7V6dDi8

www.lovelyasatree.com

Mollison, B. (1988) Permaculture A designers’ Manual. Australia: Tagari Publications

Morrow, R. (1993) Earth User’s Guide to Permaculture. Australia: Kangaroo Press

www.permaculture-info.co.uk

www.permaculture.org.uk

Permaculture Mind Map

Design Studies 2nd Meeting

During our second meeting we decided to share the research we'd found so far by creating a sort of joint mind-map. Once we had all added our information to the mind-map we all tried to chip-in where possible with other peoples topics just to perhaps add a different slant on things. Also Fiona and myself had opted to change our topics and so took the opportunity to update the rest of the group. Fiona changed to Branding and Design and I changed to Permaculture and Design.

My Obsessive Compulsive Brief

Our first brief for 3rd year is to design a narrative brooch. We were given a list of possible topics which we could choose from if we wanted to. I found having a list of topics helped me to think faster and probably deeper than usual. I initially chose to base my design on superstitions, thinking of charms and thinking back to the myths and legends associated with certain stones from our stone setting brief last year. I developed a mind map which eventually led me down an unexpected path.

I started thinking about superstitious rituals and in turn, obsessive compulsive disorder. I've been looking at common repetitive, counting behaviour. My aim is to somehow describe, in a narrative form, the way someone suffering from this problem tries to cope and to perhaps design an almost therapeutic piece of jewellery.

Design Studies

During our first Design Studies lecture we were split into study support groups, mixing with other disciplines. It's interesting to meet people from subjects which otherwise you'd be unlikely to come across. In our group of eight we had two from Textiles, two from IED, two from IMD, one from Product Design and myself from Jewellery.

We were given a list of topics ranging from Crime and Design to Celebrity and Design. In our first brief meeting we decided a time and place for our next meeting during which we would decide on a topic for each person. We met on Thursday lunchtime in the Duncan of Jordanstone cantina. The topics we chose are to be individually researched and written up as a report to form our own Wikipedia. Luckily when we met on Thursday we had all decided on different topics:

Claire chose Consumer culture and design

Kitty chose Crime and design

Andrew chose Digital Economy and design

Mhairi chose Ethical labour and design

Fiona chose Interactivity and design

Thomas chose Social Networking and design

Justin chose User centred design and design

And I opted for Gender and design. I thought this would be a refreshing subject to look into but it is still relevant to jewellery design as jewellery is rarely a unisex thing. Once we've written our wikipedia entries we will read each others and leave constructive comments and feedback.

Elisa Strozyk

Elisa Stroyzk creates these amazing pieces that blur the boundaries between furniture and textiles and make you think about the different characteristics of a material. A flexible surface is created by applying laser-cut, wooden pieces to a flexible backing material. I LOVE these. Her website has even more amazing things.

Assignment 5, Activity 5A

Throughout Design Studies we have focused on using a variety of research methods to help us question how we process information, and as a result, the ways it can be manipulated and translated into assisting us in our own specific discipline. Semester one focused on secondary techniques; using research carried out by others to forward the analysis of our chosen subjects; and semester exposed us to a selection of primary research methods, to give us the experience of doing the initial research for ourselves, and the benefits gained from the process. We were encouraged to think like designers, by looking at things in a totally new light and embracing these alternative research methods to enable us to engage new ideas and concepts. To expand our thinking.

Having spent last semester developing an unusual obsession with subways, the idea of revisiting the subject was not too painful. The subject of crime was my original starting point, I discussed the “Broken Windows” theory as talked about in “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell (p141) which, in very simple terms, suggested that if a window is broken and not repaired, people passing by will decide that no one cares and that no one is managing the area. Soon, more windows will be broke

n, and the feeling of chaos and mayhem grows. Especially in a city, comparatively small problems like graffiti or public disorder are the equivalent of broken windows, a temptation to more serious crime. The atmosphere created in a confined and isolated space, such as an underground station, dictates a passengers feeling of safety and in turn, their likelihood of being a returning customer.

In order to research the pros and cons of subway atmosphere last semester, I spent a great deal of time, through books and internet sites, researching the most famous subway stations of the world and how they function at present. I did the same to get a better idea of how atmosphere can be affected by architecture. This topic grew arms and legs as many factors play a part in creating the atmosphere in a space.

Having previously been anti-mind-mapping, I reluctantly completed one on this topic as part of an assignment in semester one. Annoyingly, I found the mind-map extremely useful as a way of documenting and organising my thoughts.

This threw up many issues and ideas surrounding subway atmosphere. In order to take this research further it is now clear, having completed this semesters assignments, that primary research techniques are key to discovering the public’s needs. The underground system is of course a public transport service and so who better to look to to answer the question, “how do we improve the atmosphere in our underground stations?” than the public?

Most subway systems tend to be filthy and rather dull aesthetically. But there are cities that explicitly foster arts and good architecture in subways. Works of art or sophisticated architecture can be inspiring and thought-provoking for daily commuters as well as an attraction for visitors. Distinctive colour schemes and works of art help passengers for orientation. Furthermore, there is evidence that vandalism diminishes in appealing stations because works of art and good designs are widely respected.

Observation would be my key form of primary research here. So much can be discovered just by watching people, but not just watching aimlessly, by really observing their body language and behaviour and in this case their movement patterns, speed of movement, interaction, age, sex etc... Gathering this information to discover the patterns of behaviour would be invaluable to ascertain how the public use stations. The present design and decoration of each station would have to be considered as these factors would effect their behaviour. Observation would highlight the problems and possible good points of the existing stations. To develop the data gathered from such observations, an experiment could be arranged to temporarily alter the atmosphere of the station, for example, the lighting could be changed or a variety of music played to see if behaviour changes. In the London Underground was said to play fast marching music during the morning rush, and calm relaxing music in the evening rush - the first to get people moving, the second to calm them down.

A series of focus groups of regular commuters, combined with a small visual experiment could prove useful as an insight into what commuters would like to see happen to their stations. I this think would prove more effective than interviewing individual commuters as a discussion tends to throw up more interesting results and the idea of trying to get a commuter to stop and answer questions fills me with fear! Various stations around the world have instigated innovations in an attempt to improve their commuters daily experience, such as Moscow Metro’s mobile art exhibition. Perhaps a discussion surrounding the various innovations around the worlds subways would show up a particular favourite, an area which needs improving and possibly a solution. Involving regular commuters who can take the time to converse with other commuters should throw up the real problems they experience daily and what they would like to see done about it.

Our underground stations are ever changing and improving, with the addition of interactive technology as one example. TFL (Transport for London) will be investing capital into the renovation of the Underground network in preparation for the 2012 Olympic Games. In a private venture, CBS Outdoor (a leading outdoor advertising company) are investing £72 million over the next two and a half years to improve every single advertising site on the Underground including installation over 2000 digital sites. These days advertising seems to be playing a huge part in creating a stations atmosphere, keeping things interesting and stimulating. So with all this money flying around to invest in this country’s largest underground system lets hope that they have used their primary research to talk to the public, the people who will be using this service. Here is an example of some advertising in a Tokyo subway tunnel. This particular technology, brought to my attention by Jonathan Baldwin, uses the old-fashioned zoetrope device as its inspiration. A zoetrope is a device that produces an illusion of action from a rapid succession of static pictures.

Bibliography

Bennet, D, (2004), Metro the story of the underground railway, London, Octopus Publishing

Gladwell, M, (2000), The Tipping Point, Great Britain, Abacus

http://hoocher.com/Hans_Makart/The-Senses_1879.jpg

Lepori, R, and Franck, K, (2007), Architecture from the Inside Out, Great Britain, Wiley-Academy

Preston, J, (2004), Interior Atmosphere, London, Artmedia Press

http://www.youtube.com