Design Methods Home
Permaculture design is a system of assembling conceptual, material, and strategic components in a pattern which functions to benefit life in all its forms. It seeks to provide a sustainable and secure place for living things on this earth. Bill Mollison, (1988) Permaculture - A Designers' Manual. Tagari Publication
This can be used as a design tool, in particular to check the ecological impact of different designs and existing situations.
System health and productivity is often held back by 'limiting factors' or constraints. For example, many fields would turn to woodland quickly if they were no longer grazed.
Ian McHarg was a Scotsman who spent the majority of his working life in North America as a professor of landscape design, a landscape architect and planner.
A sectional elevation is a drawing that looks like a slice through the earth.
The site is drawn and lines showing north, south, east and west are added (sectors).
This is a way of designing to maximise energy efficiency. Activities are put in different zones, depending on frequency of use, maintenance, visits etc.
Generally, activities and structures are placed as follows: